by Randi Darren
***
Stepping through the entryway as one of his guards opened the door for him, Alex was immediately greeted by a shouting voice.
“…audacity of the man! Speaking for the king as if he were actually the ambassador. He’s probably damaged His Highness’s standing beyond salvaging with what he’s done with the princess,” said a high-pitched, nasally voice.
Great. He’s going to be a whiny, overemotional little twat, isn’t he?
Grimacing at the realization he was going to have to deal with someone who was unlikely to be useful in any way, Alex started going through his options.
The guards in the manor looked at him as he entered the main room.
“And here I am to try and make everything right. To do the right thing, because we have to,” continued the unknown man from a study off to one side. “Because what he’s doing is wrong.”
An idealist. Even better.
Just my luck.
Entering the study, Alex knocked twice on the door with his knuckles. Standing with his back to the door was a thin man with short brown hair. He was talking to a guard in the corner of the room.
“Ah! And there’s the criminal himself,” said the man, turning to Alex.
He had watery brown eyes and teeth that looked small in his mouth with too much gum exposed. Alex would guess the man to be in his thirties, which seemed odd for an ambassador.
Maybe Harold picked him as a throwaway? I wonder what the message was.
“Everyone out,” Alex said, stepping to the side of the door. “Numbered included.”
Alex needed this man to tell him everything. Everything he knew, needed, and wanted. The best way to do that was to give the man the privacy to do so.
Most people couldn’t resist laying down all their cards if you gave them the chance.
Immediately, everyone left the room. It took only seconds, and Alex was alone with the snide little man.
“So you’re this Count Inferno,” said the man, shaking his head. “You’ve really made a mess of things. As soon as we get back to the king, I’m going to tell him of everything you did. Even your sexual assault of the princess.
“Perhaps if you’re fortunate, the king will only take your head.”
“Right,” Alex said. “And what did the king send you to negotiate? And what’s your name, by the way?”
“You may address me as Sir Patrick,” said the man, puffing up as if that meant something.
Alex only nodded at that. “And the king’s message? Perhaps I can help rectify the situation. Maybe even beg for forgiveness.”
“Oh, that might help. You should grovel as the villain you are,” Patrick said.
You pretentious little sack of shit.
“As for the king, he’s decreed that he would like to make peace with Glint at all costs. I have absolute authority in this and what my allowances are and aren’t,” Patrick said. “That is including transferring of vassalage. I’m sure Glint would be happy to receive you as a vassal so that he might administer appropriate justice.”
Reaching to his side, Patrick opened a case and pulled out several papers and a medallion.
Looking pleased with himself, he handed them all over to Alex.
Glancing at the medallion, Alex found it was the crest of Harold, made of gold and lined with precious stones.
I’ll be keeping this. Probably worth thousands. Break it down, strip the gems, melt the gold.
Maybe have some of the gems placed in some jewelry. Rebekah and Anna like jewelry.
Pocketing the medallion, Alex looked at the paperwork. He’d already made up his mind on how to handle this, but he needed to be absolutely sure.
Reading through them, one after the other, Alex found it was more or less exactly what Patrick had said.
Harold really was surrendering almost everything away in a mad attempt to keep his throne. It had “unconditional surrender” written in at the start of one particular article.
Is the war going that badly?
“Tell me about why the king is doing this? This seems rather extreme, doesn’t it? The war can’t be going that bad?” Alex asked.
“Of course it’s bad,” Patrick said.
“How?” Alex asked, still reading.
“Well… actually… I suppose it isn’t going that bad. Duchess Regina is holding everything together at the front, though she’s under siege,” Patrick said. “And your whole army in the south is keeping Glint from moving any further in or surrounding more than three fourths of the duchess’s position.”
“Uh huh. That’s why I had them remain,” Alex muttered. “What about the supply lines? Reinforcements? Levies?”
“Huh? Oh. Well, those are all open. As I said, Glint can’t move past the duchess or your army without opening himself up to flanking,” Patrick said.
“Then why is Harold surrendering? All he has to do is hire mercenaries, get the levies, and then dig in and defend his throne,” Alex said.
“Ah… the king of course didn’t tell me his reasoning. Only that he wanted me to take care of this immediately,” Patrick said.
“And he sent you by yourself?” Alex asked.
“Yes. He felt I would make better time if I went alone,” Patrick said.
Alex frowned, not sure how to take this.
None of it added up. None of it made a lick of sense to him. This didn’t seem like the thing a reasonable or sane man would commit to.
Nor would it be reasonable to send such a young, idealistic ambassador who literally didn’t have a lick of sense.
He’s the type of person who would spend years crying over a loss rather than using it to propel himself forward.
I deeply regret what happened to Alanna, but life is life. I will mourn her, and I will move on.
But I’m off track… this all feels wrong. All of it. For one reason or another.
It feels more like… Harold didn’t want to do this. Didn’t want to do this and didn’t want it to succeed.
I’d only send a single man like this, without any resources, on a mission so against what I’d want, if I were being forced. Being forced and trying to make it as likely to fail as possible.
Especially if… especially if I knew a certain count of mine was already acting as an ambassador.
