CEDRIC’S POV
My meeting with Chief Arendalle is already a distant memory as Boxarm leads the way to the tribute room. My soldiers have just come back from their montly run across the kingdom to collect the tributes due to the throne.
They should have come back with heavy carts laden with gold, silver, and all sorts of precious artifacts and items. But what I see gathered in a heap at the center of the room is pitiable. A pittance of a tribute.
I raise my eyes at the soldier that led the mission. “What is this?” I ask, snarling at him with a growing rage.
He shifts uneasily on his feet as he tries to come up with a worthy answer. “My king, we encountered some difficulties on the road back to the palace. We-we were am-b-bushed.”
The rage in me goes up a notch and I ball my fists. The s
