Intrigues of a Princess
XXVII: Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad
The next day, as soon as the summit let out, Eries returned to the Fassa estate. Allen did not come. Instead, Alucier served as her guard. It only made sense for him to come because the whole point of the visit was to investigate into Tellot's attack. Alucier should be there anyway. It was a two birds, one stone kind of thing. That it also kept Allen away from Meiden's barbs was a nice bonus bird too.
In fact, she was glad her colleagues had reconsidered and voted for her to be their only representative other than Dryden to attend. Their rationale was that the two of them knew Meiden the best. Everyone else being there might prove overwhelming. Intimidating was how Dryden had put it when he'd first pitched that less would be more but neither Van nor Nuri had a problem with that until he'd reworded.
Eries' rationale was a bit different. If worse came to worse, Dryden had already seen how vicious she and Meiden could get. Alucier had heard about it. Neither would be surprised and they both knew how to handle it. She didn't want the others to see that side of her.
She was hoping it wouldn't come out. Her promise to Dryden was fresh in her mind. His presence at her side should keep it that way. Meiden, however, had made no such pledge. He'd only agreed to cooperate peaceably with the upcoming inquisition, though Dryden swore it had taken very little prodding on his part to get his father to make that agreement.
Eries believed Dryden was taking numerous liberties with the details. Meiden couldn't possibly be happy that his son had shared his secrets, especially with his political rival. Livid was Eries' guess at Meiden's true mood. She was going to think positively though. Sort of. She thought if she braced herself to enter the most hostile territory imaginable that the real situation would have to be better.
Or there was a slim chance it would be better.
Dryden led them past the front door over to a walkway that went to a side door. "The front door's only for formal, unexpected or otherwise unwanted guests," he explained.
"Are you sure I don't fit into the unwanted category?" Eries asked.
"Eh, Alucier and I don't. Two out of three ain't bad." They walked the rest of the way to the side door in silence. "That was joke by the way. Ha. Ha."
"Ha. Ha," Eries repeated without enthusiasm. "At least you're in a good mood."
"Or I like covering my nervous mood with lame jokes."
"Hey, I do that," Alucier said. "But my jokes are good."
They entered the Fassa home. "Dad, we're here!" Dryden called out.
A shout came from the library instructing them to come to him. Dryden led the way. Leaning over to Alucier, he whispered, "I hope you have a whole routine worked out."
The Fassa library was second only to the Royal Library in size. It ranked higher in denying accessibility to the public. Meiden had made it his refuge, more so than even his office because here he was able to actually relax amongst the shelves brimming with books and the occasional sculptures that served as bookends. The fireplace was roaring despite the weather being fairly mild. Meiden soaked up the heat on the large couch that sat to the fireplace's immediate right. He motioned for his son and guests to take seats in the chairs he'd thoughtfully set out before hand.
Dryden, knowing to never let a lady sweat and figuring a Caeli uniform was the equivalent of a wool blanket, took the chair closest to the fire. "Jeez, Dad, are you trying to melt us?"
"You know I like it warm."
The first thought that popped into Eries' head was that that was good thing considering where Meiden was likely to spend his afterlife. That would not be good way to start.
"There's warm," Dryden groused, "and there's stifling." He was so uncomfortable he removed his outer robe, revealing loose fitting tunic and trousers underneath. Eries and Alucier stared. "What? Did you think I was naked under there?"
"Oh, this is starting wonderfully," Alucier said under his breath.
Meiden heard him and couldn't agree more. "Can we forget this nonsense and get to the point? Dryden has informed me of your deep curiosity about the Cesarian chancellor. He's also informed me I have no choice but to indulge that curiosity."
"I didn't say you had to!"
"No, Dryden, you chose your words more carefully than that, but the meaning was all the same."
The primary focus of Eries' curiosity shifted from the Cesarian to what Dryden had said to his father. The suggestions at Allen's party had been appealing to the greater good of Asturia while pointing out Asturia was his largest market – a mixture of idealism and plain old cynicism. No one had suggested that Dryden employ any strong arm techniques, not from any squeamishness at employing them but from doubt that Dryden would go through with them.
"Sure, Dad, whatever you say. Now, like you said, can we forget this nonsense and get to the point?"
After a long sigh, Meiden told his story. He mostly watched the fire as he talked, sparing the occasional glance at Alucier and none at all at Eries.
"He was a contact from when I used to sell textiles in Cesario. He's from an old family that made their wealth in clothing. Helped him get a deal with the government for his company to make all of Cesario's military uniforms. It was too good of a deal actually. His company grew to the point they started producing their own cloth and he didn't need me anymore."
"Dad? The point? Will you be approaching it soon?"
"I'd be there if you had let me keep talking," Meiden snapped. "Anyway, as his wealth grew, he moved into politics and eventually became chancellor of Cesario's economic council. He had big plans. He thought he could include me in them. I had my influence in Asturia's government, he said, plus, he owed me one.
"He saw an opportunity with this summit. Zaibach, Freid and Fanelia were all weak. Basram needed to do some serious atonement for having and then dropping that bomb. The rumors from Egzardia were that the king didn't have long to live. Really, it was only Asturia and Cesario that had any strength to speak of. He wanted to use that strength."
Meiden yawned as if the secret dealings of world powers were utterly mundane. To him, these secret dealings were. They'd gone nowhere, produced nothing of benefit. His interest in them had completely fled. Alas, he had three guests that felt the exact opposite.
So he continued. "He and I had numerous other contacts. He was the one that got in touch with Bennor e' Egzard. I was just the one who had to meet with the boy. And that's when I noticed the pattern forming. He'd set these meetings up but didn't want to attend. He was good at planning, not execution, he claimed. The truth was that he didn't have the guts to do the hard work. 'If anyone discovered I was meeting foreign leaders in secret, I could lose my position on the economic council! What would happen to my business! What would happen to me?' If it wasn't one excuse, it was another."
"Um, not to push you," Alucier said with every intention of pushing. He'd heard Dryden's summary of why Meiden and the Cesarian fell out. He didn't need to hear every last whiny detail. "But I think we should go over what you know about his relationship to Bennor. This whole thing centers around tampering with Egzardia's succession so let's center around the Egzardians ourselves."
