Chapter 25
Revealing Rankings
N ow, Tam… dear, reasonable Tam. Think about what your father would do, there is no need—”
“I really don’t know why you’re so concerned about my violent tendencies when it was your brother who just beat these men into the road.” The future duke gave Jeong a significantly more blunt retort than he had in the carriage prior to the robbery attempt.
“My brother wasn’t the first one to jump to murdering a person, that’s why!”
“I said it was a last resort!” Tam defended himself irritably before turning away from Jeong with a long sigh.
The group of four men who had tried to take the carriage knelt on the road in front of Jeong, Tam, and Eli. The apparent bandits’ swords were safely stowed in a secret compartment under the seat Bong and Jeong had been occupying in the carriage.
By the time Bong gave a bow of his head to confirm everything was fine in the vehicle with both the weapons and Luca, Tam was more than ready to get the questioning started.
“None of you,” he began while sweeping his finger through the air at them, “are real bandits. None of you have held a sword in your life, and you’re more terrified of us than we are of you.”
Jeong looked back and forth from the men on the ground to the future duke, his round face dumbfounded. Eli blinked and raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn’t react as dramatically.
Bong merely watched the men as though he, too, had come to the same conclusion.
“My question is this. Is it that you’re all desperate to feed your families? Or did you target this carriage specifically?” Tam’s hand fell back to his side as he awaited their answer.
However, none came. The bandits kept their eyes and chins lowered.
Tam said nothing as he continued studying them in their stoic silence, until he eventually crouched down in front of them. “We can either strip you and leave you by the edge of the road while we ride on to the next town and report you, or you can tell us the truth, and we might be more forgiving.” Tam’s tone was even, but not necessarily kind.
The man who’d pressed a sword to Tam’s throat was still visibly quaking, and he was the first to slip a glance at his fellow bandits as though asking permission to speak.
“You have until I count to five to let me know what you’ve decided. One… two…”
“Forgive me, sir!” the bandit leader cried, falling forward so that his forehead could press against the road. “We were forced out of our village! W-we had no other options—”
“Who gave you the swords?” Bong asked softly.
The bandit fell silent again.
“Three… four…” Tam continued, his volume rising with each number.
“The traders!” the bandit burst out, his voice breaking. “T-they said they wouldn’t take our women and children if we worked for them.”
It was Tam’s side of the road that quieted then.
The future duke barely resisted looking at Eli to gauge how she was reacting to the news.
“Do you happen to know any names of these traders?” Bong spoke up, and while he still sounded gentle, there was an edge to his words.
“Who else?” one of the bandits on the ground uttered darkly while lifting his face to stare at the nobles. “The one who is friends with Lord Yangban.”
Tam watched Bong’s reaction to the news. The steeliness that entered into his face was wildly at odds with his usual happy self.
The Zinferan nobleman peered down at the bandits, his thoughts unknown, and just as Tam was about to suggest he finish the interrogation alone, Bong turned and strode to the carriage while calling over his shoulder, “I will give you all silver. You will pay the traders, and when they leave, you will take your families, and you will flee to Haeson. You will report to the magistrate there that you are to work for the Ryu family.”
All the bandits looked up with a start. “R-Ryu… family…?” the bandit who had been the first to speak asked faintly. “S-sir, are you…”
“I am a servant of the Ryu family. However, I am capable of hiring men to work for their fishing businesses. You will tell the magistrate that Daeba sent you.” Bong stated the lie stiffly.
The bandits gaped at Bong’s back, too stunned to move as this information sank in. By the time Bong returned with a small satchel that clinked with coin, two of the men began to cry, though they didn’t make a sound as they gazed up reverently at Bong.
“Thank you, sir,” rasped the bandit who had revealed which traders were responsible for their present fate.
The four men, from their knees, all bowed to Bong, who laid the silver in front of them.
“Pardon us, but we must be on our way,” was all Bong said to them. He returned to the carriage.
