He appeared without a sound.
“Tell Tommy everything you know,” I instructed Oscar. “No lies. And your punishment will be to cooperate with me until your house breathes its last.”
“I beg your pardon, Your Majesty?” Oscar replied.
“House Weston will fall, as with House Radford before it. That will come to pass. However, you and Sam are now my accomplices. You will not be seen as members of that house.”
“Someone as lowly as me doesn’t deserve such kindness, Your Majesty,” Oscar said. “Please give me the same punishment that awaits the rest of my family.”
“‘Lowly,’ hmm? You are risking your very life to right the wrongs committed by your bloodline. Someone willing to take that risk is deserving of considerable respect, in my view.”
“But we need to establish a precedent for—”
“I never once said one was needed.”
“You can’t!” Sam blurted out.
“Calm yourself, Sam,” Oscar said. He tried to get Sam to back off, but the man did not heed his words.
“Your Majesty, with all due respect, Lord Oscar has stated plainly that he is ready to give up his life,” Sam went on. “But I cannot sit idly by and watch that happen. I don’t care what happens to me, but could you please spare my master from a horrid end?”
“You wish to imply your life holds the same weight as his?” I asked.
“N-no, I just, uh…”
“I was merely joking. In fact, life has its way of balancing the scale. The universal truth is that no matter how different we are from each other, we all eventually grow old and die. The arrogance required to decide how much worth one life has over another is no different than what corrupted the Great Five.”
Sam gaped at me, speechless.
“You’re blessed to have such a devoted servant,” I told Oscar.
“You flatter me,” Oscar said.
“Regardless, the man known as Oscar Weston cannot be allowed to live,” I declared. “You will have to discard your past, your name, your very face.”
“Huh?”
“You will need a new identity,” I clarified.
“S-so does that mean you will spare Lord Oscar?” Sam asked.
“The man named Oscar Weston dies tonight. Going forward, he will live as someone else.”
“Th-thank you so much!” Sam cried.
Oscar seemed dissatisfied. “But, Your Majesty…”
I sighed. “It is a harsher punishment than you think. If anyone discovers your true identity, your life will be forfeit. The reality of being the sole survivor of your house will haunt you forever. This is a cruel punishment indeed. Can you handle it?”
“I don’t have a choice,” Oscar replied.
“Oh?”
“If you’re willing to spare me, then I will live. And I will do everything I can for the kingdom.”
“Relax. I will have you work for me, for the sake of everyone living in Ausgrid.”
“Is that truly all there is?”
“I need more trustworthy pawns.”
“I’m grateful for your mercy and kindness, my queen.”
“Ha! So you accept my terms. Very well,” I said. “Arthur!”
Arthur entered the room at my summons. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Take these two to the next room and have them wait there for a while. I will send Tommy their way.”
“Of course,” Arthur said, then escorted Oscar and Sam out of the room.
“Some rather shocking revelations tonight,” Tommy remarked.
“To think that Wilhelm knew all along…”
“Sorry I didn’t notice his support earlier.”
“I do not blame you—I didn’t notice either. I did think that assuming control of House Radford went a bit too smoothly, but I was more concerned with the results than anything else at the time.” I took a long, deep breath. “The rest of the evidence confirming my parents’ assassination lies with Houses Slade and Beckford.”
“Should they still have evidence of the crime, it’s bound to be their most closely guarded secret,” Tommy said. “Obtaining it could be even more challenging than proving their ties to human trafficking.”
“Very likely. We must find proof of the kidnappings and perform searches on any property that facilitates them. Thanks to Oscar, we’ve obtained proof of Beckford’s involvement in the scheme, so now we just need to find evidence incriminating Slade.”
Tommy had spent years making a detailed search of the Great Five’s territory possible—to find evidence of the assassination plot and tear their reputations to shreds. However, the Étoile incident changed everything. He no longer needed to forge an official government document to take out the houses; the fact that they were trafficking innocent children was a far more heinous crime than anything we could have imagined.
“Those conniving bastards,” Tommy grumbled.
“Will it be possible to pry any evidence from them?”
“Karl has probably already informed the other houses of the infiltration attempt on Beckford’s land. Gathering further evidence is going to be a real challenge, but I’ll do as you command.”
Tommy’s response prompted me to think it through a little more.
“No,” I said at length. “The reward is not worth the risk. I have no desire to send you to an early grave.”
“In that case, I do have a suggestion.”
“Hm?”
“If we’re unsure the evidence exists, then why don’t we just forge some? Étoile is on our side now, after all.”
“Are you asking me to further endanger those children?”
“I’ve got over a dozen people who look young enough to play the part—we can trust them. And everything will be fine if we strike after the children are handed off from Beckford to Slade but before they’re shipped to Celden, right?”
“Hmm.”
“Please, Your Majesty. This is the fastest, most assured way to corner them. At least consider it.”
I put a great deal of thought into Tommy’s proposal. He wasn’t wrong; as far as I was aware, it was the most practical and efficient play we could make. After thinking it through, I came to an answer.
“No. This method will lead us nowhere. And tell your men to keep their guard up.”
Having said that, I told Tommy of an alternate plan I had in mind.