(an excerpt from the book The Seventh City by Sharon L Letson)

From this vantage point he could see the source of the music. Instruments he had never 
seen before were playing beautiful tunes in a clearing to the left of an open square directly in front of the castle.  


Beautiful young girls with colorful dresses and crowns of leaves and flowers danced in the square waving banners of purple, blue and gold.  John Robert had never seen anything like it and he was captivated by the twirling colors.  


It almost made him dizzy so he rubbed his eyes and looked away, above the square. There a balcony extended out from the castle. Several guards stood there with one having a coat decorated more colorfully than the others.  


John Robert guessed this was the Captain that Sir Henry was searching for. He looked over the back of Chism for Sir Henry’s dark curls. He was there near the horse’s head with his eyes focused on the guard on the balcony.  


John Robert knew he had guessed right, but  wondered how they would be able to get near enough to speak with him. He couldn’t even see how they could move from where they were. 

But soon his attention was drawn to the balcony again. The royal family emerged into the sunlight. John Robert thought they were spectacular. 


The two princes held tightly to their mother, the Queen, followed by the baby princess who was 
proudly held in the arms of her father, the King.  


With careful movements, the two princes stepped to the side and bowed carefully to their father as they had practiced. The Queen took the baby and handed her to the nurse behind her before curtsying to the King. He inclined his head in return.


John was amazed by the ceremony of it all, but when the King took a step toward the parapet, smiled broadly, and opened his arms widely to the crowds below, a surge of excitement ran through him. 


He cheered loudly along with everyone in the crowd. They loved their King and Queen. John Robert felt certain that there wasn’t any chance for the Governor of Gilgamar to march on the Royal City and win here. That must be the reason why he needed Lady Mariana and had to resort to deceit. He needed to be as strong as possible to challenge the King. 


The King quieted the crowd and spoke in a deep powerful voice. They were words of prosperity, blessing and encouragement. He was a King who was good to his people and they loved him for it.  

After the speech the King reached his hand into a bag held by one of the guards. With a sweep of his arms he flung a handful of small round things 
out over the crowd.  


Coins! John Robert saw them fall! The crowd yelled and hoorayed in response. Seven times he reached into the bag and threw a large handful of coins out to the crowd. After the last time he inclined his head again and turned to return to the castle.