“Minaz,” Jurao said as they walked together to the amphitheater where the large staff meeting would be held, “Could you send a message to Vajur for me.”
“Of course,” his Right Hand replied.
“Ask him to look for the old royal family of Jost, and bring them here if he finds them,” Jurao said.
Minaz frowned, “I certainly can, but why?”
“Oh,” the Demon King replied, “It seems Braelin is the illegitimate son of the old king, so his family is the old royal family.”
His Right Hand made a strained noise, “And when did you learn this…?”
“Last night,” Jurao replied.
Minaz sighed, then nodded, “So the rumors of you meeting Braelin alone in the gardens last night…”
“We weren’t alone,” the Demon King frowned, “Aunt Nevve was there.”
“Oh, you had a chaperone?” Minaz chuckled, “There’s that at least…”
“I think I’m a little old for a chaperone to be needed,” Jurao continued to frown, “Particularly when the garden can’t disobey my will.”
Minaz sighed, “I was joking, my lord.”
“Ah, I see,” the Demon King nodded, then frowned again, “I do not understand the joke.”
“I was joking about you having a romantic chaperone, despite the fact that you don’t need one,” his Right Hand said, “Since you’re too old for it, Braelin’s hardly a court lordis, and you’re not romantically attracted to him anyway.”
“Ah,” Jurao nodded, “I see now. Amusing.”
“Glad you agree,” Minaz said with an odd smile, pausing before the entrance to the amphitheater, “Ready to begin then?”
“When you are,” the Demon King nodded to her.
She nodded back and opened the door. Entering first, she called out, “Rise for the king!”
Jurao entered behind her, nodding to the standing but bowed staff as he walked to the front of the room, “Thank you - you may take your seats.”
Minaz and Hujur stood on either side of the dais Jurao was using. They were the only Department Heads present since the inner circle all understood the situation well. There were mainly the Branch Heads or their assistants present, so they could pass on the information to their employees.
As everyone found their seats, Jurao went on, “I’ve heard there are questions about the new Royal Gardener - please voice them now so I may address them directly.”
It took a few moments before someone tentatively raised their hand.
“Lord Egae, Master of the Armory, please stand and state your question,” Hujur called out, poised to take any notes he felt were necessary. Of course, seated next to him was an administrative staff member to take complete notes, but Hujur was always prepared.
The man stood as instructed and asked, “I think most of us are just… a bit confused about the circumstances that led to… sir Braelin’s appointment?”
Egae looked fairly young, so Jurao was reasonably sure he’d come to his position recently - he nodded to the man and said, “Yes, I see. I shall explain then.”
Egae bowed, and looked to Hujur.
The steward motioned for him to sit back down, and mouthed the words ‘thank you.’
Egae flinched and cleared his throat to say, “Thank you, your highness,” before retaking his seat.
Jurao nodded again, and began, “When I returned from my Union Campaign, I noticed that the gardens were much healthier than when I left thirty years ago. I asked who was responsible, but no one was able to give me an answer - this being the case, I concluded that the garden was hiding its caretaker. I went out alone and ordered it to reveal that person, which turned out to be Braelin.”
The Demon King paused, and frowned as he looked to Hujur, “Does being a Department Head convey a title?”
“It does not, my lord,” Hujur replied, “But I shall make a note if you wish to revisit the idea of bestowing one after this meeting.”
Jurao nodded, “Yes, thank you,” he turned his attention back to the crowd, “I asked Braelin how he came to be in the gardens, and he replied that he’d slipped through a rift. He’d been a gardener previously and saw the sorry state of the royal gardens and began caring for them - as it was clear he’d been doing an excellent job, I decided to make his position official.”
The gathered staff members looked between each other before someone else raised their hand.
“Lady Carvve,” Hujur acknowledged.
The Head Librarian stood and bowed, then asked with a slight smile, “Your highness, did you not have doubts about this claim?”
By the relieved expressions, he could guess she had asked a question others feared to ask themselves. He replied, “No - when I first came upon him, Stranglehold Vines were wrapped around one of his arms without harming him, and the garden had hidden him for some time. I did not believe the garden would be so affectionate with someone that hadn’t been caring for it.”
“Thank you, your highness,” Carvve replied, bowing again and taking her seat.
A few hands went up this time, and Hujur picked out one, “Lordis Aemavve, Head of Construction.”
Ce stood and bowed before saying, “I can attest to having seen how the garden is affectionate to the hu-” ce cleared cer throat, “To sir Braelin, but your highness, is it known how long he has been its caretaker?”
