Cage had made a habit of pacing his counsel chamber and he had to admit he was getting on his very own nerves. But it was either that or shoot random magic at stuff, which did not sound like a wise plan since Edmund was there.

"That's bad news," Trixs observed, his eyes on the open letter still on the table with the maps.

It was from General Harkiss and he confirmed that the Border Barons refused to cooperate and put their armies in service of the crown.

"No shit," Cage mumbled.

Edmund shuddered a little, still not used to Cage's true personality in which he just spoke his mind. Trix's presence didn't help either. The prince was wary of the eye patch Trix kept moving from one eye to the other as well as his gloves and tattoos.

"Can't you just make them give up their armies?" Trix asked, crossing his arms over his chest and making his sea serpent tattoos even more visible.

"It doesn't work that way," Edmund said. "Armies have a chain of command, and the soldiers have been entrusted--"

"Why?" Trix turned to him, raising his eyebrows.

Edmund took half a step back. "What do you mean why?"

Cage stopped his pacing, picking up on what his friend meant. It was smart, and it made perfect sense. "He means why do the Border Barons have armies in the first place. Which is a question that can be raised regarding the Port Barons as well."

"Well, it's because they're so far away," Edmund said, though he didn't sound so sure.

"Come to think of it," Cage continued, "there are no Barons in the south."

"We border with Tallia and Annora in the south. We've always had peaceful relations with them, so there was no... point... Oh." The last word was soft as realization finally hit Edmund.

"Exactly. There's no point in sending out armies where you don't expect trouble, is there?" Cage dropped on his chair. "The only reason we have those barons is because they were supposed to guard our borders. The Port Barons from pirates and the Border Barons from Endir."

"Which is why they were given so much power and freedom," Edmund added, sounding defeated.

"Precisely. A lot of favor for a dangerous job. Except none of them have faced any dangers in thirty years." Cage took his crown off and twisted it between his fingers, watching the rubies catch the light. "The navy went after pirates and the borders are so poorly guarded that Endirians are flooding across them."

"I think someone got too used to all of the privilege with none of the work," Trix observed.

There was a long pause after the statement and Cage took advantage of it to analyze all potential ways to proceed.

"How are we supposed to handle something like that?" Edmund whispered into the silence.

Cage appreciated that his little brother now included himself in this mess. He could be a bit more proactive, though.

"It's rather simple, really." Cage moved over to his desk and took a seat. "The king giveth, the king taketh away." A quick glance on the surface of the desk showed no writing instrument. Right, he'd left the fountain pen and paper next to the map.

Without even giving it much of a thought, he reached out his hand and the instruments flew to him. Only after Edmund gasped did he realize that he'd used magic without even thinking.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"That's actually impressive," Trix said. "You're using magic with such ease. I remember when you couldn't move a rock to save your life."

Cage picked up a paperweight and threw it at his friend's head. With a laugh, Trix stopped the trinket in midair. He let it float for a few seconds, then picked it up, throwing it and catching it.

"Besides, our young prince should get used to seeing magic. It's not something frightening. It can be used for good fun."

"I don't know about that," Edmund mumbled.

"Changing the public policy on magic will be even harder than stripping the Border Barons of their privileges." Cage dunked the pen in ink and began writing his latest royal decree. He was by no means a fan of them, but the annoying paperwork turned out to be very effective.

"How are you going to do that, though?" Edmund asked. "We can't just declare them all traitors. Some of them have been ruling those lands for generations."

"Administering, not ruling," Cage corrected. "It's practically the same thing, but nuances like these are important when you're doing politics. And what I'm going to do is cut all trade with those areas until they come to Valona to pledge fealty to the crown."

Edmund's eyes widened. "You're doing what?"

"And also disbanding private armies and banning them altogether. The soldiers will of course be free to join the kingdom's army led by General Harkiss."

"That's... That's actually brilliant," the prince said, his tone filled with surprise.

"No kidding," Trix said. "Damn, Cage! Who would've thought you had that much subtlety in you?"

To be fair, Cage had always been so used to doing exactly what he wanted and how he wanted it that he'd never thought all those lessons in etiquette and diplomacy from his youth would ever come in handy. With an uncomfortable pang in his chest, he realized that he most likely would have forgotten everything useful he ever knew about ruling if he hadn't spent seven years locked in his castle at Darkwood with little else to do but read. Novels could only keep him entertained for so long, after all.

"Do you have any brilliant solutions regarding magic?" Trix asked.

Edmund winced again and Cage turned his attention towards him.

"I'm guessing that outright lifting the ban won't be acceptable."

Edmund shook his head. "I mean, I can't be sure, but if the people are half as terrified of it as I am..."

"They are," Trix confirmed. "Most of them don't even talk about it, as if it doesn't exist. But when they catch even the slightest whiff of the unusual, everything changes. They become suspicious and hostile."

