To Matt’s surprise, it took nearly three days for everything to go downhill yet again.
It wasn’t as if he was unoccupied during those three days. Between supervising the laborers, walking through the city, and pouring over the maps of the Kingdom, he had plenty to keep him busy. Adding in his renewed sparring sessions with Nikles and what seemed like the rest of the Eighth, magic lessons with Melren, and meetings with both the Grand Council and the Low Folk, it seemed like he was running from sunup until sundown every day. He was barely able to collect his own thoughts, though at the very least Gorfeld was there to help manage things.
Of course, none of that helped the day the messenger arrived.
It started out as normal as the other days had. He’d already had a bout of practice with the Eighth, as well as an exhausting session of mantras with Melren. The Grand Council had informed him they were debating additional measures for the upcoming muster, and he had attended to make sure they didn’t adopt any measures that were too extreme. After all, the first Voices were still being appointed by Assemblies of freeholders who were still getting used to their roles. It would be a little while yet before he would be able to set out again and trust the freeholders to keep the nobles in check.
He was mostly quiet during the debate, letting the nobility voice their concerns and vent their frustrations with one another. It seemed like Lord Torth was leading at least one faction, one that wanted to raise more nobility-led troops rather than relying on freeholder conscripts. It was hard to tell whether or not the High Imp was looking for more power and influence within the military, or simply thought that the nobles produced better fighters than the former serfs.
Matt was still debating whether ambition or prudence guided the nobleman when there was a sudden loud chime at the door. It was the announcer’s bell, used to draw the attention of the Council to the presence of a new arrival. He sat up in his seat, his eyes going to the entrance, where a newcomer was being ushered through by the guards.
They wore Orcish dueling armor, though it was obvious that the gear had seen better days. He felt a burst of sympathy for the newcomer as he saw the broken spikes and mud from long days on the road. Clearly, whoever it was had ridden hard to reach Redspire. Still, they did not reveal any fatigue as they handed over their broadsword to the guards and strode into the middle of the Council chambers. As they stopped in the middle of the floor, they reached up and removed their helmet.
It was a female Orc, one who had seen battle. In addition to the old scar that marked her cheek, she bore another more recent cut across her forehead, one that still bore the marks of battlefield stitches. Her hair was dark, cut to a shoulder length and gathered into a rough tail. She looked around the chamber, her eyes measuring the gathered nobility with both challenge and anger in her stare. When she turned her attention on Matt, he felt suddenly glad that she had left her weapon at the door.
“My fellow peers, I must beg your pardon for interrupting your…work today.” Her voice was harsh, and her stance suggested she was ready for a possible attack—whether verbal or physical, Matt couldn’t tell. “I had urgent business here with our ruler, and could not afford to wait.”
Lord Torth stood. His voice was smooth and calm. “Lady Einreth, your presence here, while unexpected, is certainly still welcome. You have our sympathies for the loss of Lord Braden. He fought bravely on behalf of the Kingdom.”
Matt nodded, realizing who the Orc must be. Braden’s death had left room for a new head of his House, and Lady Einreth, his sister, must have taken his place. He didn’t know much of her, but Gorfeld’s information suggested that she was far more warlike and blunt than her brother had been. Whispers around the court spoke of violent confrontations and shouting, an instability that Matt wasn’t looking forward to managing when it came from the chief noblewoman of the Red Moon Orcs.
Einreth acknowledged Torth with a brief bow of her head. “My thanks to you, Lord Torth. I hope you do not take offense if I come to the point of my return to Redspire?” The High Imp noble gestured graciously for her to continue, and Einreth nodded. She turned back to Matt. “To business then. King Matthew. It has come to my attention that you executed a traitor to the realm.”
Matt nodded. His fingers drifted down to the handle of his mace, which was still laying against the arm of his chair. “Yes. It was determined that he had plotted to betray not only me, but also many of the soldiers of our Kingdom. His punishment was necessary.”
