The Gathering Clouds

Dressed in garments appropriate for the Lord Governor, Rosamund took a seat in his office. He patiently waited for several minutes until the time came. The orb started to glow and he answered the call. No fear or nervousness this time. The most stressful problem in his life at the time was resolved thanks to Nivelir and Ekliptik, he had more support from the people around him, and despite the fact he was poisoned, he didn't feel as if the entire world will come crashing down on him the moment he stumbles.

He was doing quite alright, thank you very much.

Four hours ahead of him, Queen Sarmia also seemed better than the last he met with her. Her outfit and hairstyle were as impeccable as ever and she was sitting with her back perfectly straight. And yet, there was an aura of weariness around her. He wasn't the only one who had a long, eventful night, it seemed. Nonetheless, her eyes were as sharp as ever. She sipped her tea and looked him over with a mildly amused smile. "Lord Governor, have you had another meeting with the reaper lately?"

Rude. "Yes, Your Highness. I greet you, my Queen," he formally said.
"Good afternoon to you, as well. Who was it that attempted to murder Our Governor this time?"
"I am sad to inform you it was Vice Admiral Khamil," he said.
"Ah. I suppose there will be no going back for him, then?" she said, not surprised in the slightest.
"No. I had him arrested earlier today. I trust that you will deal with the fallout in the Capital?"
"Watch what you say, Lord Governor. The petty squabbles among nobility hardly interest me. Should the Sea Lord Khamil bring your position into question again I will put her in her place, but surely you won't tell me that you'd otherwise fear a confrontation with her?"
Hah. "The thought of it has never crossed my mind. If she has issues with me personally, then I will face her myself."
"Very good. I am rather curious what else you have to report to me," she said.
"Of course. Ah - but if you do not mind me asking. I hear there is a snowstorm in the city? Is everything alright?"
"I suppose this was to be your next piece of report, then? The circle is working?"
"Lilac will put it into use tomorrow."
"Very good. Yes, we do have a storm. Duchess Almukantarat is managing the situation in your absence, so you have nothing to worry about."
"The homeless-"
"Yes, yes, Duchess Almukantarat insisted on having me deploy my guard to the city to help everybody find shelter," she impatiently said. "I'd not have done it if she had no providence to prepare necessities for my soldiers. It seems she had foreseen the storm to be stronger than expected and made enchanted clothes and blankets beforehand. Even the Church has decided to do their good deed of the year and opened its doors. You have nothing to worry about. Do not make me repeat myself."
"I apologize. I am thankful for giving me this peace of mind," he said.
She gave him a nod and reached for the cup again.

"Proceed with your report, then."

Normally, he'd send her all this in written form, but considering the snowstorm and the fact she seemed to have enough time for everything, he began to speak.
"Nivelir and I are drafting a complete reformation of the city guard due to an incident that uncovered their members abusing their power on the citizens. We are making necessary preparations for a cleaning service and planning to build lamp posts on the sides of major roads. More importantly, I have also been assessing damage reports from across the archipelago, and we plan to build several meteorological stations across the colony to be able to adequately prepare and warn people of oncoming storms. We also plan to build a new lighthouse," he added. "Regarding the current state of the cities under my care, I will likely see to a hospital and a school being built in here Hipparcos. Aside from Hipparcos, I will speak to other nobility about improvements that can be done in their cities and towns, and see what can be done about the most remote of the villages."
"Not a moment of peace and quiet with you, is there?"
"I will likely need a larger budget for all of this," he said directly.
"Should I send an auditor with my envoy?"
"I will gladly cooperate with them, as always."
She let out a small laugh.

"The murder attempt, Lord Governor."

Oh right. "Last night, an assassin entered my manor and poisoned me, my brother, and my secretary. She attempted to poison the two pirates that are currently staying in my manor for negotiations, as well. Captain Vervain drank the poison, but her First Mate noticed that something was amiss with his tea and did not consume it. Despite suffering from the effects of the poison, she came to my rescue and successfully fought off the assassin that was about to murder me," he said. There was absolutely no need to mention Ekliptik to the Queen, thank you, no thank you. Not happening. "The effects of poison did not yet wear off, as you may notice."
"This gray complexion does not suit you," she agreed.

