Industry & Intrigue (63 page)

Snar was referring to the
‘Never Forget’ movement that had been building up steam
since the Galrian
sneak attack. Citizens were holding rallies and chants all over the
city with signs like
Never Forget
and
Vengeance for the Emperor
. They had gathered in force around
the city as today was the crowning of the new emperor. He was
expected to address the people at Azure Square in front of the
palace. Many expected him to give a reverent, rallying speech about
the war.

Isaac chuckled. “I can see why
you earned your watch uniform
Officer Bruce. You’re not wrong. It was my main
reason, but not the only one.”

The captain’s curiosity was
perked now. “Oh? You have something more in regards to the
tarcai
ne
smuggled through your church? As I understood it, Inissa Renoch was
responsible for that and she’s in custody, as are your members who
were assisting her. We made over forty arrests when we took down
the organization responsible for the drugs”

Isaac folded his arms, the air
in here was colder than he would have liked. T
his watch station could use
better heating. “She was, but I ‘m concerned she did it with tacit
consent from a higher authority,” he said.

“
She was only a lieutenant
in
her
boss’s organization, but I do not think that is what you are
referring to” said Snar.

Isaac shook his head. “No, I’m
not talking about that. I mean she had consent to use my church as
a place to smuggle drugs.
And it did not come from me.” He sighed. He had
mulled over this while stuck under blankets in the hospital bed, it
was now or never.

“
I believe that she was allowed
to use my church by High Cleric Ethan McSheora.” He looked at the
captain and the agorid and watched their reactions as his
accusation sunk in. Snar blinked a few times but didn’t say
anything. The captain looked like he had eaten a lemon.

“
I see
,” said Niko. “Do you have proof of
this?”

“
No I
don’t” he said and rubbed his hand at
his forehead. The skin on his fingers was dry and rough. “But I
can’t imagine this woman simply decided that she could use my
church to store drugs so freely without approval. The high cleric
introduced her as an old friend to me. As loathe as I am to believe
it, he must have known about her criminal connections and that she
intended to use the church.”

“
I thought that Varonites could
never question their church elders?” asked Snar. “Yet you are doing
just that.”

The
agorid was well read. “Yes, you are
correct officer. Church elders are to be held in the highest
regard. All I can say is that recent events have left me with a
much more open mind. Besides this is not a church matter, regarding
one of my flock or a matter of faith. Those are where elders are to
be deferred to. This is a matter of legality and
ethics.”

Niko had a grim look on his
face. “It’s not a hard leap to think that Inissa Renoch had
permission, giv
en how brazenly she was using your church. But I can’t
start harassing the High Cleric of Varos without evidence. Despite
what your more radical members like to claim, we need a justified
cause.”

Niko then waved his hand around to
indicate the empty desks and busy officers. “Then there’s all of
this. A quarter of my officers have been called up in the reserves
and another quarter are begging me to let them sign up at
recruiting stations. I’ll have to let them, once the Ministry of
Security approves it.

The rest of us are on city
patrol and preparing for h
ome defense. The fact is I don’t have the manpower
to start up new drug investigations, even if I had cause. The
ringleader skipped town, but we have all of her subordinates and
soldiers. As far as the Watch Commander McLeod is concerned the
case is over.”

I
t had been a slim chance anyway, he didn’t
have real evidence to give them. “I see,” he replied. “Thank you
for taking the time to hear my concerns anyway captain. I will pray
for you and your officers to remain safe throughout this terrible
time.” The captain bowed his head in thanks and returned to his
office.

Isaac addressed Snar
next,
“Officer Bruce, I know what it’s like to lose a mentor
figure as you have. If you ever feel the need to come and talk, my
doors are open. The ears of Varos will listen to whatever you have
to say.”

Snar nodded. “Thank you
cleric.
I
will confess I do not know as much about the Church of Varos as I
would like. I may stop by.” He held out his huge bear-like paw.
Isaac touched it tentatively with his own and simply gripped the
top part and lightly shook.

That had been an interesting
answer. The agorid
was not showing grief in the way the elf had been. But
Isaac had no clue what grief would look like on an agorid, or if
they could feel it. As he left the station, he pondered on the
agorids curiosity about his church. Who knows, if he played his
hand right, he could be the first Varonite cleric to convert an
agorid.

Chapter
62

Dark red wine splashed over
King Cyrus’s
lips, spilling across his chin and down his chest. Cyrus
laughed and wiped it off in Ulas’s direction. He flinched as he
felt a drop hit his forehead. He sighed and pulled up a serviette
to wipe it off. It was Sossian wine, they produced a strong, dark
red that had an annoying habit of staining one’s skin. Ulas had no
desire to have a red spot in the middle of his forehead.

The
king had arranged a feast for his
family and inner court in celebration of the victories the royal
army had won against the Alkon Empire. They were halfway through
the meal and Cyrus had reached a sufficiently inebriated state that
he could bring up the issue of the war.

When the telegram
ha
d arrived
in the throne room, the king had bellowed in triumph and laughed at
hearing of the death of the Alkon emperor. Many in the court were
also cheering and congratulating the king. Many of them were
genuinely pleased no doubt, while others had simply gone along with
the revelry. Ulas had remained quiet, a state of shock overcoming
him upon hearing the news.

Cyrus
shouted
,
“The weak Alkons will crumble before us!”

T
he king was wrong. This was a nightmare
scenario come true. In spite of the king’s proclamations, the
Alkons would not ‘crumble’. He had already been concerned about
deceiving them diplomatically and launching a sneak attack. But to
have their monarch killed in the same attack. The entire populace
of Alkos would be burning for vengeance.

