Snippet from Book Two

Conal was rudely awoken by a foot in the ribs. Bleary-eyed, he looked up and scowled at Taliesin. “Remind me to fire you later!”
“You’d have to start paying me first, your Highness. That’s usually part of the agreement. You hire someone to do some work for you, and then, you pay them their wages so that they can feed themselves and buy stuff that may or may not be useful to them. If you get fed up with them, then and only then, do you fire them. You’ve missed a few steps along the way, Conal.”
“I was just saving time and skipping to the good bit,” Conal declared and pulled the covers back over his head.
The boot in the ribs was firmer this time.
“Ouch! What was that for? If I had an executioner, you’d be walking on thin ice right now.”
“You’d have to pay him first. Should I just go out and cut my own head off? I could send you the bill afterwards.”
Resigning himself to being awake, Conal looked balefully at Taliesin. “Was there a point to this conversation?”
“...There are two, actually.”
Conal waited. Clearly, Taliesin was out to annoy him today. “…And what would they be ...?”
“The first is to make sure that you’re fully awake as I know full well that you’d turn over and go back to sleep if we didn’t have this little chat …”
“… And what is the second?”
“Ah, yes … the second. Well, seeing as Cull isn’t here to look out for you ...”
“You mean pester, nag, and generally bully me into doing what he wants me to do …”
“…Exactly! Well, seeing as he isn’t here to pester, nag, and generally bully you into doing what should be done, then I figured someone else has to ...”
“Someone has to what, exactly?”
“… Get you to do what needs to be done, of course. Let’s face it, there isn’t anyone else around here that’ll do it, is there? They’re all just as pleased as punch to have the Dragan prince back, and none of them want to rock the boat, but Cull was right. You need to face up to your responsibilities, and since it’s partly my fault that Cull left, I feel that it’s up to me to take up the slack.”
“Tal ... Did someone hit you on the head?”
“No … why?”
“I can arrange it, if you’d like? I’m sure I can do that.”
“Not until you start paying them their wages, you can’t.”
“You’re getting quite a fixation for money, you know. It can’t be good for your health.”
“Ah, you see! That’s the sort of thing I’m talking about. If you’re going to rebuild this sorry excuse for a fortress, then you’re going to need to start thinking about commerce and trade, and all of that. Those sorts of things don’t handle themselves, you know, and I’m sure someone, somewhere, is making a tidy profit by doing this stuff for you. For instance, all the horses out in the paddocks, and the sheep and cattle for that matter… have you looked into what they’ve earned you yet? Before the spring fair, you’ll need to have all of that sorted out. Once you get to the fair, you’ll be too busy to handle all those tiny details yourself. This brings me to another point, and the real reason that I got you up so early.”
“Finally, we get to the point … I’m all ears.”
“Well … you’ve been lolling around here for over a week now. As you know, I’ve never been one for physical exercise, but I’m not the one with my Rites of Manhood coming up. To be blunt, you’ll need to put on a good show at the trials, if you’re going to drum up support for your Kingship, and you aren’t going to do that if you are huffing and puffing after the first mile of the big run.”
“Taliesin, I’m the only heir to the throne. It’s not as if I’m going to have a younger brother come along and boot me off the throne.”
“Conal! As your friend, let me just say … don’t be such a cloth-eared, spawny-eyed prat. You know full well what I mean. It’s not Clann Na Dragan I’m worried about. It’s the throne of the High King. You’ll need powerful friends to keep Lord Boare at bay, while you rebuild your Kingdom. Otherwise, come springtime, this place will be swarming with Boarites again. You can’t rely on the Brocians to keep them away. You need to win the respect of the other Clans.”
Conal blinked in surprise. He had never heard Taliesin say anything like this before. The bard was usually too busy composing sonnets to worry about his next meal. With a sigh, he threw back the covers and started searching under the bed.
“What are you doing?” Taliesin asked, after watching him for a moment.
“I’m looking for my socks. I had them on last night.”
“Why don’t you wear a clean pair?”
Conal’s hand came up with a threadbare blue patterned sock. “It’s alright, I’ve found one!” A further rummage found another sock. This one was red and longer than the first.
“Conal, your chambermaid puts your laundered socks in that small cupboard over there.”
“She does … since when?” Conal got up and flipped open the cupboard. “That’s a stupid place to put them!”
Taliesin shook his head. “…As opposed to storing them with your bellybutton fluff collection under your bed, is that it? Conal, you really need to get your act together. Get some socks on, and we’ll go and see Declan. I’m sure he can arrange a suitable training regime to get you fit.”
Conal sighed and silently relinquished his life of luxury. Taliesin seemed determined to make up for Cull’s departure, and knowing Declan, he’d be only too happy to oblige.