Meiden had to think back. He was so used to men like him having connections in every corner of the world that he never questioned how those connections came to be. Coming out and asking was so tacky anyway. But the Cesarian had told him something about Bennor – nothing terribly memorable apparently.
As Meiden struggled to recall, his guests threw out suggestions.
"Did he do business with Bennor?" Dryden asked.
Eries shook her head. "Marqesita said Bennor's been at a military academy and only recently left. I wouldn't think he'd run a business from the barracks."
It was Alucier's turn. "Maybe they met at some diplomatic function. They would have had to let Bennor out of that academy for something like that."
Again, Eries disagreed. "Why would he go? Egzardia's modus operandi since their king fell ill was to pretend nothing's wrong. Pulling Bennor from the academy for the sole purpose of taking his father's place at a diplomatic function would be too conspicuous."
"But all three of his kids showed up for this summit," Dryden said. "That's not conspicuous?"
"Bennor had already graduated and come back to the palace. He's not being pulled from anything. And by having all three of them come to the summit, it gave the appearance that the king is fine. Why else would he have all of his likely successors out of the country at the same time? It was the best they could do without sending the king himself."
This was logical, assuming Bennor's acquaintance with the Cesarian was long standing and not a recent development. Dryden prodded Meiden into remembering at least that.
Meiden didn't answer straight away. The Cesarian had mentioned that he'd known Bennor for awhile, but that didn't make any sense for the reasons Eries had listed. How does a boy in Egzardian military academy become a potential conspirator with a middle-aged Cesarian politician?
He gave up figuring it out on his own. "He said he'd known him for a few years. He must never have told me how, because, frankly, I'm as baffled as you are."
"Oh, goodie," Alucier said. "Looks like I get to interview Bennor again."
"He definitely knows our Cesarian friend. I mentioned him in our first meeting and Bennor knew exactly who he was."
It would have been nice if Bennor had shared that tidbit in the first place. Though he was tempted on the basic principal of Bennor's personality, Alucier wouldn't hold it against him. Everything was moving so quickly. It was hard to tell what was relevant and what wasn't.
So he had no choice but to get all the information he could and sort it out later. He asked Meiden what he'd talked with Bennor about, getting every last whiny detail this time. Meiden was surprisingly cooperative. That was heartening even if the information Alucier was getting didn't suggest anything.
Even Dryden was pleasantly surprised. "See, Dad. Doesn't it feel great to play along with everybody?"
That was pushing it and Meiden let him know. "I'm cooperating in an investigation for the benefit of my country. It is not play nor does it feel 'great'."
Meiden finished relaying his information in the same spirit, dutifully and dully recounting his interactions with Bennor. There really was nothing to be found in them. The two had little in common save for Eries' dislike of them both. It was nice to hear a few of Bennor's plans for Egzardia, but barring a major reconciliation with Meiden and the mysterious Cesarian, nothing was going to come of them, rendering them quashed without anyone having to do anything. She'd share them with Marqesita just to be thorough.
"That's it?" Alucier asked once Meiden was through. He didn't hide his disappointment. He'd spent nearly in hour baking in Meiden's office-oven and had only gotten the need for another meeting with Bennor and the fact that a minister on Cesario's economic council was kind of shady and a lot whiney out of it.
"That is it," Meiden declared. "I know the three of you came here expecting all sorts of dealings with the devil, but I'm afraid you'll have to leave disappointed." A slight tilt of his head indicated who he thought had had the worst expectations of him.
It wasn't as if she hadn't any reason to form those expectations. The man had actually counted on her forming them for his plans to work, after all. Eries coughed and politely explained this to him.
He didn't bother denying it. He, instead, laughed at his own joke. "Really, Princess, you can't fault me for using every advantage offered to me, even if it's only to bluff. You didn't have to let your assumptions get the worst of you either."
So that's how it was going to be. Not only was he going crow about what would have been his successful strategy had Dryden not revealed it, he was going to lay the blame for it all at her feet. Technically, a good bit of it did belong there, but Eries had one last volley to fling before abiding by Dryden's request to appear civil to Meiden.
And – this was a technicality too – what she was about to say was clearing the air between them.
"No, Meiden, I don't blame you for bluffing. It would be quite hypocritical of me considering I've used bluffs of my own to get you to acquiesce to my wishes."
She knew he wouldn't ask what those bluffs had been. That would be weak, almost begging. She also knew that furrowed brow of his meant he was dying to know.
So she told him.
"Do you remember when I came to you asking to drop the treason charges against Allen? We made a bargain then. I would persuade Millerna to marry Dryden or argue against it based on whether those charges were dropped.
"There was one little fact that I omitted when giving you my terms. Millerna had already agreed to the marriage when we spoke. I was wholly supportive of her decision and wouldn't have dreamed of speaking a contrary word to her about it."
Meiden gaped at her. Alucier and Dryden did some gawking of their own – Alucier in anticipation that things were going to get nasty again and Dryden in relief that his sister-in-law wasn't as quite as manipulative as his father had made out.
Meiden, however, believed Eries was more conniving than ever. He didn't know how to say it without a Caeli and his son jumping down his throat though. "That's…" he began slowly, "that's interesting to hear, Princess. And if I hadn't dropped the charges?"
"Nothing," Eries admitted. "I wouldn't have done a thing to stop the marriage. I thought you might have known that considering my stance on the wedding, but you assumed the worst of me."
There were moments when people claimed you would have been able to hear a pin drop. In the moment between having his smug pride for his strategy thrown back at him and Meiden's reply, that might have been true. There weren't any pins in the room to be able to find out. There were several large crackles from the fireplace along with a nervous sigh from Dryden.
Meiden took the sigh to heart. He had nothing to gain by starting yet another argument with Eries. She'd won this one and rightly so if he were in a more charitable mood. There'd be other fights – many, many other fights. He'd take what he'd learned here today and put it to use then. For now… "Well played, Princess. I supposed this renders us even."
"If only," Dryden muttered.
