"Sir, you must be joking, I can't simply give the food away for nothing!" Tired eyes set between an under shaved jawline and disheveled hair stare the poor Lord down, and he finds himself shrinking back so much he questions if he'll step out of his boots with his next step.
"I assure you, the costs have been calculated. If all of it was to be tossed away anyways then what's the harm in simply feeding the peasants, especially during a famine? It doesn't take a genius to come to that conclusion, in fact it only took a child."
"But the peasants, they'll expect this sort of handout regularly, they'll revolt if we don't continue to give-"
"SIR ROGER!" A somewhat shrill cry cut off his ramblings, and a small child barged into the room from behind the taller, more exhausted man. "What is taking so long? The tea is set and the cookies aren't going to be soft and yummy much longer."
"Your highness, they're imaginary cookies, I'm certain they will be the perfect consistency when I try them. I'm having difficulty reasoning with Lord Percival here about your orders. He says the people will revolt if we feed them, and they'll start expecting it regularly." The child crossed her arms, glaring upwards at the culprit to her teatime's delay with an icy stare.
"You're right, Lord Percival how foolish of me. You don't expect to eat every day, do you?"
"I- pardon? Your Highness-"
"You simply wait for the crops to get better too! You can have some of the free food too you know. You're so skinny after all, come, I have just the thing. Some tea and cookies, they're the perfect temperature! Sir Roger, I'll simply put you to work getting this done."
"As you wish, I'll get on it right away." With a firm grip on his shoulder, Lord Percival was unceremoniously shoved towards the Queen's Playroom, and Sir Roger set about looking for some workers who were actually competent in getting things done, not a Lord playing at being in charge. After all, he had an order direct from the Queen to get done.
