The pale man stared daggers at the bigger male standing in front of him, and his nails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists with uncontrolled fury. In the spacious room, everyone seemed to hold his/her breath. Dark eyes darted between the two tense men. They expected a fight.

"Your punishment will be handed out soon enough. I have had enough of your disobedience," the big man thundered.

"You are making a huge mistake, your highness," he replied icily.

The king of the western kingdom raised a bushy eyebrow at the smaller man.

"Is that so, Ro'ob? You question my judgement?"

"Yes," the pale man said. "I question everything about you. Your highness."

And he smiled. His thin smile looked so outworldly and so foreign, so sickly and insidious that the king was suddenly caught off guard, lost for words. In a single swift move, Ro'ob flicked his wrist, and a concealed knife that the guards hadn't confiscated from him slipped into his hand. He drove this blade into the king's neck, twisting it methodically. In just a few seconds, the king dropped to the floor, dead.

Ro'ob hung his head down for a moment. It was hidden in his own shadow. No one dared to move a muscle.

"Well," he finally said. "Is no one going to clean this mess up?"

When he raised his pale face, there was a mad grin on his face, showing off rows of yellow teeth. Still no one moved. The grin slowly melted off his face.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!" he screamed. "GET TO WORK!"

The entire room exploded into motion, a flurry of activity from cleaning to fixing to dragging away corpses.

Ro'ob dreamily seated himself on the throne, smiling his thin smile.

"General Wafi?" he called. A muscular man in a full camouflage outfit and combat boots appeared by his side. His general was a trusted asset, a footsoldier he had handpicked and converted to his cause. Now that Ro'ob was king, Wafi would be promoted to leading his armies into battle.

"Yes, sire?"

"Prepare a celebration and feast. I want the entire kingdom to know about their new king."

"Of course, sire."

"Oh, and General? Make sure the army is well equipped for conquest. Make sure every soldier knows how to use a rifle with pinpoint accuracy. And start working on those military lasers we discussed last month. It's about time we take over."