"Which works great with the fact that their king summons objects because he's too lazy to get off his ass and pick them up," Cage mumbled.

"That is going to be a challenge," Edmund said. "And I... I mean, no. I shouldn't ask you to stop using magic."

"You were going to?" Trix asked with a smirk.

Edmund turned to him, placing his hands on his hips in a comical attempt at looking intimidating. It didn't help that Trix was taller and much better built than him.

"I was. Because you can laugh all you want, but there are rules. And a lifetime of enforcing those rules is not easy to abandon."

"Rules enforced for the weak and stupid," Trix mumbled.

"Trix," Cage warned. He didn't want to bash Fherras with his son in the room. Whatever the former king's faults, he was still Edmund's father. It was enough that his mother was useless in comforting him after everything that happened.

"I know what you're implying..." Edmund's voice faded.

Even if they got along now, Cage wasn't sure if his brother actually believed that Fherras was using magic to manipulate the entire kingdom. If he hadn't sensed it, Cage himself would've thought the possibility far-fetched. After all, Fherras had tried so hard to snuff magic out all together.

"I don't think there's any point getting into that," he said, his tone final. "It won't help us deal with this matter in any way."

"You know what could help?" Trix said. "Lifting the death penalty."

Cage's pen froze on the piece of paper right as he was about to sign his name and seal the fate of the Border Barons. He glanced at Trix, blinking, wondering why such a simple solution hadn't come to him in the first place. He'd focused so hard on having people accept magic that he'd jumped over the obvious first step. They needed to learn that it was not a bad thing. And how else to do that than no longer punish anything having to do with it?

"Who are you again?" Edmund asked, glancing at Trix.

"I'm the king's squire. Keep up, kid." Trix winked which was a lot less effective with the eye patch on.

"Don't call me kid! I'm still your senior."

"At ease, Prince," Cage said, holding back a grin. "Trix, you are the most intelligent and politically savvy street rat I've ever had the pleasure to meet."

"How many street rats do you even know?" Trix asked with a shrewd smile.

"More than you'd think." Cage signed his name on the decree, then took out another piece of paper to continue issuing policies.

For minutes, the only sound in the room was the scratch of his pen on paper. He could tell Trix and Edmund were aching to talk, but they respected the concentration he needed to write this down properly. The trick with royal decrees was to be explicit yet gentle with the new rule, especially when it removed privileges.

"Do you think the Border Barons will be upset?" Edmund asked.

"I'm sure they'll be raging mad." Cage signed his name with a flourish and put the pen back in its holder. "But I also don't give a kobold's ass."

Trix laughed while Edmund cringed at his use of language. Poor kid had to get used to it. In the meantime, he needed to get out of there, because Cage and Trix had further things to discuss.

"Can you please take these to Humphrey so that he may do what needs to be done?"

Edmund narrowed his eyes as though he could guess Cage was trying to get rid of him. Fortunately, he took the papers and headed out, his cape swishing behind him.

"You want to know about the merfolk, don't you?" Trix said the moment the door closed behind the prince.

"You're very perceptive." Cage leaned back in his seat and propped his boots on the table. "I like that about you."

"Allie hasn't returned," Trix said, sounding displeased with the matter. "As I mentioned, the merfolk are still debating how to handle this. That fairy Trial thing is causing quite a stir in their court."

"So we still don't have any information about the status of their navy?"

"You know I told Allie to stay away from Yarik and their side of the coast."

Which was fair, but still frustrating. Mermaids were excellent and very fast swimmers. She could provide the information they needed in just a few days as opposed to weeks. But Cage couldn't endanger her in any way. She'd risked enough already.

"So of course she went there," Trix continued bitterly.

Cage straightened in his seat. "What?"

"I'm assuming she's in Yarik now. I can't wait for her to come back so that I can scold her."

"Another thing I must do..." He picked up the pen and paper again.

"And what's that?" Trix walked closer to the desk.

"Order that garrison out of Yarik. Our soldiers have no business stirring trouble there."

"Yeah, good point." Trix glanced around the room as Cage wrote out his newest decree. "How much longer do you think?"

"Until what?"

"Until something happens. War, Jazz and Jinx coming back... Anything."

"You hate waiting, don't you?"

"Don't you?"

Cage did, a lot more than he let on. He had been forced to deal with so much administrative garbage that he wasn't sure whether he was impatient or exhausted.

"I'm not sure how much longer, but something better happen soon, or I'm gonna--" His words were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in."

Humphrey poked his head into the room, a wary expression on his face. "Your Majesty, Commander Malcom has returned from Darkwood. He has Joshua Deveiux."

⚜⚜⚜

What is this? I'm actually leaving you on a cliffhanger? Imagine that!

Well, here we are, things are getting tight. And maybe Joshua could prove of some use after all seeing as he's so useless in general. And Trix is obviously having fun with court life.

Stick around for more!