Chapter 5:
The Queen Despairs
CLACK, CLACK.
The sound of pawns shuffling around the chessboard echoed through the room.
“You seem to be having fun,” Tommy said as he entered.
“Do I look like I’m having fun?”
“Are you not? I mean, your wish was finally granted.”
“I did enjoy myself when we caught them. Seeing them squirm in agony was delightful,” I admitted. “But it wasn’t the feast I’d hoped for. I’m not sure why, but my chest feels so very hollow.”
“Because you don’t have any goals to strive for now?”
“Hmm. Possibly.”
A single white king remained on the board, its pawns all knocked aside.
“So, what’s Celden up to?” Tommy asked.
“They’re doing exactly what we anticipated, to a laughable degree. They’ve made numerous appeals to other nations as a result of the purge. ‘Ausgrid is the land of devils, ruled by a demon lord who slaughters her own people,’ and so on.”
Tommy laughed. “A bloodthirsty demon lord? They love their fairy tales, don’t they?”
“You find it amusing?”
Tommy had tilted his head, confused. It dawned upon me that even in this fantasy world, a demon lord was an entirely fantastical concept. Demons were nothing more than nuisances in children’s fables, like eerie dark witches and their ilk. Personally, I had to laugh at the idea of being lumped in with them.
“It is an honor,” I said. “A title like that will inspire greater fear in our enemies.”
“Well, I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Thank you. Just a little longer, you think?”
“Just a little longer,” Tommy said.
“Very well. Then all I can do is wait patiently.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty. I’ll set up the joint operation with Aaron and Godfrey.”
“Good. I’m counting on you.”
“Roger that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my queen.”
Tommy left, and the marquess entered the room soon after.
“You’ve done well, Douglas Alcott,” I said. “You are the only remaining marquess in the kingdom. The only one of the Great Five to remain loyal to the crown. Quite the grand honor, no?”
“Going with sarcasm today, Your Majesty?” Alcott quipped.
I chuckled. “I’m being completely sincere. Now then, there’s something we must discuss.”
Alcott’s jaw tightened, but then he smiled and nodded.
“Lord Alcott, you knew about the assassination plot, yet you did nothing to stop it. You may not have aided them in the crime, but you let it happen.”
I’d seen all that House Slade had left behind. Not a single document showed any involvement from House Alcott in that incident. However, there was a record of Alcott having turned down an invitation of Slade’s. Considering the houses that did accept his invitation went on to be involved with the death of the king and queen, it was not hard to imagine what the invitation entailed. Still, his rejection lacked anything pointing to the assassination, so this was mere conjecture on my part.
“Honestly, I should be careful not to rely on Heart Realm so much. Your thoughts were, in fact, sincere,” I said. “But they also didn’t tell me everything. Consider yourself lucky that I didn’t use my magic further to drag out more information.”
“I’m sorry if this comes across as a poor excuse, Your Majesty, but while I did think something was amiss, I never imagined the other houses would commit outright treason…”
“Never mind that. You came to my aid when it mattered most. Whether that stemmed from guilt or the fact that I was able to summon the Sacred Swords means nothing. I understand that your assistance was largely indirect, but it allowed me to simply ignore your house’s presence. Do you have any misgivings about that?”
“None at all,” Alcott said.
“Good. As I decreed earlier, your authority in regional governance has largely been stripped. Does this bother you?”