kowtow
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Victor and Mark walked through the opulent halls. The upper crust of nobility stood by, watching the two of them. And at the end of the room, sitting on the throne, was the king. Victor leaned in towards his partner and whispered.
“Do we really have to bow and scrape to this guy?”
“Yes. Now shut up before someone hears you.”
“But he’s so stupid and useless.”
“Shut up. He’s the king. Nothing else matters.”
“The two of us can take out everyone in this room. Why should we listen to them?”
Mark looked around, finding Victor’s assessment accurate. Even the supposedly elite palace guards were dressed more for a party than for a battle. He swore their armor were actual mirrors instead of steel. And the nobles? If any of them knew how to use the swords some of them wore, he would kiss a pig.
The king was the worst of all. The man was short, and fat, with the kind of dullness in his eyes that is normally seen in the village idiot. He was dressed in clothes that were likely cost more than most people made in a decade and had enough jewelry to fund most towns for a year. He held the royal weapons, a sword, a spear and a shield, just like all kings of this nation. But it was obvious they would never see use in his hands. It was a shame. The weapons themselves were without equal.
“He’s still the king.” Mark said heavily. “That means we have to show reverence, respect, and loyalty.” He sighed. “Even if he hasn’t earned any of them from us.”
“Yeah, but why? He’s not our king. We don’t owe him anything.”
Mark knew Victor was technically correct. They came from two kingdoms over. They technically had no right to obey the royal idiot. They would still have to show a measure of respect towards royalty, but full obedience? That was reserved for others.
“Okay, let’s put it this way.” He said. “The guy’s rich. Really, ridiculously rich. And he’s clearly not the brightest. We act like good little serfs, and we get paid a lot more than we normally would for the job.”
“Ah. Now that I can get behind.” Victor said with a slight nod of his head. Obeying a man because he had a fancy hat was hard. Obeying a man because he was throwing a small mountain of gold his way was easy. They had done it before and would do it again.
Now that he knew why they would be bowing to this joke of a king, Victor was much more agreeable to the meeting, even if there were a bunch of other nobles in attendance. Maybe if they played their cards right, the rich people would hire them as well. Suddenly, when Victor looked around he did not see weaklings, cowards and fools. He saw the piles of money that would no doubt be sent their way soon.
They reached a place in the throne room several feet away from the throne. The two mercenaries got down on one knee in mock deference for the king. It was time to earn a paycheck.
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Always remember: It never hurts to suck up to the boss.
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