'How in the blasted blazes?!'

Suddenly it becomes very awkward. My royal guards stiffen in response, my wise men, drunk as they were stopped, and my guest, the man who had saved the kingdom looked on with fiery vengeance in his eyes, he reached for his sword, but found nothing there. He was meeting the benevolent king of course.

'You bastard! I'll, I'll...'

He looks around at first for a weapon to use, then notices the innocent guards. I can see it on his face, his face turns and twists deciding whether to kill them or not. After all, he'd killed many of my guards before. Luckily this time I was prepared for the eventuality since last time, unexpected as him coming back, loyal guards are a damn hard commodity to find.

'John, shalayla, rick, Sam, he is fine, he oversteps his bounds a little but hey, this is a time of revel! Think of your families, why I think it's going to be little max's birthday soon, I can't believe I was callous enough to keep you here in a time of celebration, enjoy some time with your family, you can have a week of PTO. Use it wisely, and do tell me how the birthday went Sam? Thank you kindly.'

The guards shuffled out the room awkwardly as I said

'It's fine. It's fine, I'll deal with the matter with a gentle hand, I'm so happy the kingdom is safe. Please use this time to bring the most joy for yourself and represent the kingdom you are a part of.'

They move a bit more confidently, emboldened by kind words and propaganda, rick stops and looks at me worriedly, and I look back with the perfect smile of joyful ease, perfected over some time of practice. He left. We were alone with the wise men, he had no qualms about them yet, and to be frank, I didn't care that much either. Drunkards.

'Um, I'm sorry, I'm terrible with faces, what is your name, again?' Uhhh my phones about to die so part two will be continued on computer.