Médousa

— Why do they follow him? Why should they listen to him?! I deserve that position too!

Nanreol shouted in anger at the monarch's decisions, there was no place in her head to accept that such a lowly woman should now make decisions on his majesty's behalf.

Around her, the advisors and members of the plenary laughed at her unprofessional and childish performance, causing her even more anger. He looked at the monarch who, with a disapproving gesture, asked him to leave. Nanreol crossed the hall and left after hearing the sharp knock of the front door behind him. She had given years of her life to the service of royalty and now she was on the move for what she called "a village harpy". She had to do something and she had to do it soon to feel as "loved and admired" again as before.

— How are you Edea?

— Lady Nanreol! —Edea said bowing.

— Ha ha ha ha! Edea, you mustn't bow, you're the king's advisor. —she replied then, though she wished to see him shining her shoes.

— I'm sorry, lady. —replied the young woman, standing up. — It's a habit, I never thought His Majesty would take me into account for such hard work.

Edea was a young woman, strong and with an almost unnatural charm, her gaze reflected kindness and calm, something that in Nanreol's eyes caused disgust. From the moment she arrived at the palace, eyes had turned to her and Nanreol was gradually displaced in some way, so much so that the monarch was impressed by the young woman's work and proclaimed her his advisor. Nanreol couldn't believe it.

— Well? —Nanreol continued. — What plans do you have for the monarch's management?

— Oh! —exclaimed Edea. — I have thought about several changes that could improve the approach towards citizens and a better way of living with them.

— ¿Changes? —his body thundered and he almost tried to spit at the woman in front of him. — What changes do you mean?

— Participation. —Edea replied.— We must seek better coexistence with the citizens and offer them a way to feel at ease with the monarch's management.

— But the citizens are mere commoners! —Nanreol shouted after hearing that.— Their work is nothing but worshipping him! Do you think allowing them more interaction with the kingdom will do any good?

Her skin had taken on a reddish color and the young woman looked at her in amazement at the screams. Nanreol could not control the desire to take her by her long wavy hair and hang her from a castle window.

— Well.... —Edea continued.— I think we owe it to them. Without a people there is no king. I have even opened spaces for the great scholars of the city to impart their knowledge. I think we all do.

— Bullshit! —The woman interrupted with a loud, angry scream.— His job is to worship us, not to see us as his friends. Excuse me, Edea.

Nanreol came out of that space and looked around him. He had not noticed that there were already changes in place by the young Edea which were beginning to show: New people were already inside the castle and none even looked at him, she felt a complete stranger. Behind her, I heard the voices of several men and women who shouted the name Edea with a tone of great appreciation, some even bowing before her. She was disgusted and wanted to end that scenario, but she had to be smart, she had to make it look like what it was, a "village harpy".

— Are you sure you'll do the job?

— Leave it to me.

The weeks passed, a couple of months before Edea had become the star advisor. The monarch was extremely pleased and all the members of the royalty applauded his work, but Nanreol, on the other hand, had been stripped of most of her functions and had become one of the members of the plenary, being forgotten and abused by the king.

— Thank you very much, Your Majesty, for this gesture.

— You can always have dinner with my young personal assistant.

Edea had a dinner with the monarch and members of the plenary and was both nervous and flattered to receive such an honor. She had dedicated every moment of her life to be in the castle and never thought her efforts would take her this far. She had been content to be a simple servant, but on one of her journeys, the monarch watched her teach others how to contribute to the growth of the reign, an act that immediately moved His Highness and asked for the young woman's presence at the audiences.

— Your Highness. —Edea said.— Request permission to leave.

— If you want you can do it, Edea. —The monarch replied.

— Thank you very much.

The others present bowed goodbye to the young woman, who then left the room a few seconds later. The monarch, for his part, continued the evening with the remaining members who spoke of the progress that had been made in the discovery of Edea. Nanreol was there, but for some reason nobody paid any attention to him anymore.

— Your Majesty? —she asked.

— What's going on? —The monarch replied.

— I don't think it's appropriate for Edea to continue to be your advisor.

— What do you say, Nanreol? —asked one of those present.— Are you questioning the monarch's decisions?!

— I understand and respect the decisions of the Monarch. But have you ever wondered what would happen if the people were to reveal themselves and seek to take control of the kingdom?

— Slander! —shouted the Monarch.

— But Your Majesty! —Nanreol replied, rising from his seat.

— When you put your emotions aside, you can tell me about the situation Nanreol, for now I'm done with this conversation.

Again the woman was filled with fury and bowed before leaving the place. It was a simple shadow that wandered the halls of the castle, his voice no longer carrying the weight it once did and he had to accelerate his movements to finish off the young Edea.

— Tilen, are you here? —The question came from Nanreol's lips in the complete darkness of the room lit by a candle in front of him.

— What brings you here? —A woman replied from the shadows.

— What happened to the job?

— Planting a tree requires taking care of its growth, providing it with light and a sufficient amount of water. —Tilen replied.— Not far from this is the ability to develop a master plan to strip someone.

— Have you achieved anything? —This time Nanreol sounded more blunt.

Tilen sighed and smiled slightly on her face before walking to the back of the room up to a tavern. He took a scroll and returned until he stood before Nanreol.