“I agree.” Einreth gave him a grin that Matt could only describe as bloodthirsty. “Such punishments should always be the reward for traitors and assassins. Would you not agree?”
The question set Matt immediately on edge. He thought he could see where she was going with the question, and it was not going to be a comfortable conversation. “As long as their treachery is clear and proven, yes. Do you have an accusation that you intend to level, my lady?”
Einreth paused, as if surprised by his direct response. Then she grinned and nodded. “I do, sire.” She looked around the chamber one more time, as if to make sure that the rest of her peers were paying attention. “My brother Braden was wounded during the battles against Lord Teblas. As he lay recovering, a messenger arrived to speak with him. When that messenger reached his tent, they struck at him with a poisoned knife. He died soon afterwards.”
Matt leaned forward, making a bridge with his hands in front of him. “As I had heard, yes. A tragedy, given his efforts on behalf of the Kingdom.”
“A treachery, sire.” Einreth took a step forward, and the lifeguards on either side of Matt’s chair tensed as if they expected her to charge forward. “The Goblin who slew my brother was sent by the Lady Suluth. He has admitted this fact under questioning. As such, I accuse her of treachery against the Kingdom, and of the murder of Lord Braden, Defender of the Realm.”
Her words echoed through the chamber, leaving a brief, shocked silence. It was broken a moment later as one of the Blackleaf Goblins shot to her feet. “King Matthew, I protest this, this… outrage! To allow such accusations of Lady Suluth, particularly when she is not present to answer them herself! It is an insult to all of her kinsmen, and to her own efforts in our defense!”
Matt gave the noblewoman a considering look and then turned back to Lady Einreth. The Orc was still staring up at him, her face set in anger and determination. It was not the look of someone willing to back down for the sake of subtle politics. “Lady Einreth, do you still have the assassin?”
She hesitated. “No, sire. He suffered some…injuries during his capture and interrogation. As a result, he died before I could return to Redspire.”
“You do, however, have witnesses as to what he said?” She nodded, and Matt continued. “I believe the Council will wish to hear their words. It is not as…convincing as the assassin’s words themselves, and obtaining a confession by torture is always suspect, but the Council will hear what your people have to say.”
Einreth shifted slightly on her feet. She locked a sullen gaze on him. “The Council? I was under the impression that you were the judge that condemned Lord Tek’s treachery. That it was you who delivered both his judgement and punishment.”
Matt opened his mouth to respond, but Lord Torth came to his feet first. “If I may, sire?” The High Imp looked back at Einreth, who gestured impatiently for him to continue. “King Matthew did indeed strike down the traitor—upon this very floor, in fact. However, Tek’s guilt was virtually undeniable, confessed by the mouths of his captains and confirmed by his own testimony. This time, there are more questions about the Lady Suluth’s involvement, so it would be understandable to proceed carefully.”
Einreth snorted. She glanced back at Matt before glaring at Torth. “A weak excuse. My brother lies cold in the ground, and you shield his murderer with these feeble arguments?”
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“It is not her alone that we protect, Lady Einreth.” Matt kept his voice even. “We would want any who stand accused of a crime to enjoy such privileges. After all, if some ambitious peer among your clan were to accuse you of treason, you would wish to have some kind of appeal before your execution, would you not?”
Einreth opened her mouth for a retort and then appeared to reconsider her words. She shifted her stance again, staring around at the Council. Her jaw clenched slightly, and she turned back to him. “I understand, sire. All the same, I remain sure of my accusation. Lady Suluth has betrayed us, and I call on you to give my brother the justice he was denied.”
Matt nodded. There was no choice now. “Your accusation has been heard, Lady Einreth, and we will see justice done.” He raised his voice slightly. “As such, we will summon Lady Suluth to Redspire, to make an answer to these claims. The Grand Council will hear her defense, and judgement will be served. Until then, Lady Einreth, if you would accompany me? I believe we have much to discuss.”
