Chapter Twenty-Seven
FOLLOWING THE CHALLENGE FEAST, MALACHI EXPANDED the inquisitions beyond the Niyarre and Tareek bloodlines.
He quietly included select fae among the three other bloodlines whose lord primes supported the Cleric’s Rebellion.
It took seven days total for him to have the information and assurances he needed for his next moves that would counter the havoc the damn rebellion was wreaking among his court.
Presently, Malachi sat at the head of the polished oak table that occupied the center of the council room watching the Apollyon Court’s highest-ranking nobles apprehensively take their seats for the Assembly of Primes he’d called.
Nychelle, Trystin, and Malachi’s Cadre were already seated around his end of the table.
Only his inner circle knew what this meeting was truly about, but the rest would find out soon.
Once they were all settled in, he called the assembly to order. “Our business here,” he told everyone around the table, “is to formally fill the vacancies at this table caused by the previous days’ events.” Malachi then turned to Trystin and asked, “Can you retrieve those who are waiting?”
Trystin vanished from his seat beside Malachi and reappeared standing near the door with the individuals who were next in line to ascend as lord primes of not only the Diamundis, Niyarre, and Tareek bloodlines but also the Uma, Windemyr, and Liander bloodlines.
The treasonous primes who remained sitting among them stiffened.
“I am sure you three know why the heir primes of your own bloodlines are here,” Malachi told the lord primes whose days had been numbered since the challenge feast. “Like with Remi and Voshon, it has been discovered that Lord Primes Uma, Windemyr, and Liander have joined the Cleric’s Rebellion and would turn our kingdom over to the enemy, which is indefensible,” he apprised everyone else.
Before the guilty trio could react, Malachi’s shadows chained the primes to their chairs.
Shadows clamped over their mouths because he wasn’t interested in any denials they’d utter.
This wasn’t a trial; it was an execution.
Malachi looked upon the six individuals beside Trystin who would newly join the table as lord primes.
Isiadora Diamundis, a distant cousin about a century older than Malachi, stood among them.
So did Taodrick Tareek, nephew of Voshon Tareek; Cyinthia Niyarre, the former Stone Warden’s niece; Izabelle Windemyr, cousin to her seated prime; Brison Uma, a nephew to his prime; and Marius Liander, also a nephew of his prime.
Not only had they all proven loyal during their interrogations, but they’d also displayed balls of steel and had been repulsed by the idea of Rishaud gaining any dominion over their people.
Which was why they’d make far better lord primes than their predecessors.
It was also why Malachi needn’t carry out these latest executions himself—it was prudent, given the prophecy, that Malachi and those closest to him not be the only ones carrying out the necessary pruning taking place.
Malachi motioned to the table and told three of the soon-to-be lord primes, “The current heads of your bloodlines have participated in acts that have placed the longevity of your bloodlines in peril. As such, you have every right to address their crimes yourselves since Court Law allows for intra-bloodline offenses to be handled within the bloodline. As your current lord primes’ successors, the decision to enact this precept of the law lies with each of you. ”
Izabelle Windemyr, Brison Uma, and Marius Liander moved at once to stand behind their restrained lord primes, as they’d already made their choices and communicated them to Malachi beforehand.
Malachi’s speech was issued merely to point out the validity of the acts before the gathered assembly.
Izabelle, Brison, and Marius manifested void swords and severed the heads of their lord primes at nearly the same time.
“Trystin, would you clean up the mess, please?” Malachi said then.
His cousin made quick work of teleporting the corpses and heads away.
Afterward, Trystin and the court’s new lord primes took their seats.
The others continued to sit staidly and quietly by.
Technically, there were no objections they could make to the proceedings.
By Court Law, cardinal bloodlines had the freedom to deal with house grievances among themselves in the manner they saw fit without outside interference.
“On this day,” Malachi said to the entire assembly, “the crown formally acknowledges the right and legitimacy of Cyinthia Niyarre, Taodrick Tareek, Izabelle Windemyr, Brison Uma, Marius Liander, and Isiadora Diamundis to ascend as the heads of their cardinal bloodlines and act in service of not only their bloodlines but the wider court, the Apollyon crown, and the whole of the Apollyonfolk.” Malachi spoke the ceremonial words that were meant to set the foundation of the relationship between monarch and primes as well as between the kingdom’s primes and its faefolk.
And they were words that the replaced lord primes had forgotten.
Next, Malachi moved on to the last vacancy that remained.
“While we’re gathered, I need to name a new duke prime to replace Cassius.