He wasn't being sarcastic. Eries could hear the longing in it that made it a sincere wish. She'd gone too far in rubbing in the trick she'd pulled on Meiden. She'd known it before she said it too but had done it anyway. What was it about Meiden that made her so nasty?
She didn't like it at all. She didn't like the person it made her. She didn't like Meiden – anyone – having that kind of power over her. She need only remind herself of how easily Meiden had manipulated her to know how damaging that could be. She needed to honor her promise to Dryden sooner rather than later and not only for his sake or Millerna's.
Besides, she wasn't required to actually like Meiden – just get better at pretending she tolerated him.
"Nothing would please me more than to call us even and put a stop to all of these hostilities," Eries said in her best diplomat's voice. "Our families are merging. It would behoove us both to place Millerna and Dryden above our disagreements."
It wasn't the strongest of olive branches – more like an olive twig – but the peace Eries wished to achieve with it was real if not completely sincere.
Dryden seized on it immediately, urging his father to accept it. "Isn't that great, Dad? A truce, think of all the free time you'll have by not having to plot against Eries."
"Uh, huh," Meiden said, clearly not believing what he was hearing.
It wasn't what Dryden had hoped to hear. He gave a pitiful glance to Eries asking her to lay it on thicker.
Too thick and he'll know I'm faking, she thought. She quickly reconsidered. He knows I'm faking anyway. Anything more in that vein and he's liable to lose an eye from rolling it too hard.
So Eries tried something new. She was completely honest with Meiden. "I don't like you. You don't like me. Our political goals seldom match and until they do, we'll always be rivals on the council regardless of the king that sits at its head. But I think we do need to show more respect to that king. My father will always be my father as he will always be your friend. Dryden will always be your son as he, Jichia willing, will be my brother."
"So you want us all to be friends?" Meiden asked incredulously.
"I want us all to be less bitter enemies. We're both politicians. We know how to put on a big smile to let everyone know how wonderful things are."
"So you want us all to pretend to be friends and save the cursing and the vitriol for behind each other's backs?"
That didn't sound quite right, but it was as good as could be hoped for. Dryden entertained the notion that if they could pull this off, maybe they could move towards a larger, more meaningful reconciliation but even at his selling-the-fleet-to-save-a-stranger's-life best, he wasn't that much of an idealist.
Alucier doubted this truce would go much further too. He'd take it though if it would spare him from having to sit through any future hostile exchanges. He'd still be in for listening to Eries complain about Meiden in private but the public reprieve would be nice. Allen wasn't the only knight who had trouble resisting the temptation to protect Eries even when he knew it was her business to handle on her own.
Meiden considered the proposal with the occasional chuckle to himself. He enjoyed his fights with Eries in a way and not simply because of the benefit he'd planned to reap. Truly worthy foes were rare for a man of his skill. While he'd ultimately rank Eries a rung lower on the skill ladder, she did keep him competitive.
He would have to accept the loss of a good opponent. Dryden was bristling at their constant fighting. The more sensitive Millerna would grow to loathe it. Odds were she'd side with her sister in assigning blame for it. Meiden truly wanted to be in his daughter-in-law's good graces. He didn't want to give her any reason to abdicate the title first and foremost which also led to his second reason: an unhappy Millerna would result in an unhappy Dryden. That wouldn't do.
"All right, Princess," Meiden said. "We'll try it your way. Nothing but smiles and sunshine on the surface."
"It would be nice if a little of that could make it below the surface," Dryden added. Blank stares prodded him to make another amendment. "But we've already had our miracle for the day for let's set that one on the back burner."
"So what now? We shake hands and lie about how pleasant it was to see each other?" Meiden asked.
In the name of a decent start to the truce, Alucier intervened before Eries could say anything. "Let's just say it was a productive meeting and thank each other for the input."
This was amenable to both parties. They repeated Alucier's suggested statement virtually verbatim with all the enthusiasm of a child opening birthday presents that he knows are all clothes.
With much more spirit, Dryden closed out the meeting. "Excellent. Dad, if we need you or if you remember anything at all about Bennor and his Cesarian friend, we'll be in touch. I think this went really well, don't all of you?"
Eries and Meiden nodded, nothing but forced, almost grins and a glimmer of hellfire from the fireplace between them.
0-0-0-0-0
Back in their guest quarters at the palace, three Egzardian siblings made tentative steps toward their own reconciliation. Unlike the agreement between Meiden and Eries, these three were striving for something meaningful and deep. Sadly, they were also unlike Meiden and Eries in that one of them was refusing to voice any of his secrets.
Tellot did feel really bad about it though and he was feeling increasingly worse as Bennor and Marqesita pieced together what they knew. For once in his life, he knew something his brother and sister didn't and all he could do is play dumb lest he come out looking evil. Tellot would never forget how disgusted Marqesita had been when she'd thought Bennor had had something to do with the attack. She'd be thoroughly repulsed if the truth came out.
Bennor might understand. He'd sought out Meiden Fassa for a possible alliance. He knew sometimes you had to deal with the devil to achieve the greater good. Of course, Bennor hadn't made any deals, merely listened to the sales pitch, but he could get the gist.
Couldn't he?
It didn't appear so. He was writing up a list of all of his contacts, friendly and otherwise, and making very descriptive commentary for every name he put down.
Occasionally, Bennor would ask Marqesita and Tellot for their input on a particular name, Marqesita receiving most of the questions. Tellot shrugged and mumbled whenever he was asked. Neither of his siblings thought his responses were out of the ordinary.
"What about e' Del-Iyl?" Bennor asked. "He was always opposing Father."
There was more mumbling and shrugging from Tellot while Marqesita sighed. "Opposed him on foolish things like that idiot bridge to nowhere in his province. No one else in Parliament cares for him, much less want to partner with him and he's not clever enough to go it on his own."
Bennor threw out more names and his sister countered every one with an explanation of the member's politics and his or her relationship with other Parliament members. She didn't even give it much thought. It was name followed by details, like a student reciting well-memorized multiplication tables.
"You really know a lot about Parliament," Bennor concluded.
"I try to keep up. You know how Father's memory was slipping. He needed someone to keep him informed."
