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Gareth sat on his father&039;s throne, in the vast council cha, and inwardly, he tre room, seated around the semi-circular table, sat a dozen of his father&039;s counselors, all seasoned veterans, all staring back at hiravity and doubt Gareth was in over his head The reality of it all was starting to sink in This was his father&039;s throne His father&039;s room His father&039;s affairs And above all, his father&039;s men Each and every one of them loyal to his father Gareth secretly wondered if they all suspected hi paranoid But he felt increasingly unco back at theht of what it was like to rule All the burdens, all the decisions, all the responsibilities, were on his head He felt woefully unprepared Being king hat he&039;d always dreado he had not

The council had been going over various matters with him for hours, and he&039;d had no idea of how to decide on each one He could not help but feel as if each new matter was raised secretly as a rebuke to hie He realized too quickly that he did not have the acudo these decisions And he knew, even as he made them, that all of his decisions were bad ones

Above all, he found it hard to focus, knowing the investigation was still ongoing into his father&039;s ht lead back to hi to him He could not rest easy on the throne until he knew he held it securely He prepared to set into ain, so was e," another council rave than the next It en, his father&039;s treasurer, and he looked down at the table as he spoke, squinting at a long scroll The et

"I&039;rave I warned your father of this, but he did not take action He did not want to raise a new tax on the people, or the Lords Frankly, he did not have a plan I presuht that somehoould all work out But it has not The army needs to be fed Weapons need to be repaired Blacksmiths need to be paid Horses need to be tended, and fed And yet our treasury&039;s nearly empty What do you propose we do,what to do He had absolutely no idea

"What would you propose?" Gareth asked back

Owen cleared his throat, looking flustered It see had asked him his opinion

"WelleIum I had proposed to your father that we raise a tax on the people But he had thought it a bad idea"

"It is a bad idea," Earnan chimed in "The people will revolt with any new taxes And without the power of the people, you have nothing"

Gareth turned and looked at the teenage boy seated to his right, not far frorown up with, soe; he was an aristocrat with no , but as as aroup of his own advisers, his friends, to help balance out the power here, and to have soone over hen they had arrived with Gareth, upsetting the old guard

"And what do you think, Berel?" he asked

Berel leaned forward, arching an eyebrow, and without pausing, said, in his deep, confident voice: "Tax them Tax them triple Make the people feel the yoke of your neer Make them fear you That is the only way to rule"

"And hoould you knohat it means to rule?" Aberthol called out to Berel

"Excuse e, but who is this person?" Bro&039;s Council And we never sanctioned any new councilmen"

"The Council is mine to do with as I wish," Gareth chided back "This is one of my new advisers Berel And I like his idea We will tax the people triple We will fill our coffers, and even more, ill make the people suffer under the burden of it Then they will understand that I a And that I am to be feared - even e, I would caution against such a harsh response Everything in moderation Such a move is rash You will alienate your subjects"

"My subjects," Gareth spat "That is exactly what they are And I will do with them as I wish This matter is ended What other matters are before ed troubled glances

Suddenly, Broe, with all respect, I cannot sit on a council that does heed our advice I sat on this council for years for your father, and I am here to serve you out of deference to hi He was And I shall not serve on any council that does not pay hoinal council outsiders who know nothing of ruling a kingdon froot up andit behind hiain and again

Inwardly, Gareth&039;s heart was pounding He felt the deck of cards cruone too far?

"Neverin my own adviser on military affairs"

"Do not need hieneral, and was your father&039;s best adviser"

"My father&039;s advisers are not my advisers," Gareth threatened "It is a new era Is there anyone else here unhappy with this arrangement? If so, you can leave now"

Gareth&039;s heart pounded as he sat there expecting the others to walk out, too

To his surprise, none did They all looked frozen in shock He felt he had to assert his authority, had tonow, Gareth just wanted this one on for hours, over with

"Any other news, or can we finish?" he asked, peree, there is another ih said "News of your father&039;s death has spread to all corners of the Ring, and has reached the McClouds Our spies inforent from the Wilds The rumor is that they intend to attack, either alone or with the Empire in tow Theyof the Canyon I suggest we hlands"

Gareth sat there, rooted in place, unsure what to do He had never had any skill when it caht of the McClouds invading terrified him