Time dragged on, which did not bode well. Unexpected urgent matters of the realm often demanded the king’s immediate attention, but his father expressed displeasure by making the target of his ire wait.
After half an hour, the double doors swung open, and his parents entered. His father’s angry visage didn’t worry him as much as his mother’s stony expression.Oh, hekkel, it’s bad.He scooted closer to Karma.
“Is there something you wish to tell us?” His father addressed him like he was six years old.
He straightened. “I don’t know what it could possibly be.”
“And you?” His mother looked at Karma. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Biting her lip, she glanced at him before replying, “I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean…Your Majesty.”
“Why is she here?” Falkor asked.
“We’ll get to her. First, you.” His father glowered. With a wave of his hand, he activated the holotheater. “Thisaired yesterday evening.”
On the theater’s platform, Bynti of KCN materialized outside the exterior of the Kaldoronics headquarters.
Hekkel!“I can explain—”
“Silence!”
“Kaldor Celebrity News has learned that Prince Falkor Rullok-Myka has taken on the lifestyle duties of a commoner,” Bynti said. “The prince is the secret owner of the tech company Kaldoronics at Home. KCN reached out to Soton, who functions as the public head, but he declined to comment.”
For all his faults, Soton had stuck to the nondisclosure agreement.
“KCN was unable to reach the palace for comment.”
Bynti hadn’t even tried! Although, if she had, he would have refused to speak to her.
“However, anonymous sources close to the prince have confirmed our report.”
Like who? Soton and Karma were the only ones who knew.
The hologram shimmered into a new one—Bynti seated in a room facing a screen behind which the familiar form of a man was silhouetted.
Anonymous sources, my ass.“I’ve known the prince for years,” Soton said. “He confided that His Majesty King Rullok had threatened to cut him off financially, so he was forced to find other means to support his lavish lifestyle.”
“That’s a lie!” Falkor burst out. But the grain of truth taken out of context and magnified sounded plausible. In adolescence, he had spent money recklessly, flashing his wealth without concern for appearances. His father had threatened to cut him off. But that had happened years ago, long before he considered founding a business.
“Prince Falkor got a friend to serve as the head of Kaldoronics so the king wouldn’t find out,” said Soton. “He’s been operating the business for years without His Majesty’s knowledge or consent.”
Anger burned in his gut.
That hologram disintegrated, and Bynti reappeared outside the palace. “So, the big question arises, whatelseis the Prince of Scandal up to that Their Majesties King Rullok and Queen Myka are unaware of? And if the king and queen can’t keep their own house in order, how can they rule over Kaldor? This is Bynti with Kaldor Celebrity News. Back to you in the studio.”
The hologram disappeared. He was certain he had a ring of hives around his neck. The itching was ferocious.
“I do not care if you are running a business,” his father said.
Since when? “When I approached you with an idea—”
“You were not ready for the responsibility, and you would have failed, which would have reflected on the monarchy. Clearly, you have made a success of Kaldoronics. What I cannot abide is that you went behind my back, deliberately kept the palace in the dark, and gave cause for people to question ourability to rule. Furthermore, you shared a private conversation—”
“It wasn’t like that!” he interrupted. “The so-called anonymous source? It’s my business partner. Soton took what I said out of context—and he violated our nondisclosure agreement.”
“Be that as it may—”
“It’s not his fault!” Karma burst out. “Soton said what he did because of me. It’s my fault.”