Alex smirked at that thought.
It made sense to him when he lined up all the information that way. If he were Harold, he’d set it up as best as he could so that Patrick would fail on the way.
Barring him dying on the way, my assumption would be that the little white knight would show up, put himself straight into the hands of my count, whom I suspect deeply of being far more vicious than I’d like, and probably die.
If I got extremely lucky, I could implicate the count and remove him as well.
That’d be the goal if I were Harold.
The whole thing now felt absolutely correct to Alex.
“Well, what have you done so far?” Alex asked.
“Nothing. I came straight to the embassy to collect my pay and my mansion. Only to find it had already been claimed. Imagine my surprise when they turned me away and even threatened to have me thrown in jail,” Patrick said, sounding very insulted. “It just wasn’t right. So I came here directly after that.”
“In other words… no one has seen you, met you, or even knows you’re here. And the few people you talked to took you as an impostor,” Alex said, coming to a firm decision in his head.
“That’s… that’s right,” Patrick said, suddenly sounding rather nervous. “I think it would be best if I—”
Alex made a fist with his right hand and dropped the papers he’d been holding to the ground.
Patrick paused in mid-sentence to look at his fallen papers. “Oh for hea—”
Turning, and pulling his arm back, Alex smashed his fist with all the strength he could muster straight into Patrick’s throat.
There was a crunching noise, and the feeling of something breaking was transmitted to
Alex’s knuckles.
Groaning, Patrick fell to his knees, his hands going to his throat.
Shaking out his hand, Alex clicked his tongue. His fingers were tingling, and his wrist smarted rather badly.
Looking at the red-faced Patrick, Alex felt like he’d done the job well.
“That should have broken your trachea, I believe,” Alex said, peering at Patrick. “You’ll suffocate shortly. Sorry. Not the best way to go, but… probably the least painful?”
Moving to the door, Alex opened it partly and peeked outside. He couldn’t see anyone there, but he assumed they were nearby.
“Two, Five, could you come in here real quick? I need your assistance,” Alex said. “And get Three if she’s around.”
“I’m here,” Valeria said.
Carla, Nannie, and Valeria entered the room. Alex closed the door behind them as quickly as he could.
“Oh,” Nannie said, walking over to Patrick. The man was now on his back, his stomach heaving up and down. “Damn. You punch him?”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “Three said she’d done something like that once. Figured it was worth a try.”
“Well, yeah, you did it right. He’s done,” Nannie said, then stood up straight. “Take it he had bad news?”
“Very,” Alex said. “Harold sent him here to surrender almost unconditionally. Paperwork, medallion and everything.”
“I have indeed done something like that before,” Valeria said, looking thoughtful. Then she turned her eyes to the papers on the ground and started picking them up.
“Those are the papers,” Alex said, fishing the medallion out of his pocket and handing it over to her. “Probably need to burn them and break down this medallion to nothing. I think we need to get rid of Patrick over there as if he was never here.
“No one saw him, no one talked to him. The man never existed, never made it here. No record of him at all. I get the impression Harold sent him here as a trap for me as well.”
“Mmm. Could see a king doing that,” Carla muttered, looking at the man quickly becoming a corpse. “You going to be alright, Alex?”
Unable to help himself, Alex shook his head before he could stop.
“I… don’t know. I’ve never… I’ve never hit someone before. Never even been in a fight. I just… killed him,” Alex said, the words tumbling from his mouth.
Nannie looked away from Alex and to Patrick, who was holding a hand up to her.
Lifting up a booted foot, she smashed it down on the man’s throat repeatedly. Grunting with the effort, she didn’t stop until Patrick stopped moving.
“No. You didn’t. I killed ’im,” Nannie said, then lifted her boot off the man’s crushed throat “See? All me. Not you. Now, you just… go do your Count Brit thing while I take care of this trash.”
Grinning, and feeling a strange, twisted love for and from Nannie, Alex could only nod his head. “Okay.”
There was a quick knock on the door.
“Master?” Riley called through it. “I just received another note. Though this one is from Four.”
“What…? More news? It’s as if everything is falling apart,” Alex muttered.
“I read the note. She wrote that there are a lot of fires right now in the city. Really big fires. The temples, granaries, silos, even warehouses. All on fire,” Riley said through the door. “Everything is burning right now. Apparently it all started while we were attending the guests.”
Hm.
Pity it’s all happening at the same time. Makes it far less likely to seem accidental, though good that we all have a clear alibi.
Apparently our compatriots took this fire as an opportunity to set their own.
“The… the word on the street is Count Inferno is unhappy,” Riley said. “They’re just calling you ‘the Count’ though. Apparently saying ‘Count Inferno’ draws your attention.”
Snorting at that, Alex pressed a hand to his head.
Things were rapidly getting out of hand indeed. But they were also moving in the direction he wanted.
Or so he hoped to believe.
Chapter 33
A week had passed since “the Inferno” had wrecked the city.
What had occurred since that day had slowly plunged the capital into a downward spiral of ever-increasing concern.
At first people had simply taken it as a truly unfortunate event. Though no one denied it had more than likely been done by the evil and terrible “Count” who was residing in the embassy. That it would hurt the army and hinder war efforts.