"And I was still at the Academy."
Tellot didn't offer an excuse why it hadn't been him. They all knew why.
"I didn't trust anyone in Parliament to do it. There are a few in there that I believe would have handled it honorably but if suddenly they had started being seen hanging around the king a lot for no reason, the dishonorable ones would have smelled the blood in the water. I could spend all the time I wanted with Father without raising suspicions."
"And you got to spend time with him," Tellot added. He expected the sentimental outburst to be greeted by scornful frowns. That's how it usually went.
But this time, his brother and sister agreed with him.
"Yeah…" Marqesita murmured. "At first I thought he would get better and it was no big deal. Now that he's gone though, I wouldn't trade the time I spent with him for anything."
Bennor wasn't as emotional – he never was – but he had his own tribute to pay. "I only wish that I could have gotten more of my education from him than the Academy. He was certainly more knowledgeable than my teachers there. I still don't know why he was so insistent that I go."
"Because he believed the crown needed a strong liaison to the military," Marqesita answered. "Keeps the military more loyal if they think they've got one of their own in the decision making. I'm not saying he thought they were going to mutiny or anything but we know how Parliament is with power grabs. They're likely to be less grabby when the men with the weapons aren't on their side." She reconsidered, taking the framing of Bennor into account. "Well, at least they should be less grabby."
"I was about to say how wonderfully my military ties worked for me," Bennor laughed bitterly. He smiled next, sincerely and smugly. "So you think that means Father wanted for me to succeed him?"
"You need to listen more carefully. I said Father wanted the crown to have a strong liaison, not be a strong liaison."
"So now you're going to tell me that Father told you he wanted for you to be his successor."
"Since you asked, Bennor..." But Marqesita wouldn't lie, not about her father's wishes. "No, he never said who he wanted to succeed him. I could tell he had plans for all of us, but part of those plans were to let us figure it all out for ourselves."
"Right, one last lesson for his children – sometimes you have to figure it out for yourselves."
"Pity he didn't see this mess coming," Marqesita said. "Because we're certainly learning it trying to figure out what Parliament's up to."
"Wouldn't work. If Father had foreseen this mess and then gone ahead and named an heir because he didn't think we'd need this lesson, then there wouldn't have been a mess to foresee. But then he would have still been in an educating mood thus creating the mess again and thus negating it as well in a never ending cycle of circular logic."
Tellot didn't follow any of that. He knew better than to ask. Bennor's explanations tended to leave him more confused than if he tried to work it out for himself. He tried thinking it out slowly.
Dad thinks we need to learn a lesson. Dad foresees us learning the lesson by doing something else, so Dad doesn't give the lesson. But if he doesn't try to give us the lesson then we don't do the something else, so we'll still need the lesson. But if we still need the lesson then he wouldn't have cancelled it in the first place. Meaning…okay, I got it!
That was one thing to feel proud of but Tellot wasn't feeling very self-congratulatory. Whatever lesson his father was trying to teach him, Tellot had a feeling he, more than his siblings, wasn't getting it. They were working together to get at the truth despite being rivals. He knew what the truth was and was sitting on it because they were rivals.
Some king he'd make, betraying his own family. Sure he'd give them both positions in his government, but none of those was as good as the crown. None of them had the power. None of them had as much responsibility to do what was right.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk by myself," Tellot announced.
Neither Bennor nor Marqesita thought this was a good idea.
Marqesita chided him out of concern for his well-being. "I hope you meant 'with a well-armed guard' when you said 'by myself'."
Bennor's concern lay in the perception that Tellot was shirking his duties. "We're in the middle of trying to figure out who put that knife in you and you want to go out for a stroll? Aren't you concerned about bringing the people who attacked you to justice?"
How easily he could answer both their questions. He knew he was safe because he knew there were no more plans to have him attacked. He didn't need to figure out anything because he knew who planned the attack too.
But easily in theory was not easily in practice. Tellot stumbled over a cheap excuse to leave. "It's not like you guys need me here and I could use the air. The palace is real safe too. I'm not going to be wandering around Palas again."
Bennor gave up in disgust. Marqesita made one more attempt to convince him to have a guard go with him, but Tellot assured her that in a palace crawling with guards, he didn't need to have one by his side to have one protecting him.
While this assuaged Marqesita's protests, the idea of guards everywhere worried Tellot. He needed to avoid them at all costs. He didn't want anyone knowing where he was going.
Because he was going to meet the Cesarian – hopefully for the last time.
0-0-0-0-0
When Eries returned to the palace, Allen was waiting for her in the hall outside her quarters. There was a brief changing of the guard between him and Alucier consisting of Alucier saying 'she's all yours' in lieu of the standard salutes and reports the Caeli charter proscribed. Few Caeli ever went through the whole procedure without their commander present. If Alucier became commander, he'd eliminate it entirely.
When I become commander, Alucier silently reminded himself. The possible promotion still dangled before him like a carrot. He only feared the carrot was starting to dangle closer to Fortanen. He hardly needed the motivation to get going, but with that thought in mind, he set out to speak to Bennor with a bit more haste.
Allen couldn't sense any lingering anger on Eries as was usual after a go-around with Meiden so he assumed the meeting had gone well. He'd let her tell her about though in case he was wrong. Besides, he had a message to give her.
"Your father wishes to speak with you." He held out the note he'd been given.
Eries read over it and was left more curious for the effort. "The note just says the same thing. No one gave you any hint what he wanted?"
"No, I was summoned to his quarters, he personally gave me the note and told me to wait for you until you returned. He seemed pleased when I told him that you and Dryden were talking to Meiden."
"Father seemed pleased in your presence?" she teased.
"It was quite odd. He didn't frown at me or accuse me of treason or anything."
"Such a strange day," Eries sighed. "First Meiden agrees to treat me like a human being in public and now Father treats you as one in private."
That was the opening he'd been waiting for. He asked her for the details of the meeting and she recounted it for him as they walked to the king's quarters. The guard at the door motioned for them to go right in when they arrived.
Eries was greeted by what had become an unusual sight. Aston was standing alone in the middle of the room, his wheelchair pushed in the corner, his cane propped unused against the bed.