Ulas had looked around the
throne room
in the aftermath of the news and took note of who was
staying quiet and reserved. They were having the same thoughts as
him regarding the attack.

Unlike the
king
, Ulas
sipped his wine in a dignified manner. He only pecked at the roast
pork on his plate. He did not have much of an appetite. He was
sitting to the left of the king, at the corner of the long table,
with the other court nobles along the table with decreasing
importance, all the way down to the Harvest-master.

King Cyrus and Queen
Vera were at the
head of the table, a suckling pig in front of them. Half of it had
been cut away and passed out, the smell of well-done pork invading
Ulas’s nose. The queen was than a decade younger than her husband
and she was stringent in maintaining her attractive
appearance.

She
had her light brown hair in a cone of
metal bands and was wearing a beautiful yellow dress. Ulas was
amazed it was still clean; the king was a messy eater.

To the right of the queen and seated
opposite to Ulas was their oldest child, Marat, the crown prince.
He had eaten a few plates and was sitting back in his luxurious
leather covered chair and sipping wine. He had a bored look on his
plain face, his curly hair spilled out over his
shoulders.

His sister, Karina, the crown princess sat
beside him. She was a delicate girl, thin and willowy with a head
of soft brown hair that reached all the way down her back. Her face
resembled her mother’s, though she had her father’s eyes. She
flinched as the king thumped on the table and shouted for more wine
to one of the servants.

Staiko
was the royal couple’s third child, a
boy of seventeen. He took after his father in both looks and
mannerisms, he was still putting away food and drinking and joking.
Unlike the king he had his dark brown hair cut down to only a thin
layer over his scalp.

Ulas imagined
Staiko was what the
king would have looked like at the same age, without the added
weight from a diet of rich food and heavy alcohol consumption.
Staiko regularly trained with the Galrian knights and was a capable
warrior. The other three royal children weren’t present at this
feast, all being under fifteen years of age. After Staiko, sat
Cyrus’s younger siblings and their families.

Ulas heard the sound of the
f
east hall
doors open and looked up. A man rapidly walked down the length of
the room. He was in the uniform of the royal telegram
office.

He leaned over and whispered in
the ear of one of the royal guard
s. He was allowed through and approached
the king. Cyrus tossed a half-finished chicken breast onto his
plate, his hands still slick with grease and he eyed the
messenger.

“
What have you
there then?” he
asked. He sounded drunk, his words beginning to slur
slightly.

“
Your
Highness
,”
said the man and knelt down, handing a telegram to the king. Cyrus
grabbed it and opened the envelope. His greasy fingers stained the
edges of the paper as his eyes scanned the words. When he was done,
he thrust the telegram back into the messenger’s hands and stood
up.

“
Everyone, listen up!” bellowed
Cyrus across the room. The room went silent and all of the diners
focused their attention on the king. “I have received an excellent
piece of news.” Cyrus paused for a moment before revealing what he
had read. “Ze Feros has declared war on Alkos and Tal
Feros.”

The silence was broken as the
room erupted into an exc
ited buzz, but Cyrus was able to talk over it. “Ze
Feros has launched their fleets, several of which are headed to
Prophet’s Isle to seize what the Talfey took from them. Another
fleet is heading east to harass the Alkons. Let’s give a cheer to
our allies for joining the right side and aiding us in this
war.”

Cyrus held his goblet above his
head and gave out an enthusiastic cheer, which most of the room
copied, albe
it not as loudly as the king.

“
Good news, eh
Ulas?
” said
the king. “Things aren’t looking so good for the mighty Alkon
Empire now, are they?” Cyrus toasted his goblet against Ulas’s own,
his face lit up with pleasure, both from the wine and the
news.

At least the king had the war
on his mind now. Ulas deci
ded to bring up what he had been waiting to
discuss since the news of the Rampart attack had arrived. “Yes Your
Highness. But I have grace concerns” he said.

Cyrus looked at him with and
gave out a belch.
“Oh hells Ulas, you can be such fucking old woman at times.
Always with your damn concerns.”

Ulas repressed a sigh. He
wondered what sin he had committed
in a past life, to be fostered with a king
like this. “Your Highness, as successful as our attacks were, they
did damage to only a mere fraction of the Alkon Empire’s total
strength. The death of the emperor by our forces, accidental or
not, is a far graver crime than the assassination of Envoy-master
Rossiv. Nothing like it has ever occurred between civilized nations
before. The Alkons will never forgive us.” There he had finally
said it to the king’s face. Now to wait for the
reaction.

Cyrus stared at him
for several
agonizingly long seconds before starting to chuckle. His chuckle
grew louder until he was laughing hard enough to choke. When his
laughter finally slowed down, Cyrus took several gulps of wine.
“Ulas, you truly are a whining cow aren’t you? I have an idea. Why
don’t you head to the border, bend over and pull down your pants
and show them your dried up cunt?”

This set the king off into
another bout of laughter and he was joined by both of his sons this
time. The queen simply smiled
and Gold-master Gregor Dragovic, to Ulas’s left,
chuckled. Princess Karina at least had the decency to look down,
ashamed of her father’s crude insult.

“
Civilized nations?” continued
Cyrus. “Where were the civilized nations when the agorids were at
our doorsteps? Civilization is what we tell the people to keep
everything together. It’s nothing more than an idea. Whoever is in
charge gets to determine the idea. The Alkons have been in charge
for a long time and they defined civilization. They expanded and
developed faster than the rest of us.”