The news of the fire of the fleet caused quite a stir in the imperial court. Building a navy from scratch had been an expensive task, which had put a strain on the national budget: Lord Vrigel warned the king that it would not have been possible to rebuild the ships without imposing new taxes, which Ezran was not willing to do.

The solution to the problem came in an unexpected way: remember that Vigimer, King of Del Bar, had always been a skilled, albeit unscrupulous, administrator, and during the civil war had first secured the treasure of King Florian from his half-brother and uncle. Now that the war was over, he had invested that gold in state-owned companies, which guaranteed huge profits - Vigimer had in fact made some productions, including that on tobacco and that of playing cards, state monopolies.

Learning of the difficulties of Katolis, Vigimer proposed to the emperors a loan of two million Delbarite thalers, at a rather advantageous interest rate, which the emperors willingly accepted. By doing so Vigimer secured both the recognition of the rulers of Katolis and a weapon to blackmail them should it have been necessary; gor its part, Katolis was able to rebuild his fleet without having to burden its subjects further.

Meanwhile, in Neolandia, Taleq had returned to Shafiz. His mission had undoubtedly been a success, and all Ilehas could do was restore his office and drop all charges.

What happened in those months in Neolandia has been the subject of harsh debates in the academic world for decades. It is certain that the relations between King Ilehas and Taleq became increasingly cold and tense: but the reason for this is not clear.

The most popular theory among scholars today is that the king of Neolandia no longer trusted his minister. He was convinced that Taleq wanted revenge for his imprisonment, and above all feared the growing popularity of the dark magician, which the success of the mission had made a hero in the eyes of the entire population. This view is also supported by the Taleq Chronicle, but interesting as it may be, we cannot regard such a source as impartial in this context.

Sources against Taleq (especially the Panegyric of Ilehas, written by Grus the Younger in 1252) instead claim that the dark magician took advantage of his growing popularity to satisfy his lust for power at the expense of a just ruler like Ilehas. It is a plausible hypothesis: although until then Taleq had always behaved loyally towards the King of Neolandia, history teaches us that there are no baseness or betrayals that men (or elves) would not be able to accomplish to obtain power. It is also possible that both theories are partly true.

Beyond the motives, however, it is a fact that in June 1244 the political situation in Shafiz precipitated when Taleq was attacked by a murderer while walking in the city market. The dark magician survived by chance:

"I had just bought a gold necklace to give to my wife, and I was wearing it under my tunic to avoid attracting the attention of the thieves who infested the market. The goddess of fortune did the rest: the killer's blade was deflected by the necklace, and I suffered only a superficial wound."

Was Ilehas the one who arranged the murder? That is likely, but there's no evidence of it.

However, Taleq became convinced that the King wanted him dead, and decided to act accordingly and counterattack.

"I made sure I spread the word that I had been wounded, so that my enemies would have lowered their guard. I then gathered my family and the men who had followed me to Katolis when we burned Ezran's fleet: we had shared toils and dangers, and I knew they would have never betrayed me. With the help of dark magic we entered the royal palace avoiding the guards, and reached the royal apartments."

The coup that would go down in history as "betrayal of the Ivory Palace" took place on the night of 23 June 1244.

The figure of Ilehas has rightly aroused the interest of a large number of poets, writers and artists, each of whom wanted to give his own version of the facts about the coup: as a result, at least six plausible versions of Ilehas's death have been passed down, all of which differ. According to the Panegyric, "When Ilehas understood to be lost, he affectionately said goodbye to his wife and children, and pierced himself with his sword not to fall into the hands of the traitors." Taleq's version gives us a different picture: "Ilehas was still asleep when we broke into his rooms. He barely had time to curse me, then my men slit his throat. It was a horrible sight, and I still regret having to do so: but I had no choice."

So died Ilehas, Prime Minister, Regent and King of Neolandia: he had succeeded in accomplishing the impossible, defeating in war the combined armied of Katolis and Xadia. With him also died the dream of a Neolandia capable to compete for hegemony among the human realms.