by Randi Darren
Or better yet! Let’s ask to see Eleanor.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said, looking at Deverin. He was a middle-aged man with light brown hair and blue eyes. By Alex’s standards, the man was good looking. “I’m afraid I’m not feeling well. Can I see my companion? Her name is Eleanor, but I call her Six. That would make me feel better.”
“Your companion,” Deverin said.
“Yes, she was held with me. I want to see her. Have you seen her?” Alex asked.
“No, I haven’t. We’ll see her after this,” the man said.
Okay… either he doesn’t know, or he’s lying.
So… let’s go with the leaving part.
Pulling out his medallion, which he’d been allowed to keep, Alex let it dangle in front of him.
“I hereby invoke my rights as the ambassador to Harold and ask you, the Imperial agent, to return me to my liege lord,” Alex said. “I don’t wish to be here a moment longer. We can conclude this investigation later. This medallion is all the proof I need, and King Harold can speak to the rest. Let’s get Six and go home.”
Laying his head down on the table, Alex held on to the medallion and laid it down on the table as well.
“I’m… well… that is,” Deverin said.
“You’re the Imperial overseer,” Alex mumbled. “Take me home. We’ll talk more there. I’m being starved, held against my will, and forced to live in darkness. I’ve been kicked, harmed, and deprived of my rights. I fear for my companion and what they’ve done to her. Let’s leave.”
“Leave,” Deverin repeated.
Alex said nothing, feeling like his worst fears were coming true. That this man was false. An imitation of an Imperial overseer made up by Glint. That this entire thing was theater to get him to reveal information.
“Unless you’re not really an Imperial overseer,” Alex said, closing his eyes. “Let’s leave.”
There was no response from Deverin. Seconds ticked by as absolute silence dominated the tent.
Groaning, Alex slumped in his chair, then let himself slide out of it.
Reaching the ground, Alex curled up into himself. Regretfully, painfully, he began moving his mind back into the protected non-thinking safe space he’d been in before this “Deverin” had shown up.
Stifling what was probably a whimpering sob, Alex held tight to himself. Curling his shoulders into his knees.
Oh my goddess.
Leah, Rike, someone, just… help me.
There was no response to his mental call.
Deverin said nothing. Not a word.
Without orders being spoken, soldiers arrived and scooped up Alex off the ground. He was led quietly back to his cell and put back into it.
No one said anything.
Alex went back over to where he’d spent most of his time in this cell, lay down, closed his eyes, and went back into his cocoon of darkness and silence.
There was a part of him that was delighted he’d been fooled long enough to eat some cheese, though.
The other half of him felt dirty for not having immediately tried to make himself throw it up.
I wish Coffin were here.
Silence once more became his only companion. Leaving Alex alone with his thoughts.
Time began to move again, and Alex had no way to identify any of it. His only way to know how many days had passed was when Coffin came and told him how long it had been or what time it was.
She didn’t come every day, he’d found out. Sometimes she was holed up somewhere, hiding.
Or waiting for a target.
“You… you won’t have me killed, right?” asked the voice of his jailer.
Not opening his eyes, Alex didn’t know how to respond to that. He’d been so deep in thought he hadn’t heard the man enter.
“Please? I didn’t know who you were when I did that. What I did to you,” said the jailer. “I really didn’t. I didn’t know you were the Count. I didn’t. I wouldn’t have done… done that… if I had known.
“Please. Don’t have the spirit kill me.”
Huh.
Must be Coffin’s killing that’s triggered that. This is the man who kicked me, isn’t it?
If it’s getting people that nervous, I can only imagine the death toll is rising.
I can use this.
“All who oppose me will have their lives snuffed out,” Alex said hollowly. “Your country, your city, your villages—all will feel my wrath.
“They began to starve, even as I starved. When I was pained, they felt it. Watch your family and loved ones waste away as your king does this to you. Watch as I take it all from you, even as I lie here.”
“They’re starving?” asked the man.
“I have no doubt there are citizens starving to death,” Alex said, certain. He knew that was the truth. Coffin had told him Sylvia had already started to take action.
Knowing her, the city was in the grips of an absolute disaster as food rapidly became a scarce commodity. “When was the last time you received a letter from home? A note? Anything? When was the last time anyone received furlough to go see family?
“Your country will be a wasteland soon enough if I’m not set free. Worse for you all if this war is not ended sooner rather than later.
“My patience and kindness are running out. Your butcher’s bill grows ever longer by the minute.”
“What? No! No… we didn’t… no… no. No,” said the jailer. Sounding confused and torn. “No. No, no. I can’t… I didn’t—”
The man’s words ended abruptly, and the sound of boots was all Alex heard.
Smiling to himself, he wondered if he’d perhaps planted the seed that would bloom just now.
Morale is a terrible thing. A terrible and dangerous thing.
Even if nothing of what I said is true, they’ll all believe it unless Glint can prove it false. Because we always want to believe the worst.
Optimism is a luxury, and only for the naive, the young, or the foolish.
Settling into himself, Alex tried to go to sleep. Sleeping and thinking were all he did anymore.
