The Kingdom's idea of Prosperity

Two weeks had gone by since the controversy involving me, the hero, and Nika Ispron the second princess.
After a few days and the king having heard his daughter's testimony in the presence of my swordplay instructor Xenia, Nika and I had been granted permission to see eachother again.

"So what you are saying is that you believe there are prominent families within the castle who work behind the scenes to bring down the kingdom, is that correct ?"

"I have yet to find definitive evidence or even clues really, but this is what I think, yes."
Having gone to the trouble of reserving the whole, larger library –the one beyond the back gardens– at my request, Nika once again asked me to confirm what I'd told her when I made the aforementioned request.

Incidentally, the reason I asked her to privatize the huge library instead of the one we usually met at in the first place, was that I wanted a means to confirm two things.
First, I wanted to see exactly what kind of power and reach she worked with as the second princess. Because depending on how much she could get away with, the amount of prying we would be able to conduct would change drastically. At least assuming she was willing to cooperate with me. 
Then, the other aim of this manoeuvre, more materialistically speaking, was to hopefully secure a base of operation for me and the people I intended to rally to my cause.

"Then let me ask you something else." She said as she got up from her seat. "Why did you choose to reveal these doubts and insecurities to me ? I am the second princess of this kingdom after all. If I had wanted to I could have told my father about it, and you would have been in trouble to say the least."

Her reasoning was sound, but I understood that rather than threatening me, all she was really attempting to do was to test my resolve. Or at least that's what my instinct told me, and I responded in kind.
"Of course, but had that been the case we wouldn't be here now to discuss it." I said matter-of-factly. "It is your position that made me choose you. Not for the fact that you are a princess but for your role as the head treasurer in charge of the kingdom's finances."
I paused briefly to gauge her reaction and continued. "I also understand that I run the risk of making you my enemy depending on how you take what I'm going to tell you next, but I believe that the situation calls for it. It is a risk I'm willing to take right now." 

My resolve made clear, I waited with anticipation doing my best to keep a straight face and not avert my eyes either. However, her reaction melted all of the built-in tension away.

"Pfft" She snickered. "Sorry, sorry... Originally I'd only meant to make sure you were the one behind the letter that was tucked under my door but.. seeing you all serious and tense I couldn't help but want to tease you."

As she revealed her hidden intent, she chuckled again a few times at my dumbfounded expression. And here I'd gone and steeled my nerves to make sure I didn't sound too alarmed or instead too lax, but this girl just keeps on toying with me !

With dissatisfaction plain on my face, I breathed a long sigh and asked her. "Does that mean I can count on you to keep this exchange a secret then ?"

"Hmm.. I don't know, it'll depend on what exactly it is you have to share." She said, faking a thinking posture. Not hiding the smirk playing on her glossy and irritatingly seductive lips.

I swear, If I ever find myself in a situation where I have nothing to lose, I'll find you and do unspeakable things to you.
I won't say I hated her teasing per se, but I still thought there was a time and place for everything. Right now, behind the veil of stability it presented to its people, the kingdom was in fact in quite the predicament if my doubts were on the mark. This was no time to be enjoying some casual banter between the two of us. Though admittedly it did relieve me of some of the excess tension in my body.

"I will take that as a yes. And if you were tricking me, I'll use all the means at my disposal to make sure you regret having backstabbed me later."
It was an empty threat but I figured it might play to my advantage to go along with the joking for now. After all, she might grow dissatisfied with me if I always play the straight man.

"Hmm, interesting... Well, let's hope it won't come to this then." She responded with an alluring smile.

                                                                        ____________

After I ran her through the whole situation at Fort Brighton, Nika's expression turned complicated.

"This is a lot more worrying than I anticipated." She started. "But that also confirms some of the things that I've heard. Which I wish had been the product of a misinterpretation on my part."

At her words my mind went blank for a moment. If even the person in charge of the kingdom's money matters had heard about the possibility of there being traitors or, on a larger scale, machinations within the castle proper, then that could mean there were actual proofs to be found.

