Enlightened Empire

On the morning after the assassination, the entire castle was in an uproar. Although the sun hadn’t crossed the horizon in full yet, the small court was filled with people. Normally, the court would handle all internal affairs of the imperial family and this time, it had assembled to find out just how to deal with the second death of Prince Corco. All the actors of the play had already taken their positions around the dais and the backless throne on top, the court’s centerpiece. To the right of the throne, the empire’s prime minister Chaupic watched the proceedings in total silence. To its left sat the former concubine and current empress mother, Spuria Ichilia. Finally, in front of the throne, the second prince of the empire, Amautu Titu Pluritac, faced the two in a defiant stance.

"However, this Empress was informed that Prince Amautu should have been the last to see Prince Corco?"

"Which proves nothing! This Prince wonders, however, about the prime minister’s servants who were guiding Prince Corco last night. Wouldn’t they have been around brother later than myself?"

The spear point aimed at himself, the prime minister finally awoke from the hibernation he had held since the start of the proceedings.

"Prince Amautu, this old man is merely a servant himself. Those three men were also servants of the imperial family and would never listen to a lower official like this one."

With practiced calm, Chaupic lowered his head and put his hands together in apology.

"So where are these men then? This prince will question them himself!"

"Unfortunately, after their heinous betrayal, the lowly beasts attempted escape and were put to death by patrol guards on patrol."

"How convenient that is for some."

At Amautu’s remark, and before he could take further aim at the old politician, the empress mother chimed in once again.

"It is unfortunate, but this Empress has heard news from Prime Minister Chaupic. Last night, the minister was sent away by Prince Amautu himself on an excuse as he tried to guarantee the prince would reach his sleeping quarters safely."

"A blatant lie! I did no such thing!" Amautu stepped forward, but saw the guards tighten their hands around their weapons. Frustrated, he stepped back, into the spot of the accused.

"Then why would Prince Amautu spend the time drinking with his brother in the garden? As prince’s mother, this empress should know her children best and was always saddened by the estranged relationship between the princes. It broke her heart to see the two in constant quarrels, but never would this empress have expected her own son to hedge such cruel plans! This empress hopes that, as her son, Prince Amautu will be able to prove his innocence, but the evidence appears irrefutable."

"As the ancients say, a true scholar is always forthright in his motives and true in his actions. I would never stab my brother in the back! There are many in this city who can attest to my impeccable moral conduct, unlike some others in this room." Amautu once again made uncomfortable suggestions toward his two accusers, but the small court had come prepared.

"What is Prince trying to say?!"

"Even for a royal prince, this is unacceptable!"

"Outrageous!"

As if planned in advance, some of the waiting officials on the sides of the room sprang into action and recreated the chaos of the previous night’s storm within the small court. Their bluster drowned out all criticism, valid or not.

Within all that courtly mess, the front door sprang open and with a sudden bang flew against it’s stopper. The door stopped as much as the proceedings, all eyes of the court bored themselves into the breathless guard who had caused the interruption.

"Empress Mother, it’s, this is-"

"Sorry to disappoint everyone, but this prince has always been pretty lousy at dying."

Although his left arm rested in a sling, the dead Prince Corco and his attendant strode in front of the throne, to the stunned silence of the crowd. On any other day, Corco would relish in the reactions, but today his eyes were glued to the immovable smile of the prime minister.

"Remember what I said to you yesterday, old man? I wasn’t joking."

With a smile of his own, Corco gave out a death threat, but the old minister was even calmer.

"This old man is beside himself with joy that Prince is still healthy," he said, immovable like a statue.

"Right. So those servants of yours are dead then?"

"Prince Corco, should you not greet your imperial mother?"

The empress mother butted in on Corco’s fun, but he was not in any mood to play along.

"So who died and made you my mother? Oh, yeah, I remember."

"How dare he! Not even a prince can ignore royal etiquette!"

At her official’s faked outrage, The queen tried to appear magnanimous in the face of her official’s faked outrage, and so she raised her hand to silence her henchman’s accusation. However, her narrowed eyes and clenched jaws attested to her true nature.

"Prince Corco has been away for quite some time and would not be aware of these details. In fact, this humble woman has been elevated to the status of empress mother a full four months ago."

Only by a hair did Corco manage to stifle a derisive laugh, though his smile grew even wider.

"So then that would have been after my father died? How exactly did that work, becoming empress without an emperor?"

Under Corco’s probing tone, Spuria’s fists clenched and her eyes widened as she stared at him in frustration. Corco was confused. Had the vain woman really thought he would just play pretend like everyone else, just because some old geezers had decided to take bribes? Meanwhile, he felt another round of accusations coming his way from the sidelines, and so he rushed back to the issue at hand before he would be droned out like his brother had been.