Tam could tell something had greatly disturbed the Zinferan nobleman. He, Eli, and Jeong followed Bong back to the vehicle, climbed in, and alerted their driver that they were ready to resume their journey.
Bong didn’t speak at all or look at the group when the carriage lurched into movement. Sensing that he wasn’t quite ready to explain what had him uncharacteristically serious, Tam turned his attention to Luca.
“You’re sure you’re alright?” Tam asked quietly.
Luca nodded. “It was a bit scary… But I guess I have to get used to that, right?”
“Of course not!” Jeong jumped in fiercely. “That is not at all what you should get used to! We will get to Junya, and you are going to spend your time like any child should! Playing games! Eating! Maybe a bit of studying… Tam, have you thought about hiring Luca a tutor to continue his studies?” Jeong directed at the future duke earnestly.
Tam opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Right… Tutors…
They would be in Zinfera for months; it’d make sense that Luca would study. It’d probably help him when they went back to Daxaria as well.
“My lord, I can see to arranging for a tutor or two for Luca once we reach Junya,” Eli volunteered.
Turning to his assistant, Tam was just about to issue his thanks when he noticed the tension in Eli’s face.
His gaze flitted back to Bong, still staring out the window. Tam resolved to ask for details about this trader later on. He had heard about Soo Hebin’s cousin during the council meetings, but judging from Eli’s reaction, she must have crossed paths personally with Lord Yangban directly at one point or another.
But what grudge did Bong have?
◆◆◆
That night, they set up camp at a break point where several other travelers were settled in beside the Ho River. After Luca had been put to sleep in Tam’s tent with a lantern lit to keep him warm, Tam sought out Bong and Eli—only to find that Bong had retired abnormally early for the night, and Eli…
Tam found Eli sitting on a flat rock beside the river, the brilliant starry sky spreading its cloak over the desert land and exhibiting its unapologetic beauty for any lonely souls to confide in.
The air had cooled considerably since that afternoon, as Tam had been warned would happen when traveling in the desert. And so when he approached Eli, who sat in nothing but the clothes that Bong had purchased for her that very morning—but felt like a week ago—he carried with him a blanket.
Dropping it over her shoulders, Tam plunked himself down a few feet away without a word.
“Thank you,” she said awkwardly.
Tam nodded vaguely. “If you get sick, we’ll have to figure out where to find a physician. Better you stay warm.”
“People don’t instantly get sick just because they get a little cold,” Eli countered stubbornly, though she still pulled the dark-green blanket around herself.
Tam shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. Why take a chance when you don’t have to?”
His assistant let out a loud breath through her nose while returning her attention to the river that rushed by. Sounds of the other travelers talking and laughing wafted over to them.
“I take it you know the traders and Lord Yangban better than most people?”
Eli swallowed. “Yes.”
“I see.” Tam paused. “Is there anything I should know about either of them?”
“Lord Yangban is the one who first started working with the traders to help build their power. He’s one of the greatest supports to Soo Hebin.”
Tam feigned a casual, receptive air to the news. “Why didn’t Jeong or Bong mention his importance when citing the influential lords we had to sway?”
“Because there is no swaying him. And he’s most likely in Gondol right now anyway. He wants Junya as the capital because he knows it will weaken the power of those that support other concubines—he’s most likely the one who gave Soo Hebin the idea to begin with, to help her gain power in His Excellency’s court. The trader he works with who oversees everything is named Captain Woo. He’s… He’s the one I spent time with when I was first taken,” Eli explained ambiguously.
“Is there anyone, or any combination of people, powerful enough to destroy both Lord Yangban and Captain Woo?”
Eli’s upper lip curled disdainfully. “The court is a mess right now, and I haven’t been a part of it in years, so I haven’t a clue.”
Tam pondered this while gazing up at the Goddess’s Pool constellation. “Alright. So Lord Yangban is another possible threat while we are in Junya?”
Eli nodded. “If he’s in Junya instead of Gondol, he’ll recognize me if I see him.”
“And I’m guessing he and Lord Guk get along well?”
