Chapter LVII Politics
LVII Politics
Sidonius stands in front of the door, waiting for me to join the Gathering. He looks grim, unusually serious, and when I approach, he gives me a firm nod. I exhale in relief. His support will make my coup as seamless as possible.
“Everything is in motion,” he murmurs, while the corridor behind me resounds with quick footsteps. “As we agreed, Caliane. You will reinstate the old laws and exclude the Citadel from all tariffs.”
I nod, searching his face. “Are you certain, Sidonius? There is no turning back if you do this. You know what will have to be done.”
He sneers, casting a scornful look at the closed door behind him. “I’ve licked their boots for years, and for what? They humiliate me and never pay attention to what I say. The title of Master of Peace used to mean something. It was an honor to bear. Now? I am but a puppet in their hands.”
He scoffs, shaking his head. “When they brought the Agnidari women here after Magnar took Zanvar, I refused to sponsor a brothel. I knew then, just like they did: whether in five years, ten, or twenty, the Tyrant would take what’s his and slaughter those who wronged him.
Theodore sent his flotilla to choke my port.
There was food rotting on ships that couldn’t get out, merchants clamoring for their wares.
I lasted a week and had to break, like always.
I want this in our treaty, too. Blocking the Citadel’s port shall be unlawful. ”
I nod. “Agreed. We need a Master of Peace who will have privileges and power as well as duties. You shall be a true overseer, not just a pleasant host.”
“Good. Then we agree. You have my full support.”
I turn and smile at the people who’ve gathered behind me. Susan looks gleeful, Nasturtia worried, while Molly is so pale, I’m afraid she’ll faint. Her mouth is set, though. She wants to be here.
The two other queens I convinced to come, Elizabeth and Kathrine, cast worried looks behind them where my knights stand.
“Let’s take a table, ladies,” I say with a grin, projecting confidence I don’t truly feel.
I have Sidonius, and yet it might not be enough. But I’m out of time, and this is the only plan I came up with that has a chance of working.
The kings are already gathered inside and when we enter, they stand up in outrage, demanding to know what’s going on.
“What is the meaning of this? Remove those people at once!”
Raduna closes the door and stands guard, hefting his sword threateningly. Khay shuts the windows. Arvi twirls a knife between his fingers with a gleeful smile.
“This is a travesty!” Richard roars, looking first at me then at his wife, who flinches but doesn’t retreat. “You have broken the Kings’ Peace, all of you! This is a sacred space reserved for the kings! How dare you!”
“The Kings’ Peace is not in power anymore,” I say, stepping forward. “I’m instating the Queens’ Peace. From now on, queens will sit at this table.”
“Queens?” Xander asks, his voice dripping with scorn. “Then the Eleven will fall in a day! You’re a bunch of stupid, brainless women.”
I smile coolly, my hands itching to strike him. Richard and Xander are two men I wish to see brought to their knees the most.
“Even if that happens, you shan’t see it,” I say. “You’ll rot in the dungeons while your wives take over. You broke the law.”
I glance at Molly, then at Xander, narrowing my eyes with satisfaction. “You will be alive as long as it pleases your wives. If they find that you are not required for their success and happiness, it might just happen that Sidonius will lose the keys to your cells and forget to feed you.”
“You accuse us with empty hands. You won’t get away with it,” Xander hisses, rounding the table to get to his wife. “Molly, why the fuck are you here? I’ll teach you to challenge your husband, you just wait until…”
He breaks off when a knife flies by his face, nicking his ear. Slowly, Xander reaches up to touch it. His fingers come away bloody. He turns to Arvi, spitting with rage.
“How dare you!” he roars.
Arvi throws another knife. Xander flinches away, but too late. His other ear is bloody.
“Next time, I’ll aim for your throat,” my knight says cheerfully, another knife dancing between his skilled fingers. “Now sit. Good boy.”
Xander sits down, his face dark with hate. Molly breathes fast, looking between him and Arvi, then at me. When our eyes meet, she gives me an awed, tremulous smile. I smile back. Oh, it must feel so good to see the man who humiliated her finally cowed.
“I resent the sitting arrangement,” I say with a twist of my lips. “But for now, you must remain seated, gentlemen. Whoever rises without my or another queen’s express permission shall be incapacitated. Is that clear?”
Theodore folds his hands on the table, giving me a long, careful look.
