Chapter 17 #3
In moments, the Viridians were herded into the throne room, their wrists shackled. Forty of them shuffled into the throne room, heads bent, evidence of beatings undisguised on their arms and faces. Palace guards forced them to kneel.
“My wife has asked for clemency for your actions in the kennels. My courtiers, however, would like nothing more than to tear you limb from limb.”
“Blessings of the Triad on the sun of Aureum,” Orithyia said, stepping forward with a deferential nod.
“Does the high priestess wish to speak in my court?”
“I do, Your Majesty. I would like to suggest that the Viridians present be rewarded for their brave deeds in the kennels,” she said, not even flinching when the shouting in his court reached deafening proportions.
“The high priestess oversteps, Your Majesty!” Gallus interjected. “She has long favoured Viridis in all matters. And it was her spire that began the blight.”
“My spire did no such thing, Lord Gallus.”
Aurora tensed beside him.
“Your Majesty, if Batea’s clemency rests on her returning with Drakon’s head, then you must see that Trisia will only know peace once the beast is dead.
When we entered the kennels, my soldiers only targeted Drakon and the beasts that could become like Drakon.
They did so because they believed in my visions, as you once did.
Please do not punish the people loyal to me for doing what you have now proclaimed will win your cousin forgiveness,” Aurora said.
Orithyia stepped forward once more.
“Her Highness is correct, Your Majesty. If slaying Drakon would give clemency to one who openly defied you, then surely trying to slay the beast was a just act in the first. After all, had Your Majesty granted Her Highness’ request when she first petitioned you, Drakon would not now be in the hands of a woman who defied you and an agent of Lies who deceived you.
Perhaps in light of that, Your Majesty will allow the Viridians to continue to serve Her Highness by joining the search for Drakon, and when the beast is slain, reward them appropriately with lands in which to settle.
After all, bestowing lands on a royal spouse’s retainers is expected of a monarch, is it not? ” Orithyia added.
The Aureans exploded in angry chatter once more.
Had that old bitch just handed him the chance to separate the Viridians from his wife? Theron could hardly contain his shock. What was her game this time?
“Will you allow Viridian soldiers to attack Aurean military resources with impunity, Your Majesty?” Lord Gallus shouted above the rest.
Theron locked eyes with Lady Ino then. Usually, few under her thumb dared to speak against him.
Now, they danced to her tune, bringing chaos to his court.
Was this her way of telling him how much he needed her support?
If so, it was painfully effective. Nearly half the court was hers.
It rankled to realise just how much he’d relied on her to keep them in line.
He’d never dangled the prospect of the crown in front of her, and yet she’d always acted as if he had.
Now that he’d threatened her for overstepping, she meant to chastise him.
He would show her it didn’t matter if he never married her, she would be brought to heel and thank him for his tolerance all these years.
“No, Lord Gallus, not with impunity. I will allow them to prove their worth by tracking the beast. But in doing so, they may bring no harm to my cousin or any other citizen of Aureum. If they accomplish this task, I will consider rewarding them with the chance to continue defending my kingdom…along the border with the Between.”
Outrage turned to smug grins in an instant.
The desert bordering the Between was a barren, dusty strip, home to a scant few mining operations and the occasional outlaw.
Then there was the Between itself, where the protection of the Triad ended and monstrosities were said to roam every night. It was a frontier few dared to inhabit.
“Lady Ino?”
“Your Majesty?” she asked, face an unreadable mask.
“You mentioned you recently came into possession of land near the Between, did you not?”
“I did, Your Majesty,” she replied, eyes widening in shock.
“I will purchase the lands from you at a fair price. If the Viridians prove worthy, I will allow them to settle there.”
To his court, it would sound like an insult to the Viridians to be forced to the very edges of the habitable land in Aureum and a fair deal to Lady Ino.
To Aurora, it was exactly what she wanted—clemency for the soldiers.
To Flora, a way to give her what she and Orithyia wished while spitting in their faces.
To Lady Ino, it would be a warning that if she thought to turn her people against him, he would simply take whatever wealth and power she thought was hers—to teach her that her place was where he put her, which was decidedly not on a throne by his side.
“And what of Dia, Your Majesty?” Orithyia asked. “She was proven to be an agent of Lies in this very throne room. Now she has escaped along with your cousin and the beast. Would it not be prudent to put together a search for her and the other dualists as well?” Orithyia asked.
Was that what she wanted? Another brutal raiding party to persecute dualists in his lands?
Well, he was not inclined to give it to her, not when his people had already suffered enough.
The last thing he wanted was a rowdy bunch of paladins stomping across his lands, overturning every horse cart and market stall looking for supposed dualists.
“After questioning Dia myself, I can only conclude that she is no longer a threat, Your Holiness. When you took her divine magic, you left her a witless madwoman. She thought the sky was green and herself a young maiden of eighteen summers. No, if anything, the more pressing matter is the monstrosities. It would be prudent for the temples to begin blessing the arms and armour of city and town guards as a start. Perhaps even stationing initiates and priestesses in more isolated hamlets so that our farmers and herders remain safe throughout this cycle of chaos.”
“So you will allow an agent of Lies to go free, Your Majesty?” Lady Ino asked.
Oh, was she so incensed that she would openly ally with Orithyia? That was a poorly calculated move, given most of her own supporters despised the woman and rightly blamed her for the blight.
“I am saying, Lady Ino, that tracking down one woman is less of a priority than protecting my people from monstrosities. I have experienced three separate attacks, and the danger is not to be underestimated. Having those with divine power stationed in every village and hamlet will also allow them to keep an eye out for Dia, don’t you agree? ”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she conceded.
Now to make his escape from Altanus a little more dignified.
“Lord Vettias,” Theron said.
“Yes, Your Majesty?” The elderly man stepped forward.
“I will spend the next few days preparing to make my way to your home. My wife and I will go to the mountains and do all in our power to pacify the spirits there.”
“I am most gratified, Your Majesty. Triad bless the sun of Aureum.”
Aurora gave him a suspicious look, but she didn’t openly deny him. A relief.
“Lord Leukos?”
Leukos bowed his head.
“Blessings of the Triad on the sun of Aureum.”
“You will begin your search for Drakon in the western desert tomorrow.”
“That is most gracious of you, Your Majesty. We will return with news of Drakon’s demise.”
Someone had better, or he feared his wife’s mind would deteriorate beyond his ability to save.
By saying even Batea could earn his forgiveness by returning with Drakon’s head, hopefully that would signal to his more ambitious nobles that slaying the beast would count towards a great deed worthy of becoming the king’s sword bearer.
With everyone searching for Drakon, it was only a matter of time.
Time, he prayed, he still had left to save Aurora’s mind.
“Now, I will hear the rest of the court’s petitions,” Theron announced.
Court dragged on until the early evening. His own fault, really, underestimating just how many would take the opportunity to petition for the position of sword bearer then and there. By the time Theron called an end to court, he was exhausted.
Aurora still refused to eat dinner with him, but that was better than open hostility. She even wrote him a letter thanking him for not punishing the Viridians.
Theron dismissed his attendants and was grateful to sink into his bed.
But as he lay there, he felt a pang of loneliness.
He wanted his wife at his side. He’d gotten accustomed to sleeping with her on their journey to Aureum.
Now, he missed the feel of her hair tickling him in the night, the sound of her even breaths, the sight of her ears twitching as she dreamed.
He missed waking to her eyes sparkling with warmth.
Most of all, he missed how right it had felt when she was at his side, how much lighter the burdens he shouldered were when he could talk to her.
In her absence, his crown had never felt so heavy.