She gasped when she saw him, in both elation at this show of health and worry that he was doing it without any medical supervision. His strength could leave him suddenly; somebody should be with him whenever he tried stunts like this in case the worse should happen.
Eries couldn't bring herself to lecture him though. "I'm impressed, Father. I had no idea you'd progressed so much."
Aston dismissed the praise. "Standing shouldn't be considered an achievement for a king. That's why I try to do this when I'm alone, so I don't have the doctors fawning over me like a dog that's learned a new trick."
"Oh, please. You deserve it. Your recovery didn't magically happen. You had to work for it."
If Eries was hellbent on complimenting him, he'd have to take it. "Well, work is over for today. Schezar, fetch the chair for me."
Allen did as told, though he doubted Aston's use of the word 'fetch' as a command was unintentional after speaking of dogs and tricks.
He slid the chair in behind Aston who watched as if Allen were liable to plow the chair right into him. Once he determined Allen possessed the capability to push a wheelchair without loosing control, Aston sat down as gracefully as his health would allow. It didn't allow much.
"Ugh, you think they could make these things more comfortable," he complained. "And this is a chair for a king. I can't imagine how awful the regular ones are."
"I'm sure if you say something to Millerna, she'll be able to procure a more comfort-"
"Oh, don't worry about it, Eries. I was just venting."
He had a few more complaints to give. Eries listened as a good daughter would. As a good guard, Allen migrated over towards the door to give the two privacy.
"Father," Eries said after Aston he run out of steam, "I'm sure you didn't call me here only so you could air your grievances with the wheelchair."
"It is an annoyance worthy of an audience, but you're right. I initially wanted to speak with you about your birthday next week then Schezar told me you were at Meiden's actually trying to work with him on something. The birthday can wait. I want to know what happened at the Fassa estate."
She was happy to tell him all about the meeting, especially the pseudo-truce. As Meiden's longtime friend, he'd be almost, if not more, happy as Dryden to know they had agreed to pretend to get along.
He did praise Eries for the effort. "I know it'll be hard to bite your tongue, but in the end it'll be worth it. These fights you've had with Meiden have cost you while giving you no benefit in return. I have to give Meiden credit though. Deliberately provoking you with a fake conspiracy was a good move."
Eries was too close to appreciate either the maneuver or her father's soft chuckling over it. "Be that as it may," she said stiffly, "we pledged to keep our moves at a minimum. I have to wonder how long that will last."
"Doubting him already?"
"I never promised to stop doubting Meiden, only calling him on it in public."
Aston chuckled again. Change never happened over night. The illusion of change would have to do for now. "There are better ways of opposing a man, Eries. I'll have to teach you some of the methods I used with Meiden over the years."
"You and Meiden disagreed a lot? I always thought the two of you thought alike."
"Exactly! You thought what I wanted you and everyone else to think. Oh, the lessons I could give you on how to make the truce of yours appear really convincing."
She'd love to learn, mostly to see if she could find out about the disagreements between her father and Meiden. She figured her placement on the council was a big one. She drew a blank after that. On most all other issues, the two men had been in lockstep.
Or rather, they had appeared to be. For her father to craft such an illusion was a notable achievement, the kind of achievement she'd like to repeat.
Aston, however, was not in the teaching mood tonight. He was satisfied with the progress Eries had already made and would let her work it out on her own a little further. If necessary, he'd dole out a few tips. Until then, he thought it enough for Eries to know she wasn't the only one who'd clashed with Meiden. She'd just been the one to make those clashes loud and unproductive.
"If that's what you wish," Eries said after he'd turned her request for instruction down. "Is there anything else? You said something about my birthday…"
"In a few days, isn't it? I haven't heard any gossip around the palace about any sort of celebration. Surely you won't let the day go by unmarked."
Nothing would please Eries more. Ever since she could remember, the galas that were held on her birthday served all sorts of political purposes but had very little to do with celebrating her birth. With this year's birthday falling right in the middle of the summit, that would be the case again, assuming such a party was going to be held.
Eries wasn't going to make that assumption. "I wasn't planning on anything, Father. We've already held one ball for our guests. Don't you think another would be overdoing it?"
"Of course it would. But we're Asturians, that's what we do."
Eries rolled her eyes. She'd enjoyed the first ball thoroughly but that didn't mean she was up for a second. There would be advantages to holding the event though. As the guest of honor, all eyes would be on her.
If Meiden were still her co-chair at the summit, she'd be tempted to steal the attention. She wasn't so ready to take it from Dryden. She mentioned this gauche side-effect of throwing her own party to Aston.
"You wouldn't host it yourself, Eries! That would be tacky. But if Dryden hosted it instead on her sister-in-law's behalf…"
Now she understood. Aston was trying to move things other than political along. If Dryden was to host on her sister-in-law's behalf, he would have to do so with Eries' sister beside him. "I don't think you need make such a blatant effort to put Dryden and Millerna together," she said bluntly. "They've moving towards each other on their own, slower than you might like but that progress has more meaning."
"Yes, yes. I know." Aston paused, unsure of how much to confide in Eries, especially with Allen so nearby. He did not like appearing weak before anyone, let alone Schezar. But he needed to tell Eries this and sending Allen out was foolish. Kings do not hide.
"There's more to it than that," he began. "It isn't so much about Dryden and Millerna being seen together as it is about you and Dryden."
"Me and Dryden?" Her father's motives weren't so predictable after all.
"Yes, Eries, the two of you. You see, he's going to be the next king and all kings need a right hand. For years, Meiden has served as mine."
She was beginning to see. "But you don't want Meiden to continue in that role. You want me to assume it."
"Why not? You've served on the council. You're certainly capable. And, as you are unmarried, you don't have any other obligations to occupy you."
There it was. The first clue she'd ever gotten that there was an ulterior motive for her father allowing her to remain unwed. She'd believed him when he'd claimed he'd never found anyone suitable for her, but at the same time she'd sensed there was a reason why he'd hadn't looked terribly hard.
"Was this your plan all along?" she asked quietly. "Let succession go to Millerna so I could remain a force on the council?"
