Total pages in book: 208
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
She clasped her hands over her skirts in her lap and sat back.
“For on the morrow,” she began steadily, “you, your son at your side, will announce that you have discovered your counsellor’s perfidy. The moment you did, you had him immediately arrested. After the wedding, he will be tried. After his trial, when his guilt is ascertained, he will be hung.”
“Mercy,” Wilmer whispered.
She ignored him and continued.
“You will follow this with the jubilant news that you are naming your son, Prince True, as your new chief counsellor. He has proved his loyalty to you and his realm repeatedly in his adult life. And he did the same very recently in Firenze at the diplomatic table, negotiating an alliance with Firenze that will mean an end to the strife with our southern neighbors, and open trade routes on the seas, as well as trade directly with Mar-El, which will mean Dellish wares will reach ports on this continent much more expediently, and others abroad we have rarely been able to attain.”
Her husband had lost his pallor.
He now was red in the face and looked ready to explode.
Mercy ignored this too.
“And last, you will declare that the recent tax will be utilized to assist port authorities and ship builders to handle much more significant traffic and custom, for the seas have been open to Firenze and Airen too, though tariffs will be assessed to their imports. This, as well as you and your new counsellor will be open to applications for funding credits to small merchants, farmers and shepherds who wish to increase their operations in order to supply what we hope will be significantly amplified demand.”
“This is all very tidy for you,” he sniped.
“Actually, True made it all very tidy for you,” she replied calmly.
“He is again the hero, Mercy,” Willmer pointed out.
“Did it not occur to you to wonder, even a little bit, why Carrington did not advise you to herald loud and wide the agreements True made in Fire City?”
“I didn’t wonder,” he retorted. “I asked. And I agreed with Carrington that this, as with much else, would make True stronger and me weaker.”
Mercy shook her head. “True is not separate from you, Wilmer. He’s your son and heir. He is a part of you and your reign in a very literal sense. It is Carrington that made you question that. And he had no care that True would appear stronger because of these negotiations. What he could not allow is that you would appear stronger because of them.”
After sharing that, she put her hands flat on the desk and spoke in order to end this.
“He has compromised you, and you have allowed it. We must all, every one of us, understand our weaknesses so we can bolster them. You have never, not once in my knowing of you, demonstrated an interest in governing your land. True doesn’t relish it either, but he understands it’s his responsibility and it is in his nature to assume it. It is not in yours. It’s in yours to delegate it. Therefore, appear in the throne room to knight the knights. Inspect the troops. Preside over arbitration, and announce the rulings, but allow True to decide them. Do what it is in your nature to do, delegate, but this time do it wisely.”
“This is essentially making my son regent,” he remarked.
“It is making your son counsellor. It is paving the way to make your heir, flesh of your flesh, equipped with the experience to be king. You did not wish him to be regent and you do not wish to rule. You get both. You get what you want. All you want. But this time, with a strong realm that has strong leadership. How can you protest that?”
“And you have investigated Carrington without my consent?” he demanded. “That is not your place, Mercy. With that, you have stepped over the line to such an extent, it, too, could be considered treason.”
She sat immobile, such was her affront.
“It is the king who decides his counsel,” he spat. “And it is the king who sits in that chair.” He rapped his knuckles on his desk and commanded, “Arise.”
She stared at him and did not move.
He leaned toward her. “Arise.”
“You have two choices,” she said softly. “We can walk out that door and direct Sir Bram to find Carrington and arrest him. Or I will walk out that door and direct Sir Bram to share that the king has signed the vouchers for the man who pilfered his treasury, and as such, he relinquishes his rule but as figurehead. And the Crown Prince, True, of Wodell, has become regent. It’s your choice. Make it now.”
His expression was the definition of thunderstruck.
“Blackmail?”
“It is your choice, Wilmer, make it now.”
His incredulity melted, he glared at her and snapped, “This will be the finish of us, wife.”