“Nevertheless, it was my decision.” Alric squeezed his hands into fists. “I felt it was … necessary.”
“Necessary? Necessary!” Ecton spat the word as if it were a vile thing in his mouth. He looked like he was about to speak again but Count Pickering rose to his feet and Sir Ecton sat down.
Arista had seen this before. Too often Ecton looked to Count Pickering before acting on an order Alric had given. He was not the only one, and it was clear that although her brother was king, Alric had failed to earn the respect of his nobles, his army, or his people.
“Perhaps Ecton is right.” Young Marquis Wymar spoke up. “About it being political, I mean.” He then hastily added, “We all know what a pompous fool the Earl of Chadwick is. Isn’t it possible that Ballentyne ordered Breckton to hold the final attack until Archibald could arrive? It would certainly raise his standing in the imperial court to claim he personally led the assault that conquered Melengar for the New Empire.”
“That would explain the delay in the attack,” Pickering replied in his fatherly tone, which she knew Alric despised. “But our scouts are reporting that large numbers of men are pulling out and by all accounts are heading south.”
“A feint, perhaps?” Alric asked.
Pickering shook his head. “As Sir Ecton pointed out, there would be no need.”
Several of the other advisors nodded thoughtfully.
“Something must be going on for the empress to recall her troops like this,” Pickering said.
“But what?” Alric asked no one in particular. “I wish I knew what kind of person she was. It’s impossible to guess the actions of a total stranger.” He turned to his sister. “Arista, you met Modina, spent time with her in Dahlgren. What’s she like? Do you have any idea what would cause her to pull the army back?”
A memory flashed in Arista’s mind of her and a young girl trapped at the top of a tower. Arista had been frozen in fear, but Thrace had rummaged through a pile of debris and human limbs, looking for a weapon to fight an invincible beast. Had it been bravery or had she been too naive to understand the futility? “The girl I knew as Thrace was a sweet, innocent child who wanted only the love of her father. The church may have changed her name to Modina, but I can’t imagine they changed her. She didn’t order this invasion. She wouldn’t want to rule her tiny village, much less conquer the world.” Arista shook her head. “She’s not our enemy.”
“A crown can change a person,” Sir Ecton said while glaring at Alric.
Arista rose. “It’s more likely we are dealing with the church and a council of conservative Imperialists. I highly doubt a child from rural Dunmore could influence the archaic attitudes and inflexible opinions of so many stubborn minds who would strive to resist, rather than work with, a new ruler,” she said while glaring at Ecton. Over the knight’s shoulder, she noticed Alric cringe.
The door to the hall opened and Julian, the elderly lord chamberlain, entered. With a sweeping bow, he tapped his staff of office twice on the tiled floor. “The royal protector Royce Melborn, Your Majesty.”
“Show him in immediately.”
“Don’t get your hopes too high,” Pickering said to his king. “They’re spies, not miracle workers.”
“I pay them enough for miracles. I don’t think it unreasonable to get what I pay for.”
Alric employed numerous informants and scouts, but none were as effective as Riyria. Arista had originally hired Royce and Hadrian to kidnap her brother the night their father had been assassinated. Since then, their services had proved invaluable.
Royce entered the banquet hall alone. The small man with dark hair and dark eyes always dressed in layers of black. He wore a knee-length tunic and a long flowing cloak and, as always, carried no visible weapons. Carrying a blade in the presence of the king was unlawful, but given he and Hadrian had twice saved Alric’s life, Arista surmised the royal guards did not thoroughly search him. She was certain Royce carried his white-bladed dagger and regarded the law as merely a suggestion.
Royce bowed before the assembly.
“Well?” her brother asked a bit too loudly, too desperately. “Did you discover anything?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Royce replied, but his face remained so neutral that nothing more could be determined for good or ill.
“Well, out with it. What did you find? Are they really leaving?”
“Sir Breckton has been ordered to withdraw all but a small containment force and march south immediately with the bulk of his army.”
“So it really is true?” Marquis Wymar said. “But why?”
“Yes, why?” Alric added.
“Because Rhenydd has been invaded by the Nationalists out of Delgos.”
A look of surprise circulated the room.
“Degan Gaunt’s rabble is invading Rhenydd?” Earl Kendell said in bewilderment.