Industry & Intrigue (11 page)

“
I cared about our
father, don’t act
like I didn’t,” she said, defending herself. “But he didn’t care
what I wanted from life. Just because you’re happy running the
family business doesn’t mean I would be. Besides you are doing fine
with it.”

Tegan looked
read
y to say
something else but she let go of it. “Yes,” she said, “you’re
right, I’m sorry.” She sat back in the chair, her shoulders
slumping. Her siblings had felt their father’s death far more than
her, but then they hadn’t had the same split from him that she
had.

There was a knock on
t
he door and
Luthais stood and opened it. It was the butler.

“
Excuse me sir, the
undertakers are here.”

Luthais looked at his sisters
and said
,
“Best if we head to the den until they are finished
here.”

“
Yes,” said Tessa, “that would
be for the best.” Both she and Tegan headed for the
door.

The butler addressed her before she
exited, “Oh ma’am, you wanted to know when the morning paper
arrived. It is sitting on the table in the den.”

“
Thank you
, Baxter” she said. At least
she would have something to read to distract herself
with.

She picked up the Alkos City
Chronicle as she passed the table and sat on the
black
,
leather couch in the center of the room. The den was adorned with
ornaments and souvenirs from her father’s travels-tribal masks from
Kordatian tribes, pottery from Minakaya, crystal artwork from the
elven nation of Tal Feros and behind a glass case a fully stuffed
member of the Arc species from Vinacia.

She kept her eyes from looking at it out
of revulsion. The creature looked like a gigantic red ant and she
had a phobia when it came to insects. She always felt like it’s
dead eyes were staring at her.

Tessa unfolded the paper and
stared in shock
as she saw the front page headline-
Albert Trent, CEO of Silverton Group
Found Dead
.
She looked over at her sister, who was reclining on the opposite
sofa. “Have you heard about this?” asked Tessa, holding up the
paper so Tegan could see it.

Her sister
glanced at the headline and
shrugged “It’s not exactly news, I heard about that last
night.”

Tessa nodded
, “Of course you did.” Tegan
had contacts everywhere, even within the Alkos City Watch. “As I
recall, you’ve been trying to buy out Silverton’s share of the
northern gold mines and Albert Trent was stubbornly refusing to
sell.”

“
Yes that’s
right
”
replied Tegan, “I made a generous offer, especially considering his
company’s financial situation. The prideful fool
declined.”

Tessa stood up, slammed the
newspaper down and sto
rmed over to stand over her sister. “Tell me you
didn’t have a hand in this,” she said in an accusatory
tone.

Tegan didn’t even flinch, “And what makes
you think I had anything to do with this. You should finish reading
before you go flinging accusations around.”

“
I know how you think and
operate Tegan. Like the way you treated those dock strikers last
month or how you arranged for that ship of Culsyth goods to be
plundered by pirates,” replied Tessa. “The holdout that kept you
from taking over those mines is dead and the inevitable stock drop
that’s going to result from this will let you pick up those mines
far easier and cheaper than you would have otherwise.”

Luthais came to his middle
sister’s d
efense now, “Tessa don’t do this. Don’t start another
fight, please.” Her brother’s words penetrated her
anger.

“
Only if she swears she had
noth
ing to
do with this” said Tessa. Her voice level dropped but she
maintained her aggressive posture, hands on her hips.

“
I swear to you Tessa, I had
nothing to do with that man’s death,” said Tegan. “He died of a
heart attack enjoying himself in a whorehouse, a not uncommon
occurrence for a man of his age.”

Tessa relaxed and straightened
her jacket
,
“Fine.” Her sister certain enough that Tessa was convinced she was
telling the truth. The undertakers were leaving by the main doors
to the mansion and Tessa checked her watch. “I have a meeting to
get to,” she said, “I will see the two of you later at the funeral
home.”

***

Tegan stared at the back of Luthais
head. He was watching their sister leave the mansion grounds. She
stood and walked up behind him.

“
Do you thi
nk she-,” he was cut off as she
delivered a vicious slap to his face that left her hand stinging.
She was furious with him, unable to believe he could be so
stupid.

“
Ow!” he
screeched.

“
You stupid fucking idiot! This
is why you came to me in a panic the yesterday, babbling about
making a mistake. You were behind this weren’t you? What were you
thinking
?”
she shouted.

Luthais rubbed at his sore
cheek and replied
, “I just wanted to be the one who settled a deal for
once.”

Tegan nodded. “Of course. You had to prove
yourself didn’t you. I’m in charge of the company, I make these
decisions, not you. You stick to playing soldier with the Armaments
Division, leave the anything important to me.” Her brother had made
stupid mistakes before, but this was his biggest yet.

She sighed, “Well, what’s done is done. I
will admit it does make it easier for me in regards to the
Silverton situation. Please at least tell me you didn’t use an
amateur.”

“
No
,” answered Luthais, “I used the
Arm.” At least he was smart enough to go to the best in the murder
business.

“
Smart, I doubt
the watch will find
anything suspicious,” she said.

His lips perked into a smile as if she had
complimented him. She stopped that line of thought. “It was also
utterly stupid of you to do this on your own. I will only give you
this warning once Luthais, so heed it well. If you ever take action
like this without coming to me first, you will be out of the
company and out of this house. Father’s dead and I’m in charge now.
Is that understood?”

Luthais
nodded
, his
voice pleading, “Yes, yes, ok. Whatever you say.”

