I am getting fat. Dam those sweet pastries, I will probably have to send an edict to the kitchen…can’t tell them I am on a diet, I will eat nothing but weeds for weeks. No, I will tell them the sweet is causing kingly distress to my bowels. The old hag will probably understand, but most of the cooks are new enough that it shouldn’t be a problem.
“Carter!” I yell out from dressing room…a nice little room, we will probably need to add on to it next year, but it must be done.
“Yes your majesty, what needs to be done?” An abnormally thin man pops his head around the corner looking into the room.
“Carter, send an edict to the kitchens, the sweets are causing distress.” Simply stated, should be followed quickly enough…but the hag.
“And make the hag…err, Master Chef Karen doesn’t take liberties with the edict.”
“Yes, your majesty. Should I go now, or after you have finished dressing.” The man has the lightess voice, almost like a quiet little girl…but his eyes. Those are the eyes of a man who has killed so many of my assassins that we had to stop burying them…just burn them, and till them into the soil of next seasons wheat.
“Wait, I should be fine for breakfast. What time do the meetings start?”
“You are scheduled for three meetings in total, with Duke Wannerlin and Duke Kutz this morning. They are looking for Kingdom resources to reinforce villages on the fringe. The number of attacks has risen lately and the they don’t have enough people to preform the repairs…specifically before the next attack occurs. They are looking to form a “repair division” that can be quick deployed for major rework.”
“Don’t they have enough Parities living in the villages to begin with?”
“Yes your majesty, they do…on paper.” His last statement indicating that there is something fishy going on between the two Dukedoms. So, they want Kingdom resources to fix the problem, because their own parity people are busy doing other things…what other things?
“Do we need to kill anyone, Carter?”
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“Not yet your majesty. We are currently putting some influencers into the forest around the Dukedoms. We should have a report in a week or two.”
“So, I need to stall. How many villages have been overrun lately?”
“Only two in the last 4 months. Both fell after previous attacks 2 weeks previously.”
“TWO weeks! Carter, what quality do the Parities have out there…they should have been able to build temporary walls if nothing else. They could have called in for help, what the hell are they doing out there!”
“Yes, your majesty. This is what flagged the incident to us originally. The numbers were fudged…poorly. When we sent in a merchant caravan, they dug the truth out of the survivors. The Dukes told them that the Parities had been killed during the attacks…but the payment rosters show that they are still active. It could have been a paperwork error, but further investigation from the caravans showed that the people of interest were living in the Dukes primary city…and quite well actually.”
“Another rebellion. Where are the Duke’s kids?” If I have to replace a Duke, it’s much easier to replace them with a young puppet…assuming they are young enough and naive enough to make that work.
“Duke Wannerlin’s kids are in Seat. Twins, girls, in their 20s, and…much like their father…more interested in living off the fluff, instead of working for it. Duke Katz’s girl is currently in Duke Abernaths capitol. She is not quite a teen, and I think Duke Katz is trying to use her to tie the Abernaths into this little farce.”
“Isn’t Abernath’s son 25 or so?”
“He has a reputation, your majesty.”
“Is the girl a chip off the old block, or just an innocent bystander?”
“Nothing solid your majesty. Her mother is quite sharp, and is probably the only reason the region hasn’t fallen apart. Political marriage, lots of animosity between the parents, not much else in the report.”
“So, we need to clean three houses. Do we have any assets in the area?”
“Yes, your majesty. We have three boars, all Strongs. We can weaken a couple walls, guide them to the Abernath Ducal residence, and let them go wild. We don’t have assets in Wannerlin’s or Kutz’s regions. We would need to bait something from further into the forest. We won’t be able to control something that big, and the cities will likely fall completely.”
“Save Kutz’s kid…actually, save her now. Bring her to the Seat on some educational trivia. She might be malleable, and I am sure getting away from Abernath’s kid will be welcome.”
“The mother, your majesty.”
“Let fate guide her. It is probably better to have her around, but if we lose her, so be it.”
“Yes, your majesty. Timing?”
“Let’s cause a wave. Get some of the crazier retirees out in the forest…the two Dukedoms are adjacent, so have them drive the wave between the two, and then split the wave. We can then work the fallout to “Strong’s going crazy again”…it should work…maybe. Wait till both Dukes head back…they probably won’t want to stay in the Seat…but they will be working some connections…best to track those.”
“Yes, your majesty. This is a pretty big event…do we need more adjacent fallout?”
“Let’s think about it. I haven’t had breakfast yet, and I have already decided to kill 3 Dukes. Oh, Carter…the sweet edict…let’s hold off on that for today. My stomach is feeling a little off…sweets just might settle it.”
“Yes, your majesty.”