“Thank you for making the trip to come and meet with me. I understand your people are unhappy with changes I’ve made, and I’d like to hear what about them has upset people. Every policy or change I enact will, of course, have opponents. But I’d like to try to find an amicable resolution to all of this, rather than just blow your opinions off.” This Marcus guy was more relaxed than I’d expected. Perhaps killing him would be easier than I thought. But, why did he want to talk about why we were unhappy? Wasn’t it obvious?

“You’ve increased taxes. That’s going to make anyone unhappy, for starters.”

“Ah- I knew that might be part of it. You see, I only raised taxes for those who had unfair tax advantages. The tax rate is now even across the board. My predessesor allowed the richest people to pay practically nothing, while the poor paid most of what they made. If your family was affected by the shift, I must apologize. It had to be done, however, to try to help those most in need. And the tax money is already going back into the kingdom- A boost to the assistance system, more money for schools, and money to build or improve orphanages.” This jerk actually looked happy with himself- Then again, if he was telling the truth, that was for the better… The school system certainly needed the help.

“Why boost the assistance system if you’re denying it to people?” I growled. I couldn’t fall for his ruse.

“Only to those who could find work and simply won’t. We can’t help everyone who needs it if those who could manage on their own simply don’t want to try. Unfortunately, there’s no way to guarantee no one can abuse the system, but we can try our best to cut down on those who would.”

“And the increase in the number of orphans? How’d you manage that, through your mass executions?” He looked perplexed.

“I haven’t executed anyone since I took the throne. Imprisoned, a couple of murderers. But I didn’t want to start my rule with killing. No, the orphans are those who slipped through the cracks and were living alone or in gangs on the streets. I’m saddened by how many did, but we’ll get them the education and safety they deserve. Preferably, we can also find them families.” He sighed, watching my face. “You don’t believe me- No, I can’t say I blame you. I should have considered this, the way that rumors and misinformation would spread. Not much one can do about it, though, and people will believe what they wish to.”

He meant it, didn’t he? Good grief, either this man was legitimate or he was the best actor I had ever seen. I felt myself relaxing a bit as I considered this.

“And the slavery accusations?”

“Slavery… Well, I suppose it could be seen that way, but no- It was voluntary. An offer to small-time convicted criminals, to rehabilitate them and give them a skill set and second chance at life. At the same time, things around the kingdom get fixed up. If you ever get a chance to speak to one of these men, you’ll see they’re quite happy with the deal. And no one dangerous gets offered the deal- Murderers and rapists will remain locked up.”

“I… Can’t tell if you mean it all, or if you’re the world’s best actor,” I admitted after a quiet moment of thought.

“That’s fair. I can’t expect you to change your mind immediately, nor to trust me so quickly. I expect I’d feel the same in your position.” He offered me a file chock full of papers. “Please… Feel free to share this information with your comrades. Nothing in here is confidential. I understand if not everyone, or even no one, stands down. I only ask that you all please just give me a chance to prove myself. I haven’t even been on the throne for six months yet.”

“Yeah… Sure. I’ll share this with them,” I nodded, taking the file, and my leave of him. This was going to take a lot of contemplation, but I had a feeling hardly anyone would buy it. I wasn’t even sure I bought it.

---

Marcus watched the young man go and sighed, rubbing his face. “He doesn’t believe me. People are so prepared to believe the worst of the government… I can’t blame them, given the previous king.”

“No… This is different. These, from what we can tell, are upper class citizens. Well off. They’re affected most by your reforms, at least in terms of taxes. They expect more breaks just because they’re well off, and they’re rebelling because they want things easy for them again. Some are upper-middle class people, like that young man. They’re being told spun versions of the reforms, and haven’t interacted enough with the poor folks to know how they feel about it all.” His advisor, stepping in from the next room, watched the new king. “There’s little we can do except be transparent, and hope the common folk step up to help educate the rich.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that- Innocent people would be hurt or killed. I want everyone to live in peace.”

“There’s a hope we can all get behind.”