Ballog stared up at the sky through the window, watching the clouds slowly make their way across the blue sky. Looking down he saw the garden, which the new Queen, Mytorare, daughter of the late King Yonith and Queen Hinu, had ordered to be more maintained now that she was Queen. He had to agree that it made things look lively but that didn't help things at all, not even the slightest bit. All it showed was that she was capable of giving orders, not that she used that power the right way.

Mytorare was too soft-hearted, plain and simple. Even if she ruled the country the way she wanted to, she would still have to do things she wouldn't want to do such as sentencing prisoners and criminals to death if needed. That was the problem with being the boss of anything, especially something as large as an empire. Rule too strictly and there'll be an uprising to overthrow the current ruler and place a more suitable ruler at the throne. And if the ruler was too soft then there'll still be an uprising to put a more suitable ruler in place.

Ballog sighed heavily for the umpteenth time that day and it wasn't even noon. He was one of the many advisers of the previous King, having been in the position since he was 24. He wasn't the smartest one at that time but neither was he the most stupid of the bunch. But over the many years of service he had learned many things and now he was the third, probably the second most intelligent. But even then he couldn't think of a plan to help remedy the situation.

How do you teach an eight-year old the right way to rule an empire? The answer, you couldn't. The late Queen Hinu had probably learned how to take over by watching her husband rule the empire. Ballog didn't know where the King learned but he most likely learned from his predecessor. There was no way to teach someone how to rule. They either knew how to do it, learned by watching and/or learning from other rulers, or they didn't know altogether. And if an eight year old couldn't be taught by someone who had no experience as a ruler, what more an eighteen year old like the present Queen, someone whose beliefs and mentality could no longer be moulded so easily?

"Unless a miracle happens this may very well be the end of this empire," he muttered quietly, not that anyone could hear him while he was in his private quarters. He could just imagine the many possible scenarios playing out in his mind.

The people of the empire, dissatisfied by the poor leadership of Queen Mytorare, could rise up to overthrow her to put someone who would actually rule the kingdom on the throne. Another was the opposite. The people would prefer the way Queen Mytorare rules, as opposed to her late parents, but then those in the empire would see this as a sign of weakness and would move to take the throne for their own. Or even worse, both at the same time.

If just one or the other would try take the throne, then it would be over the moment the Queen surrendered, stepped down, or was killed. But if both sides were to fight for the throne, then the entire empire would be thrown into an internal war, further destroying the empire until a winner was decided. And with the size of Ithatyne's army against all the people of the empire willing to fight, that war could last for years.

Ballog sighed again, running a hand through his raven black locks. "Even the previous Queen was better than this, but not by much. At least with her on the throne only the first scenario would have played out. But now there are three major possibilities with countless other threats. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the other officials decided to take the throne for himself. Zoran is certainly ambitious enough to try if he actually wanted to be the ruler of... this... empire..." he finished very slowly, his eyes widening with the last few words.

Ballog suddenly shot up from his seat by the window, quickly walked out of his room and walked away, a maniacal grin clearly visible on his face as he walked towards his destination. 'This may very well be my greatest idea yet,' he thought, obviously quite smug about his idea. 'But I'm sure I could think of something better if I had more time. Now then, where could Zoran be?'

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