— Convince the king to watch Edea's show in two days' time. —She said this one after giving him the document.— Everything will be ready by then.

— Fine.

He stepped out of the bedroom and crossed the hallway now lit by moonlight. The manic smile on Nanreol's face was drawn after reading every part of that document. If things went well, his dreams of greatness and worship would return to the way they had been.

---

— Welcome, everyone. —Edea took the podium and bowed before those present.— Today, we want to pay tribute to the person who made this event, this meeting of scholars and great people of the people possible. The monarch.

Applause and ovations took place at the ceremony held at the castle gates, thousands of inhabitants shouted praising the monarch and Nanreol watched beside him, hypocritically applauding at the activity. He wondered what Tilen had prepared and had to improvise according to the occasion.

— Simply exquisite. —the monarch was delighted to see such an organization and the high participation of citizens.— Edea's doing fine.

— If Your Excellency.

Nanreol responded positively to all the king's words and looked anxiously at the right moment. The participants were beginning to take their seats in the stands and Edea was preparing to introduce the first of them.

— Thank you again. —She said.— To begin this activity, we would like to welcome Sir Deben Selfa.

Again the applause echoed throughout the place and a great silence formed waiting for the intervention of the man, who was already bowing before the king and preparing to go to the podium, but not before directly observing Nanreol and giving him a smile. I understood, the show would end without even starting.

— Thank you, Miss Edea. —Sir Deben said.— And thank you, monarch, for opening this space to the people.

The monarch made a gesture of approval and continued to monitor the situation.

— Well, then. —continued the man.— As a historian I wanted to tell you a little about the history of the monarchs and how they have carried on their wonderful reign, a reign full of opportunities, proposals and treatises that have made the people ignorant.

For a second the eyes met between members of the plenary and the villagers themselves when they heard the last word, the monarch looked at Edea and she smiled, hoping it had been a mistake. Nanreol knew he wasn't and his eyes almost popped out of his head at the last word.

— Sheep from a corrupt system. —continued Sir Deben.— Don't you see what they're doing to us? They plan to keep us ignorant and focused on their system!

The whole plenary was gawping and the monarch began to change color with every word. The people, for their part, looked at the man and looked at his highness in anger and confusion. Tilen's plan could not be better, to create anxiety and hatred towards the king would represent the fall of Edea.

— Your Majesty...

— Silence, Nanreol! —exclaimed the monarch.— Let Edea solve the situation, it must be part of the activity.

— Yes, Your Majesty.

Nanreol looked at Edea and saw how she was as confused as the others. Mr. Deben had been her most important discovery to be a great historian and did not understand how he now said such words, of course she did not know the gold that Tilen had deposited in her pockets to change the speech and present the one she had written for the occasion.

— We ourselves must be the rulers of and for the people! —shouted the man, raising his arms.

— Stop that man! Stop that man! —The monarch rose from his seat and asked the guards to imprison Deben, who ran to the audience persecuted by his captors when he heard those words. The crowd went wild and the activity was ruined. Edea, for her part, sought to calm the situation and was almost able to observe the exact moment when a tomato hit the monarch's face.

— Corrupt!

— Traitor!

Words came and went and they had to take His Majesty out of the place. The people were shouting and fighting without knowing exactly what had happened that changed their view of royalty. Edea ran behind the castle gates and tried to locate the king.

— Your Majesty!

Edea's tone of voice was now saturated with sadness, pain, and fear. I didn't know exactly what I had done wrong and I wanted to remedy it somehow.

— I didn't know anything about this. —She said.— The man, Mr. Deben...

— Quiet! —shouted the king.

The people present turned to hear such a cry and looked at the situation behind them.

— I trusted you, Edea. —he continued.— I trusted like I never trusted anyone and this is how you repay me?

— Let me just get this straight..../i>

— There's nothing to fix! —shouted the monarch, now more enraged than before.— You have unleashed something you can no longer control.

Edea's eyes filled with tears as she watched the king leave without another word. That had represented the breaking of what he had longed for so much, to serve His Majesty, who now crossed one last door and disappeared in front of him. Nanreol followed him and tried to hide his laughter from his impending victory. Tilen was an expert and she was going to deserve a big paycheck for such a job.

— Nanreol!

— Your Highness? —replied Nanreol, who looked at the monarch leaning against the window of the royal hall.— What can I do for you?

— I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to you. —He replied.— You warned me about it and I completely ignored you.

— Your orders are more important than I think they are. —She replied.— Besides, it wasn't Edea's fault, all by herself.

— Quiet! —shouted the monarch, looking at her furiously.— Don't even say his name!

— But Your Majesty.

— That woman is dead to everything concerning the kingdom! —he exclaimed.— From now on you'll take his place.

— But monarch, me...

— It's done. —said the monarch.— You can go now.

— Yes... yes, Your Majesty.

The doors opened and Nanreol left the room. He had to walk many corridors before he could react to the situation and burst out laughing with a victory in solitude.

Edea had been taken out of the way and with it the eyes would be on her again. Once again it would be the center of attention. Once again, it would fill her desire to feel loved and adored at the expense of the happiness of others, since she would not be able to love herself.