That  has nothing to do with the case, you know. The fact isthat even  if you  are the regent and  my uncle, I'm still  king and you'restill my subject. You oughtn't to call me a fool and you oughtn't to sit inmy presence, anyway. You  haven't asked my permission. I think you ought tobe   careful,   or  I   might   do   something  about   it  pretty   soon."Wienis'  gaze   was  cold.  "May  I  refer   to  you  as  'your  majesty'?""Yes.""Very well! You are a fool, your majesty!"His dark eyes blazed from beneath his grizzled brows and the young king satdown slowly. For a  moment, there was sardonic satisfaction in the regent'sface, but  it faded quickly. His thick lips parted in  a smile and one handfell upon the king's shoulder bicelle b5 gel.
"Never  mind,  Lepold.  to  you. It  isdifficult  sometimes to  behave with  true propriety  when the  pressure ofevents is  such as ?You  understand?" But if the  words were conciliatory,there was something in his eyes that had not softened.
Lepold said  uncertainly, "Yes. Affairs of  State are deuced difficult, youknow." He wondered, not  without apprehension, whether he were not in for adull siege  of meaningless details on the year's  trade with Smyrno and thelong,  wrangling  dispute  over  the sparsely  settled  worlds  on the  RedCorridor.
Wienis was  speaking again. "My boy, I had thought to  speak of this to youearlier, and  perhaps I should have, but I  know that your youthful spiritsare impatient of the dry detail of statecraft."Lepold nodded. "Well, that's all right ?
His uncle broke in  firmly and continued, "However, you will come of age intwo months. Moreover, in the difficult times that are coming, you will haveto take  a full  and active part. You  will be king  henceforward, Lepold."Again Lepold nodded, but his expression was quite blank.
"There will be war, Lepold.""War! But there's been truce with Smyrno?
"Not Smyrno. The Foundation itself.""But,   uncle,   they've   agreed   to   repair  the   ship.   You   said?
His voice choked off at the twist of his uncle's lip.
"Lepold" ? some of the friendliness had gone ?we are  to talk man to man.
There is  to be  war with the  Foundation, whether the ship  is repaired ornot; all the sooner, in fact, since it is being repaired. The Foundation isthe source of power and might. All the greatness of Anacreon; all its shipsand its  cities and its people and its commerce  depend on the dribbles andleavings of power that  the Foundation have given us grudgingly. I rememberthe  time ? I, myself  ?when the  cities of  Anacreon were warmed  by theburning of coal and  oil. But never mind that; you would have no conceptionof it.""It seems,"  suggested the  king timidly, "that  we ought to  be grateful Coffee Maker?