” When he looked to Isiadora, she sat up straighter in her seat.
A thing he’d learned from Nychelle was that while fear was a powerful motivator, rewarding loyalty was as mighty a tool for a monarch to wield.
He’d exercised an abundance of the former, and this assembly session was also about leveling things a bit with doling out the latter to those deserving and who he hoped would form the kingdom’s backbone in the coming war and beyond.
To that end, Malachi declared, “Isiadora Diamundis is henceforth the court’s duke prime if she accepts the position. ”
Isiadora’s eyes widened. “You honor me, Your Grace. I accept,” she said solemnly. She was a slight female whose voice matched her mien. But her reputation for not allowing anyone to push her around was fierce.
“Do you swear to place what you believe is the court’s and wider Apollyon fae’s best interest above your own and even that of the Diamundis bloodline if those two things do not align?” he asked Isiadora.
She dipped her head and repeated the vow back to him.
“Now, let’s talk war and how we’re no longer waiting for the Six Kingdoms’ armies to darken our territory,” he told the assembly that’d been cleared of any who’d chosen the wrong side.
“Instead, we will start this war in the offensive position. I had intended to use the Aether princess’s presence here to draw Rishaud to me.
But it seems the Hyperion king is using his previous tactics of sowing discord and civil strife within our court to strike at the heart of it.
Learning that Rishaud helms the Cleric’s Rebellion changes everything, and he has sunken his claws too deep into our court.
Further, inquisitions have returned that Rishaud and the Cleric’s Rebellion plan to move beyond the lord primes that they coaxed to their side and go after the common populace next.
A threat so insidious must be quashed immediately before it burrows further and proliferates among our folk.
Which means that the Apollyon Court won’t sit back and wait for Rishaud’s armies to arrive.
Instead, we will prepare our armies to invade Hyperion lands soon after the approaching Winter Solstice.
We will lay siege to the Hyperion Palace, and I’ll take the Hyperion king’s head during the attack.
We will remove the hazard that Rishaud and the Cleric’s Rebellion poses to this kingdom and its people for good.
” He would’ve liked to execute the siege sooner, but such an endeavor would take time to coordinate and solstice celebrations would be a distraction when he needed his lord primes and the kingdom’s military fully focused on the campaign.
Once he was done, he didn’t need to take the measure of Nychelle, Trystin, or any of his Cadre.
He’d talked about this with his inner court prior to the assembly.
He did assess the others in the room. How they responded would let him know if the gathered assembly had the makings to be lord primes who were a collective force that he could count on to bolster his rule and the continued strength and prosperity of the kingdom instead of being nuisances he kept in check.
The newest occupants of the table were the first who didn’t disappoint Malachi.
“I am with you, Your Grace. You have the unwavering support of our bloodline and Diamundis soldiers,” Isiadora said.
The rest of the newly minted lord primes expressed the same.
That then left the old guard. It took those six a bit longer to respond.
Elias Omundiah, a tall, sturdily built male who’d sat as lord prime of his bloodline for six centuries and was known for his blunt but sagacious temperament, was the first of the crop to speak up.
He stood from the table, bowed, and addressed his peers.
“While I think all of us gathered here retain immense veneration for our former king, I believe that in light of recent revelations we also can see how a more stringent handling of those who seek to bring the kingdom harm from within and without is needed. I say this at the risk of offending you and losing my own head, King Malachizrien, but I’ll admit I’ve had my past misgivings about you due to the prophecy and then you taking the reins of the kingdom so young.
However, it’s been proven that there are greater forces at work attempting to bring ruin to this kingdom.
If Apollyon clerics who are supposed to be the link between our faefolk and the divine Celestials in service to our people have bowed to Rishaud, then I, for one, cannot place any stock in some prophecy that the very same clerics claim to have been handed by the Celestials.
It all lines up too neatly in service of nothing except the Hyperion king’s long-held ambitions to make us another of his dominions.
Who is to say that Rishaud did not corrupt the former high cleric who spoke the prophecy about our future king to begin with.
” Lord Omundiah bowed once more at the conclusion of his speech and retook his seat.
“I am not offended by earnestness, and I thank you for it,” Malachi told the Elder male.
The remaining primes among the old guard waffled slightly longer, but after a beat passed, they too echoed similar genuine and supportive sentiments as Lord Omundiah.
As it occurred, Nychelle caught Malachi’s eye, and his auntie allowed a wisp of a smile to play about her lips. Her gaze shone with approval and pride, and Malachi couldn’t deny that it felt good to sit among an Assembly of Primes that truly backed him as king.