“Surprisingly, no. They compete with each other for power in Junya. It’s one of the reasons Lord Guk could theoretically still be swayed to go against the change. That said, if they both stand to gain a lot by working together, they might.”
“Hm… And I thought hearing about Troivack’s court problems was a headache. This isn’t even all of the palace’s affairs.”
Eli closed her eyes. “That’s right.”
Hearing the tight irritation in Eli’s voice, Tam felt disgruntlement sprout in his chest. He tapped a finger slowly against the stone they sat on.
“How highly ranked is Lord Yangban?”
“Fourth.”
Tam winced.
In Zinfera, as opposed to marquis, duke, or other titles, the nobility knew where they were in the pecking order based on twelve ranks assigned to them either by the emperor himself, or by family inheritance—rankings that the emperor could change if he wished.
Those ranked at least fifth could attend court and weigh in on official matters prior to public announcements. Those ranked fourth, tended to be distantly related to the royal family, could live at court and have access to some of the more exclusive palace buildings and parties. If not directly related to the royal family, fourth-ranked individuals had daughters who had married into it.
Second and third ranks were related to the royal family as parents, half siblings, or lower-ranked princes and princesses. And first-ranked individuals were either close in line to inheriting the throne, or already on it. The higher a person’s rank, the more difficult it’d be for a lower rank to oppose their power. But allied with someone of higher rank, even a fourth rank had a chance to overpower, say, a second or third.
Tam pressed his luck with another question. “Technically, by the Zinferan standard, I am ranked between second and fourth in Daxaria. What was your ranking before you were taken?” he asked, well aware he was requesting more information than Eli might be comfortable sharing at the moment…
“I was in the first rank.”
Tam’s head whipped around. If he had been in the midst of taking a drink, he would’ve spit it out. “Pardon?”
Eli’s grip on the blanket around her shoulders tightened. “I was favored by Lady Chin. I was ranked first.”
“Even though you were adopted?” Tam asked bluntly, his astonishment overcoming his sense of manners and restraint.
Eli bobbed her head wearily.
“Then the entire reason you have been scared of returning, and why they want you dead…”
“Yes. Soo Hebin saw me as a legitimate threat, but I wasn’t. I had no ambition to take over the throne, and furthermore, last I heard, the emperor hadn’t ever broached the subject with the coven here in Zinfera. So really, I was given the first rank because his mother insisted. He never was going to name me empress.”
Tam found himself at a loss for words.
His mild-mannered—though occasionally disgruntled—assistant… had been named as a highly viable heir to the Zinferan throne.
“Why the hell did you come back here?”
At last, Eli turned to look at Tam, her eyes rife with pain and anger. “If I’d stayed in Daxaria, someone would’ve found out the truth and then they’d be obligated to tell your king. The only reason I was overlooked in Troivack was because everyone was too busy learning about the extent of Duke Icarus’s crimes, and not many Zinferans wanted to go to Troivack in the first place. Which meant no one knew me there. Well, aside from Duke Icarus, who must have heard from the traders who I was.”
“Then he found out you had been kidnapped… knew about your abilities… and figured you would be useful,” Tam said, piecing together Eli’s history. “Why are you so certain that if you stayed behind in Daxaria, someone would’ve remembered you?”
Eli fidgeted, then, reaching some sort of defeated conclusion, gave a bitter laugh. “Because I’m related to a close family friend of yours.”
Tam had felt like he was making progress with wrapping his head around Eli’s royal lineage, but now his thoughts collapsed back into a baffled heap.
He blinked, sitting up straighter and leaning forward to stare at his assistant’s face, his mind already racing. “What? You are? Who?”
Somberly, Eli gazed back at her employer, prepared to reveal yet another well-guarded secret to a man she had known for only a few weeks…
“I’m related to Lord Oscar Harris. Duke Iones.”
Tam’s jaw dropped.
“My mother is Marigold Nam. Formerly Marigold Iones. Lord Harris’s half sister.”