“Braelin estimates ten years, and this seems like a likely timeline,” Jurao replied, then waved, “Let’s dispense with thanking me for answering each question - it will take too long as there are more.”
“As your highness wishes,” Hujur confirmed.
With that, Aemavve bowed and sat without saying so.
“Lord Wonasti, Assistant Head of Castle Supply,” Hujur called.
“Your highness,” he seemed to hesitate a moment before barreling on, “I apologize, but are the rumors that you are romantically interested in the hu- in sir Braelin true?”
Minaz sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. There was a sudden surge of muttering amongst those gathered as the person next to Wonasti attempted to pull him back into his seat.
“They are not,” Jurao replied, actually glad someone had been direct, “If there is a specific rumor you want addressed, I will do so.”
Minaz slumped forward and banged her head on the desk she was at while Hujur was mentally counting to ten as usual. Jurao wasn’t sure why they were reacting that way - the quickest way to stop rumors was to address them directly, in his experience, and he honestly didn’t even know all the ones that were floating around.
“Then,” Wonasti glanced at Hujur, who tiredly waved him on, “Is it true you have him walk beside you instead of next to you?”
“I do,” Jurao replied, then added, “Braelin has very little presence, so I am unable to sense him when he walks behind me. That’s all there is to it.”
Wonasti nodded and almost said more - but seemed to decide to bow and sit instead.
“Lady Dajor,” Hujur called out, looking defeated for some reason.
“Your highness, I heard a rumor that sir Braelin sleeps in your quarters,” she asked, “And that you met him late last night in the gardens.”
“I have allowed Braelin to sleep on the couch in my receiving room,” Jurao confirmed, which caused some quickly hushed whispers and murmuring, “His first night in the castle, there were some communication issues which ended with him in my care, and I did not at the time know where he had been placed. After that, he simply wished to escape the attention of nobles seeking an audience, as he does not do well with crowds.
“As for last night,” the Demon King went on, “I went to the gardens because I was having trouble sleeping and ran into Braelin there, as well as my aunt,” searching the crowd, he spotted her and nodded in her direction, “Nevve.”
“I was there, that’s true,” his aunt replied without standing. She had laid her head on the desk, and only peeked her right eyes open, “So they were hardly alone.”
Somehow, Dajor looked disappointed as she sat.
It seems most of the rumors are just facts taken out of context, Jurao thought to himself in satisfaction, That makes this simple.
Another lordis was called upon and asked, “I heard you often reach out for sir Braelin when he’s near you, your highness - is this so?”
Jurao considered this, and turned to Minaz, “Do I do that.”
She sat up immediately with perfect posture and answered brusquely, “You do.”
The Demon King hummed, then shrugged, “I hadn’t noticed, but if Minaz says so, I probably do.”
“Do you… have an explanation…?” the lordis offered in reply.
“No,” Jurao replied.
When he offered nothing else for a few moments, the lordis sat once more, and the murmuring started up again until someone else raised their hand.
“I think that should be a sufficient number of questions regarding rumors,” Hujur said, and the hand went down. He went on, “Are there any other questions - questions regarding the actual appointment of the Royal Gardener? Ah, Lord Halvern.”
Lord Halvern stood and bowed, then asked, “Your highness, setting aside the circumstances, are you certain that appointing a human to such a high position is wise?”
“I don’t believe the circumstances can be set aside,” Jurao replied, “We do not have a tradition of caring for our gardens - humans do. If Braelin had not slipped through a rift in the boundary and come here, it is doubtful I would have considered creating such a position. The results of his work and the clear affection of the garden convinced me the position was necessary and that Braelin was the best person to fill it at this time.
“As many of you likely know by now, I value results,” the Demon King said, “Whoever can deliver the ones I need will be put in a position to do so - regardless of who or what they are.”
Lord Halvern bowed with a sigh, taking his seat without further comment.
There didn’t appear to be more questions, so Jurao, Hujur, and Minaz left to reconvene in Jurao’s office.
“I think that went well,” Jurao said, taking his seat behind his desk.
“If you say so, my lord,” Hujur sighed, sitting across from him, “About granting Braelin a title…”
“Just make him a minor lordi,” Minaz suggested, taking the other seat across from the desk, “Since he’s the illegitimate son of a king, that’s what he’d be here anyway…”
“He’s a what?” Hujur asked, sounding tired.
“He’s the illegitimate son of the old king of Jost,” Jurao replied, “I learned of it last night.”
