Charles was content, the election poll finally finished, and one of them will soon be the new ruler of Zarzura.
He gazed at the council members sitting on the raised platform on his left and on his right, and resisted a smile, he had to look composed in front of the gathering of all the citizens of the Green Aura Nation.
His wife, who sat in the front row directly facing him, gave him an encouraging smile, he realized that out of the entire populace of Zarzura, she would be the one to notice his very slight fidgeting.
He still wanted to smile, he faced each one of the council members in public debate over the last two weeks, and he managed to stay above their sometime subtle, others not so subtle attacks.
They resented the fact that he was their youngest, yet was willing to challenge all of them for the seat of the ruler, he knew this quite well, even before he broached the subject with his wife.
But the smile was still playing on his mind, and he would soon have to let it fly to his face, for even if he didn’t win, he would still have been the youngest to run for the seat of the ruler, at only thirty years of age.
He couldn’t resist, and he waved to his wife with a wide smile, which brought her to laugh and the laugh spread through the entire first row.
In the midst of this atmosphere of mirth, the spokesman of the council, also the counter of the poll, emerged from the massive government building and walked in sure steps towards the platform.
Charles kept watching the man’s every step as he finally ascending the steps of the platform, bowed to the gathered citizens, then faced the council members, all four of them who ran for the seat of the ruler.
The spokesman unrolled the parchment in his hand and started reading numbers, Charles was not listening, the drumming of blood in his ears was louder than any of the spokesman’s words.
He finally regained his ability to hear when his wife ran up the stairs of the platform throwing herself at him while she said, “Congratulations, beloved husband, may you serve us well.”
Characters From Agartha