Page 86 of Dragon Me Through Space

“Do you want to take over sooner rather than later for some reason?” I asked.

“Yes and no. I want to ensure that they don’t stick to antiquated ways for too long, but I also know we need time to build up our base and ensure we’re truly ready to take over the mantle when the time comes.”

“Build up our base?”

“We need to ensure that we have followers who believe in us, people who agree that we deserve to be rulers and who agree with our beliefs and plans for our people,” Zeke explained. “We’ll start by doing charitable works amongst the people, like helping the orphans and disabled.”

That made sense. I knew my parents were well-loved by our people because of the amount of work they did to help those who couldn’t help themselves. We had a handful of orphanages that we frequently visited and ensured had proper management. There were also guards specifically assigned to the orphanages to ensure that no children were ever harmed or lured by evil people.

The Exostalons had tons of cases of abuse and trafficking from their orphanages, and they weren’t the only planet with such a problem. My parents had wanted to ensure that didn’t happen.

“What happens if we don’t have a good base? Can we be denied from taking the crown?”

“No, but the people could rebel and if they rebel enough, we could be forced to vacate the throne. That’s never happened, but it is a possibility,” Zeke answered.

“It happened with our great, seven times back, grandparents,” Preston said.

Zeke’s eyes widened. “What?”

“It’s not talked about often, but they were evil, truly evil, and it took them murdering one hundred civilians before the other royals finally stepped up and forced them to vacate,” Preston explained.

“Whoa,” I whispered, shocked that something like that had happened on Drakorantia.

“We’re getting too broad and too far ahead of ourselves,” Preston said. “We need to focus on your initial meeting of the people and our families. The rest can wait.”

“Right,” Zeke grumbled. “When you step off of the ship, you’ll likely be greeted by some of our family, but not the High King and High Queen.”

“Why not?” I asked, curious.

“They’ll be in the throne room, waiting for us to come present you to them.” Preston sighed dramatically and sat down hard in a chair beside me. “They’re all about appearances and protocol and don’t want anyone to forget that they’re the High King and Queen. It’s rather tiring, honestly. This time away from home has been … refreshing to say the least.”

“So, you’re not looking forward to going home?”

“Oh, we are, but there are some things we wish we didn’t have to go back to,” Zeke answered.

“Anyways, when you greet those who are gathered to meet you at the docks, you can just smile and greet them by name. Wayne’s sisters might hug you, so be prepared for that and don’t attack them, please,” Preston said.

I smiled. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“When you enter the throne room, you’ll walk up to the stairs, bow at the waist, and then greet them,” Preston continued.

“Like this?” I asked, stood, and then bowed at the waist, bending halfway over.

“Exactly,” he praised.

Zeke leaned his elbows on the table, relaxing again. “And you should say something like, ‘Greetings, Your Majesties. I am happy to have finally finished the journey here to Drakorantia.’”

I blinked. “Seriously?” I asked.

Preston nodded. “Seriously.”

“Like Preston said, they’re all about formalities.” Zeke smiled. “You get used to it.”

Preston leaned back in his seat and said, “I find it easiest if you just treat them like they’re young children pretending to be king and queen. Smile, tell them what they want to hear, act like they want, and then relax when you’re not around them.”

I laughed before I could stop myself, but both Zeke and Preston simply smiled.

“Okay, now let’s discuss the obstacle courses,” Zeke said.