“This is a mistake, Queen Caliane. As soon as those doors open, we’ll call for our soldiers. Your husband will be the first to hang, then your heads will roll.”
“Your retinues are being disarmed and locked up as we speak,” Sidonius says, his quiet voice filled with vicious satisfaction.
“The Citadel guards are mine to command, my kings. You seem to have forgotten it, but this is my city. I am the Master of Peace, and the accuser of those who break the law.”
“Then you’ll hang, too!” Richard spits through clenched teeth, pushing his chair away from the table. He remains seated when Arvi points his knife at him. “How do you expect this to work? Our people will want answers!”
“And they shall have them,” I say softly. “In your conceit and arrogance, you left behind a pile of evidence. You felt untouchable and took Sidonius for granted. But he gave you up and revealed your atrocities.”
Richard pales, and Bernard shuffles in his seat, his brow furrowed. Theodore sits back, his shoulders dropping in defeat.
“It was only politics,” he whispers, giving me an apologetic look. “It wasn’t personal, Caliane.”
“Not another word!” Richard roars, his hands shaking. “They have nothing! This is a bluff!”
“You accusing my husband was a bluff,” I hiss, my temper flaming too hot to control. “But unlike you, we have proof and the most reputable witness of all—the Master of Peace himself. There is no one more impartial on the continent.”
“What do you accuse us of?” Bernard asks, his voice unperturbed.
I take a deep breath and roll my shoulders back, leveling the kings with a triumphant stare. Oh, I will not pass up this opportunity. After all the humiliations they served me, I am going to gloat.
“Does the name Egerd de Bloom mean anything to you?” I ask with a smirk.
Bernard inhales sharply, Xander curses, and the others flinch and mutter before I silence them with a look. Richard watches me without moving, serpentine rage coiling in his eyes.
“It took me a while to figure it out. Do you know where I heard his name first? In Roharra, during one of my ministers’ trial.
He was accused of treason, but what’s hilarious is, it was a pure accident that he was discovered.
All I wanted was to lessen my husband’s burdens and make the ministers more efficient.
Instead, I discovered a plot—my own ministers were funneling secret information to Trista. ”
Richard purses his lips, his voice tight with anger. “I have no knowledge of this.”
“No? You must have signed the documents while sleepwalking, then. Unfortunately, a man is a king even when he sleeps, just like your men are yours on their day off. Such a pity.”
He says nothing, his jaw working. Everyone is silent, waiting for me to reveal how much I know.
“Among the information sent over were maps of Roharra’s capital and the keep. I kept wondering—why would a man in Trista need those maps? Did they plan a visit? Were they looking to admire our architecture? Or did they need a way in to assassinate the queen of Farneer?”
No one says anything, and I smile coldly. “I was shot at in my own garden. The attackers shot with the intention to kill me.”
“Could have been anyone,” Xander says through clenched teeth.
“Of course,” I nod seriously. “But I had a hunch. You know, my husband is a wise man. He trusts my hunches, and that taught me to trust them myself. After I realized who Egerd de Bloom was, as well as his connection to the treason in my court, I went to have tea with Sidonius. I must reprimand you, gentlemen. You’ve treated the Master of Peace in a manner unbecoming of his station.
Indeed, he was happy to give you up. I didn’t even have to beg him. ”
“You’re the traitor, then,” Richard hisses, looking at Sidonius. “You are sworn to secrecy!”
“The only thing I am sworn to is preserving the peace in the Eleven,” Sidonius says cooly, his manner sharp, so unlike his former hand-wringing. “I am done being your lackey.”
“We have documents bearing all your seals and signatures,” I say, looking at the kings, some stone-faced, some furious, some afraid.
“You have paid Egerd de Bloom the sum of forty thousand manoli in total for the service of assassinating the queen of Farneer, and, incidentally, the heir to the crown of Farneer. You broke the peace, and you are hereby stripped of your seats at the Table of Kings. Your wives will take over in your place, and you shall be locked up in the Citadel’s dungeons.
The Master of Peace will decide your fate. ”
“None of the documents say what the money was for,” Richard grits out. “That’s not proof.”
“But Egerd de Bloom knows what he was paid for,” Sidonius says, baring his teeth in a grin of triumph.
“You brought him here to assassinate Magnar if your plotting didn’t work out.
Right now, he is out there telling the people of the Citadel of your crimes.
Not only did you try to have the young queen of Farneer killed, you tried to have her killed while she’s pregnant. ”