***
“You were right,” said the jailer. “You were right… only the capital has any food… everywhere else is starvation and high prices. The granaries caught fire, silos exploded. Exploded! All the food that was in the market was bought up in bulk and shipped out to… no one knows where. The only food is here, in the military camp.
“The country is all going to ruin. What food that can be found in the cities can only be bought. And for far too much coin. If it can be bought at all.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a problem,” Alex said.
“I do?” asked the jailer.
“I’m sure you have family. They’re not going to be free from this. All those soldiers deserting from the army, all those guards at home, all those veterans who retired the year before. They’re all home,” Alex said. “Home with their families, taking food from those who can’t defend themselves.
“Do you honestly think your family will survive without you there? If a veteran came up to your family with their blade, could they defend themselves and their food?
“I bet they can’t. I think they’ll end up starving… or dead.”
“I… I don’t…” The jailer stopped talking.
“So, yes. You have a problem. You need to desert, which puts you up for execution, or to… end the war,” Alex said. “By the way, you know I’m married to Glint’s daughter, right? And that his entire family is dead except his daughter? She’s the only member left alive in the royal family.”
“She… what? I’d heard that a few people had died… but… the whole family?” asked the jailer.
“Everyone in succession for the throne is dead. Every single one of them, except the princess. And it’s very likely that she’s pregnant with our first child. The child I put in her. It’ll be my son or daughter on the throne of your country, not Glint or anyone from his family.
“The royal family of
Glint is dead. I’m sure my wife, the princess, future Queen of Hefen, would be more than likely to grant pardons to people in these dark times. Especially pardons for crimes committed to put her on the throne. Or those who helped me, her husband.”
And… there we are. With any luck, Glint will catch a knife in the side or get overthrown. And that’ll be my ticket out of here.
Just as easily as if I’d done it myself.
In the meantime… I just… have to sit here. Doing nothing.
Starving.
Waiting.
Chapter 36
The sounds of people yelling, screaming, and fighting had been distant.
Hollow sounding.
Though they slowly increased in volume. The cacophony built upward, and upward, until it was practically atop his cell.
There was no mistaking what the sound was either. Alex had heard it often enough now that he knew it was a battle. People were fighting and dying out there.
Arms to armor and face to face.
Sitting up, Alex stared at the door. He had no idea what was going on out there, but he could take a few guesses.
His primary thought was that his words to the jailer had sparked a coup. That the soldiers no longer had confidence in their heirless monarch, a man who was pitching their country into the jaws of “the Count” and making their loved ones suffer.
He wished Coffin were here, but she hadn’t come back in a while.
Alex didn’t fear for her safety, though he did worry about her being terribly inconvenienced. During her last visit, she’d told him that she’d had to hide herself amongst the recently deceased.
Slowly, the sounds of violence all around his cell faded away. It was like the tide had gone back out.
Mm. Suppose that means whoever it was succeeded or failed.
I wonder if I I’ll get a visitor.
Probably.
Leaning his head against the solid stone wall, Alex continued to wait, his mind idly fluttering from here to there.
Distantly, Alex heard a door open. It was followed by the sound of a single pair of boots heading his way.
They were steady and rhythmic. And not in a hurry.
Hm. Pity.
I think Glint survived.
Depressed, Alex sat there, watching the door.
The key rattled in the lock, and then the door swung outward. Standing in the archway of the door was King Glint.
Walking into the cell, the man regarded Alex with a cold and flat stare.
“You were expecting someone, perhaps?” Glint asked.
“Not really,” Alex said. “I don’t even know what was going on out there. I have my guesses, but… no confirmation.”
Glint’s eyebrows raised at that.
“You’re talking?” he asked.
“Mm. I’m curious as to what happened out there. I can’t sate my curiosity without talking,” Alex said with a shrug. “Simple reality.”
Alex gave Glint a quick once-over as the man stepped into the cell and began fiddling with the locking mechanism.
The man was dirty, sweaty, and smelled like horse, and it was quickly apparent to Alex that there had indeed been a rather large scuffle.
Since it had gotten so close to his cell, Alex was more than willing to bet on it being Glint’s own soldiery. That his soldiers had indeed staged a coup.
Or so Alex thought. He believed that to be far more likely than Regina’s, Harold’s, or his own soldiers getting that close.
Glint’s army was simply too large. Too massive.
The only thing that fit was his own soldiers trying to get rid of him.
“I find myself thinking of Gaelis,” Glint said, turning to face Alex again. “He wrote me more than a few times.”
“I assumed so,” Alex said. That subject didn’t interest him. “I figured you’d just killed him because it was easier than explaining what you’d done.”
Glint stared hard at Alex, clearly considering his thoughts and what to say.
“He’d complained often that his greatest mistake was underestimating you,” Glint said, adjusting his coat. “That his problems hadn’t started till he’d engaged you directly.
“When he was avoiding you or ignoring you, he did the best in his campaign.”
Alex didn’t respond to that, other than to smile at the monarch.