Slowly, food prices began to rise. No one could quite understand why, but it wasn’t that much of a concern. The prices were higher, certainly, but they were still reasonable.
Putting down the simple report, Alex nodded.
“And they have no idea?” he asked, looking at Sylvia.
“No. Not a clue,” she said. “Everyone involved has been sworn to silence on the matter. There’s a scheduled copper coin increase for next week. Then two coppers the week after that.”
“Good,” Alex said.
“There was one concern I had, but I took action to solve it already,” Sylvia said. “I didn’t want to leave all our non-directly-managed food supplies anywhere obvious. The regent will eventually try to confiscate all the food he can, and I think he’ll move sooner rather than later. So I moved your timeline up for transporting the entire supply outside the city. I also posted the contracts for all harvest futures to the regent, along with the emperor’s seal.”
“You think he’ll really move early?” Alex asked, grinning. Sylvia was someone who clearly enjoyed political and economy warfare. More so than Valeria, who mostly kept to the games of the nobility.
“No. But I’d rather not leave one of our pieces in a precarious position. With how many support columns are moving out for the army, it was easy to steal some uniforms, paint up a false convoy, and have it leave with everyone,” Sylvia said. “I’m not certain it’ll be as easy later.”
“That’s… a good point,” Alex said, smiling wider at Sylvia. “And I just rewarded you an hour ago. Looks like we should head back that way again for another reward.”
Sylvia gave him a blank look, though her hands immediately smoothed out her dress along her legs. She lived to be punished and rewarded now. The game was everything to her.
“I’d enjoy that, actually,” Sylvia said. “I find that… I find that my drive, as you once called it, has been ever increasing. It’s peculiar. I spoke with the others. It seems they’ve noticed a marked difference as well.”
“It’s Leah,” Alex said before Sylvia could ask the question. “I get the impression there’s something… she’s not telling us. But yes. There’s a definite difference. Both in stamina and desire.”
“Oh? Oh. Alright. Good. I was worried I was becoming something altogether different,” Sylvia said. “I can handle an increase in libido. It’s rather enjoyable, truth be told.”
“Mm. Any word on anything else?” Alex asked.
“Nothing new, at least,” Sylvia said with a shrug. “From what we’re hearing, Regina is holding her own. Our army is causing Glint all sorts of problems, but nothing decisive.”
Alex grit his teeth. He had a bad feeling about all that, the everlasting feeling that time was running out. Running out and fast.
That everything he was doing wasn’t quite enough.
“Ah, that does remind me. I need to go have a quick chat about the silver,” Sylvia said, standing up. “I’d prefer to take care of that before I receive my reward.”
“Oh? What’s up? Do I need to plan a third reward for you today?” Alex said, quirking a brow. There wasn’t much else to do with his days right now.
The regent had given Alex a cold shoulder as deep and wide as a glacier. Not inviting the man to the wedding celebrations had cemented their relationship as little better than absolute enemies.
Which left Alex with nothing to do but play in the bedroom.
“Mayhaps…” Sy
lvia said coyly. “We finished manufacturing our forged silver. All told, we’ve made over seven hundred thousand coins, and we’ve already unloaded five hundred thousand into the market.
“We also shipped all our true coin back to Brit with a mercenary company. You’ll be amused to hear that they made us sign the deal with mint oil–infused paper. Seven’s plan is working.”
Laughing at that, Alex nodded. “Third reward indeed. Go, my lovely Four, so I can welcome you back. And then give you my regards.”
Sylvia smirked, waved a few fingers at him, and then left without another word.
“You know, I really do like her,” Leah said, appearing in the seat Sylvia had vacated. “She really kn—”
Leah was cut off as Alex smashed her with the strongest hug he could manage.
He even heard a wheeze in her breath as he did it.
“It’s so good to see you,” Alex said, holding on to her but relaxing his grip a bit.
“Goodness. If it was anyone else, I’d murder them for touching me and not being Lovey,” Leah said, hugging Alex back.
“I know, but I’m your friend,” Alex said, then kissed Leah’s cheek. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, yes. Stop it. Knock it off. No mushy stuff,” Leah said, pushing at him. “Back up. Get off me.”
Laughing, Alex did as requested but pulled his seat closer to her. “I really am glad to see you, Leah. I missed you.”
Sighing, Leah looked embarrassed and annoyed in equal measure. Then she nodded. “Yeah, I missed you too, Alex.
“And yes, I’m fine. I was just banished for a time for pushing boundaries. I’m good at that. Though from what I heard from Rike, you’ve made quite a bit of progress. You even temporarily gave her a soul you personally owned and promised to marry her?”
“Yeah. Looks like I’ll be your brother-in-law after all,” Alex said with a grin. “One big crazy family.”
Leah clicked her tongue, though the smile on her face was wide. “Yes. Rike said she’d do whatever she had to do to get you away from me. Apparently I knew not what I was doing by introducing you to her.
“Though I’m happy for her happiness. She’s… had a tough life so far. We’ve figured out how to make your marriage to her work without it intruding on your duties with me.”
