Pale torches lined rugged stone walls that lit the cobblestone floor leading to where the prisoner was kept. A small rat scuttled among the cobble, running between Lucien’s legs, in the opposite direction to him.

This was a private jail owned by Lucien and the intelligence agency, known to many as the Drengai Dungeon. Though its legal ownership and operation was run by the Crown as one of the King’s many dungeons.

Lucien strode with confidence along this path with thoughts of justice, retribution, and a small hint of pride. From what he’d read of the letter, they'd finally caught the King’s advisor, Horyd Coeden, red handed.

The message bearer, Gwyth Thien, Lucien’s chief of staff of the Intelligence Service, opened the heavy wooden-metal door that stood at the end of the path. Lucien stepped into the darkness, the room was absent of candlelight. He felt a desolate and atrophied atmosphere within, though he felt no sympathy for the man in front.

‘About bloody time. He’s been deserving of this room for far too long.’ He thought to himself.

“Who’s there? Tell me who you are! Bring me Lucien, he needs to answer for this!” Horyd Coeden’s shouts were muffled by a bag which covered his head. Heavy metallic sounds rattled from his direction. Horyd was struggling against his chair, causing his manacles to ring out his frustration. Both his hands and feet were bound.

Though Lucien could not yet see Horyd’s condition, he could certainly smell it. A putrid smell came from him, which he preferred not to think about what it could be. Horyd Coeden had spent time wallowing his mess.

Footsteps sounded next to Lucien, and something wooden was placed in his hands. A scraping and scratching sound rung from the darkness, to which light burst out from it. The wooden instrument went up in flames, giving Lucien sight of the room.

He stared at Horyd Coeden whose clothes were of the finest quality, though they had become dirtied and crinkled from his rough treatment. Lucien strode over, and pulled off Horyd’s bag, staring directly into Horyd’s glazed eyes.

“You are in trouble this time, not even the King can save you. You are going to be completely and utterly damned.” It took a moment, but Horyd’s previously blind eyes registered Lucien’s face.

“Bloody hell, Lucien! Do you even have half a brain cell? You must’ve seen my files by now and know how serious a threat the Church currently poses to our country!” Horyd roared. “They are the damned traitors, not me! They are the ones who want to dispose of the King! They are the ones who want a civil war! They want to destroy the country, and I am trying to stop them! You are impeding me, therefore, are implicit in the destruction of Cymorth!”

Lucien let Horyd finish his fury, then shook his head and paced around the chair. “Not this time Horyd. You’ve been given too much leniency by the King to run amok. We caught you midway through your attempt to ransack and destroy the Church. Now tell me, for you to do something as stupid as this, you must have heard something interesting. Where did you get your information from and when?”

“For God’s sake! Why should I tell you that?” Horyd slammed his arms against the chair. His manacles screeched in response.

“Because it sounds like a convenient lie, pretty similar to the ones you’ve used in the past to get out of trouble. This time, however, it won’t get you out of this hot mess.”

“Damn you, you dirty rat!” Horyd cursed. “I found out from one of my institutions that I run, about a fortnight ago…” He was interrupted by Lucien.

“Your whorehouse or gambling den? Or maybe one of your loan shark gangs?”

“Bah! It was from one of my brothels! A Cardinal sought my business before he returned to the convent for the next five years. Though my informant wasn’t certain if it was Cardinal Peace or Cardinal Purity. While he got a little too passionate, he slipped up to his performer for the night. She relayed the information onto me.” Horyd raged.

“My oh my, these are bold claims you are making, Horyd. A reputable Cardinal used your services. That is as likely as the sun rising from the west! You must remember, all our clergy sign a pact of asceticism,” Lucien retorted. “But… That doesn’t justify your attack on the Church!” Horyd burst out laughing in response.

“How naive you are, Lucien! With institutions like my own, you find out shortly that all men and women are the same. It’s called the duality of man for a reason! All humans live two lives, including that Cardinal. He performs his saintly duties in the light, however, in the darkness he visits my institutions to relax. His status is all but a thin veneer, a facade to the world. I pull back that curtain and witness both sides of man, which you only see glimpses of.” Horyd ranted.

