A Stolen Crown (7 page)

“I think you’ve taken enough for the army. I will have words with Cerric himself about this,” she told him flatly.

“That might not be a good idea,” Carlis said as he walked past one of the militia men standing at the entrance the sitting room where Elaine had squared off against the captain.  He noticed before he entered that the man had his hand on his sword, even though the people his superior was interrogating were unarmed women who hardly posed a threat. The captain of the militia turned and Carlis walked right up to him. "What is your name?" he asked.

"Parson," the man replied. "Captain Parson of the Royal Militia."

"Thank goodness," Elaine said and then walked over to a nearby bureau and poured herself a glass of strong liquor, while Ehlena sat quietly, not saying a word.

“And who are you?” The captain cast a suspicious look at the former magistrate. Carlis smiled.

“I am Lord Carlis, Maramyrian Magistrate and trade negotiator for the throne,” Carlis lied, giving him the court title that had just been stripped from him. “I am conducting a survey of the war acquisitions on behalf of his majesty, King Cerric, to ensure that your men do their jobs professionally. Have you searched every room in this house?”

The man stood up a little straighter. He didn’t mind threatening a lady noble and her neice, but if this Lord Carlis was under the king's orders, he thought that he had better not irritate him. Carlis looked important and the captain did not want any trouble, not on his first day on the job, for this was a good piece of work for him and his men. The king was letting them keep a piece of what they confiscated and, if the other estates they had been told to visit were as loaded with gold and valuables as this one, they stood to live a life of plenty for a very long time.

“Just finishing up, Lord magistrate, sir,” the man said, doing his best to sound professional.

“Good. Then you must excuse me, for I have further business with Lady Valamyr, on behalf of the King," Carlis told him then he leaned in close to the man and lowered his voice. "They are cousins, you know." He told the lie then inclined his head at toward the doorway, indicating that the man should leave. The man nodded, worried that he might have overstepped his bound, and he gave Carlis his best, but horribly unprofessional salute before exiting the room. As soon as he had gone, Elaine walked over to Carlis and slapped his face.

“You too! I never thought you would sell yourself to that vicious bastard…” she started but Carlis held up his hand, glancing over his shoulder to see that the militia men were out of earshot.

“That's the second time I have been struck this day, first by Cerric, and now by you. Do you really think I would cow to that villain of a man?” Carlis asked her, more than a little offended that she would believe such a thing. Still, it was better that she unleashed her ire upon him than on the brute of a man who had just left, one who no doubt would have run her through with his sword without a moment's hesitation, since those were the orders that had been given. Carlis walked over to the window could that see the milita men had mounted their horses and wagon and were now riding out from the property. "Good, they're gone."

“And they took everything we had that was valuable. Everything, Carlis, stolen, by the magnanimous king Cerric.”

"They did not get everything," Carlis told her. "You still live, and that is what is most important."

Elaine gave him a skeptical look and it was obvious she did not understand the position she was in. As soon as Carlis had seen the list of nobles and the order that Bensa had tucked into the ledger, he knew that they were also likely marked for death. Cerric still needed the support of some of the more powerful families in the land in order to raise his armies and consolidate his power, and it would not inspire much loyalty among his supporters if he were to simply take away the lands of long-standing nobles. No, Cerric was more devious than that. The orders were not explicit that anyone be killed, but it was not difficult to imagine that most people would resist having their homes invaded and their belongings taken from them and how that could be considered resistance. Cerric's concerns were confirmed when he saw the type of man who had been put in charge of the so-called militia, one who was more likely to talk with his sword than anything else. Elaine had been in real danger and it was very fortunate he had arrived in time, before Lady Valamyr tested the patience of the overly eager and self-serving militia.

"So what are you doing here?" Elaine asked.

“I thought to warn you, but I see that I have arrived too late to prevent all but the worst of it,” Carlis sat at one of the large upholstered chairs. “Cerric has confiscated property from a long list of nobles and merchants, including myself. Despite what I told that man who was here, as of this day, I am no longer a magistrate of the Maramyrian kingdom, as that title has also been stripped from me. I was trying to negotiate an arrangement at the palace for several of the guilds, but Cerric has decided just to take them over insead and he has decreed that workers will be paid barely enough to feed themselves, all of it in the name of this coming war with Kandara.”

“How can he do such things?” Elaine asked. “Is there no recourse, no way we can challenge such action?”

“Not unless you want to lose more than your gold,” Carlis told her. “I’m sorry Elaine. Cerric himself gave the orders. Be glad he couldn’t take your land outright. The only reason he would not is the Valamyr name appears far too many times in the old stories for him to dishonor your family so openly. It would send the wrong message to the nobles who currently support him. As for me, he confiscated my properties and all my holdings with the Maramyrian Trade Guild as well.”

“That’s horrible,” Elaine exclaimed. "I am appalled, simply appalled."

She knew that even though Carlis was only a very minor noble and his family estates were small and provincial, he had been working for years to amass the wealth to buy more lands and increase his stature at the Maramyrian courts through his work as a magistrate. Such a move would, under normal circumstances, entitle him to more respect and possibly a higher ranking in the courtly order as a reward for service rendered to the crown. Elaine had always hoped Carlis would succeed in this for then, she felt, she might be able to consider him as a husband, which was something about which she would occasionally tease him after one too many glasses of wine. However the prospect of being granted land and title by the king as reward for services and loyalty seemed less and less likely under Cerric, and now it was all but impossible.

“What will you do?” she asked then looked around the room that had been pillaged for all its items of value. “What will we do?”

“Ehlena,” Carlis addressed Elaine’s niece, who turned and looked at him. “You lived at Aghlar for a time with your mother. How well do you know the people there?”