“Oh, so I see,” Hujur sighed again, making notes, “Yes, that’s easy enough…”
“Did the two of you have thoughts on the meeting,” Jurao prompted, since that was what they usually covered during this time.
They looked at each other, and Hujur nodded for Minaz to take the lead.
She sighed, “You shouldn’t have addressed the rumors, Jurao - now people are going to… misunderstand even more than before.”
“But I was able to explain the situation,” Jurao frowned.
“My lord, you confirmed every rumor as true,” Hujur said, writing furiously, “And that last comment on the subject…”
“Jurao,” Minaz sat forward, then sighed, “Your attempt to clear up the rumors is just going to make them worse - you basically said everything they heard was true and then admitted you don’t notice how you act differently around Braelin.”
“I do,” the Demon King cupped his chin.
“Yes!” his Right Hand made a noise of disgust, “You reach out to touch him anytime you look away from him at all, and you’re casually affectionate without noticing - if Gaele was a gossip and Feyl wasn’t your valet, the rumors would be even worse than they already are!”
Jurao hummed, considering this.
“Not to mention,” Hujur added, a vein in his temple throbbing, “You-” he sighed, tension draining, “My lord, you laugh and smile an incredible amount around Braelin compared to usual.”
“Even when he hasn’t done something amusing,” Minaz cut him off from refraining.
Jurao hummed again, considering further.
“Anything?” Minaz sighed.
“Well,” the Demon King shrugged, “The point of the meeting wasn’t to dispel the rumors anyway, so it’s fine.”
Minaz and Hujur groaned in unison.
“I suppose that’s true,” Hujur said, picking his head up, “I doubt anything could have made that much difference…”
“Yeah,” Minaz agreed, sitting back, “Vajur is going to be pissed when he gets back, though.”
“He can be angry all he likes, he couldn’t have done anything either,” Hujur muttered, “No matter how much he convinces himself.”
“We may want to assign a guard to Braelin when he’s not in the garden,” Minaz added, “You know how he gets.”
“If Braelin were another demon, Vajur throwing a tantrum wouldn’t matter much, but yes,” Hujur nodded, “Since Braelin is human, he could actually kill him by accident if he’s in a rage.”
“When is he due back,” Jurao asked.
“Within two weeks,” Hujur replied, shaking his head.
“He’ll probably return faster once he gets the message to look into the old Jostian royal family,” Minaz sighed, putting her chin in her hand - one of her other three reaching out to smooth down one of Hujur’s arms.
Hujur sighed, leaning closer to accept the comforting gesture, “Oh, I’m certain he will.”
“That’ll be good for the three of you, then,” Jurao said, familiar with their affectionate gestures in private. But for some reason, watching them at this time caused Braelin to pop into his head.
“Once I’ve finished lecturing him, certainly,” Hujur rolled his eyes, “Well, other than the fiasco with the rumors, I do think any confusion about Braelin’s actual appointment has been cleared up. So I’ll mark it down as a success.”
“Excellent,” Jurao nodded, “Ah, and perhaps we should contact Iescula’s priesthood to properly consecrate the shrine.”
“I will… send an envoy to speak with them,” Hujur nodded, then rose, “Well, until this evening, my lord.”
“Until then,” Jurao said, holding up a hand in farewell.
Minaz waved her partner ahead, remaining behind.
“You had something else to ask me,” Jurao inferred.
“I thought you were trying to be more aware of yourself,” Minaz sighed.
“I tried for a time,” the Demon King shrugged, “But Feyl pointed out I tend to be biased, which made doing so unproductive.”
“I can’t argue that,” his Right Hand sighed again, “But you don’t have… any thoughts about the way you act differently towards Braelin? None?”
“It is a bit odd,” Jurao conceded, “But it doesn’t strike me as a cause for concern.”
“No, no, I suppose it isn’t,” Minaz sighed yet again, then got to her feet with a grunt of effort, “Just… no, it doesn’t matter if you comment on the rumors again at this point.”
“I still don’t understand how explaining the circumstances would lead to more misunderstandings,” Jurao replied, “I should think that would clear them up.”
“I know,” Minaz nodded, “And if everyone thought like you, Jurao, it wouldn’t - but sometimes a good story is more interesting than the truth to people.”
“Hm, I see what you mean,” the Demon King nodded, remembering the way Feyl would tell his cousin Exka wildly exaggerated stories as entertainment.
“Until later, my lord,” Minaz said, waving over her shoulder.
“Until then,” Jurao nodded, pulling out his paperwork for the day.
