I was playing with chess pieces around nightfall when Tommy’s voice echoed softly in my office.
“I have a report.”
“I heard you were injured. Are you truly well enough to speak with me?” I asked.
“I’m all right. My wounds aren’t that bad.”
“I see. Rest if you need it. I won’t scold you even if the report ends up delayed.”
“Thanks. But really, I’ll be fine. I’ve got some relevant information about Étoile now. As you suspected, all of the captured children were mages.”
Tommy’s statement prompted me to take a deep breath. “I knew it. Where were they taken?”
“To Lord Slade’s territory, but I couldn’t find out where they ended up after that. House Beckford is likely unaware as well.”
“How deviously cautious of them. I suppose we must investigate House Slade next.”
“Certainly. Here’s evidence of the trafficking.”
The paper Tommy handed me was a list of children’s names, their individual characteristics, and where they would be delivered. It was practically an inventory sheet. Absolutely disgusting, I thought.
I held my rage at bay, giving him my sincere gratitude. “You did well to find this.”
“But this isn’t…”
“Enough of a revelation, I know,” I finished for him.
Nothing in these papers bore the names or insignias of Houses Beckford or Slade. Any attempt to falsify them would likely backfire tremendously, as it wouldn’t take much to prove we faked them.
“Right you are. Though I did find evidence of House Weston’s involvement, at least.”
He then handed me another list that looked similar to the one from before. The main difference was that it bore the insignia of House Weston.
“My, my. What an incredibly transparent friendship they have.”
“Did you figure something out?”
“Slade and Beckford left no direct evidence tying them to this crime, yet you found direct proof of Weston’s involvement. Easy to imagine they all have evidence implicating each other, no?”
“Ahh, I get it. You’ve got to keep your friends from stabbing you in the back, after all. About as transparent as a window, this friendship.”
“Then we must investigate Weston and Slade. If my suspicions are correct, then we might be able to find something with which to extort Beckford.”
“A good idea, Your Majesty, but I’m afraid Lord Beckford won’t be of much use to us.”
“Pardon?”
“From what I could tell, he doesn’t care about anything other than trysting with the woman he fancies. He leaves all the actual governance up to his assistant. Lord Beckford came across as someone who just wanted money and didn’t care how he got it.”
The sheer audacity of that man sent me into a fit of burning rage. “Yet he dares to toy with the lives of innocents?!”
I slammed my fist on my desk, and most of the pieces on the chessboard toppled over. “If he is useless, then launch an investigation into the other houses… Wait, I have an idea.”
“Hm?”
“I just remembered that I have a meeting with Lord Slade tomorrow. Perhaps I’ll just drag the information out of him directly,” I said.
“You have quite the handy brand of magic for that.”
I did. Honestly, my magic was a better fit for a spy like Tommy. “In situations like this, it’s useful. It’d be worthless if I was living a normal life.”
“I’m convinced a higher power had plans for you,” Tommy said. “As the ruler of this land, you were meant to have this gift.”
“If only… Never mind. Forget about looking into Slade and Weston for now.”
“Understood. Also, those chess pieces… Are they meant to represent you and the Great Five?”
“You noticed.”
“The way the pieces are arranged is nothing like a normal game of chess, so…”
“Mm-hmm.”
“So the black king piece represents you, Queen Luxeria. The pieces surrounding the king must represent us, your servants. And our enemies are three white kings with their own pawns. Wait, three? But there are four houses left to topple. Why are two of the houses missing?”
“Well, one of them is what I call the gray faction,” I replied with a chuckle. The marquess who was the first to know of my true power came to mind.
“Gray? So neither white nor black. Does this mean they’re an ally?” Tommy asked.
“I’m not sure, and I would rather not put the wrong idea in your head. Anything more than that is a secret.” I rearranged the board, with four sets of white kings and their pawns along with a black king and its pawns.
“Understood. I will assume all four of the remaining houses are our enemies, then.”
“Good. Though I would like to stain one of those white pawns a shade of black.”
“Searching for allies, are we?”
“That we are. Speaking of potential allies, the heir to House Weston… Should we reconsider him?”
House Weston’s heir was the one who smiled when I impaled Wilhelm during the coronation. Why had he reacted that way, rather than cowering in fear? Perhaps he wanted House Radford to fall, or maybe he was excited for the beginning of the end of the Great Five. Either way, he could be useful to us.
“Lord Oscar, yes,” Tommy said. “I did learn something interesting about him recently.”
“Oh?”
“He has a habit of taking walks through the capital whenever he’s in these parts.”
“Hmm. Is he the curious sort? Or is he meeting up with someone in secret?”
“The person he used to see most in the capital was Lord Wilhelm, apparently. I have no hard evidence to back this up, though, just secondhand reports.”
“Is that so? Then why…?”
Why did he smile? If Tommy was telling the truth, then Oscar would have even less reason to react like that. A close friend of his had been slain before his eyes. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“I’ll find out what he’s up to,” Tommy said.
“Please do. But first, you should get some rest.”
“A paid vacation sounds pretty nice. Don’t mind if I do.”
“A paid vacation?” I laughed. “Very well.”
Tommy was the type to work himself to the bone, so I eventually had to ask if he’d accept payment under the condition that he obey my orders to rest. Just because I was regarded as an evil queen did not mean I had any desire to deprive my servants of rest, like some sort of soulless corporation from my past life. Of course, if any secrets got out about Tommy’s role in my inner circle, circumstances would be quite different. At any rate, Tommy took to calling my orders to rest “paid vacations,” and he’d parrot it to me like a drunkard whenever I demanded he take care of himself.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Likely keeping things short due to his injuries, Tommy bowed and vanished into the darkness.