He stood and waited as the rest of the chamber followed suit. Einreth looked around in surprise and then sketched a brief bow. Matt ignored her, picked up his mace, and strode out of the room. She rose and trailed after him, pausing only to take back her sword from the door guards. His lifeguard followed after them, but Matt was too busy thinking to pay any of them much attention. His mind was whirling with calculations. There had to be some way to salvage the situation. There had to be.
“With all due respect, Lady Einreth, you are either a fool or an enemy. Which is it?”
Einreth’s head snapped around. She had been standing in Matt’s study at attention, her eyes locked on some distant point. Now she was glaring at him with the kind of expression that made Matt momentarily grateful for the guards still standing unobtrusively in the corners of the room. “Excuse me, sire?”
In any other situation, that tone of voice would have made Matt reconsider his approach. At the moment, however, he was past caring. “I think you heard me just fine.” He gestured in the vague direction of the Grand Council room. “Did you really think that I didn’t suspect that Lady Suluth had murdered your brother?”
She took a moment to respond, her jaw clenching. “I do not know what you believed about it, sire. I only know what I knew.”
“Oh, come on.” Matt stalked around to the other side of his writing desk, his fingers still wrapped around the mace in his hand. “A Goblin messenger kills him? When it was obvious that both Braden and Suluth considered themselves rivals for the throne? You really think I wouldn’t have suspected the lady in charge of the largest Goblin House was trying to reduce the number of competitors for power?”
Einreth blinked. Her outraged expression faded slightly. When she answered, it was in a tone that was far more unnerved than angry. “I…was unaware that my brother had wanted to—”
“Oh, bullshit.” Matt brought his mace up and smacked the writing table with the head—hard enough to make noise, but not enough to actually do any damage. “There’s no way that he would have kept you in the dark, and it’s no surprise that he would have wanted to challenge anyone who took the throne after the Red Sorceress. He might have even been preparing to overthrow her, so rising up against an outsider like me? It would have been a foregone conclusion.”
Matt fell into his seat behind the writing desk, putting a hand over his eyes. “He probably really wanted to beat Teblas and return to Redspire as a hero. He could have used that victory as leverage against me with the other nobles and the people. Not the worst plan, especially if I turned out to be incompetent enough to let it happen.”
The noblewoman seemed mildly stunned. She was still searching for a response when a knock sounded at the door. Matt gave her a stern look and then gestured for one of the guards to open the door.
Gorfeld poked his head through the opening, taking in the state of the room. He looked at Matt with a curious tilt of his head. “Is there anything that you and Lady Einreth require, sire?”
Matt grinned at the Low Imp. It was fairly obvious that Gorfeld wanted to be in the room for the conversation; the steward would likely have already been waiting for them if he had heard about the Grand Council meeting soon enough. “No, Gorfeld. I just need to talk with Lady Einreth about what the future holds. Please wait outside until I am done.”
The Imp seemed to struggle a bit with the dismissal. Then he bowed and retreated, closing the door behind him.
When Matt turned back to the noblewoman, Einreth appeared to have recovered her balance. “Sire, if you suspected my brother of such plans, then why…”
“Why did I send him south in the first place?” Matt shrugged. “You work with the tools you have. I didn’t think that Suluth or Braden were particularly loyal, but they could give Teblas and the Alliance just as many problems as they gave me. At the same time, I hoped that they would balance each other out, and keep each other’s ambitions in check.” He grimaced. “I didn’t expect Suluth to be quite that obvious, however. That was a mistake.”
Einreth’s chin came up a little. “A mistake that cost my brother his life.”
Matt nodded. “Yes. It did.” He gestured to her. “However, your mistake is going to cost quite a few more than just one man’s life. By accusing Suluth openly, before I had her in custody, you may have given her no option but to come out in open rebellion against the Kingdom. If she succeeds, she could take the Darkwood with her, along with all the forces and nobility there. It would mean that the Sortenmoors are lost and make it that much harder to stop Teblas and the Alliance. It also means that I can’t just arrest and kill her the way I did with Tek. I’ll have to kill a lot of her soldiers first, soldiers we’re going to need if we want to survive the year.”
