Book 3, chapter 30

1. 30. Madame Inquisitor Trenac
   

My mansion in North Shire was far from complete.  The foundation hadbeen completed, in The Divergence, but my regression of the timeline had undone most of the good work that Randal had done for me.  Fortunately, he was just viewing the setback as an opportunity to improve the aspects of building with literal magic that he hadn’t gotten right the first time around.

Having earth mages to set the foundation and harvest the stone was not, apparently, how such buildings were constructed on earth.  He went into detail of the process of quarrying and backhoes involved, and I mostly glossed it over as I entrusted him to get all of the details right and approved whatever funds he needed to get them done right quickly.

I was still living in Thorn March, but I set up a pavilion in front of the Temple of Thedum in North Shire to hold court.  And so on the eighth day following the conclusion of the grand battle, I sat in my throne and used one of its abilities to merge the various instances together into one single Event.  I had seen this ability active several times, most recently by Inquisitor Trenac, but also when I was confronted by the Northridge Freelancers outside of Mooncrest Manor.  And a few times growing up, the most impressive of which had been the grand moving version of it that had followed my father’s parade through Zhesa city.  The most significant of all, however, had been during the act of regicide in which Nial Kingslayer earned his name.

The effects inside the bubble were canon, the true version of what happened in the history of this world.  The fact that I could use this ability at all meant that the timelines had stabilized, and that my version of Lagrea was now truly separate from The Divergence.  It was a vulnerability to Natives, in a way, as dying within this sort of bubble was truly fatal, as it had been for my grandfather.  But they wouldn’t be for me, and anyway, only those screened by Tarisha would be allowed to pass into the event.  Everyone else would be able to watch, but not interfere, pushed outside the event by the forces of the system itself.

I sat in my throne, which had redesigned itself during its time in the temple of Thedum.  It no longer bore the Mooncrest mark, but the holy circle of Thedum instead, and was now bright white.  The changes were cosmetic, however.  Just as my throne in Thorn March looked like it was made of dark briar wood with the thorns polished smooth, its appearance had no effect on its function.

And it might prove troublesome if it hadstill born the mooncrest markings, as it would have given credence to certain claims I wished to put to sleep this day.  If I could stay awake for it myself.  I had given in to drinking a foul black substance from Earth that was said to give you the power to force yourself awake in preparation for the long day, as my day would follow a restless night of helpless planning and frustration.

It tasted bitter.  Like ashes and smoke, which is what might happen to my political career if I did not perform adequately today.

To my right was Tarisha, and to my left Daemon.  My two most trusted advisors.  Nearby were not only Dimple and other important members of <Nethersong Mavericks>, but Lord Tom and Lady Gwen, who had sworn oaths before Thedum to support me after traveling to North Shire all the way from their homes in Zhesa city.  Malkios was not in attendance, but only because he was directing my mother’s guard.

I had, in the end, decided to go along with using Irvine as my master of ceremony.  It had just seemed right, for some reason, to have my stableboy be the one announcing my guests as it was their turn to enter the event with me and speak.  The boy was nervous, as he’d never announced for an official court event before.  Not in this timeline, nor the other one.  But he was being propped up by the handlers who had (wrongly) taught him everything he knew about etiquette.

“Earl Hail Jeoran is holding court today in the matters affecting his land, North Shire, and the matters relating to the fallout of the Battle for North Shire, which took place one week and one day ago today,” the boy said nervously.  “Today’s court session is expected to be long, with several scheduled breaks.  It is possible that it will stretch into the morrow.  If you haven’t booked an inn, then I suggest the pasture north of town.  There’s not too much dung yet this time of year, and it looks pretty comfortable to sleep in.  Anyway, first on the list of speakers is Missus Great Inquisitor Tree Nack.”

Irvine’s Traveler handler’s patted him on the back for his great performance, I stifled a groan, and Trenac stood from her place in the crowd and moved forward to the position of the supplicant, directly before my throne.  She did not bow or show any formal respect, as although these were my lands, her position was technically higher than mine in the kingdom.

“Madame Inquisitor,” I began.  “It has been a week since--”

“I actually like being called Missus Great Inquisitor,” she said, interrupting me.  “I think I’m going to change it when I get home.  Being called Madame Inquisitor just doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

My mouth was caught open, with no sound coming out, for a full moment before I realized that she was teasing me.  I chuckled, and the court laughed with us.  “Madame Trenac.  I charged the inquisition with the task of rooting out any and all evidence of corruption within my lands.  Are you prepared to present any preliminary findings to the court?”

Trenac sighed.  “Arkan is going to hang.  As is Montague.  The evidence you collected and had already turned in was sufficient for that judgment before I was involved.  Why did you dither about and involve the inquisition in the first place when you had such an easy answer and solution at hand?”

