Chapter 10: Chapter Ten – Conversations.

Duke Roche watched as the fool knight’s daughter led away and obvious thief. Well perhaps not so obvious, he paid the blue bloods a ‘tax’ to leave his household unmolested. They had given him a heads up about their agent at this evening’s gathering, lest he blow the woman’s cover.

The Martel girl was most likely going to be robbed of her jewellery. Roche would allow it. She was not yet technically part of his household, and her wealth vastly dwarfed the jewellery she was wearing.

Seeing the king had managed to extricate himself from the other aristocrats in order to find a drink, Roche decided to make his move. He approached Perceval and cleared his throat in a subtle but respectful indication that he wanted the king’s attention. For now, he needed to appear as Perceval’s staunchest ally.

“Your majesty,” said Roche with a bow, “might we speak in private. It concerns the security of the realm and I do not want all here to hear about our defensive disposition.” Roche looked meaningfully at the Leatusian ambassador.

Perceval choked on his wine and then recovered, “of course Duke Roche. We would not want to disturb the ball with military talk.”

The king led the way to a private side room. As he did so he caught Duke Pascal’s eye and motioned for him to follow them. Pascal had been a friend of Perceval’s father and the king took his council seriously. Perceval had the subtlety of a squawking crow; the entire ball saw the three of them going to meet in a private conference. That suited Roche just fine. He did not need this conversation to be a secret.

Once they were in the room Perceval spoke impatiently, “well what is it? Have the merchant lords finally attacked?”

The king had been living in perpetual fear of the inevitable counterattack of Leatus. This fear is what Roche was relying on. “No not yet. We are approaching winter, and our intelligence says Greater Leatus will not make a move until next spring at the earliest. The reason I requested this meeting is that I have mixed news as to their potential point of attack. Our agents have manged to determine that they will invade Galadhor in strong numbers. They have already moved many legions into that region.”

“Galadhor, exclaimed Perceval in surprise, “why not Naesbrey or further north? That is where they have always struck before.”

“Precisely your majesty,” said Roche with a flattering smile, “This time they hope to take us unawares by sweeping past our defences on the marsh road and making a quick march to Stormbreaker. They believe that by doing this they will be able to leave the bulk of our army behind them to the north.”

Perceval looked uncomfortable at the prospect of Stormbreaker potentially being under siege come spring. The castle itself was a strong fortification but the city overall would not fare well in war.

Seeing the king’s agitation Roche looked at Pascal, seeing Pascal’s nod Roche put his scheme into action. “I did say your majesty that this was mixed news. Now that we know where they are going to strike, we can prepare. As you know Galadhor is a part of my territory. I know it well and with the right kind of fortification we could hold three times our number there.”

Perceval brightened, “is this true Pascal?”

Duke Pascal took over from Roche, “it is my king. That is why they have never tried that way before. The marsh restricts movement to one road. To get past would be impossible if our fort there was in good repair. As far as I know however that fortification has not been maintained in some time.”

Roche took that as his que too chime back in, “that is likely why they have chosen to take that route. My plan your majesty is to repair and improve the fort this winter. Shamefully I do not have the funds however and so I was hoping that the crown would purchase this ancestral chain from my family.”

Having said that the duke removed the ornate golden chain from his neck. By itself the chain was worth an obscene amount. Roche sighed, “there is no one else in the kingdom who could afford purple mana. It is beautiful but ultimately useless for the coming war. If your majesty were to buy the chain though then I could put the coins to use in bolstering our defence. I assure that my personal army will beat back the Leatusian threat come the spring.” This was the trap but for it to work Pascal needed to play along.

Perceval was in a predicament. Roche was one of his few supporters among the upper nobility. Without him and Pascal the other dukes would have revolted against his family after the disastrous campaign into Greater Leatus. To finance the reconstruction of that fort was almost more than the crown could handle. As impressive as the chain of purple mana was, it would not pay soldiers salaries or for the castle’s servants.

Perceval saw Pascal catching his eye, “give me a moment to think Roche.”

Roche bowed over his enormous gut as he took a few steps back. Pascal leaned into the king’s ear. Giving Pascal and the king some nominal privacy.

“My king without that fort Galadhor will fall. Even if we do construct a sufficient defence in time, I doubt Roche has the manpower to hold it with his own forces. My own army is tied down supporting Naesbrey. I suggest that you send a portion of the royal army to assist the reconstruction and defence at Galadhor.”

Perceval pursed his lips, “the army I can send. It is the coin I am worried about. The price of that chain is weighty, and I am not sure if the crown can bear it alone.”

Pascal paused and then spoke, “coin can always be earned your majesty. If needs be increase taxes. We cannot afford to lose the battle at Galadhor if you wish to keep the kingdom.”

Perceval grimaced. He could not increase taxes he was unpopular enough as it was. He felt trapped by his own position. As he was contemplating the burdens of rule, he noticed the black clothing duke Roche was wearing. Suddenly he had a fantastic solution.