“
Good,” said Tegan, “I think our
sister’s suspicions will not grow any further, and once it’s
confirmed as a natural death you won’t have anything to worry
about.” Tegan gave him one last despising look before leaving the
room.

***

Tessa had let the events at her
family home drop to the back of her mind now that she was at the
Imperial Ministry
. She walked at a brisk pace down Imperial Hall. The
council meeting was due to start and as an Imperial Minister she
was required to be present. Imperial Hall contained portraits of
former emperors of Alkos, all the way back to Emperor Murcadh
Malric the Uniter.

He created the Alkon Empire from the
alliance of the city state of Alkos and its neighbors over
seventeen hundred years ago and initiated a new calendar system,
After The Dark or ATD for short. It symbolized the start of the
empire and the end of the dark times that had plagued the continent
of Maceon after the fall of Cartral, the current year being 1730
ATD.

Tessa passed by the
latest
portrait, the current emperor’s father, only a few meters
away from the doors. She stepped through as the Imperial Guards
opened the doors for her.

The council
room was immense, with
blackened granite walls and floors. It had enough room for every
provincial councilor and county minister and room to spare. With
both the noble and common houses it added up to three hundred
government representatives in total.

However this meeting was provincial and
above and thus only the thirty councilors were seated in the wooden
chairs to the right. Opposite them was a long, crescent shaped
table for the heads of the various imperial ministries; Sanya
Kodiak the Minister-General was seated at the middle of the table,
his white skylord wings stretched out without interfering with the
ministers to either side of him.

The Imperial
T
hrone was
positioned between the council and the ministry with a speaker’s
podium in the center of the room that faced the throne. Dominating
the entire wall behind the throne was a flag of the Empire of
Alkon. The left half of the flag was a red saltire on a dark yellow
background. On the right, the heraldic symbol of the nation, a
black lion, was represented.

Tessa took her place at the
ta
ble and
Siobhan Mason, the young Minister of Foreign Relations, leaned over
and whispered, “Cutting it close aren’t you Tessa?”

“
Family
matters
,”
she replied to the long haired brunette. “I arrived as fast as I
could.”

“
So I
heard. My condolences on your loss,”
said Siobhan.

“
Thank you” said Tessa.
Siobhan had been a
close friend since she had joined the ministry.

T
he Imperial bell rang out and the small
whispers amongst those seated stopped. The gold-plated doors at the
end of the room opened and the emperor strolled in, his personal
guard following in his wake.

Emperor Lawrence
McRath the Second
was young, only twenty eight and head of state of the most powerful
country in the world. He had been on the throne since the death of
his father four months ago, something which Tessa now had in common
with the monarch. The reason for his youth was due to the tragedy
that the imperial family had suffered over the years.

Lawrence was the third son of
his father and had
only become emperor due to the deaths of his elder
brothers. The first son had died in his teens, a victim of the
Talon Flu Epidemic, and the second son had been killed while
serving in the Imperial Army in the far off Vinacian colony of
Hidan, fighting against the Arc.

Despite his youth and political
inexperience, he was highly respected by the people of
Alkos
. He
was every bit the dashing and roguish prince, his dark, red hair
was cut short, giving him space to fit the imperial crown on his
head and he had the deep green eyes that the McRath dynasty was
famous for.

His face
was long and smooth, with a few
freckles on his cheeks. He was dressed in his royal outfit, a light
purple vest covered by a yellow jacket, with fancy, black trousers.
He had served in the army during the simmering border conflicts in
the south. He was well known as a lady’s man, he made no attempt at
keeping his numerous affairs away from the press, and in fact he
enjoyed the extra attention it gave him.

When he was only a prince and
not
an
emperor, he had spent time amongst the commoners of Alkos. He had
enjoyed spending his youth in the markets and bars of the Promenade
district, mingling with many people.

Now that he was monarch, he
could no longer do that of c
ourse, it would not be proper. But his youthful
escapades had made him popular with the people, in stark contrast
to his father, who had been raised in a strict and regal
environment.

The e
mperor had managed to demonstrate
that he had inherited his father’s strong will though. A month ago
he had refused to meet the demands of the Kordate Union and Silund
on the matter of the nation of Estara. Since the ending of the
Estaran Civil War and the exile of the royal family, Alkos had
harbored the current Estaran monarch, Queen Clara Vicinus and her
government-in-exile.

The emperor took his place on
the throne and he raised his left hand as the si
gn to begin the council meeting
and said, “By the Imperial Line of McRath, I, Emperor Lawrence the
Second, Monarch of Alkos, Ruler of the Havens and Lord of Hidan and
Naikos, convene the Second Council of Alkos for the year
1730.”

Minister-Gener
al Kodiak stood and spoke first. “Thank you, Your
Imperial Majesty,” he said in his deep voice. Sanya was tall, even
for a skylord and his white wings contrasted against his deep black
skin tone. He moved around the table to take his place at the
podium.

“
The first agenda I would like
to address is our current diplomatic relations with Galria. As you
are all
aware, since its formation fifty years ago, Galria has
adopted an aggressive posture towards not only Alkos, but all of
its neighbors.

The increase of its military has spiked an
arms race the likes of which the world has never seen before.
However we would do well to remember that our nation begun in a
similar fashion, as an amalgamation of allied states whose goal was
national unity under His Imperial Majesty’s ancestor. This is why I
have been the strongest proponent for improved relations with
Galria and the prospect of continued peace.

The foreign minister of
Galria
is
scheduled to visit our capital at the end of the month and I would
ask that we view this as the opportunity to welcome them as a
brother and a neighbor rather than view them as an
enemy.”