Council

I had expected the Council of Lords to meet in some grand chamber like the parliaments and congresses of my world. To my surprise, they all met in a large but rather plain wooden room with nothing inside but a round table. The room was inside a complex of buildings built in the middle of nowhere; it was the only structures around for miles.

Still, it wasn’t the room that was important, I reminded myself, it was the people. I counted exactly fifty chairs at the table, but the room contained nearly triple that number of people, counting both the lords and their attendants. I recognized many of the lords from Arnya’s birthday ball. None of them greeted me, but many looked over as I and Arnya entered, followed by Gwyn.

I noticed a clump of lords gathered around Lord Farsight, who was saying something I couldn’t hear over the general buzz in the room. I also noticed that Farsight’s probably had at least fifteen lords in his group, while several more were paying attention to him.

Arnya directed me to stand beside her. “You mustn’t speak during the proceedings,” she whispered to me. I nodded.

Soon enough an ancient man with a white beard that stretched down to his knees rang a little hand bell. At that signal, all the lords took their seats as the attendants moved to the edges of the room. Arnya made no motion to move, so we stood in an open space facing the table.

The old man with the bell stood beside us. Speaking in a quiet voice, he called the meeting to order.

It began with the lords discussing territory disputes, taxation, and other political things. Most of it went over my head and was incredibly boring anyway, but I did pay attention to how the lords talked about the king. While most of them seemed to oppose him and his policies, at least ten gave the impression that they supported the king, or at least liked him more than the opposition group led by Lord Farsight. My spirits lifted. Recalling what Arnya had said back at the ball, it would take a 90% majority—45 of the 50—to pass the vote of no confidence and remove the king. If those at least six of those ten voted for the throne, the vote of no confidence would fail.

Throughout the meeting, I kept stealing glances as Farsight who wore sly grin but kept mostly quiet during the proceedings. He eventually made his move when the conversation turned to tariffs. He said, in a smug drawl, “should not the king be here for this kind of discussion?” Deliberately, he leaned back in his chair and looked at Arnya. “And yet, he is missing. How negligent.” He chuckled as whispers spread through the room.

Arnya answered smoothly. “Unfortunately, His Majesty is busy with other urgent matters at the moment. But I can assure you, I will relay all your concerns to him.”

Farsight smirked. “Oh, really? What could possibly be more important than a gathering of his loyal vassals?” Murmurs of agreement rose from the other lords.

“His Majesty’s business is private, I’m afraid,” Arnya said. I could feel her tension beside me. I willed her to relax.

“Private,” Farsight drawled, stretching the word into four syllables. He now turned to face the crowd. “My fellow lords, it is no secret that His Majesty has grown…lax, in recent years. I would say his age has caught up with him, yet he appears to be a young man. How can this be?” There was a cadence to his voice I recognized. It was what I had sounded like when I gave the address at Arnya’s ball; he had rehearsed this speech.

Farsight continued “we know he keeps an official court alchemist,” here, he shot me a languidly dangerous look, “despite the Council’s repeated pleas to remove the poison that is alchemy from our kingdom’s heart.”

Arnya spoke up, her icy calm voice cutting off Farsight. “I must protest, my Lord Farsight. Your disrespect to the crown is unacceptable, and I would think it unthinkable were I not already acquainted with your lordship’s questionable intellect and odious manner.”

Gasps arose from the assembled lords, but Farsight just grinned. The old man rang the bell. “Order,” he wheezed. “Princess, please, let his lordship speak.”

Farsight said “my lords, judge for yourselves. Can we trust a king who would appoint such a…forward…girl as his spokesman? Unless, of course, the king did not appoint her.”

A woman at the other side of the table asked “whatever could you mean?”

“Perhaps, Lord Shadowsun, the king did not appoint her for the same reason he did not attend in person: he is incapacitated, or perhaps even dead.”

Arnya said “The king is well, I can assure you. Perhaps it is your ears that are incapacitated or dead.”

“So you say. But I think I speak for the council when I say the word of a potential imposter is not to be trusted.”

The old woman, Lord Shadowsun, spoke again. “Really, Lord Farsight, you are going too far. All in this room know of Princess Arnya’s charm, dedication, and loyalty to the throne.”

“Then perhaps the culprit is both more obvious and more insidious. Perhaps, this ‘Court Alchemist’ has used his fowl arts to poison the king and ensnare the princess!” He leveled an accusatory finger at me. “Indeed, I think this so likely, that were this creature not still legally under the king’s protection, I would order him executed right now!”

Arnya took a step forward. I could see she was physically trembling with rage. “You are a vile, uncouth toad of a man, with an ambition as great as your stomach and a heart colder than ice! Were I an appointed knight of the realm, I would demand satisfaction in a duel to the death, although the death of a pig is little comfort! No, I dare not slay you, for your blood must be so foul it should no doubt rot my blade!”

Gasps of shock filled the room at Arnya’s tirade. While in one way it felt nice that she cared about me so much that she exploded when I was insulted, the smug smile on Farsight’s face made it clear Arnya was playing right into his hands. He must have seen how close we were at the dance, and guessed that insulting me would make her snap, which only gave more evidence to his argument.

This all ran through my mind in the moment it took Arnya to take a breath to continue the rant. I glanced desperately over at Gwyn. He was stoically staring straight ahead. Of course he wouldn’t intervene. He was here as the princess’ bodyguard; no matter what she say, it was not his place to speak up, and Gwyn wouldn’t break that role. It was up to me.

Arnya opened her mouth to speak again. I took a half-step forward, tripping over my own feet. I fell forward, smacking my head into the table edge. Stars burst in front of my eyes as I heard several people gasp again. But I only cared about one voice.

Within a moment, Arnya was beside my side. “Are you injured, Court Alchemist?” she said, her mouth stumbling over the formal title.

I tried to speak but it came out as more of a groan. Maybe I had hit my head a little harder than I had intended. Without another word she picked me up and began escorting me out of the room, Gwyn falling in behind her.

Lord Farsight called out “where do you think you are going, your highness? We haven’t concluded our discussion.”

“His Majesty would be very displeased with the Council to hear that his alchemist was injured during the proceedings,” Arnya shot back. “I think it best for everyone that I ensure he is cared for.”

Despite Farsight’s protests, Arnya escorted me out, letting me lean on Gwyn. From behind, I heard the old man declare the Council would take a one mark recess.

They found me a couch somewhere out-of-the-way for me to lie on, where I assured the worried princess that I was fine. “Farsight was trying to trap you,” I said. “I think he thought if you got angry it would make things worse for us. I had to get your attention in a subtle way. Sorry.”

“If you consider that subtle, Rei, I shudder to think what you call blatant.” We smiled at each other. “And do not apologize. Yes, I believe you are correct. I must better control my temper. And so, I thank you.” She made the half-curtsey.

I tried to sit up, but a fresh wave of dizziness hit me. Arnya gently yet firmly pushed me down again. “You recover here. Worry not, I shall remain calm, no matter how much Farsight attempts to slander those I love.” She departed with Gwyn in tow.

Sometime later, they returned, wearing grim expressions. Before I could assume the worst, Arnya said “the vote of no confidence has failed. My grandfather shall remain king, and by the law, the vote cannot be raised again for five years.”

“But?”

Gwyn answered “but the Council also agrees His Majesty’s absence is suspicious. So Lord Farsight has been dispatched to travel with us and speak with the king, in person, when we arrive.”