"You 'heard', from whom ?" Depending on her answer, this might be a huge leap in the way of seeing this through. Let's say it was Richard for example, if that was the case then my story would suddenly sound a lot more believable.

"It was from Nicholas." 

"?!" I felt my blood freeze. If that bastard had been the first to report something wrong going on within the platoon, it was likely he had come up with a counterfeit story of his or his puppeteer's making to make sure nothing happened to him. This was one of the perks allowed by his position.

"By the way, do you happen to know about Nicholas' previous occupation ? Did he tell you ?" She suddenly asked me.

This was the first I was hearing of him having had a previous job. I assumed he had gone from being a regular soldier and then had ascended to his current position eventually, but from her phrasing I imagined she meant this was something unrelated to the military. If that was the case,
I had effectively no idea. So cocking my head to the side in a show of consternation, I crossed my arms and gestured for her to go on.

"After having reached the rank of commander of the second order of knights, he chose to retire." She prefaced. "The reason was that he planned to marry a store clerk working in the clothing shop down in the castle-town, you see."
Why would he retire then ? Did he save up in advance and had meant to move to the countryside or something ?  I wondered.

"The girl in question had expressed her misgivings about having her groom out on the frontlines while she worried all alone back at home, plus his rank meant she would also not get to see him as often as she would like." Please don't tell me that he played her too... I prayed.
"So he followed his heart and retired. After that however, he still needed to find work. It was tempting to join his bride at the clothing shop, but he had no experience in this trade and wasn't confident he would be able to work efficiently with the object of his affection hovering before him at all times. So after asking around the castle with the help of his numerous connections, he ended up being hired as a butler." 

Can't believe one of my initial impressions of him had been on the mark. I thought, and to think he had managed to then re-enter the army and land such an important position, I found myself growing increasingly curious as to how it had come to pass.

"This was the ideal occupation for him. He would be away from the frontlines which prevented his wife from worrying too much about him, and at the same time his schedule would be set in stone which allowed them to meet more often and without worrying about a sudden call for deployment."
Come on get to the point, I beg you ! I was growing restless with anticipation.
"But then one day, as he was entertaining his master, the acting commander of the first platoon of knights at the time, with a game of chess, the middle-aged warrior praised Nicholas for his strategic prowess and foresight."

"Thanks to that, soon enough, and after a dozen more games of chess, he was offered the position of strategist for the second order of knights." She concluded. "Interesting, right ?" 
It killed me to admit it, but she was right.

"Indeed, though I'm not sure what to take from this tale in regards to the initial topic." I conceeded.

"Oh that had nothing to do with our situation, mind you, it was but a bit of lore I thought you might have found interesting." She said, as if it was obvious.

"..." I didn't know what to say anymore.

"Okay, try to picture this situation." She started after a bit of deliberation. "Let's say that on the one hand you have an uncle you know a lot about and who is famous for his deeds and overall conduct among the family and their close friends. And on the other hand, there is this new, friendly neighbor who has moved in the neighborhood pretty recently but with whom you have begun to form close ties." 

"Both men are appreciated by the family members. One has already won everyone's trust and has been there for as long as most of them remember, and the other, while he has only been part of the picture for far less longer than the uncle, he has earned your trust and has done deeds to warrant this trust, giving reasons for the other family members to follow along and grant him theirs."

I started to understand where she was going with this analogy, and I also knew that it was not playing out in my favor. Still, I let her finish.

"Now imagine that someday both of them come to you and present you with a report of the other's wrongdoings. Who would you choose to believe ?"
I started to ponder my answer while she continued. "Remember, one was always part of this family and everyone trusts him by default, while the other, a newcomer, has only earned your trust. To his credit however, you recognize that he has the benefit of being able to see the things involving said family with a mind free of the emotions born from the blood and time the uncle and the family have shared all this time. He has a wider field of vew to put it plainly. So, who would you choose ?"