Perceval slapped his knee and exclaimed, “The duke’s wife passed away did she not? Why do we not just have the duke marry the Martel girl?”

Pascal struggled to look shocked at the idea. He had never been a very good actor. To save his own duchy from invasion he had to play the games of politics. He felt so much more comfortable on a battlefield.

Agace put on her most innocent face. It always worked on her sister. She also worked the innocence into her voice, “it actually worked! I thought that bargains with the trickster goddess where just a myth, but here you are. She said that she would send you.”

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Erec immediately felt that he was being lied to. He did not quite know what the lie was, but Agace’s whole demeanour spoke of deceit. For now, though, he would humour her, “the trickster goddess. You know what I am here for then?”

Agace nodded her head enthusiastically, “of course, you are here to help me find a husband. That’s what I asked her for help with.”

Erec could not decide if he found Agace annoying or adorable. She seemed to walk the line in-between. “Why did you need my help? You could have just waited for the king to choose one for you.”

Agace frowned, “I do not trust the king to have my best interests at heart. Besides I know almost nothing about the other nobles, and I do not have the skills to find out more on my own. How would I know if the king had chosen well?”

Erec found the admission refreshing. From his experience so far, there were not many who were willing to admit their short comings. “and her,” questioned Erec gesturing at Arabelle, “why would you think I need her help.”

Arabelle had not moved. She was still clutching her dagger in case Erec had any malicious intentions.

Agace shrugged while maintain a roguish grin, “she seemed sneaky. I thought you might need some sneaky types to help you. After all I also asked to retain all of property. As far as I know some of it has already been stolen.”

Erec gave Agace a level stare, “you mean you want to retain all of your property, not just the property that matters?”

Agace stuck her tongue out at Erec, “of course my father worked really hard to earn all of it.”

Erec sighed. This was going to be a expansive endeavour. Too much for him to accomplish on his own. Even roping in just the blue bloods was likely not going to be enough. It was a good thing he had already set a plan in motion to overtake part of the city’s criminal element. He fingered the black mask he had made for the smugglers benefit; he would need to lean a little harder into his new role.

“I have been instructed to help you marry a man of your choosing. Do you have any idea which man you might like to marry. It is going to take some arranging to pull this off and we only have a little over a month to make it happen,” Erec said hoping that Agace would at least have some way to make the scale of this task smaller.

Agace put her finger on her chin, “Well, I suppose it would be better if my husband were a noble. I have come to expect a certain kind of lifestyle.”

So, no real help then. Erec turned to Arabelle, “first then. Get a message to the rest of the blue bloods tell them that I require their presence.”

Arabelle glared and retorted, “what makes you think that I would work for you? This girl and you seem to be younger than I am. I already have an outfit and if you think…”

Erec had moved at her while she was still speaking. He had the speed of a trained assassin. Before Arabelle could think to defend herself, Erec had grabbed her wrist and twisted the dagger free from her hand. He placed one foot behind her leg and tripped her.

Erec looked into Arabelle’s eyes calmly and held the dagger to her throat. “For one thing,” he began, “I was given an accurate description of you from some third-rate river smugglers on my way here. That means two things. First you are not as anonymous of a theif as you should be, second the thieves guild must be looking for you and the rest of your outfit. You could not think they would let you steal outside the guild forever. If you follow me, I can also give you training. Training which you sorely need. You have good instincts but to truly live up to your potential you have a lot of work to do. If you need any more convincing, then I am about to rain death onto the criminal element in this city. It would be better to join me than be on the receiving end.”

With that he drove the dagger into the floorboards next to Arabelle ear and let her fall fully to the ground. “On second thought the other blue bloods can wait,” he said while crossing the room, “stay here and protect Agace. Security at this palace is abysmal. I need to find us some reliable mercenaries.”

Agace shouted after him as he hopped out of the same window he came in through, “make sure to get my approval before you make your selection. I am a good judge of character.”

Agace then turned to Arabelle. Arabelle’s cheeks were flushed, and her heart was pounding. Something about the intensity of Erec stare had been, well captivating. He had seemed like a storm more than a man.

Agace tutted, “do not get any ideas blue blood. He is going to be my husband.”

Duke Pascal hated meeting at this brothel. It was yet another indicator that Leatusian culture was slowly pushing back Nevares despite all the efforts of the late king. The man he had been waiting for arrived as Pascal was tossing back yet another cup of wine.

“Well,” said Dymas as he sat down, “is all as expected?”

Pascal slurred as he responded, “yesh, Roche has convinced the king to marry the Martel girl to him and send his army east. Come the spring there will be civil war. Roche’s mercenaries will take Stormbreaker and I will help Perceval escape north to Cardell.”

The Leatusian ambassador relaxed into his chair, “good. The merchant prince will not forget this favour friend and in Leatus debts are always repaid.”

Pascal poured himself another drink. If only the king had had a less useless son, then the kingdom might have been saved. As it was better the kingdom fall than that fat bastard Roche take the throne.

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