He gave her an ironic nod, mildly irritated by her mockery. He continued, keeping an expressionless face. "Captain Vervain's heroic actions and quick thinking of her man successfully got us through this horrible ordeal. I will have more to say on this topic later, but first I must finish my report." Step by step. He needed to build his case properly. "Lord Nivelir was thankfully less affected than I am, so he carried on with the investigation. Due to his exceptional efforts and hard work, the assassin was caught and interrogated. She is a member of the Coterie, and you can rest assured I will remove them from my city as soon as I can. She admitted to her crime and provided us with a contract, sealed by Vice Admiral Zvizdan Khamil's seal. I immediately authorized a search of his home for further evidence. Lord Nivelir's search uncovered Vice Admiral's copy of the assassination contract, as well as numerous other documents that list his crimes. Currently he sits in my prison in the city, accused - with evidence and witnesses for each claim - of embezzlement, negligence of duty, slander, obstruction of justice, attempted assault of a government official - he tried to attack Lord Nivelir - and attempted destruction of evidence. I hope those charges and evidence will satisfy the Admiralty, and that he will be relieved of duty soon after the trial."

"Our Envoy will decide on the sentence after you win the trial," she said.

Fail, and she will feed you to the wolves. Message received, loud and clear. She must've been as tired of this entire ordeal as he was. Not that he was particularly concerned about the trial. It was just another day at work.

"As I said before, the teleportation circle is complete. Will the Envoy be able to arrive tomorrow? The Earl's manor is rather difficult to reach."
"Worry not. Our Envoy has been decided several days prior to the storm and has been a guest at your father's house ever since. I trust you will have no issues with Second Prince Alberic overseeing this case?"
Oh gods, why. "None whatsoever, Your Highness," he said.
"Very good. Now, you have mentioned Captain Vervain again. So that criminal has been living in your manor instead of a more appropriate housing?"
Prison reform! He knew he forgot to mention something. It never got passed in the homeland, but he'll be damned if he leaves prisons in the land that is under his rule as wretched holes. "As long as she flies the white flag on her mast, I will take her to have diplomatic intentions in the city. So far, no pirates have been involved in any serious crimes, and she has only saved my life once again. If she had not involved herself, I am afraid you'd not be speaking to me now."
"I am beginning to worry you have been entertaining them for too long instead of dealing with them properly, Lord Governor."
"She has saved my life four times now. I believe she deserves some form of compensation for her efforts."
"Compensation which you refuse to elaborate on. You have kept me in the dark for long enough. How are your negotiations going?"

Dealing with a city full of pirates the conventional way would be a declaration of another war. Considering the distance, it was off the table. Sarmia had no resources for this, and she knew it. He could sell this. He removed a speck of dust from his sleeve before straightening out again and placing his hands on the table. Calm and collected.

"Poorly," he directly said. "The incident which uncovered the abusive and unprofessional behavior of the city guard involved the guardsmen attacking and beating up her men, before they sent them into prison. We have managed to prevent an open battle in the city due to Captain Vervain's patience and my diplomatic removal of the attackers. The incident has left her in a sour mood, which will be difficult to appease."
"Removal of the guardsmen? Who led the investigation?"
"I did. I can assure you that I thoroughly looked into this matter. It is rare to see such a display of gloating viciousness and cruelty. Not even their Captain had anything to say in the defense of his men," he said.
"They must have, if you had them... removed."
Aha. That was what her issue was. "Banished only, your Highness. This sort of scum has no place in my city." If she wanted to reopen the case and look into this herself, then all she needed to do was track them down. And the day she decides to do something like that will be the day he knows he lost all her trust.

"That is more in line with the man I know, then. So, what would you do to... pacify this diplomat?"
"An idea has occurred to me and it is not something that she requested. It is not something I would have suggested to her either, never without your permission," he said. "I believe the best approach to handling this situation would be to give every pirate in Hannau Cove a pardon. We already have a group of pirates living in our lands, we might just as well conscript them as privateers. Hannau Cove would become ours again without a bullet fired. After that, we could discuss her further demands and see what can be done to keep her as an ally."

"Is that so?"

A chill went down his spine.

Something was off. He could feel it in his bones. This was not the usual voice Sarmia used when speaking to him.

Her eyes were sharply staring him down. He kept a calm face, trying to replay his words in his mind. Where did he go wrong?

