"Your Majesty? Are you okay?" A soldier said as the Silver King stumbled his way into the small office, and sat down heavily. The king shook his head.

"I am not sure. I can not think clearly, and have not had any wine, nor anything stronger for at least a week." Kohl, the Silver King, titled by his father for his silver hair, shook his head, but could not clear the cobwebs. The royal guard was loyal to the kingdom, and therefore loyal to the king first, the kingdom second, and the royal family third.

"Your Majesty. Shall I call a doctor?" He asked quietly. The king nodded.

"Call for my personal physician." He said quietly, and closed his eyes. The guard looked uncomfortable. Kohl opened his eyes. "What's wrong? Why are you not calling for him?"

"Your Majesty, remember that your physician said you were okay, just tired." The guard thought for a moment. "If he were to examine you, sire, what would he do?" Kohl frowned.

"He would take a sample of blood, and test it to make sure there were no poisons. After that, he would check my general health." Kohl said, and watched the guard's eyes.

"Then, Your Majesty, let me draw a little of your blood, and a little of mine. Hide your wound, while I give your blood as though it's mine. If he tests mine, says that it's bad, and advises me to seek my own doctor, then tests your blood, and says it's fine, then you'll know something is wrong. If nothing untoward occurs, I will apologize to him." The guard watched the king's eyes.

"You know something, don't you?" Kohl said. The guard cleared his throat.

"It is not yet important, Your Majesty. However, if my suspicions are confirmed, I will tell you what I suspect." The guard looked at him sadly. "Your people are worried, Your Majesty. About you. About the kingdom. Please."

Normally, Kohl would not listen to anyone, let alone one of his royal guards, and that gave him a reason to pause. That was not how he used to behave. For some reason, he did not listen to anyone, other than his wife, and her father, the Prime Minister.

Over the last twenty years, after she gave him two sons and one precious daughter, his wife was able to convince him to listen more and more to her father, the Prime Minister. There were so few people in the court that were loyal to him, but for some unknown reason, he trusted them.

"Okay, we'll do as you say." He sighed. "I stopped drinking to clear this haze, but nothing is clearing up." the guard looked confused.

"Your Majesty, do you not have the flame attribute? Why not burn it away?" The guard asked. The king frowned slightly. "My father once said that those with the flame attribute, with a natural flame elemental core, they could burn away most impurities in their bodies." The king tilted his head.

"You know, I have not channeled in many years. My wife said it would not make me attractive in her eyes to feel how terrible my power was." He closed his eyes, and a sheen of sweat beaded on his skin almost immediately. His eyes popped open.

"My channels! They are filled with garbage!"

* * *

Silo, his personal physician, tested the king's blood and smiled.

"You are fine, Your Majesty." Silo looked at the guard. "As for you, I would suggest you head to a hospital right away. The silver does not lie. You have a lot of poison in your body, but only further testing can tell you what kind." He nodded a little at the end, which seemed to be a habit of the doctors in the kingdom of Thules. The king looked at his guard.

"Take him for interrogation." Kohl said angrily. Silo's eyes bulged. "Do not be gentle. Find out what he's done, and what poison he used." He waved his hand, which made the guard grin.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Might I suggest not drinking or eating anything from your kitchen, or prepared by the queen? Only go to your father's place for a meal." The guard bowed deeply, and left the room with the doctor. Kohl didn't bother to listen to the endless protests of the doctor.

Neither the soldier, nor the king even bothered to give his words merit, and continued to talk over him while he screeched and protested unreasonably loud in front of his king.

Kohl stood up and went to a side room. He pulled a book and shook his head. The small cache was empty. He sneered.

"Do you believe I told you everything? My father told me to set up a few decoys, and never reveal all my cards to anyone!" He pulled on a simple corner brace, which ended up being a drawer. He pulled out a pouch, and put a round flame core onto his palm.

He returned to the table, held the core in one hand, and closed his eyes. Sweat beaded on his chest, but a pale red line appeared on his arm, from his wrist up to his elbow, before he opened his eyes and grunted in pain. He turned his head and spit a mouthful of black bile into a pot nearby.

"Damned stuff is like tar inside my channels. I will need several cores to fix my channels, and clear my body of poison." Kohl said quietly. He heard a chuckle to his rear.

"Your father was surprised that you finally opened your eyes, Kohl." The voice was familiar, as he was a trusted servant of his father's. "He thought the honey trap would keep you prisoner for a lot longer, and cost you a lot more than a few cores."

"Stuben. He knew?" Kohl asked with narrowed eyes.

"Don't give me that stink eye of yours, boy." Kohl groaned as a heavy hand impacted the back of his head. "I've served as a soldier, a commander, and a general for a century longer than you were alive! My channels are clear, while yours are filled with poison. And your father knew, but also knew you would not listen. You had to learn this lesson the hard way."

"But how did he know? I didn't see it coming!" Kohl said.

"Stupid boy, everyone could see it coming!" Stuben said angrily. "She is the Prime Minister's daughter! Of course that fool would seek to supplant the royal family with their own bloodline!"

"Then why didn't father step in to deflect them?" Kohl asked, and received another heavy cuff to the back of the head. Kohl grimaced, turned his head, and spit another blob of poison into the pot.

"Did that clear your head, you nugget of beast shit?" Stuben asked. Stuben used some light elements in his hand to strike Kohl. "Your father stepped down so you could rule, and he could rest." Stuben rolled his eyes. "Your father didn't think you would fall into the honey trap as soon as he stepped down. Haven't you read a single book of the history of Thules? This trick is tried on every single king!"

Kohl colored brightly. This was his father's right hand man, and one of his earliest teachers. He's trained the Royal Guards, and made sure they were loyal to the king, the kingdom, then the Imperial family.

"I did, but did not pull any wisdom from their words." He rolled his eyes. "I shall need to spend a lot of time in meditation, and reading again." He clenched his teeth together.

"Teacher, my children..." He stopped.

"None are your own, but you should already be aware of that." Stuben sighed a little. "Except for that girl, the others are the tools the queen used to ruin your reputation within the kingdom." Kohl closed his eyes.

"Little Ava. Crippled from a young age." He opened his eyes. "What events have happened in the kingdom that I have missed?" Stuben chuckled.

"You mean other than a goddess appearing in the forest between the mountain and Aros? Plenty."