"So no one has been arrested so far? Let’s say some maid or warrior with a weird accent and a lot of knives?"

As thought back to the events from last night, he asked not only about the Arcavian assassin, but also about his accomplice. He hadn’t forgotten just what kind of danger he had gotten that girl into with his intrusion.

"So far, the only known subjects are the two dead servants. It is quite unfortunate," Chaupic answered.

"Since those servants are dead already, who killed them? Their death is pretty convenient for whoever planned last night’s attack, don’t you think? I would like to have the names of those guards and a chance to question them. As the murder victim, I feel like I should at least be involved in the process."

"Of course, Prince Corco." If Chaupic was worried, he didn’t show it on his face.

"And what about the two guards who were at my door last night?"

"Who might Prince be talking about?"

"During last night’s assassination attempts, two sipiy warriors were outside my room and let in the killer. I have heard their voices and seen their faces. Shouldn’t they be easy to identify?"

"Crown Prince might think so, but a real sipiy would never betray the imperial family. Surely they were fakes placed there in advance by the attacker’s machinations."

Like a man with machinations, Chaupic spat out answers as if he had predicted every single question long ago. However, Corco had come prepared as well.

"Okay, so then who looks after the sipiy equipment? He is either involved or he can’t even count his own uniforms, in which case he is so incompetent that he shouldn’t be anywhere near a position of power."

"That’s..."

With the prime minister finally off balance, Corco followed up with a second push.

"What about the palace’s guard captain? Those two warriors stood outside my room for an entire night and no one noticed that they didn’t belong? There is only one way to explain last night’s attack: Many men in the palace were either bought or they didn’t do their jobs. To prevent accidents in the future, I think we should do some proper cleaning."

"It is as Prince says. This old minister will arrange for a slow and careful investigation of the culprits." With his politician’s answer, the prime minister was clearly playing for time, but Corco wasn’t done just yet.

"So now that we know about the corruption and incompetence of the master of the armory and the head of the imperial guard... who was it that put those corrupt, incompetent men into their positions I wonder?"

Corco narrowed his eyes as he looked at the prime minister’s pristine smile.

"Exactly! No uncultured warrior servant should be making these decisions in the first place!"

Finally, Amautu reentered the conversation, not to Corco’s surprise. In fact, he had counted on his brother’s support from the start. Earlier, Corco had been listening in on the farce inside, while Fadelio had kept the helpless guard in check. For now, the crown prince would sell a favor to his brother and make sure the old man and old woman would not get what they wanted. However, even as the two powerful figures by the throne became the target of accusations, there were still many in the room willing to play human shield for them.

"Prince Corco, as a ruler one should always strive for magnanimity. Prince should not be so anxious to pursue every minor matter."

With his best unimpressed look, Corco stared down the man in question. He was young for a member of the small court and not someone the crown prince had ever met, so he must have been promoted within the last few years. The young official was also the one who had spoken up for concubine Spuria before. It was obvious who had placed him.

"So you’re saying the assassination of an imperial prince is a small matter?" Corco probed.

"...that’s-"

"Are you saying that it’s trivial if a prince is killed? That we should just let all those people go because killing me would be no big deal, is that it?"

Uncomfortable, the henchman shifted his weight before he whispered his response.

"...isn’t Prince healthy?"

"So it’s fine to try and kill a prince as long as the attempt doesn’t work out? What kind of message does that send out exactly? And why are you so careful to defend those attackers anyways? Maybe you should be investigated as well. What do you think?"

Just as the prince was heating up his proverbial vacuum to suck all the dirt out of the palace, Spuria could no longer sit still.

"Prince Corco may be correct. The traitors responsible should be found and persecuted. That is, however, no reason to attack faithful servants of House Pluritac. This Empress believes the focus of the court should be on those responsible, rather than on wild accusations. As such," she turned towards Prime Minister Chaupic, "the investigation should be conducted by someone uncompromised. Prime Minister is already old and can no longer fulfill his duties. It might be time for Prime Minister to consider retirement."

Finally, Corco widened his focus and observed the woman who had called herself his mother earlier. Tall, plump and with impeccable posture, the gray-haired woman threw her ally to the wolves the moment he became troublesome, and she did som with a smile. Corco’s mind raced as he tried to solve the puzzle before him. Could it be possible that the number of factions collected in this room were not two, but three? He made a decision. Maybe for the moment, Chaupic was worth more alive than dead.