"A rather interesting turn of events, is it not?" she asked.
"I am afraid I do not quite follow."
"It is not for you to follow. Simply answer the question. Who would you put in charge of Hannau? The descendants of the previous lord are hardly fit for such a duty, considering the failure of their predecessor."
"Have they not fallen from grace decades ago? Of course I'd not bring them back. I would be the one managing the city, the same how I manage Hipparcos," he said. "It is only a day or two away, depending on the winds."
"And you believe that woman would accept it?"
"I wouldn't know. But I believe it is the best I can offer her, considering her services to the Kingdom so far." What was this line of questioning? What was happening? The way she acted was almost as if she expected this suggestion. But how?

She let out a laugh.

"I can already see that my poor Governor is overworked. You seem to have forgotten that Hannau Cove already belongs to us, regardless of what the rebellious criminal scum would have you believe. Considering all the projects you'd start for the sake of Hipparcos, I could never leave another city in your hands. Especially not considering its inhabitants. Surely it must be in a sorry state."

Before he could say anything, she raised her hand to silence him.

"I will also have Alberic look into this issue. I am very curious to hear from him about how this idea came to be. I will base my decision on his report. I believe this is all we had to discuss for tonight, Lord Governor. It is getting rather late, so I'd like to wish you a good night."
He managed to squeeze through an appropriately polite greeting before the Queen ended the magic on the orb.

What in the hells just happened? He was selling it, and she wasn't buying. Until now, whenever anyone did even a mild action that contributed to the interests of the Kingdom, he was permitted to do whatever he liked to keep them on their side. Both implicitly and explicitly. Sarmia trusted him enough to know he wouldn't make a deal where Bretonia would pay more than they would receive.

Adanita and her people contributed to the discovery of corruption in the Guard, saved his life, as well as the lives of his personnel, and acted perfectly. No incidents, no crimes, not even gossip-

He suddenly slammed his fist on the table.

The orb hopped up from its little stand and rolled away on the smooth surface of his table. He barely managed to catch it before it crashed against the floor, and safely returned it where it was meant to be.

Gossip.

Khamil.

He spent two weeks sleeping in Adanita's cabin. Nivelir was right, it came back to bite them both right in their stupid asses. Sarmia must've heard of the gossip, hells, it must have been coursing through the entire Capital with Khamil and his mother's campaigns against him. Sarmia would have paid it no mind right up until the point where he started acting openly in her interest. Which he did.

Anything he'd have said would have sounded as an excuse if she thought that he was wrapped around Adanita's little finger. After all, he requested a pardon for an entire city, a far cry from a usual document granted to lone captains.

He made a mistake.

And now he'll have to manage that pest of the Second Prince as a reward. If it was Crown Prince Ravenel, he would've been fine. That youth had next to no interest for him or for much else, and he could've talked circles around him. Meanwhile, Alberic always seemed like he was out for blood. Ever since the boy had reached the age of sixteen, he had been openly protesting any project that Rosamund had presented for no discernible reason. Every preparation he'd make, every suggestion he brought in front of the Queen - that little twat was persistently going through it all in search for inconsistencies. Not that there were any, but if there was a royal deeply invested into his downfall, it was Alberic. If only he could figure out why the youth hated him so. If only he knew whether the reason even existed.

Not that it would have mattered much. He put the orb away. He needed to inform Adanita of how the meeting went. He got up and almost ran into Lilac on his way out of his office.

"I got you the orb," he said.

Ah, right. He wanted to greet his parents, too. "Put it on my table, please. I must tend to urgent matters first," he said.
"Do you even need to say hello? You will see them tomorrow, you know."
"Lily, it's been weeks, and the only updates they've been getting came from you. I nearly died several times. They must be beside themselves with worry."
"Right," he said with a shrug. "As you prefer."

Rosamund reached for his shoulder. "Why do you have soot on your clothes?" he asked, trying to dust it off.
"What? Where?" he asked, turning his neck to see.

The strange black glimmering dust stuck to his hand. He rubbed his fingers with a frown as it dissipated into nothing. Lily must've been up to something in his workshop again. Perhaps he still had to clean the place after that explosion. "Nevermind, it was nothing," he said. He didn't need to tell his brother about workplace safety, he was the most careful man he knew. "I will be seeing you later."
"Right. Oh, how'd the meeting go?" he asked.

Rosamund was already on his way, but he turned around while continuing to walk backwards, to answer him properly.

"Horribly!"