It was indeed easy to picture, the uncle in this case was Nicholas and I was the friendly neighbor.
Needless to say, in terms of trust I was at rock bottom, if only by comparison. That being said, she insisted that the "you" in the example, that is her in reality, trusted the neighbor. Because of that, my answer would not be the same.

"In a contest of trust, the uncle would come out on top in most cases. That being said, if his allegations only aim to target the other party, the neighbor, then I'll be careful. But the same applies to the neighbor's claims." This was all a bit confusing, speaking about imaginary people when we both knew full well who we were talking about, but I elected to continue like this for now.

"Now if either of these two claim that the other is planning or has already done something that could or did put the family members in a bind, then I would favor the other or at least investigate these claims thoroughly before making a decision."
I banked on the fact that Nicholas must have kept his allegations targeted at me specifically, while mine were aiming at the threat he might pose to the whole army and kingdom by extension, if my doubts were confirmed. Appealing to the fact that it was not in fact some sort of personnal grudge I had for him.

"I see, so our approaches would be similar then." 
That was a relief to hear to be honest. Now since I lacked concrete evidences to back up my report, I could only trust that Nika had the means to investigate deeply enough to unearth what I needed for me. 

"Anyway, I have unfortunate news." She began. "For Nicholas I mean. Because while he claimed that you, the hero, far from contributing to the war effort, you had made decisions which ended up putting their units in a tight spot, Richard himself has come shortly after to prove him wrong."
Richard did !? I heard he could never be bothered to make reports directly and always left the responsibility to his second in command. Did he really go to all the trouble just to put in a word for me ?

"I can tell from your surprise that even you know about Richard's habits. That's right, it is only the third time he has ever shown himself to make a report. And each time he did, he did not bother or maybe he forgets to tell Nicholas of his whims. This time being no exception. Which in this case plays in your favor. But that's not all." She paused and smiled at me.
"While you were away, about halfway through the fighting, I was invited to a special meeting involving the head of a several influencial households as well as my father, the king."

"In this meeting," she continued, "I learnt of your prowess. One of the nobles in attendance, the head of House Ferot, Christian Ferot, relayed the report sent by one of his informant stationed at Fort Brighton, saying that you were one of the reasons, if not the one reason our forces had been able to hold out for so long and even had managed to push the enemies back continuously for that past month. As a such, and as much as it pains me to admit it, it would appear that as you said, Nicholas might have turned his blade on us."

                                                                          ____________

One she had made it clear she had only been further testing me before, Nika finally unveiled the content of the meeting she had attended during my stay at Fort Brighton.

During that gathering, the people in attendance had for objective to discuss the state of affairs in the kingdom, giving various reports depending on each of their role or occupation. Among them, were nobles who also represented different faction within the country, namely:
-Christian Ferot, leader of the Human Supremacist faction and ally of the first princess Felmera.
-Darlin Mendfort, head priest of the royal church.
-Neil, stand-in for Prakia and his future successor at the position of Court Mage.
-Leny Misotti, leader of the Pro-Hero faction.
-Veritas, head accountant in the trade sector.
Nika who was not part of any faction and was effectively the head treasurer in charge of the kingdom's finances, and who should have been present in the previous meetings since she was appointed at her position, had only been solicited now. Why ?

"'Because I did not want to burden you with any more paperwork or fill your head with unnecessary information', is what Father told me." She said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"But the real reason he had not wanted me to take part, laid in the next subject they discussed."

After the various subjects and reports one would expect to be shared in this kind of gathering had been laid out and dealt with, they moved on to the main topic.

"'How do we deal with the hero' ?" She revealed, barely managing to hide her emotions."From their point of view, you are a great asset in the war, but also a fine product to promote the kingdom's image among the population. At the same time, keeping you alive also means that the surrounding countries and bandits or mercenaries will think twice before waging war or trying anything really, against us."

"So I'm basically the queen in chess." Was my first impression.

