Chapter 2:
The Queen’s Plan Commences
“PLEASE RECONSIDER! Peasants aren’t meant to be used as bargaining chips!”
The man shouting was Oscar Weston, heir of House Weston. As he stood in the room belonging to his father, Layfe Weston, his words only prompted the head of the house to furrow his brow.
“This nonsense again? I’ve told you before not to bother yourself with such trifling matters,” Layfe scoffed.
“Trifling? You dare insist this situation is unimportant?!”
“If it is not trifling, then what is it? The peasants are our property, son. And property is to be used by the owner as he sees fit.”
“They’re not just toys, Father!”
“You still insist on this? Their population’s the same as money. Simply leave it be and its numbers will replenish. Fret not.”
Oscar clenched his jaw at his father’s callousness, his eyes bloodshot with rage. “Peasants and money are the same to you? Do you consider yourself king of this land now?”
Layfe’s response to his son’s glare was a cold, sickening chuckle. “Yes. A country is property of its king.”
“You’re wrong! A king should strive to be an example for his people, a protector! You’ll never be a king. And if I were a peasant, I’d never let myself live on the land you rule!”
“You wretched child!”
A sharp crunch filled the air as Layfe punched his own son in the face.
“This land belongs to me! I am its ruler!” Layfe roared. “How many times must I tell you before you understand, you stupid boy?! Westons are descendants of the old kings of this country. We’re disgraced as marquesses because of those foul Ausgrid buffoons! They stole our place on the throne, our power, our status! I am merely taking back what is rightfully ours, and we are so very close! Soon that wench on the throne will fall, and we will reclaim our birthright!”
Oscar sighed in resignation. “I’ll be going now.”
Having given up on convincing his father, Oscar made a swift exit. He stormed through the halls, rage burning within him and lighting his every step. Servants unfortunate enough to witness his fury rushed out of the way in terror. He continued stomping his way through the halls until he violently ripped open the door to his personal quarters.
The first to greet him was his close confidant Sam, his servant and foster brother whom he saw as his own flesh and blood. “Welcome back, milord. How did your talk with the—oh! What happened to your face?!”
“Don’t worry. Father punched me, that’s all,” Oscar said.
“That’s all? Why in the world did that happen? Oh, that doesn’t even matter right now.” Sam immediately began treating Oscar’s wound.
“Father’s gone past the point of no return, Sam. There’s no reasoning with him anymore.”
“Oh, milord…”
The marquess held absolute power over his house, and even his heir couldn’t possibly hope to stand against him. Resistance was not tolerated. As a servant of the house, Sam should have scolded his master for arguing with the marquess, but all he felt was sympathy for Oscar. The man was just that important to him.
Oscar relaxed his muscles as Sam worked on his injury. “This isn’t anything new. Wilhelm said the Great Five’s corruption began a long time ago, and I think he’s right.”
“You’re on friendly terms with Lord Wilhelm?”
“Right, I never told you about me and him, did I? Sorry, this might take a while. Have a seat,” Oscar said, pointing to the chair in front of him. Finished with treating Oscar’s wound, Sam sat.
“Remember back when I used to sneak away from you and the guards?” Oscar began. “I went to see Wilhelm every time that happened.”
“Really? I thought you must be secretly seeing some girl,” Sam replied.
“When I was ten years old? I’d have to be one hell of a rascal to pull that off… Oh, right. I think this was before you were even officially our servant.”
“Indeed. We were separated at the time, as I was in training to be your attendant.”
“Yes. So when I first went to the capital, you were back home on our land.”
“That I was,” Sam confirmed. “So, when did you two meet? At just ten years old, you wouldn’t have been attending any tea parties.”
“Pure happenstance. The capital captivated my interest when I first visited, so I snuck away from the family and explored the town. You know, a little adventure of sorts. But I was a sheltered, naive little kid. It didn’t take long for me to run into trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Oh, you know. Going to a restaurant and not paying for my food, that sort of thing.”
Sam gasped, eyes going wide. “Lord Oscar, you’re guilty of defrauding an innkeeper?!” A marquess’s heir committing a crime like this was unthinkable.
“Yes. The smell of some tasty skewered meat lured me in, but I didn’t know you needed money to pay for goods and services around town. I got a real scolding by the owner of that stall when I tried to walk away without paying.”
Sam sat in total silence at his master’s confession, which Oscar found rather amusing.
“Just wait until you hear what happened next. I was a stupid kid, you know? So my response to getting yelled at by the man was to say ‘I’m a noble!’ like it would magically solve the problem. Didn’t change the fact that I had no money on me. I was trying to say I’d pay him back later, and that I had money because of my status, but I chose my words as poorly as possible. It wasn’t any different from telling him I had no intention to pay at all.”
Listening intently, Sam nodded.
“Things were starting to take an unfortunate turn, but then Wilhelm showed up. He said, ‘Stop messing around, all right? You have to pay for the food you eat.’ Then he apologized to the man and gave him the money he was owed.”
“Clever boy. He must have had a lot of experience exploring the town.”
“Apparently, he slipped away from his guards even more than I did—not that I knew it at the time. It was all so he could explore the capital.”
“Hmm. I see.”
“We ended up wandering the city together and became fast friends. We’d meet up every time we were both in the capital. We even sent each other letters.”
“If you two were that close, then the catastrophe at the queen’s coronation must have really affected you.”
“About that… He expected something like that to happen.”
“Really! How?!”
“He knew. He knew everything—that the Great Five had Luxeria’s parents killed, that his own mother plotted Luxeria’s assassination for after their marriage, and that Luxeria had discovered the truth.”
“S-sorry, wait a second.” The truth was too shocking for Sam, his head throbbing as he pushed his face into his hands. “You mean to t-tell me that the Great Five…plotted the assassination of the former king and queen? You are certain of this?”
“Absolutely. I saw the plan laid out in a secret message at House Radford. Lord Slade plotted the crime itself, while Lord Radford guided the royal couple to their deaths.”
“Unbelievable…”
“Our own house is guilty of diminishing security on that day as well. Meaning that we’re complicit in committing treason.”
That was all Oscar had to say regarding these shocking revelations.
“Are you truly okay with telling me all this?”
“You’re the only real family I have, Sam.”
Sam was a bit taken aback by Oscar’s statement, one he gave with no hesitation whatsoever.
“I am honored,” Sam said earnestly. And while he was happy to know Oscar trusted him, he was afraid of the implications of his words. Forget the headache—Sam was starting to feel queasy.