Chapter 47

Fenard took a sip of his brandy, examining the petitioners before him. He sat in his study with Tom’s grandparents, who were eagerly describing their various business ventures. Tom and Rowena had retired for the night; it was nearly two in the morning.

The Lowrys were known to him. He’d naturally had them investigated after questioning Tom’s parents about their own parentage. Sue and Norman Weaver had expressed a desire to cut them out of their lives, and Fenard had respected that desire so far.

Unfortunately, some problems don’t go away by sticking them in the closet. While Tom’s grandparents had not put it in such words, they had sensed an opportunity in their grandson and were looking to cash in on their relationship.

Fenard had tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it had taken him five minutes to get the Lowry’s measure. They had been far more interested in discussing business with Fenard than reuniting with their grandson. He knew the type; they were consumed with advancing themselves politically, socially, and economically.

Not that he could particularly judge them for it. He was manipulating Tom for his own means as well, after all. For the good of Welsius, of course, but he was self aware enough to see the parallels between himself and the Lowry’s.

That said, he wasn’t particularly fond of social leeches, and he’d already calculated the fastest way to get rid of them. He raised a hand and Stefan, who had been discussing the annual profits of their business, fell silent.

“I’m prepared to offer you a barony,” he informed them.

Margaret gasped, and Stefan’s jaw dropped as they processed his words. “You’d make us nobles? But why?” Stefan asked.

“Not for your own sake, you can rest assured,” Fenard said. “Giving Tom’s grandparents a barony is the same as giving it to him. You’ll own the land and your new titles in your own right, but Tom will inherit. Understand?”

The couple exchanged looks, reading each other’s expressions quickly as they processed the offer.

“What do you want from us in exchange?” Margaret asked pragmatically.

“It’s very simple,” Fenard answered. “I want you to leave the Weaver family alone.”

“Excuse me?” Stefan asked. “Your Majesty, we’ve only just started to reunite our family after--”

“I don’t care,” Fenard said. “I really don’t care to hear your justifications. You intend to exploit your relationship to Tom. This is me cutting you off at the pass. You will leave Tom, Norman, and Sue Weaver alone. If they contact you and wish for you to be part of their lives, then that’s fine, so long as you don’t attempt to further exploit your relationship for profit. In exchange, you become nobles. A first generation baron and baroness.”

The Lowrys were silent for a moment. Margaret asked “Are we to live as hermits? Do you expect us to simply disappear because we’re inconvenient? Are you--”

“Don’t forget that if I really wanted you to disappear, you simply would,” Fenard said, interrupting her. “While I don’t particularly want to ever see you again, I’m not banishing you from my sight. You’re free to explore the new doors that your new titles will open for you. In fact, I encourage it. I’m giving you more than you’d ever get from Tom and his parents. In exchange, you leave them alone. It’s not a complicated concept, is it?”

“No, we understand,” Stefan said. “What about incidental contact? If we attend the same party, or--”

“As long as it’s incidental I won’t punish you,” Fenard said. “Same for if the Weavers seek you out first. If that does happen, however, I expect you to act as doting grandparents and refrain from seeking any advantage from your relationships. Understand?”

“We can do that,” Margaret agreed. They exchanged looks again.

“We accept,” Stefan said.

Of course they did, confirming that they were exactly what Fenard thought they were. He nodded. “It’s late. We’ll sort out the details at a later date. In the mean time, I assume you have a room available in the city? I’m certain you must be tired.”

It was the polite way of saying that it was time for them to leave.

“Of course, Your Majesty. We look forward to hearing from you in the future,” Stefan said, and the pair left the room, bowing on their way out.

Fenard sighed once he was alone in his study. That actually went better than expected. He sipped his brandy and reflected on a night that had gone very well. There had been hiccups throughout the night, but he’d doused any potential fires before they’d derailed the party.

He’d even had a bit of fun on the dance floor, something that he hadn’t done in years.

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He paused, remembering that one of his guests had requested a private audience before the evening was over. He sighed again, then rang the bell to summon a servant.

“Go find Anaxis and bring him here,” Fenard instructed, and the servant promptly obeyed. Fenard considered putting off the meeting until a later date, but the spy had implied that whatever news he cared to share was important. He also considered bringing Yecha in on the discussion, but decided that it would be best to handle this by himself. Whenever the two spies met, sparks flew between them.

Technically he was taking a risk, entertaining Anaxis alone in his study. The spy was a high level rogue, and in a fight Fenard would have little chance against the man. But that was of little concern; should Anaxis want to assassinate him, he wouldn’t do so by seeking an audience with him. Whatever he had to talk about, it was certainly something that his queen supported, and Gloracia was an ally.

Privately, Fenard wished that he could lure Anaxis onto his payroll. He envied Queen Gloracia such a competent Agent. But he knew that even if he could get Anaxis to agree to work for Welsius, he’d never be able to turn him against his homeland. Where the interests of Welsius and Koratia aligned, however, the man was a steadfast ally.