“You do not kill the Riratal tree by cutting down its branches,” I explained.  “You poison the roots.”

She nodded, and did not contradict me.  “I have found further findings.  The people of North Shire, and by that I mean the coffers of North Shire as entrusted to you by the king, are owed approximately twelve million gold through the embezzling scheme that Arkan set up to siphon away coin using the excuse of the debts of the Mooncrest family.  The thirty million gold lien on the lands was rescinded when the lands returned to the crown after the death of the previous Lord Mooncrest.  At that time, the remaining members of the family Mooncrest collectively filed for bankruptcy.  They are unable to reclaim their noble title, but are not responsible for its debt either.  Arkan has been servicing the debt using the lands of North Shire on the authority of nobody.”

I nodded along.  “As much has been intimated to me by others.  And the solution?”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” she said, and her grin was ferociously similar to the Ramsay Hounds which had once chased me through the night.  “I will follow this stench of corruption to its source.  You and your people will see that gold again, and a few bankers may find themselves joining Arkan and Montague on the gibbet.”

“I will take no pleasure in that, only in seeing that the coin is returned to the land where it belongs.  If the court holds that an example must be made to prevent future corruption, well, that is a decision which I have gone to lengths to make certain was taken out of my hands.”

I paused a moment, and then pulled from my pocket a list.  “At this time, I wish to give honor to the following Travelers, who brought the plight of North Shire to the attention of the inquisition through their completion of a difficult challenge quest, forcing them to ride through bandit infested land.  They were confronted in battle against equal or greater forces numerous times, and due to their current activities were prevented from joining the first battleground at Mooncrest manor.”

I then read the list of names of Lyra, the Traveler who had won the paper-rock-scissors tournament, and the nine friends she had selected to go with her.  I didn’t know if they were present outside of the event bubble or not, but I figured it was a good enough way to honor them, aside from whatever system rewards they’d earned for completing the quest.

“I assume that it will be some time before this gold is recovered,” I said to Trenac after my recital.

“Indeed.  Months, likely.  I have to wake up the entire financial auditing wing of the inquisitors.  Bankers are going to be walking around with damp and soiled pants until they settle down again.  I may even follow your example and begin requesting the aid of Travelers with financial experience.  They seem to work quite hard when you promise them a percentage of the returned gold, although I think ten percent is entirely too high.  One percent, perhaps.”

“Either way, the matter sounds like it is being well handled,” I concluded.  “In the interim, the government of North Shire will continue to function on my personal finances and the generosity of the Travelers, who are performing vital government functions in exchange for system rewards.  Do you have anything else to present to this court at this time, Trenac?”

She cocked her head to the side, considering how to answer that question.  Finally she said “You need to either level your [Poison Resistance], or develop fangs of your own, boy, if you’re planning on taking part in politics.  The battles you’ve just won have given you a lot of momentum, but you’re racing through a den of vipers and scorpions.  Watch your footing.”

She nodded her head in parting at the conclusion of her words, stepping down and out of the event bubble before I could formulate a reply.  I watched her as she continued straight out of my house.  When Trenac decided to do something, she was decisive, even when all she decided to do was leave.

I nodded towards Irvine.  Who wasn’t looking.  I cleared my throat and nodded towards him again, but he was fiddling with the formal looking clothes he had put on for court today.  The Travelers who were propping him up had bought them for him, and his own mother had helped him dress.  It looked terribly uncomfortable for him, and I empathized, but I also needed him to announce the next person on the list.

I cleared my throat again, louder, and one of the Travelers from my guild leaned forward and whispered in Irvine’s ear.

“You’re up again, little man.”

“What?  Oh crap.  I forgot, who am I announcing this time?”

“Let me check the list,” the Traveler said, and he pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket.

I rubbed my temples, wondering if this was how all of my court sessions were destined to go.  As Irvine got his lines, I turned to Tarisha and Daemon.  Gwen, seeing my intention for a short conversation, muttered a cantrip that erupted a soundproof privacy shield around the five of us.

“How do you think that went?” I asked them.

“As well as it could,” Daemon answered.

“It was a good start.  An easy win when we needed it.  Whether that’s because she’s setting you up for something later, or because that really is the outcome of her investigation and she’s not obscuring or sugarcoating it, well, there’s a reason everyone hates politics,” Tarisha responded.

Gwen chimed in her own response.  “Trenac is known for her blunt honesty and dogged pursuit of the truth at all costs.  She would not lie or obscure for political reasons.  Even her advise to you was made in broad daylight, before some of the very politicos who would consider taking action against you in the near future.”

Lord Tom nodded as well.  “I was never worried about Trenac’s audience.  It is the vipers that she warned about which give me pause.”