Lucien stopped his pacing, and stood before Horyd Coeden. Lucien grabbed his jaw and stared into his eyes.

“Do you think my role as the leader of the Intelligence Service is for nothing? That I spend my days twiddling my thumbs because I ignore most of your transgressions? I do so on the command of the King! Your golden thigh! Though, he will soon abandon you.” Lucien dropped his hands from Horyd’s face.

“However, just because a Cardinal used your services doesn’t justify your attack on the Church. So I will ask you only once, what made you attack Saint Hans Cathedral?”

“I told you this already, fool! The Church are planning a civil war! How could it escape your information web? They’ve been very obvious about it, to the point where even I know of it! What was relayed to me last night made me understand how.” Horyd titled his head back in his chair, so as to look down upon Lucien.

“Must I remind you once more?” Lucien straightened himself and punched Horyd in the face. Horyd cried out, but Lucien silenced him with a slap. “You are under my authority now. I can do what I want, and I will not deal with insolence. Your treatment has been light so far, do not test our patience.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Horyd started to struggling again, the manacles scraped the chair causing a metallic scream. Lucien ignored him and continued.

“I initially suspected that the Church were setting up foundations for a civil war, as you’ve suggested, due to what the Pontiff said. I even thought that they had enough backing to topple the traditional power structure! However, the conclusion from my investigation was that they lack any proper support. I’ve investigated this properly, and none of the Eight Aristocratic families support the Church. Their only backers are their lapdogs, the Gentry.”

“Fool! My informant told me that the Church are developing an army with their gentry. The more that I thought about it, the more truth there is in it. Hopefully your stupidity does not impede your memory in this, but it was only four years ago that they increased Indulgences. Do you know what this means for our nation?” Horyd stopped thrashing in his chair.

“What is it that you are suggesting?” Lucien asked.

“That the Church cultivated the Gentry, making them directly loyal to themselves through the civil service exams, and repaid them through Malevolency,” Horyd responded. “It shouldn’t be unsurprising that Cymorth’s aristocratic system would eventually fall through. You cannot have a system where only the elites sustain their position and suppress anyone wanting to social climb. The Church tapped into this anger perfectly and are preparing to aim that very spear towards us.”

“While you make a very interesting argument, there are too many flaws within it. First, you say that you found this information about the Church a fortnight ago. Then why have you been spreading propaganda about the Church’s desire to start a civil war for the last five months? There hasn’t been a single change in your informants message, they were very consistent with that. However, it took until last night for you to actually implement your stance against the Church, and quite decisively at that.”

“Hell! Lucien, you know my predicament with the Church. We’ve never had a great relationship, and they needed their power to be checked. Like I said it was only recently…” Horyd was interrupted by Lucien.

“It sounds to me like opportunism. You’ve needed to get rid of the Church for a while now, so you’ve been spreading propaganda about it. It just so happens that at the first sight of supposed ‘proof’ that justifies your claims that they’ve been seeking a civil war, and you don’t even know which Cardinal it was at that, you go ahead and try to destroy them yourself,” Lucien put a hand on Horyd’s shoulder. “Doesn’t that sound rather suspect.”

Horyd opened his mouth to argue, but Lucien cut him off.

“That leads me to my second issue. If you have already been spreading propaganda against the Church because of conflict over your… special ‘business ventures’... What separates that propaganda from this? Your informants didn’t even bother to change their message, that the Church was plotting a civil war. There is no precedent in your behaviour that justifies this to the contrary. And with no substantial evidence to support your claims either…” Lucien tutted condescendingly.

Horyd began to panic, his face was awfully grim even in the sombre light of the torch. Sweat dripped down his face, it splashed onto the moss of the cobblestone floor.

“Lucien, you have to believe me, I am being honest. The situation is worse than we all think, the Cardinal told me something new…” Horyd was interrupted.