Fenard was musing when the door opened several moments later, admitting the man he’d sent for. Anaxis bowed, and Fenard motioned for him to be seated.

“Well?” Fenard asked. “You said you needed to speak with me. What is this about, Anaxis. You know I dislike games.”

Anaxis was silent for a moment. “Might I have a drink?”

Fenard shrugged and poured the man a glass of the same brandy that he was presently enjoying himself. When Anaxis had taken his first sip, he sighed.

“I’m rather hoping that you don’t kill the messenger, Fenard,” Anaxis said, “But I have reason to believe that your life is in danger. I believe that Galya is planning a coup.”

Fenard choked on his brandy. “What?!”

“Yeah, I thought maybe you were unaware considering that you appeared in public today. I tried to warn you earlier. I said it was urgent,” Anaxis reminded him.

“What evidence do you have?” Fenard asked.

“Whispers and innuendo, mostly,” Anaxis admitted. “I don’t have specific details or a list of conspirators, unfortunately. Although I do have a list of a few people that you should perhaps bring in and ask some very pointed questions. I’m not certain they’re involved, but they may know something. I’m quite surprised that this is the first you’ve heard of it. Exactly what is it that you pay Yecha for, anyway?”

Fenard didn’t rise to the bait. “You must have more than that. Tell me everything you know.”

“Like I said, it’s all whispers and innuendo, Fenard,” Anaxis answered. “Supposedly several members of your nobility are in on it. They’re planning on killing you right before Galya declares war. In exchange, the traitors earn a new rank, and whatever other spoils they can eek out. There’s also talk of fomenting religious unrest. Something to do with the eye in the sky. I don’t know too much about that.”

Fenard cursed. “I did know that the cults are recruiting. You think that’s Galya’s doing?”

“I think it’s Tom’s doing,” Anaxis answered. “He’s the one who conjured the Watcher. You can’t expect something like that to go unremarked by the populace. Not with how many witnesses there were. I think that Galya is taking advantage of it, however. I don’t know what she’s planning on doing with it, but she’s got something up her sleave, I’m certain of that.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Fenard asked.

“I’m just doing my civic duty,” Anaxis said.

“Hogwash. What do you get out of this, Anaxis?”

“What would I get out of you dying and your nation collapsing, Fenard? I might be loyal to Koratia, but most of my business is done here, and I’d rather have Welsius prosper than fail. Galya was a terrible queen in Velund, she’d be a worse one in Welsius. And that’s after the bloodbath that it would take to squash the unrest of her takeover. And do you think that she’d put up with me and my machinations, like you do? No. I’ve a vested interest in keeping your saggy butt on the throne.”

Anaxis paused, then admitted “But it is fun to get the scoop on Yecha yet again. I’m really surprised she hasn’t briefed you on this yet.”

Fenard pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need you to brief her on everything you know, Anaxis.”

Anaxis shrugged. “There are some things I can’t share. Some of my sources must remain confidential. I know things which I can’t share for various reasons, and there are things that I know that you must simply accept that I know without asking for the source.”

“I know how spycraft works,” Fenard snapped. “Dammit, Anaxis. Everything that you can share then.”

Anaxis nodded, and Fenard rang another bell to summon a servant to fetch Yecha to the conversation. The flamboyant spymistress arrived moments later. Yecha took threats to her king’s life very seriously, but could come up with no explanation as to how the conspiracy had eluded her detection.

That is, until one of the names that Anaxis rattled off as a member of the plot struck a cord and Yecha’s expression grew grim. “Be careful what you say, Anaxis. Loren Reed is one of mine.”

Anaxis looked at her with equanimity. “Are you certain about that? Because I’m quite certain that she’s committed treason at least three times that I’m aware of. If you’ve been relying on her intelligence, I would take a hard look at any of the decisions you’ve made because of it.”

Yecha didn’t take well to that information. Ultimately it was Anaxis’s word against a woman that she trusted, and she wasn’t altogether convinced that this wasn’t a ploy by Anaxis to weaken her network. Reed wasn’t the last of her agents to be listed as compromised, and the very fact that Anaxis knew some of them by name, if not that they belonged to her, bothered her.

Eventually Anaxis had laid out everything that he knew about the plot. Which was not a lot. It was, as he said, a lot of whispers and innuendo. Yet there was enough overlap with the chatter that Yecha had heard herself to prove that Anaxis wasn’t inventing conspiracies out of thin air. He drew several conclusions and connections which she had not seen from the information available to her, but altogether it was enough to act on.

The question was how to act. Doubling Fenard’s guards wasn’t necessarily the best idea when at least a few of the names that Anaxis had provided as being compromised were infiltrators into his guard.

The three continued discussing the matter through the night, and into the morning. They never did come to a concrete plan of action, except to question a few of the names on Anaxis’s list of “People who may know something.” That, and to bring in their most trusted guards to protect the king around the clock.