The Midnight Visitor

By royal decree of the Khura'inese imperial regent, standards in all prisons were to be raised to what was defined as "humane conditions" within a year. Physical and mental torture were banned without special permission, food and water was a requirement to be provided daily, immediate family was to be allowed visitation once a week, and real clergy members were sent in to assist a prisoner's repentance, not the charlatans hired by the previous regime to encourage false confessions and (occasionally) suicide. All prisoners must be held to these basic standards, regardless of the crime they committed.

Even if you were the one who made the reforms necessary, it seems. All prisoners held equal or some nonsense.

Ga'ran laughed at her nephew's softness. He couldn't coddle criminals and expect people to obey. Khura'in wouldn't last a year under him. She'd tried to train the weakness out of him, but clearly, it was still there. Got it from his mother, no doubt.

And if he had the stubbornness of his father? Then they were in trouble. She hadn't heard anything about an execution, so who knows? Maybe she would get a spectator seat as Khura'in withered and died at the hands of idiots. Well meaning idiots, perhaps, but idiots all the same. Their antics should be entertaining, and it wasn't like she had anything else to occupy herself with.

Ga'ran had enjoyed her time on the throne, no doubt. Having anyone and everyone who'd ever challenged her drop to their knees and beg forgiveness was a definite plus. But unlike Amara, she didn't just play and throw parties. She actually got the job done.

"Prisoner 666, you have a visitor," the guard yelled through her cell door. She didn't know the man, and unfortunately had a pitiful time trying to manipulate him. She missed her old guards. "Stand for the regent's arrival."

Arrival? It was almost midnight. He must have waited for everyone to fall asleep, hoping his visit would go unnoticed by the public. Well, unless he bribed every guard involved, it wasn't going to work. She should know.

"Nahyuta."

"Ga'ran," his reply was as crude as hers. She sat back down before he had even entered the cell, leaning back with her legs crossed. He remained standing near the door, back stiff. She stifled a laugh at the sight of him in royal regalia.

"Welcome, nephew, to my personal pit of hell. Did you not take enough pleasure in casting me down that you had to see it yourself? Oh wait," she scoffed. "You were useless in dethroning me. How does it feel, knowing Khura'in's fate was left in the hands of a foreign devil?"

"I trust Apollo as a brother. He did the right thing, coming home."

No passion in his voice at all. He wasn't here to play. "Well then, why are you here, if not to wallow together in misery?"

He sighed, doing his best not to face her. It seemed old habits die hard, no matter how much he tried to resist. "When you ran the state, your dethronement was... unexpected. I was not your intended successor, and neither was Rayfa until she became of age. As such, you left unfinished business that I… I was not aware of. Giving your despotic ways, no one in the palace seems to understand the affairs. Only you."

"You mean, being a prosecutor didn't prepare you for ruling over this kingdom?" she taunted, laughing at the thought him floundering in a nest of warbaa'ds. "It's perfectly fine. Being a lawyer and a spoiled brat didn't prepare your parents either, but everyone glorifies them anyway. Go ask your mother for help. ...Or are you saying the Holy Mother incarnate doesn't know all?" She exploded into mirth.

Nahyuta just waited for her to finish. No fun at all. "This wouldn't be the case if you didn't concentrate all the power into your own hands."

"If I hadn't centralized the state as much as I did, inefficiency and corruption would have destroyed us a decade ago."

"Hm?"

"When I became queen, the first thing I did was strip certain regional authorities of their power. Under my mother and Amara, they'd grown fat and lazy, overtaxing their subjects to make an extra dahma. Exposing them brought public support my way."

"And eliminated the majority of nobles who were against your reign."

"Hmph. They only appreciated your mother because she was willfully ignorant. Don't be delusional." Ga'ran pretended to swallow the medication they sent her. Ever since her last appearance at the Hall of Justice, the people who ran the prisons thought it necessary to feed her yak tranquilizers. They calmed her fits, certainly, but they also made her brain fuzzy, and forced her to sleep all day. She couldn't stand it. "If Amara knew they were corrupt, she didn't care."

He narrowed his eyes. "What happened to the people you deposed?"

"Oh, I still had a few soft spots at the time. They were merely forced to retire. The worst that came out of it was that some were killed by peasant assassins. In the meantime, I sought out replacements among their relatives and picked people I could trust."

"People who would blindly obey you, you mean."

"People who did their job without taking for themselves. If you're the reason they get a job, they're less likely to double-cross you. Not a concept you'd understand." She shrugged. "Just make sure they don't get too comfortable under your reign. I recommend putting projects inside their district under your direct supervision. Remind them who's in charge and how easy it was to replace their predecessor."

He didn't even nod. Ungrateful brute. "So you replaced most the noble class. What else do I need to restore?"

"You already know what's next, boy. The legal system. I'm sad to say driving your father out of the palace took longer than expected, but it did have one advantage: plenty of time to get the people in a stir."

"You mean, manufacture a prejudice against lawyers."

She had a hoot at that. "You make it sound like lawyers were innocent victims, but you've met enough to know: they aren't all like your dear 'brother'. They disregard guilt and fight for money and prestige. They'll tell any sort of lie to get their client off the hook. Those are the people the DC Act targeted. Which, I remind you, was enacted with tremendous public support."

"The masses of the time were ignorant to the damage such an action would cause."

"Were? They still are. But you can use that to your own advantage. As long as they have food, shelter, and a common enemy, they won't turn against you as a whole. And from there, you'll just have to weed out the folks who pop up every few years. But do it quietly, or the public will pay them even more attention."

She turned to face him, looking for a reason to laugh. "Well, did you have any specific affairs to ask about? You can get this from books."

He bit his lips, almost embarrased. "Your trade alliance with the president of Zheng Fa. He claims while you were in power, Khura'in accrued a debt to his country. A debt of sixty million dahma."

"Sixty million?!" What a riot! "You really don't know how negotiation works, do you? The real number is ten million, spent on weapons. He upped the cost to see if you could be scammed and intimidated." She waved her hands in the air. "My records are in the palace record room somewhere. Ask the servants for them. And when he calls back, hold firm. Make sure everyone knows that transition of power does not equate to weakness."

"..."

"What are you staring at?" She knew she was pretty, but she was his aunt. Surely he wasn't raised to be so sick?

"You're oddly cooperative. I expected more difficulty."

"And what does that get me? I'm not insane yet!" Or at least, she didn't think so.

No, of course not. She was eminent, higher than insanity and the mere mortals it inflicted. "If you had any smarts in your brain, you'd kill me for the public support the second I turn up uncooperative. If I offer the occasional assistance, you have a reason to keep me alive."

He turned away. "As if such sinful tactics can get you out of paying for your sins. The Holy Mother won't know what to do with you when you leave our world."

"Then give her time to figure it out, and take advantage of the only competent ruler this kingdom has to offer."

Oh, that red face. "You're full of yourself."

"Am I wrong?"

Silence. He closed the cell door as he stormed out, leaving her with the most boring guard she had the displeasure of meeting.

But he'd be back. He could go on about morals until he was blue in the face, but beneath that monk facade lay a practical mind.

When the time came, he'd do what needed to be done. He'd come to rely on her advice when running the kingdom.

It would be like she'd never been dethroned at all.

A/N's: So I was cleaning out my Google Docs, and came across this old fill from the kink meme. It isn't my best work, but I decided to clean it up and post anyway. I hope you all enjoy it. Something to tide you over while I spend all my energy on Camp NaNo and AAI3.

Thanks for reading, please review, and I'll see you on the far side!