"That won’t held anyone either. In times as chaotic as these, we will need the prime minister’s experience more than ever. I think he should be the one to lead the investigation on my killers. Though again, I’d prefer to be involved."

At least now, Chaupic - a valuable source of information - would owe him a debt. Though he doubted the politician’s credit, it was still a chance to catch up on seven years of missed court politics. In reply to Corco’s sudden change, the empress frowned for a while, lost in thought. In the end, she tried her hand at a motherly smile and answered.

"Of course. Whatever Corco wishes, Mother will comply."

"Then how about we start by declaring me ’not dead, still alive’? That’d be good. I know I’ve already died twice and it really should just cancel out, but I would feel much better if someone would finally say it. I wonder if that’s a problem, ’mother’?"

"Naturally."

With all of her experience in falsehood, the Empress Mother ignored the vitriol charged into Corco’s final word as she put on her most benevolent smile.

*Needs practice,* Corco thought, while he pushed his advantage.

"And my men should be allowed inside the palace complex. Last night should have shown well enough that I need the protection."

"Of course."

Once again, Lady Ichilia hid her true emotions behind her answer, before she turned to the court scribe.

"Let it be known that Prince Corco is safe and sound and has finally returned to the royal court. Since it is a day of celebration, a banquet shall be held the day after tomorrow, to reintroduce Prince Corco to the lords of Medala."

"It sure feels good to be alive again, but if we all agree that I’m not dead, shouldn’t that read ’Crown Prince’? I’m sure Lady Ichilia was just confused for a while."

"Unfortunately, after Prince’s supposed death the crown prince position was revoked by the ancestral hall. This court has no power to reinstate Prince Corco’s old status." The woman showed an unfazed smile while Corco was once again fuming inside. He just knew that the petty woman was enjoying this.

"Then what about my courtyard? I noticed that someone gave it away?"

"Unfortunately, Prince Corco’s Raven Yard was reclaimed after Prince’s death had been confirmed. At this moment, important guests reside within, so it cannot be returned. Prince is, however, free to choose another unoccupied yard for his own use," another official threw himself into the line of fire and answered for Spuria.

"Right. Guess that also goes for all the books, servants and all-round valuables I had in the place?"

"If Prince wishes to reclaim anything he believes was taken unlawfully, he is free to call on the ancestral hall and challenge their decision."

Again he understood what he had hated about the courts. This nameless servant knew as well as anyone that he couldn’t possibly offend the ancestral hall, not until he had been nominated as emperor by them.

"So, then Corco. Please tell mother exactly what happened yesterday. If it wasn’t Amautu, who was the bold attacker who would hurt you, child?"

Corco felt like strangling the shameless hag who kept calling herself his mother, but he knew that it would ruin his chances at the throne, so with as much calm and falsehood as he could muster, he gave his prepared answer.

"In truth, I was lucky. The storm had blown open my window and thus woke me up. As I got up to close it again, a robed attacker stormed into my room. His sword grazed my arm, but I managed to hold onto him and pushed him out of the window on the slippery wooden boards. As he held onto the windowsill, I quickly rushed out of my room to find the two guards missing. I immediately made my way down the stairs and spent the rest of the evening tending to my wounds in my attendant’s quarters."

"That is all?" the woman probed again, now a frown on her face. Corco knew that this wasn’t the answer she was looking for. With how frustrated he had been ever since he had returned home, he thought it was only fair to share his feelings and give some back to his family.

"That’s all I know at least," he answered with a careless shrug.

"Prince did not see who the attacker might have been?"

"That’s what ’all I know’ means, yes. The attacker was masked, after all."

For the moment, Corco had decided to give away as little information as possible. Until he had a firm grasp on the new distribution of power within Arguna, he didn’t want to give any side too much of an advantage on accident.

"In that case, this would be all for the moment." Empress Mother Spuria got up to declare the end of court deliberations, but Corco interrupted her plans one last time.

"I would like to visit my father today. I have not seen him in seven years after all, and it’s only proper. Surely the small court can grant the right for a son to visit his father?"

The Empress Mother did not sit down again. Accompanied by a cold glare in Corco’s direction, the woman waved her hand, as if to swat away an annoying fly.

"Prince Corco is free to enter the royal tomb as he pleases. Mother will provide you with a guide."

"Not necessary. Prime Minister Chaupic has already offered himself up yesterday."

"Then so be it. The court is dismissed."

With a glance of suspicion towards the smiling man to her right, the empress mother ended the meeting. She picked up her fan and then disappeared into the back rooms of the court with short, measured steps. Considering her usual self, she had shown surprising restraint. Corco was certain that away from prying eyes, her fan had already been ruined in her enraged hands.

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