Chapter Eight #2
“That’s the primary requirement,” she said with a shrug.
“It’s only a theory, but it’s the one major change since the exiles broke off from what’s become the United Realms. Ideally, you’d also advocate for us with your brother and the other rulers.
We understand that all of that would be contingent on you being accepted in the position. ”
Tor blew out a breath. “You can’t keep raiding. Definitely no killing, but just the raiding is a problem if we’re actually looking at proper peace. There couldn’t be any of that behavior if I were there. I wouldn’t stand for it.”
Bavil spoke up. “I would be happy to assist while you’re getting back on your feet. No subterfuge required. I realize not all Tondians will be happy with that, but I believe explaining the situation to them will make enough of them sympathetic. Especially if we explain about the violent raid.”
“That wasn’t us,” Pel’s mother said quickly.
“So Tama said,” Tor agreed, brushing this aside. “But it appears to have been you, and that can be virtually as damaging. It will be almost impossible to prove it wasn’t. Who else would have done it? And why?”
“Someone who wanted to make it look like us,” Pel’s mother proposed. “To turn sympathy against us.”
Tor, Pel, and Bavil all nodded, and Tor said, “We considered that.”
Pel added, “We actually wondered if it might have been Father but agreed it didn’t seem quite like him.”
She nodded slowly. “I think it unlikely he would have come up with the idea himself. He’s more likely to want to attack and obliterate his enemies.”
That’s what Pel had always been led to understand. When the Bessaran rulers had tried to take over Tond and had killed Pel’s grandparents, Forex hadn’t been content once they, too, were killed. He’d been intent on razing Zanay to the ground and demanding the utter capitulation of every Bessaran.
He wasn’t exactly subtle.
Pel’s mother continued. “Someone else would have had to think of it.”
Tor abruptly straightened. “Someone… like the man who offered the exiles amnesty?”
They all turned to look at him.
“That’s what you said, isn’t it?” Tor said sharply. “That King Nostex offered you amnesty? When did you even see him?”
“He brought us supplies a couple of times. Said that he sympathized with our plight and he was sorry for the turn everything had taken.”
Tor stiffened. “When?”
She considered for a moment. “It must have been a couple of years ago. He said he sympathized, but it wasn’t sustainable, trying to support so many people who weren’t contributing in return.”
Tor grew even more rigid. “After the fight in the Filon mountains? When we fought you off victoriously?”
Pel squeezed Tor’s hand, and he squeezed back.
Pel’s mother was looking at him carefully. “Yes.”
“I was the one leading that campaign,” Tor said with a voice scoured of emotion. “And I can assure you that we had King Forex’s full support, and we were there at his request to protect his people. He requested aid specifically from the High King.”
They were frowning at one another. Pel’s mother said slowly, “He certainly… implied that it was an overzealous High King who had decided to take matters into his own hands.”
“So… he was establishing himself as a more moderate choice?” he suggested. “Would you have pledged your Fealty to him?”
“Not then,” she said firmly. “Although the situation was grave, it was not yet as dire as it is now.”
Tor was nodding slowly. “But the seeds were planted. And then the situation grew more serious with the land.”
Pel jumped in. “And then there was a violent attack which you swear wasn’t you, which exacerbated the situation in Tond to the point that you felt like fleeing was the best option.”
Bav added, “And you tried to flee to the location that had already been set up as your best option.”
“Maybe there was no losing for them,” Pel agreed. “If Father’s attack had succeeded, and the exiles were wiped out, the problem would be eliminated. If you made it to Filon, you would have felt the situation dire enough to pledge your Fealty and strengthen the King.”
“Oh,” Tor breathed. “It’s worse than that.
I mean, that’s all true. But if you’re going after the High King, you need people to blame.
And I walked right into the trap. I was paired with the one royal I least wanted to marry, and I rebelled.
Honestly, anyone could have predicted that.
Was Terila Varex’s idea? Or was he guided to the suggestion? ”
Pel frowned. “Wouldn’t Bav have made more sense? Why didn’t they send you down here deliberately?”
Tor sighed. “I’m embarrassed to admit that they judged me well. Terila was a flat-out refusal, but I wouldn’t have been impressed with anyone my brother picked out, especially not when it was presented to me as a necessity because I was misbehaving and needed to be brought to heel.”
Yeah, that was pretty much designed to get Tor’s back up.
“But there are still four realms you could have gone to. What if you’d stayed in Lotar with your sister?”
Tor considered this and then nodded. “No, you’re right.
They couldn’t have been certain. They might have guessed that I’d get as far away from Vayrin and Alossa as possible.
They might have had plans for each realm that I could have visited.
Or they could have had a more general plan, where the issue with the exiles exploded on its own, and I was seen to take advantage of it or accused of fomenting it with letters or secret visits or something.
” Tor shrugged. “We’ll likely never know.
Because regardless of what could have happened, I came to Tond.
I disappeared for months, and no one ever looked for me or kicked up a fuss.
I was just grateful for all the time I got to spend with you.
” He flashed Pel a grin. “But honestly, that was probably a bit weird. I was playing right into their hands.”
Pel grimaced. “And that’s why Father pushed so hard after the mountain.”
“Yes,” Tor agreed. “He threw me out because now they needed me gone. Made it clear that he was going to write to my brother so that I’d go and explain myself. And that was why Yomil and Fernila were pushing Varex so hard about punishing me.”
Bav was nodding. “Create a sense of urgency and demand immediate action. Keep people’s emotions up and not give them time to think clearly.”
“Exactly,” said Tor.
Tama asked, “So you think they’re working together, Nostex and Forex?”
Bav leaned forward. “Or what if Father only thought they were? We’ve all agreed this isn’t likely to have been his plot.
What if he thought it was going to benefit him, that he was going to get the exiles and the land.
Only then the exiles made for Filon, and he realized he wasn’t going to get the Fealty after all. ”
Pel blew out a breath. “This is the most complicated plot that I’ve ever heard.”
Tor gave a laugh that almost sounded right. “You’re not wrong. We’re obviously just speculating, but it would explain a lot about what’s happened recently.”
“Including what happened to Father,” Bav proposed. “If this really is as big as we’re theorizing, I can’t see King Nostex letting anything get in his way. He tried to kill Prince Torex and Princess Cala. Why not another king on the way to his real goal?”
They all stared at one another, stunned.