"I know Aglhar very well," Ehlena said. "It is my home."

"That is good news," Carlis said.

"What does Aglhar have to do with this?" asked Elaine.

“It seems as though my fortunes have not been entirely lost. As I mentioned, my holdings at the Maramyrian Trade Guild have been confiscated, but before that happened, a friend at the Trade Guild made a rather large purchase at Aghlar on my behalf and moved some of my gold to the Aghlar Trade Guild to cover the acquisition. Apparently I now own a very expensive shipbuilding company. At least it cost me a lot of gold to buy it.”

“Aghlar?” Elaine was less than impressed. “I don’t know what my sister ever saw in the place. The men there are all bearded ruffians, pirates!”

Ehlena gave her aunt a frustrated look.

“They are not pirates, Aunt Elaine! The Aghlars are very honorable and perhaps some of the noblest people I have ever met. King Toren is one of the kindest, most refined men of any land anywhere.” Lady Elaine was clearly not impressed.

"Good," Carlis said. "That is very good to know and I look forward to learning all about Aghlar on the way. We should leave at once."

"To Aghlar?" Ehlena asked, her eyes brightening. She had been consumed with melancholy ever since hearing about the loss of her friend, Aaron, and the story that he had somehow been involved in the murder of Princess Ariana. The idea of returning to Aghlar appealed to her very much, considering the way things were unfolding in Maramyr. However, her aunt Elaine did not appear to share her enthusiasm.

“Well if Carlis wants to travel to Aghlar, he is quite welcome to," Elaine told her niece. "We are staying right here. It would not do for us to be chased from our land so easily.”

Carlis and Ehlena shared a look.

“What will you eat, my fair Duchess?” Carlis asked. “I don’t expect that there will be food aplenty once Cerric’s army is on the move. And you’ve got little left to trade with. Besides, I think you might want to investigate the Aghlar Ship and Trading Company since you’re part owner.”

“I am what?” Elaine cocked an eye at Carlis. He leaned back in his chair and opened the book.

“There is a transaction here just above the purchase of the company of a large deposit into my account from yours. I never arranged the deposit but there it is. Apparently we are equal partners Elaine.” He chuckled. That Bensa was a shrewd man. He knew that Carlis handled most of the Valamyr estate and had wisely moved a large portion of Elaine’s fortune in gold at the same time he had rescued Carlis from total ruin. “Assuming that this Ship and Trading Company is worth as much as we paid for it, it appears we are wealthy people in Aghlar.”

“I never authorized this!” Elaine objected. “I should make an appointment with the Trade Guild. This type of thing must be completely illegal.” Carlis shook his head and smiled. Lady Valamyr was letting her anger get the better of her, but the color it brought to her cheeks did made her look particularly lovely.

“Of course it is illegal,” Carlis explained. “Or it would be if we actually complained about it, but we won’t. Bensa took a big risk doing this for us. Had he not, Cerric would have taken everything, every last piece of gold that had yours or my name on it. If you want to complain, you’ll likely end up in prison and you’ll probably take a whole lot of people with you.”

“Cerric wouldn’t dare,” Elaine said, though she sounded less sure now.

“Wouldn’t he?” Carlis closed the book. “Valamyr is one of the few family names in Maramyr that can make claim to the throne if Cerric does not produce a Coromyr heir. Without a Coromyr to take the throne, that leaves Valamyr, Daramyr and Belamyr, descended from the first king Maramyr. I am sure he knows that, even though he is by right the king, if a member of one the other families got the people behind him, it is not impossible that they could take the throne. Luckily for you, your little family of two does not pose much of a threat, which is why he sent that man out here to raid your valuables and likely to have you killed.

"What?" Elaine exclaimed.

"If you had put up even the slightest resistance to that man who was here just now, he would not have hesitated a moment to put you to the sword," Carlis told her.

"But that would be murder," Elaine protested.

"And who would report it? And who would it be reported to? The Captain of the Militia? I cannot prove it, but I would not be surprised if other members of the old noble families found themselves in similar situations. I would not want to be Lord Daramyr or Lady Belamyr right now. He won’t attack them publicly, but they would be wise to look over their shoulders and sleep with one eye open.”

Elaine stared at Carlis in shock. Here he was telling her that Cerric had ruined half the nobility in Maramyr, that he likely had horrible plans in store for any who might challenge him, and that, she was supposed to feel better about all of it because she had just become a part owner of some boat-building operation in the land of sea-going barbarians, a land she detested, mostly because her sister had forsaken her home and her nobility to go live among such people. Carlis must be suffering with some kind of madness. And she wondered where he got that cut on his face? It looked positively awful.

As much as Elaine wanted to rail against the shocking measures that Cerric was taking against her and many other nobles, she realized there was little she could do. She also knew that since her wealth had been taken, even if she dismissed the last few servants in order to lower costs, there was no way that she and Ehlena would last the winter on what they had left in the house. As much as she hated what had happened, she saw the wisdom in what Cerric's man at the Trade Guild had done. Aghlar was a soverign nation and whatever gold had already been taken there would be safe, away from Cerric's greedy hands. She was relieved that all was not entirely lost. She would find a way to extract her gold from this business at Aghlar and convince Carlis to do the same and somehow they would be able to regain their position at Maramyr. She felt her confidence beginning to return and she was determined that, somehow, things would be normal again. She reminded herself that she was a duchess of a royal line, and her family had not endured the ages by falling apart at every crisis. Still, with everything she knew having been taken from her, she was at a loss.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“First thing is first, we get out of here. We go to Aghlar,” Carlis told her. “And, thank the gods that we have Ehlena to show us around once we get there. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know much about the place, but I can guarantee we will fare better there than if we stay here much longer.”