***
A while later, flanked by members of his Elite Imperial Guard, Max stood on a platform at the Town Square. Behind him featured a statue of his father. Gathered all around him were citizens of his capital city. They were all hushed, waiting to see why their leader was standing in public in front of them.
Max stared at the crowd.
He loved his people and was bothered by their desperate poverty. He remembered how that little starving green girl with the horns had stared at him from behind the fence when he was in the courtyard. He had tossed her a prenglas, but he felt it hadn’t been enough.
As a sign of her submission, the Queen of Purgatorio had sent him 500 pieces of gold. As his first official act as Emperor of Occultoria, Max was going to distribute free gold to his people.
From the treasure chest, Max scooped out gold coins.
“Citizens of Occultoria City,” he called out. “Your Emperor has seen your extreme poverty and he is disturbed by it. He has heard your pleas. I will be establishing a Ministry of Charity responsible for taking care of our most neediest citizens.”
Many people cried out, “We love you, sire!”
Max surveyed the crowd. Everyone was wearing rags or tattered clothing. They were all dirty and skinny. They looked like they hadn’t eaten in days.
His heart ached for them. They were his people and he was their leader. He belonged to them. He hated to see them in need.
Max began tossing the coins into the crowd.
He was unprepared for what happened next.
Like wild savages, the people were whipped into a frenzy. They trampled all over one another just to get to the coins.
Max immediately realized the errors of his method of distribution.
“Wait, stop!” he cried, watching in horror.
But no one paid attention to him.
He watched as that same little green girl with horns was almost trampled to death.
She was standing just below him, and a minotaur-like man knocked her down.
As he bent down to pick up a gold coin, he nearly trampled her.
Max reached down and pulled her up onto the platform beside him.
He asked, “Are you alright?”
She nodded.
She looked so sweet and adorable, with her big brown eyes and green hair in a ponytail.
He asked, “What’s your name, little girl?”
“Lucrezia,” she said.
And then, realizing her faux pas, corrected herself. “I mean, it’s Lucrezia, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“That’s OK,” he said. “Where are your parents?”
“I don’t have any, sire,” she said.
Max felt a pang of sadness for her. He knew what it was like to be an orphan.
From behind him, Eddie, a member of his Elite Imperial Guard, whispered, “Perhaps we should go, sire.”
Max stared out at the wild crowd and shook his head.
He turned back to the little girl, “What are you?”
“I am a simple ogre, sire.”
“Do you have a home, Lucrezia?”
“No,” she said.
“Then, you will come live in the palace with me,” said Max.
Book 1: The Crown Prince (The Kid Emperor of Occultoria) Page 34