"I…" Aston glanced to Allen, who had cast his face downward to indicate he was not listening. Aston didn't believe for a second that the knight wasn't taking in every last word, but he'd have to trust that he would never repeat them.
"It wasn't always my plan, at least not a serious one," Aston admitted. "When Therese died, I knew I would never remarry. I also knew with three daughters, I would be the last Aston to sit on the throne. It wasn't something I cared to think about. I wasn't that old; my rule would continue for some time. So I put it out of my mind.
"But then you announced that you would like to sit in on council sessions." Aston chuckled at the memory of Eries' temerity. "I agreed to it because I thought you'd quickly grow tired of the council's workings and quit on your own. But you didn't. You actually grew more interested, learned how it worked, how to make it work for you.
"You were still so young then. With Marlene's marriage to Mahad fresh on my mind, I wasn't in any hurry to see you married off and there was little demand from the people and politicians for the same. I thought I'd let you go on for a few more years. At the worst, when it did come time for you to marry, you'd have the political savvy to hold a strong influence over your husband."
"You really were grooming me for succession," All the rumors, the accusations from Meiden, her own wondering suspicions had been proven right. Eries wasn't sure how she felt. She'd wanted her position, fought for it and felt vindicated when her father had expressed pride for what she'd accomplished. But to know he'd been planning it all along…
"Not a traditional succession, of course," Aston continued. "And the more I got used to the idea a problem presented itself that would not go away. You would have to marry an Asturian. There weren't many suitable candidates. There weren't any really. Dryden did occur to me, but from the stories Meiden told of him, I could never see the two of you together. And I knew Meiden would fight having his son serving as a puppet king."
Eries gave a weary sigh at her father's understatement and Aston laughed. "That was rather stating the obvious, wasn't it? He'd have fought such an arrangement tooth and nail. So I had to make another arrangement he would find more palpable without him ever thinking there was an arrangement in place."
"Father…!"
"Don't be so shocked. Meiden and I are old friends, true, but there is more at stake here than more politics. We're speaking of the direction all of Asturia will take and I wanted to ensure an Aston would be there to guide it."
"So what did you do?"
"Nothing," Aston laughed again. "At least nothing in terms of potential suitors. Oh, I courted a few from foreign countries that I knew you and everyone else would find unsuitable. You didn't think I'd seriously match you up with Tellot e' Egzard, did you?"
Eries had always wondered how Tellot had gotten through the matchmaking process far enough to warrant actually having to spend a dinner with him. Aston had set him up for failure and everyone, Eries included, had gone along with it.
She couldn't be too resentful since the brunt of Tellot's rude behavior that evening had been defused by having Alucier and his comments at her side. Still, she didn't like that she'd wasted so much time worrying about her father marrying her off when that had been his last intention. "So you let me think I was going to be married off any second just so no one would have any suspicions at your real plans."
"Mostly so Meiden wouldn't have any suspicions. To make him thoroughly convinced that I wasn't planning to have succession go to you by proxy, I did do some vocal complaining about your association with Schezar."
At his post at the door, Allen glanced up briefly at hearing his name. He was able to get his head back down again before Aston looked over at him. Nonetheless, the king knew Allen had heard.
"Yes, Schezar, you did serve a purpose for me, unintentional as it might have been. Unfortunately, you also went against my purposes when Millerna developed her little crush."
"I apologize, Your Majesty," Allen said humbly. "That had not been my intention either."
Eries expected her father to grunt in disbelief. He only coughed and said, "That's what Eries has been saying. Oh, well. All's well that ends well, I suppose."
There was no grunting from Allen, but disbelief showed in the widening of his eyes. Eries had been caught off guard too. Had her father actually listened to her defenses of Allen and found them to be true?
Aston wasn't going to let her get carried away in speculation. Indifference was the best he could muster towards Allen and he planned on carrying forth with that attitude by ignoring him again and returning to his story. "So it looked to everyone that you simply wouldn't marry. Meiden thought you had personal reasons. Everyone else just chalked it up to you being the 'Ice Princess'. Much as I loathe that nickname for you, it had its use."
"I didn't know you were aware of it."
"I'm aware of everything that goes on in this palace. That's what kings – the good ones – do. Petty gossip can contain kernels of truth in them. Even the gossip that's utterly devoid of fact can give you an idea of the mood of the palace. I do miss being kept out of that loop by having to spend all my time here or the hospital ward. I'd love to hear what the staff has to say about my health."
There was another surprise: Grava Aston, gossip monger. It made sense, what he'd said, and Eries decided to listen in a little closer the next time she spotted a clutch of handmaidens deep into the trading of rumors. She pledged to her father to share what she'd learn.
Aston smiled. "Millerna's not very good at that. She's worried about too much work giving me too much stress so she tries to shield me from any talk of politics. She's a good doctor, but would make a lousy politician."
"And I'm the opposite."
"Oh, I suppose you could master the technical aspects of medicine," Aston mused, "but when it came time for you to operate on a patient, you'd be fleeing the room at the first sight of blood."
Eries hmphed at her father and he stopped teasing. "But I don't need for you to be a doctor. Your political skills are what will serve me and Asturia."
"So Meiden was right. I hadn't planned on undermining Dryden's authority but you would like me too."
"Not undermine…influence. We've been over this. You're making it sound too sinister. Dryden doesn't care for politics, after all, so he'll need someone like you there to support him."
"Instead of someone like his father?"
Aston could only shrug. "When Dryden becomes king, Meiden and I will be part of Asturia's past, quite literally on my part. When I'm gone, I have to trust that my children will carry on for me, Millerna as queen and you as the head of the council. Between the two of you, I think Asturia will remain under the guidance of the Aston family."
Eries didn't know what to say. She'd never seriously believed she would ever be able to wield the power her father was ready to hand to her though she'd dreamed about it. She'd never believed her father would put this much faith in though she'd wished for it either. It was almost too much.
But he had one more revelation to make. "I shouldn't have removed you from the council before. I acted out of fear of Zaibach and took a valuable test away from you."
"That's why you so readily reinstated me. And why you've been having me go it alone with Meiden on the summit."
