Joseph laughed. “You’ll have to excuse his behavior, and, um, give him a second chance.” He winked.
Dominic smiled. “Thanks for standing up to him and giving me a chance. Apparently, you’ve heard Father Bosco singing my praises, and you aren’t the first to tell me about that.”
Joseph chuckled. “No problem, and yes, he’s been going around telling everyone. Who was the first?”
“David, the guy who’s supposed to be Saul’s replacement,” replied Dominic.
“Oh yes, I believe we ended up in the same audience. So, he came to you with his problem, eh?”
“He did, and we worked it out rather well. What’s your problem?”
“Well, it’s actually more of a suggested solution for a problem that needs approval, rather than a problem that needs to be solved by someone else. Here’s my situation. My older brothers sold me into slavery, as they were jealous of my relationship with our father. I worked hard, and not only was I able to become free again, but I also attained a high status within Egytro. Now, you’ve heard of the drought that is occurring on the northern part of Panchaea?”
“I have,” replied Dominic.
“My family is living in that area, and since Egytro is one of the counties that is the closest, my father must send my brothers to obtain food and supplies. I am head of the storage vaults now, and I had made sure that we would have enough food, as the governor had a dream predicting the coming of the drought. So, my brothers have to come to me, but they won’t recognize me. So, here’s what I want to do. I’m going to detain one of my older brothers if they don’t have Benjamin, our youngest brother, with them. When the rest return with Benjamin, then I’ll place a jeweled cup within his pack and claim that he stole it. If they are truly sorry for what they have done to me, they will try to protect Benjamin. If they haven’t, well, then I guess I’ll just keep Benjamin with me. But if things go according to my plan, and they are truly sorry, then I shall reveal myself and forgive them. Perhaps my whole family can move to Egytro. What do you think of that?” asked Joseph.
“That sounds rather good. I would have been against it if you were to harm your brothers in an act of revenge, but you are willing to forgive them if they are truly sorry. Besides keeping Benjamin with you, what would you do if your older brothers are not sorry?” asked Dominic.
“I would just send them away and tell them to never show their faces to me again. I will provide them with the food and supplies that they will need, but they would speak to one of my servants rather than me,” replied Joseph.
“Well, then, I see no problem with your plan. I wish the best of luck to you and I hope that everything goes well,” smiled Dominic.
“Thanks, Dominic, I hope it goes well, too. Well, I’d better catch up with Jonah before he bites someone’s head off. I hope to see you later, and good luck to you, too!” said Joseph, rubbing Dominic’s hair before taking off in the direction Jonah had gone.
Dominic sighed while fixing his hair. “Well, that’s two rooting for me, besides the princess. Now let’s see if I can finish these problems.” He turned his attention back to the paper resting upon the table.
“Dominic Savio.”
Dominic was so focused on the paper that he jumped when he heard his name. He turned around to see a sandy-blond servant approaching him. “I’m sorry I startled you, but I’m letting everyone know it’s time to go in for lunch.”
“Oh, thanks Gabriel.” Dominic rose to leave.
“Please leave the paper here; I’ll gather them and give them to the King.”
Dominic blinked. “But I’m not done.”
“That’s alright, the King only wanted to see which problems you would tackle first. He won’t mind if you didn’t finish, only that you do it in the correct order and get the right answers,” Gabriel assured him.
“Oh, I see. I hope I did do it in the right order. So, I guess I’ll see you around.” Dominic smiled at him. Gabriel nodded and smiled back before heading off in the opposite direction.
Dominic made his back towards the dining room. He was ushered back to the same table he had used that morning, and found the piece of paper he was working on at breakfast. “Oh, I completely forgot to finish this. Well, better get going on it before the food is served.”
Dominic hadn’t been working on the paper for long when the lunch bell rang and the servants came out with trays of food. Lunch was surprisingly quiet, as no one came to interrupt, and everyone ate in silence. Lunch also went a lot faster, so many of the suitors left around the same time to head to the library. The library was set up much the same way as the dining room and the garden; there were enough tables for each suitor to have his own. Dominic noticed that the paper this time only read, “List Book Title and Author That Was Read Below,” so he went off in search for some books to read. He came back with a rather large stack that he set down on the table. He grabbed the top one, got comfortable, and began reading.