Chapter Twenty-Two #2
They didn’t go far into the city. Along the top roads were the beautifully pristine houses of the government officials, guild heads, or the wealthy.
None of them, not even the servants rushing about, showed any interest in them.
Poyut stopped in front of a tall house with columns up its sides, wrapped with ivy.
Beside the entrance archway was a little table with a bell, which Poyut rang.
A short, plump woman popped into the doorway and regarded them expectantly.
“The divine king, here to see Justice Malor,” Poyut said. The woman looked twice at Ethyr, then dipped into a bow.
“Follow me, please.” She started down the hall.
A few months ago, the house would have shattered Ethyr’s mind with its marble floor and white walls lined with tapestries. Now it just looked like a smaller, more cluttered version of the palace.
The attendant led them to a small room at the back of the house, which boasted a glass window and a desk like in the advisor’s study, though both were significantly smaller. Malor sat behind the desk, scribbling onto a scroll.
“Your Justice,” the attendant said with a bow. Malor glanced up. “The king is here to see you.”
She looked between Ethyr and Poyut, then set her pen aside and stood. “Thank you, Varia. You may go.” The woman bowed out of the room.
“Your Divinity,” Malor greeted pleasantly, then raised her eyebrows at Poyut. “You said to leave him out of it.”
Ethyr looked up at Poyut, offended.
“I know,” she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “I didn’t want him in the middle of all this, but keeping him in the dark is proving more dangerous. He needs to know.”
“Know what?” Ethyr and Malor asked at the same time, though in markedly different tones. Poyut glanced down at him, then back up hesitantly.
“About Lyrian. About what that soldier told you.”
Ethyr whipped towards Malor. “You’re the one who was told about Lyrian’s plans?” he asked. “But you voted for Lyrian at the council meeting!”
Malor leveled her gaze onto him and he closed his mouth, shrinking a little into himself.
She had the same steady, haughty gaze as Yorith, though her brown eyes were softer and she at least held herself back from appearing outright condescending.
She did not look at Poyut with much more respect so Ethyr wasn’t sure what any of this was about.
“Yes, one of his soldiers approached me and informed me of Lyrian’s little murder plot.”
“How do you know you can even trust that soldier’s word?” Ethyr asked.
“I do not trust any of Lyrian’s recruits by default, but Yorith found plenty of other evidence once I made him aware of the possibility.”
It struck him, then; Malor was the one he’d heard in Yorith’s study that night he’d eavesdropped.
It hadn’t been them plotting to murder Lyrian, she had been telling Yorith of Lyrian’s plot to kill him.
By the time Yorith had been ready to present the scheme to the council to get Lyrian kicked out, he hadn’t gotten the chance.
“What other evidence did he find?” Ethyr asked warily.
Malor waved her hand. “Other testimonies, some witnesses who had overheard a thing or two, and evidence of the plans Lyrian had already set in motion. Lyrian is good enough that he didn’t leave a paper trail, but he wasn’t completely flawless. Few ever are.”
“If you knew Lyrian had planned to kill Yorith, why did you vote for him to take his place?”
Malor sighed, adjusting a few things on her desk. “What was my other option? Lyrian has allies on the council, and the full support of the military. If I did not vote for him, Poyut informed me you would choose him anyway.”
Ethyr looked at Poyut. She looked away, ashamed.
“I couldn’t let Lyrian have total dominion over the palace,” Malor continued.
“When Poyut approached me with her concerns, I found the solution; the person to hold Lyrian back from controlling the palace guard. So I struck a deal with him. I’d give him my vote, thus legitimizing him to the rest of the council—as, to be quite honest Your Divinity, your opinion held little merit in the council’s eyes—and in return he would not disband the council. ”
Ethyr shook his head. “What’s so bad about Lyrian being advisor? He’s doing a fine job! So what if he’s power-hungry? Isn’t everyone?”
Malor looked at him for a long second. Then she looked down and absently gathered some papers into a pile. “Tell me, Your Divinity, what do you know of Lyrian’s father?”
“Lyrian’s father?” Ethyr repeated, baffled. “Why would I know anything about him?”
Malor looked him over as though to say ‘exactly.’ “Lyrian’s father, Aedus, was Guard Master before him.
Now, Lyrian’s kept his beliefs and opinions close to his chest, but his father was quite vocal about his disdain for our government.
He believed the king should not have any power at all, certainly not over who would be advisor, a position which he strongly desired to have and turn into a real sovereign power.
With the entire kingdom’s militia at his command, if he also had the authority and influence of advisor, he could certainly make this happen. ”
“Wait.” Ethyr shook his head, struggling to keep up with her as well as his whirling thoughts. “That’s what Yorith did! I heard him myself, he said he didn’t want me to have any power.”
Malor pressed fingers to the middle of her brow.
“I don’t know what you heard, but Yorith had no desire to take full control of the government.
Decades of office, and he never failed to make it clear that he respected every councilman’s position and contribution.
At the height of Aedus’s maneuverings, the king was a priest named Kulyar.
Kulyar, sensing Aedus was trouble, elected Yorith as advisor, as he knew, without a doubt, that he could trust him.
It was Yorith’s years-long efforts that subdued Aedus and undermined his plans.
He was forced to step down to avoid being dishonorably ejected from the council and losing the standing he and his family had in the community.
It was Yorith’s workings alone that kept the council, and thus the entire government, from falling apart and allowing Aedus to take the helm. ”
Ethyr didn’t see what this had to do with anything going on right now.
In fact, it further proved that Yorith was adept at manipulation and getting what he wanted.
“So…? Forever ago, Yorith became advisor to stop Lyrian’s father from becoming advisor.
That doesn’t make Lyrian a bad advisor. He values my opinion. ”
Malor looked at him with tired exasperation.
“He didn’t just stop Aedus from becoming advisor, he stopped a revolution.
And we were lucky, because Aedus wasn’t willing to mobilize the military under his command to bring about a true, violent revolt.
He did not believe he had enough loyalty within its upper ranks to do so effectively.
Aedus was not a particularly charming man.
Lyrian saw this weakness of his father’s, and when he followed in his footsteps years later, he proved to be a much more likable figure.