He would not be a governor, but a king of a vassal state."
"And the other nobles agreed to this? Why would they let Ternias give everything to my husband?"
Jonias licked her lips. "Ternias doesn’t operate his own conspiracies. People… don’t really like him."
"I actually find him quite charming."
"You two are very alike."
I chewed on the insult I had loaded on my tongue, and instead nodded for her to continue.
"Your husband was the one who proposed the plan to Feractian, Feltian, and Huntiata, promising them exclusive governorships in the new kingdom. Ternias never met with any of them directly, but he was always the puppet master. When you asked your husband to procure the dwarf contracts for Xantian, he did not, because Ternias told him not to. Ternias knew Xantian would stay loyal to you, and so he sought to drive a wedge of suspicion between you."
"And now Ternias operates a conspiracy within a conspiracy."
"In a way, yes. Your husband is still the shell of the first one, but there is no filling. He is quite a dullard, my queen."
I snorted. "What does that say about me if he outsmarted me all this time?"
"Not much." She smirked cruelly, "Huntiata never had faith in Eric Shordian. Once the battle of the Tundra was lost, Huntiata pulled his support. Feractian and Feltian went with him. Your husband stayed loyal to Ternias, but Ternias could no longer use him as a ring-leader. So Eric was made a supporting character, foolishly believing Ternias would grant him the original prize. But Ternias knew the war was lost, and he sought a new ring-leader to fit his new mold. Elena Straltaira had become the darling of the court, and she preached so grandly for peace."
"He promised to make a peace deal if she married him." I said.
"Yes."
"You know this for certain?"
"I did not hear the words spoken, but I can put two-and-two together. What have you been doing since the Battle of the Tundra? Nothing but arguing with Ternias about the semantics of warfare, thinking you were stalling for time, when you were simply filling the court with dead air while Ternias’s new pet did her work. Elena collected the nobles who were disenfranchised by the rhetoric, those that Ternias had lost before, plus Lady Droughtius. When they get back, Ternias will propose a peace deal, Elena will accept it, and then there will be an immediate vote of no confidence. Eric will testify against you, and eight votes will be cast to remove you. Xantian will bend then, fearing for his life, and you will be destroyed."
"And you, Lady Jonias?"
"There is nothing I can do. If I don’t vote with Ternias, he might kill me right there."
"Then why did you come here?"
She shrugged with a rueful smile. "I have been deceived, stepped on, humiliated and cast away. What else can a spiteful woman do, but hope that an even more spiteful woman can make her enemies scream?"
I smiled around my glass. "I can be that woman."
End of Part Twelve.
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