“I find that perhaps I didn’t give his words enough credit,” Glint said. “You’ve… been busy. Or that is, you were busy. In my capital.”
Showing his teeth, Alex continued to smile at the king and said nothing.
“I find that my lands are without food,” Glint said, pulling down at the leather glove on his left hand as if it were loose. “That all the food that was available, meat, plant, or otherwise, was purchased. That my silos quite literally exploded. Despite all the precautionary measures taken to prevent such a thing, it happened. To every single one. All throughout my lands.”
Blinking, Alex continued to only stare back.
“On top of that, granaries that had different storage systems simply… caught fire,” Glint said. “Magically. As if they were made of the most combustible material in the world. Like they were composed out of wood soaked in pitch.
“Everything that I previously mentioned as purchased has somehow been secreted out of the country as well. There’s no trace of any of it. It’s all vanished.
“And to add the finishing touch, I’m told that all my future crops were purchased on your behalf. Signed and sealed by the Imperial court as well. Which puts them well beyond my reach. I may play hard and fast more often than I should, but I don’t think even I’m stupid enough to violate something of that nature.”
Glint walked over to Alex and glared down at him.
“Unless I import foodstuffs from elsewhere, immediately, my country will be suffering the same fate you’ve given yourself,” Glint muttered. “And that leads me to the events of today.
“Today. Where one of my generals led a coup against me, and an entire fourth of my army rose up. To kill me and put your wife—not my daughter, mind you; they were quite clear on that—your wife Saoirse Brit on my throne. That it didn’t matter since my family was wiped out. That was the rhetoric they were spouting.”
Unwilling to do anything else, Alex continued only to smile at the king.
“And from what I saw, that’s not the end of it. That was just the first, if I don’t miss my guess,” Glint growled. “The next will likely be over deserters and food. Care to give me an inside line on the one after that?”
“Depends,” Alex said. “So far, you haven’t given me a reason to do anything for you. Not in any way, shape, or form. I see no reason to help you at all in any way. I mean, would you help me if the roles were reversed? I doubt it very much.”
“Hmph. Is it the constant assassinations?” Glint asked. “Because while cutely disguised as accidents, it’s obvious they’re killings on your order.”
Lifting his hand to his collar and pressing his fingers to the pin there, Alex laughed softly. “I swear on my oath of fealty and this pin, those killings have nothing to do with me. They were not carried out on my orders. And I have no idea who’s died.
“Which means you have much deeper problems than you thought you did. Doesn’t it?”
Glint was looking at Alex as if he were evil incarnate.
Reaching down, he pushed Alex’s hand away from his pin and laid a finger to it.
Only to jerk his hand away as if he’d been burned. Just as he would be if he attempted to touch another’s oath pin that wasn’t in his direct vassalage line.
“Surprise,” Alex said, letting his hands fall into his lap. “Anything else? I need to get back to sleep. Now that I know what happened, I have naught else to do.”
“I’ll make you tell me what’s happening,” Glint said.
“Perhaps,” Alex said. “Or you just dig yourself ever deeper into problems for when the Imperial overseer does arrive.
“I wasn’t maki
ng a false report to you. Saoirse and some of my household really did leave to speak with the emperor about what you’re doing. They really will come. He can’t afford not to. We had letters sent to every king, queen, duke, and duchess in the entirety of the empire. It wasn’t as if I had anything to lose. Can swear that on my pin too, if you like.”
“Do that,” Glint hissed.
Alex shrugged and repeated the exact same statement, his fingers on his pin. When he was done, he let his hand fall back down again.
“As I said. You’re doomed,” Alex said. “Just a question of time for when the overseer arrives. Think fondly of me as you do the hangman’s jig.”
Glint looked at a complete loss for words. If consternation could be defined by a look, Alex imagined it’d be exactly what the monarch appeared as and felt like right now.
“It was when you had my wife killed. Had one killed and another maimed. Said it before,” Alex said. “That was when I swore to see your life and country ruined. Saoirse is doing her best to prepare for afterward, but I don’t think she’ll accomplish much. Not with you on the throne.
“Don’t worry, though; I’ve already prepared a large number of historians to write down the details. That it was King Glint the Greedy, King Glint the Foolish, King Glint the Incompetent who caused Hefen to fall. I even hired a mason.
“Will be a lovely marble statue. Very tasteful with a lovely steel placard. I also paid for maintenance and upkeep to make sure it withstands the cruelties of time and history.”
Glint’s head dipped down, his chin resting on his chest. His shoulders drooped, his clenched fists fell open, and his entire body seemed to deflate.
“How bad is it?” Glint asked.
“Very bad,” Alex asked. He was considering explaining about the silver. It might be just the nudge the man needed to do what Alex was going to ask him to do.
Or it might give away too much of Alex’s and give Glint a chance to respond.
Let’s… push. There’s no way he can counter what we did. Not without pulling back from the war and exposing the problem.
“Another part of my plan hasn’t been revealed yet. I imagine it’ll happen soon, though,” Alex said. “Right when food prices are at their highest. When people begin to pay silvers for bread.