"Yes, this might be the most apt comparison to make." She conceeded with a wry smile.

From there, she told me how in reality the war against Glursem was only a facade. That an envoy from their side came regularly to report the proceedings on the front and give updates about Glursem's overall situation, economically speaking and beyond. She also told me that there was in fact some sort of contract between that fiefdom and our kingdom, the terms being;
-In exchange for 20% of the food and crops harvested by Ispron, Glursem vows to give in return 70% of the gold they mine from their own territory.
-With 40% of that gold and other minerals, Ispron vows to provide Glursem with fine weaponry with the help of their proud craftsmen.
-To seal off this contract, Glursem vows to provide Ispron with trained bodyguards, mercenaries and assassins for a reduced cost.
As such, the two countries came up with the idea of a never-ending war of distraction, meant to isolate them from the rest of the world, allowing them to profit from their scheme ad vitam aeternam.

In addition to that, because that wasn't all, to make the whole farce more believable and manageable, not a single knight commander from Ispron would be told the specifics. This way they would always fight their hardest and keep the motivation of their soldiers intact in the process.
And to make sure none of them went overboard with their attacks, false reports and conservative strategies were fed to the generals and sub leaders to make sure the unexpected would be less likely to happen.

"So that's why I quickly became a problem." I surmised

"Yes, your strategies were a little too effective for their liking. And as Glursem's forces found themselves in a tighter spot than anticipated, their leaders sent out complaints to our council apparently." She confirmed.

"Then we can assume that Nicholas is well and truly at least one of the traitors, and that to avoid any leaks, they made sure none of the informants, spies or other renegades knew of eachother's identity." Which in this case had worked in my favor, once again.

"That's right, and their lack of foresight is what is allowing us to meet in these circumstances, so let's not miss this opportunity."

I agreed. If there was a moment to strike, it would be now. If we waited too long and without meaning to I started to act suspiciously or outside of what they expected of me, I might get killed in an "unfortunate accident" or "on duty" sooner rather than later.
They are the only country in this world that is able to perform a summoning ritual for now, so there was no doubt in my mind that they would keep on abusing it for as long as they could.
That being said, thanks to that my next order of business was now set in stone, I had to find a way to gather more allies.

"Be careful who you come in contact with. People with strong ties to one of the prominent families, or those who stand to lose if we managed to dismantle this whole affair are a no-go obviously." She warned me.

She had a point, as much as I wanted to bring Tokesa Ispron, the first prince and her elder brother, to our side, considering how much he had given to the country, it would prove too difficult for an outsider like me.

"Rest assured, once I have gathered enough tangible evidence together, I  will speak to my brother."

That was perfect. Now that I could leave the most problematic person to deal with in her hands with confidence, all that was left to do was to give my best shot at convincing the few people I managed to get acquainted with.

If I want to have any chance at succeeding, first I need to bring the most influencial figure I can think of to our side. Which only leaves one option...

                                                                         ____________

"Heh, you want me to believe all this bullshit just because you managed to spit it out without wavering ? Come on, you can do better now, can't you ?." Gahahaha, he roared.

As expected, Richard would not listen to my arguments on my first try. I did my best to imply that maybe Nicholas was being used or even blackmailed into doing what he did, and yet he still refused to hear it.

"You should know know more about me by now, surely. If you want me to listen to what you have to say, first you'll have to prove me that you can make me bend to your will by force." 
Meathead as always, Richard told me that we still had a promise hanging in the air. 

That's right, we did make a vow after all.
"Then let's do that, if I manage to beat you in a sword fight, you'll listen to me until the end and help investigate in whichever way you can." I conceeded.

"Sure, if  you manage to come out on top." He taunted.

With that it was settled, the following day in the afternoon Richard and I would finally fulfill the promise we had made during my first war council, with his cooperation on the line.
As for my end of the bargain, upon losing I would have to formally present my excuses to Nicholas and reveal everything I had investigated thus far in the process. Needless to say, I could not afford to lose.