"Consider it your make-up test. Nothing is as trying to a ruler as war, but having to outmaneuver Meiden is a close second."
He was pleased with his plan and how far it had progressed, Eries could tell. She didn't know how she felt. The chance to rule, albeit from behind the scenes, was enticing. And if the ruler she'd be manipulating were any other man than Dryden, she would consider it. But it was Dryden. He'd never behaved with anything but honor and integrity towards her family. It wasn't worth acting with any less respect towards him just to keep Astons ruling the country in spirit.
"Father, I understand what you're trying to do, but don't you trust Dryden to be able to rule? Surely you didn't select him because you thought he'd be easily influenced?"
"No, I selected him because he's a good match for Millerna. When those two came back from her trip to Freid, I could see how much he cared for her. He'll never do a thing to harm her and that's important to me."
"And…?" Eries goaded.
She wouldn't be Eries if she didn't keep prying, Aston thought. "And, as I said, he has little patience for politics. Which is not necessarily a detriment for a king if he has a sister-in-law with a passion for them. See how neatly everything works out? One daughter gets the best husband for her and the other gets the best political ally for her."
"I'm sure Dryden would be flattered to hear you call him the best."
"Oh, Eries, there's no need to be so snide. I might point out to you that you've already tried to ally yourself with him in an arrangement in which you would wield more power. How is ruling Asturia very different than trying to influence the summit?"
"It's…" It wasn't all that different except for the part where she was trying to influence the entire world instead of one country. She changed the subject. "I don't remember telling you that much about my alliances."
But Aston wouldn't have it. "You didn't answer my question."
Her stubborn streak must have come from her father and she doubted whether she could outlast the original. "I concede there are some similarities, but Dryden wasn't even in Asturia when this started. I had no idea when he would be coming back. If he'd been my second at the summit at the start then I wouldn't have had to do anything to counter Meiden."
"Your second?"
Eries hadn't realized she'd phrased it that way. It was technically correct anyway. She was serving as the king's proxy. Dryden was serving as prince regent. However slight, there was a difference in rank.
"Oh, I see," Aston said after hearing her explanation. "But once the ranks change, you'll fall dutifully in line and want no say in how our country's run. I imagine you'll be lining up suitors too so you can become a good little wife."
"Now who's being snide? I never said I wanted to abandon my council position. I just don't want to use it to try to usurp Dryden. I am not Meiden Fassa."
"The way you talk, Eries, it's as if Meiden was the devil incarnate. Isn't going to be hard to keep peace with the man you think is the embodiment of evil?"
"I don't think that!" she protested though she could easily see why her father had drawn that conclusion. She took a deep breath as she prepared herself to explain why she spoke about Meiden as she did. She knew this would take more tact than simply listing the man's vices. "I realize that I only deal with Meiden on a political level. Unfortunately, that level tends to bring out the worst in all who dwell on it."
"Yourself included?"
"Myself included," Eries agreed. "You know Meiden holds no high opinion of me. While I believe most of it stems from his paranoia of the power I might wield as his opponent – paranoia that seems to be justified after hearing of your long terms plans for me – some of it might perchance come from less than ideal behavior from me."
"Oh, gods, you've defended Meiden," Aston said with a hearty laugh. Eries' frown did nothing to deter further chuckling. "No, no, it's not a bad thing. You should consider all sides when making judgments. I honestly believe this is the first time I've heard you do that in regards to Meiden. Don't make it your last."
"Honestly, Father, you're giving me a headache. You wish for me to undermine Meiden even as you encourage me to treat him more fairly?"
Aston nodded. "And why do you think that is? If you need a hint, remember what I said about all the times I opposed Meiden."
She didn't have to think too deeply. It was obvious that a person would be more persuaded to listen to a friend than an enemy. Meiden and her father had been friends extending all the way back into boyhood. That kind of friend would always have the ear of the other.
"I understand," Eries said. "I can get more done working with Meiden than against him. But we're so opposed to each other's stances, I can't imagine what we would agree to work together on. And I doubt a few nice words from me can smooth over the disagreements we've had so that he'd be willing to make more concessions than I would give."
"I think it would take a very large bribe for that to happen," Aston admitted. "But you don't have to get him to agree with you on everything. You only have to make him less disagreeable. Once Dryden is in place as king, he'll pick who to have as his second. Do you think you'll have a better chance as his loving sister-in-law who made every attempt to keep his family happy or as that woman who's always giving his father a hard time? You've already taken the first step. I'm telling you to be sure to keep walking."
"But-"
"But what, Eries? If Dryden chooses you as his second, it will be because he wants your influence."
"Perhaps not as much as you would like me to give him."
"And perhaps he will. You don't know. Bah, I think I never should have told you any of this and just let it all unfold naturally. I know you. You would have taken the power when it was offered freely."
Eries wished she could say that was absurd but she knew it wasn't. She would only concede to Aston that maybe he was correct and ask him one last question. "Why did you decide to tell me all this?"
At this, Aston suddenly grew tired of speaking. He offered Eries a meek explanation of he thought she might like to know and asked to call it a night.
"But, Father," Eries persisted, "I'm beginning to understand how much thought and care you put into your actions. Do you expect me to believe this action was spontaneous and carefree?"
Trapped, Aston gave a second, more deliberate, explanation. "I expect that you will mull over what I have said not only tonight but for many nights to come. You'll realize that not only am I correct, but I'm not acting as selfishly as you think. And with that new knowledge, you're going to become very careful about your own actions. You won't do anything that might jeopardize your standing in the eyes of the people or your fellow councilmen. They're used to the stoic, aloof princess who serves her country…alone."
She had no doubt as to what he meant. She had every doubt she could fulfill the demand he had implied. "You always said that you wanted happiness for your daughters. Yet you now say you want me to forgo that happiness for the sake of a proxy throne? Jichia willing, you'll be on the throne for many years to come. Am I to wait stoic, aloof and alone the entire time?"
