Page 175 of Night's Fall
“Um…”Ihummed rather than asking the question about why he was talking to the room.
“I don’t use the bots for personal service unlessIcan’t be arsed to go get myself a fucking drink.Andright now,Ican’t be arsed.”
I nodded, noting his mood seemed to be worsening.
Aleksei brooded at the fire.
I let him.
A bot arrived with our drinks on a tray.
Once we took them, its mechanical voice asked, “Anythingelse for now, your royal highness?”
“No, but stand ready.”
“Yes, sire,” the bot replied, and walked out.
Aleksei drank.
I drank.
He launched in. “AsItold you,AnnaandIwere friends.Webecame lovers.Ishould have taken pains to keep it a secret.Ifear this wouldn’t have worked, becauseAnnahad no intention of doing so.Mymother heard of it.ShetoldGermaine.GermainetoldRytalf, the political advisor to the royal family.Rytalfbrought my father into it.Myfather spoke toDagsbrun.Hespoke to their political advisor.Andall of them decided, in the current climate, an alliance between realms would be a good thing.”
“My first question is the easier one,”Isaid. “Andit is, why was that?”
“The magisterial system ofSky’sEdgeis a quagmire.Apanel can make a decision, and if a barrister can poke a big enough hole in the reasoning behind their decree, it will go to another panel for a new decision.Ihonestly have no idea how they get anything done with this kind of setup, but demons love nothing more than to argue and pit themselves against things.Somaybe it’s that.Inthe years sinceKingRiland’sdeath,Tanynhas had six panels rule in favor of his question of succession.AndArnaud’sbarristers have found big enough issues behind the reasoning to call another panel.”
I wasn’t sure why we were talking aboutSky’sEdge, butIdidn’t ask.
I sipped my drink and listened.
“Now,Tanynhas jumped through enough hoops, his case is being prepared to go in front of thePremierMagistrate, and their decision will be final,”Alekseishared. “Arnaudwill have no choice but to accept it, and it is in no doubt the decision will be his immediate abdication, andTanynwill take the throne.”
“This is good, isn’t it?”Iasked.
“It would be good, if our intelligence wasn’t telling us there’s an alarming rift in their military.Thereare those who backArnaud.Thereare those who backTanyn.Butright now,Arnaudis king.Sothose who are found to backTanynhave been disciplined, ousted, or even tried on trumped up charges and imprisoned.”
DearLilith!
“This for sure is not in the media or on the tapes,”Istated.
“This is becauseArnaudis keeping it very quiet, andTanynhas learned to caution his supporters to be covert.Butthat doesn’t mean they aren’t planning for the eventuality thatArnaudwill refuse to abdicate, and that will mean he’ll need to be forcibly removed.Whichcould mean he’d call on his supporters, andTanynwill absolutely call his, and there’ll be civil war.”
This was not good news.
ButIstill didn’t know why he was talking about it.
“And you’re sharing this because…?”
“Because, if there was an alliance betweenNight’sFallandDawn’sBreak, both the realms atSky’sEdgesouthern border would be of one mind, that being in support ofTanyn’sclaim to the throne.Andif this was the case, evenArnaudmight hesitate to do something stupid when he lost in the courts.”
“Aren’tNight’sFallandDawn’sBreakalready allied in this notion?”
“We are, darling, but royal marriage is a bond that does not break.WithAnnaandImarried, there would be more discussion between realms about votes in theCenter.Wewouldn’t be united, officially.Butfor the most part, there would be a united front.Itis a subtle nuance of a shift, or in this case, consolidation of power.Subtleor not, it’s there, andArnaudwouldn’t miss it.”
“And this brings me to the more difficult question.Youagreed to marriage withAnnabecause of these terms?”
He shook his head, but said, “Itwas put to me, andIconsidered it along with the knowledge we shared history, we shared an understanding of each other and the lives we live, and we were friends and enjoyed each other’s company.She’samusing, carefree.Beforethings turned sour, she was almost always in a good mood.Thisis nice to be around.Someonewho could find the good in everything or bounce back from something shitty happening and do it quickly.She’salso beautiful.Iwas attracted to her before we became lovers.”Hegave me a squeeze. “AndI’vesince learned that sex can be transcendent, but she was an excellent lover.”