The defiance in Einreth’s expression faded as his words went home. He watched the flame of anger start to flicker and disappear as the consequences of her action went home. Matt waited a moment longer, until she began to shift on her feet, and then spoke again. “So the only question that I have is, did you mean for that to happen? Or did you do it by accident?”
Einreth lifted her head and met his eyes again, her expression slightly stunned. “What do you mean?”
Matt spread his arms wide. “Well, did you mean to drive Suluth to rebel? Did you weaken our Kingdom on purpose, out of an ambition of your own? Or did you just damage our position out of sheer cussed obstinacy and misguided vengeance? Which are you, Einreth, a grieving fool or a maneuvering plotter?”
She rocked back on her feet, her expression becoming unnerved. “I…I don’t…”
“If you are another schemer, I could use that to my advantage. I could claim that your accusation was just an excuse to get close to me and lock you away in the Tower for trying to challenge me to a duel.” Matt tilted his head slightly, studying her. “That might help Suluth get overconfident. Maybe even convince her to come out of hiding enough for me to arrest her as well. Your vengeance would be served, I supposed, though it would cost you your freedom as well. What do you think?”
Einreth blanched. “I am loyal to the Kingdom, sire. I would never betray you.”
“You already have, in a way.” Matt tilted his head the other way. “All the same, I’ve already lost one commander. If I were to accuse you of treachery, it might harm morale and relations with the rest of the Red Moon clan, for little to gain. So perhaps I can avoid doing that for now.”
Then he paused. “As long as you don’t intend to give me more trouble. Am I understood?”
The noblewoman stared at him a few moments more. Then her expression grew hard. “You are a tyrant. Just as Braden suspected.”
“I am what the Kingdom has required me to be.” Matt met her glare without wavering. “If that means I’m a little harsh on you, it’s because your selfishness has endangered the Kingdom. Can you really complain about that?”
“No, sire.” Einreth straightened her posture again, coming back to attention. “I will…strive not to cause any more trouble in the Council, sire.”
“I appreciate it.” Matt smiled. “Not that I have any intention of giving you the chance. As soon as you recover from your journey, you are to go to Shadeglen, where the remnants of your brother’s army is assembled. I want you to take command, and keep order in the Darkwood. Keep Teblas from advancing north and wait for my arrival in the spring.”
Einreth blinked. She seemed surprised. “You are…entrusting me with command?”
“I’m staking you out as bait.” Matt grinned at her again. “You’ll be deep in Lady Suluth’s home territory. That will irritate her and keep her from raising an effective rebellion until you’re dead. She’ll be a fool if she doesn’t try to have you killed. In fact, she might try to do that before she sends assassins after me.” He paused, then leaned forward and tapped on the writing table. “Try not to die, keep the Goblins loyal, and keep the army in order, so it will be ready to push south. Do you have any questions, Lady Einreth?”
She studied him openly now. It was as if he had knocked her so far off balance that she had given up any chance of getting her composure back. “If you knew Braden’s plans, then why did you honor him? Why give him a legacy if he would have denied you yours?”
Matt looked back at her for a moment, trying to put his response into the right words. “Because for all his faults, Braden wanted what was best for the Kingdom. He marched south on my orders, and even in losing to Teblas, he still stalled the rebel’s advance. He earned the title.”
Einreth remained silent for a moment longer, her expression unreadable. Then she bowed. “I will do as you ask, King Matthew. You will see that I am no enemy—and if I get the chance, I will bring Lady Suluth to justice.”
“She must live to see trial, Lady Einreth.” When she began to protest, he gave her a stern look. “It will show her hidden crimes in the open, and keep anyone from trying to avenge her. The last thing we need right now is a wasteful feud between your House and hers while the rest of the Kingdom is fighting for its survival.”
Einreth nodded slowly, and Matt gestured for her to withdraw. He watched her go with a wary eye, wondering what other complications could happen in the next few weeks. Hopefully that would be the last bad news before the snows fell. Somehow, though, he doubted he was going to be that lucky.