“The Cardinal told you now? You said earlier that he told your worker this information. You can’t even get the story to match, why should I trust you?” Lucien lampooned Horyd.

“Shut up! The Cardinal needed help from someone so we got in contact. He told me that the rise in the new faction in the Church, the Scholars of Theurgy, were the ones planning a coup. He mentioned that he’s the only one left, though I don’t know exactly what he meant, but he implied that he was the only one who wasn’t part of their coup.” Horyd ranted. He was shaking in his chair now, he had been under strenuous conditions for too long.

“So?” The torch flickered before Lucien’s face. His expression was inscrutable.

“So?” Horyd spat out in exasperation. “All of the episcopacy and the Church’s leadership are part of it, except him! If a religious faction has that much unified power, and they have an extremist agenda, they will destroy us!”

“They are radical, yes. Particularly that idea of summoning God… However, it is not as serious as you make it out to be. If they fought against a unified aristocracy they would lose, and as far as I know no families support them. They have nothing to gain from a civil war, and all of my intelligence suggests this. If anything, you and your repeated attacks of the Church are causing discord within our nation, not them.” Lucien argued. Horyd’s complexion paled with Lucien’s damning remarks.

“Finally, to my last concern. You claim that they have been embezzling Indulgences to the Gentry, in preparations for an army. The Gentry do not have as much power as you think they do. Since their introduction to Parliament, I have been suspicious of them for the very reasons you labelled. They pose a great threat to Cymorth due to their hereditary resentment."

"However, they lack any real power that you suggest they have. The Intelligence Agency has investigated the Gentry several times, and the majority of them do not have Malevolent energy. Our most liberal estimations place only five percent of the gentry as sorcerers. Even then, they’re not that great of a power.”

Horyd deflated at that. He knew that he was not going to be successful in arguing his case for his innocence. Now that Lucien had the excuse to get rid of him, he would be ruthless in making sure that not even the King could save him. He was worried what Lucien would do to make him guilty.

However, he was certain that the information that he received was not a lie, and he forced it onto Lucien.

“Damnation! I know that I am screwed because of your incorrigible spitefulness. However, I will not let my imprisonment take the whole country down with me. Listen here Lucien, the Scholars of Theurgy are the biggest threat to our state’s security. Promise me this, you will investigate into them. I might hate the Church; however, they are worse!"

"The Cardinal told me that the Pontiff has been corrupted, and he’s corrupted the rest of the Cardinals. That he was the only one left. That is what I meant when I said I’m not certain what he means. But you must believe me. They are not to be trusted!” Horyd shouted, his cheeks puffed out and red. He struggled against his chair in a show of desperation. The manacles shrieked a piercing cry as they shook against each other.

“Oh Horyd! Even after your lies have been unveiled, you still attack the Church. Everyone knows your game. You are trying to create civil unrest within Cymorth to cause the collapse of the Church. I have strong evidence to argue this in court. This is high treason! Blasphemy!” Lucien was apoplectic, unbelieving of Horyd's accusations.

“Lucien, shut up! Promise me now that you will investigate them again. If you don’t, I will make this matter public when I’m in jail. I am not the only one who has the ability to release this information.” Horyd threatened.

“Fine, but it will be on my own terms after everything has settled down.” Lucien responded. He stood up and placed the bag back over Horyd’s head. Muffled shouts screamed after him as he briskly walked out of the cell. The torch lit his exit, though it was nearly extinguished.

In the corridor, a man dressed in all black was dimly lit by torch light, his face barely visible. The man nodded at Lucien, who responded with a smile in greeting.

“Horyd has been caught, finally. He slipped up, and we can now pin treason on him. He admitted to several counts of heresy, which we have evidence for as well. Afon, I need you to prepare and compile all of the information ready for the trial. The King will not be happy if it is not airtight.” Lucien said.

“Understood, my lord” Afon Coeden bowed.

Lucien picked up a fresh torch and strode down the corridor. The darkness grasped at him, but the small orange pocket provided him shelter from it.