Though the king in him thought the question foolish, the father in him could give no other answer than, "No, Eries. That wouldn't be fair. But you can find happiness-" he was about to say elsewhere but Schezar was already staring at the ground so intently, even the slightest hint that the king knew what was going on would give the boy an aneurysm. "You can find it almost anywhere if you chose to look," Aston concluded.
"And how much looking did you do after Mother's death?"
She had him there. "None," he said softly. "I couldn't bear to look at another woman after having seen the perfect visage of your mother. Once she was gone, it was if I had been blinded."
After all these years, Eries thought, he still loves her. And though her father had lost his love, it would not stop Eries from embracing that wealth of emotion when it was given to her. As enticing as the possibility of power was, she would not deny the certainty of her feelings for Allen.
She didn't believe she would have to. Her father's plans liberated her in a way. There was no more threat of a forced political marriage. If she did marry, it would have to be to an Asturian of nobility who had no desire to do anything with it on his own. Allen fit that description. The Schezars were an old family. Tarnished reputation or not, they were still nobility.
Eries wouldn't mention it to her father. It had been a long, taxing talk. He needed to sleep. She needed to think.
They said their goodnights and Aston could tell from the small smile on his daughter's lip and how it widened once she'd reached the door and her bodyguard what Eries was thinking. He'd been forced to consider the very same thoughts after his sources – Meiden had hardly been the first man to discover an alternate use for handmaidens – told him what was going on.
He had the power to stop it. One word from him and Schezar and his loopy sister would be looking for a new country to live in. Eries would never forgive him. He couldn't count on Millerna backing him either. So he had spoken freely with the hope of dangling a more desirable future than a blond knight of dubious stature in front of her. But damn if she wasn't trying to figure out a way to merge both of those futures together. Eries was resourceful like that.
Aston considered it both a flaw and a source of deep pride.
0-0-0-0
The Cesarian hated having to speak Tellot face to face. He much preferred their exchange of notes via the hiding place in the niche. It was much less conspicuous for one. Another point in its favor was that the Cesarian didn't have to speak with or otherwise deal with Tellot then.
He had no choice but to deal with him now. The big lummox had actually knocked at his door. It was getting late into the night when guard patrols and general traffic about the palace was thinned, but that did nothing to assuage the Cesarian's anger that Tellot had approached him so directly. What possible excuse could he give should someone see them?
The only option was to ensure that that would not happen. The Cesarian rushed Tellot through his foolish concerns, hoping to be rid of him sooner rather than later.
But Tellot had too many concerns and he wouldn't keep quiet about them. "Sita and Bennor aren't suspicious but how long will it be until they are? There's only so many people in Parliament for them to investigate and Sita keeps whittling down the list!"
"Your Parliament has forty members," the Cesarian stated with a yawn of boredom. "It will take them time they do not have to investigate but half that number. When they do finally finish, you will have been installed as king months ago."
"Not if they challenge me! They can drag this out forever!"
That was the thorn in the plan. Of the three oldest siblings, only Bennor was unchallengeable. That was why he'd been framed rather than Marqesita. She would have been taken care of the old fashioned way: blackmail. But with Bennor and his spotless history back in play, more steps had to be taken to secure Tellot's succession to the throne.
The Cesarian had figured this the moment he'd read Tellot's note warning of the change in suspects. He was surprised Tellot had figured it out on his own. He had not yet solidified his plans to handle this outstanding issue, but he saw no purpose in making Tellot aware of this. Every indication was that Tellot's ignorance would be the Cesarian's bliss.
"Their challenge would be based on easily dismissed hearsay. No one can prove you are not the king's son. Why would anyone believe your brother and sister when they have every reason to lie?"
Tellot grew frustrated. The Cesarian just didn't understand what people were like in Egzardia. "They wouldn't lie, no under an oath. I can't lie either!"
"You seem to be doing an able job of it now," the Cesarian sneered.
Tellot recoiled, the accusation laying him bare. "I don't like it," he whimpered. "Sita and Bennor are being so nice to me, nicer than I can ever remember and I'm stabbing them in the back."
This was more sickening to the Cesarian than the Basramian's constant whining. Did these men truly expect to receive the power he was offering them without making any sacrifices? He'd been wary of Meiden Fassa and betrayed him out of a suspicion that if he had waited, Meiden would have done the same to him. He was wishing now that he'd extended that partnership a little longer. At least Fassa didn't constantly piss and moan at every tiny moral crisis.
He couldn't even yell at Tellot. The oaf's resolve was wavering. If it fell entirely, Tellot would blab everything he knew to anyone with ears.
"They're only being kind out of pity, Tellot," he said. All traces of cynicism had vanished underneath layers of tenderness as dulcet as they were false. "They see you as their big, stupid brother who needs to be coddled. They don't see the potential in you that I do. I know it's hard for you to lie, but you've been given such a rotten situation. You were always a good son to your father. You can't be blamed for your mother's mistake. But that's what they want to do. Not only would they be denying you your chance to carry on your father's legacy, but they'd be taking your father away from you. That's not what you want and it's not what he wanted either."
In his guilt from betraying his siblings, Tellot had failed to tell the truth one more time. He had never said a word to his co-conspirators about his father's death. But the Cesarian had used the past tense in reference to his father. No one outside the royal family and the higher ranking members of Parliament knew about it.
It was a good catch by Tellot but his cleverness in that bowed to his recklessness. "Why are you speaking like my father's dead? The only word from Egzardia is that he's still ill."
"I'm sorry," the Cesarian quickly covered, "all this talk of succession has got me thinking ahead of myself. I meant no disrespect to your father."
"Yeah, sure…"
Tellot didn't believe him and the Cesarian knew it. But when it came down to it, he didn't need Tellot to believe him. Once on the throne, Tellot would be a good puppet to the lords in the parliament, the Cesarian's true allies. Those men would be loyal to him. After all, he would deliver onto them not only a weak king but also a newer, leaner Parliament bereft of political rivals.
Well, technically, Marqesita and her allies would be delivering the latter once they 'solved' the mystery of Tellot's attack, but the credit for setting those wheels in motion was all his.
0-0-0-0
Next Up: Everybody's making plans for Eries' birthday! Too bad our Cesarian friend won't be following the gift registry.
