A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 571 A Play For Power - Part 2

"And, could you tell us quite what happened?" Jolamire pressed, a devilish smile on his lips that he was struggling to hide. Hod was leaning forward in his stone throne with his eyes narrowed, looking, searching.

"What happened...?" Redborne repeated, her eyes misting over as she did so. "Oh, what a dreadful occasion it was... My beautiful retainer Felicity. A gorgeous, hardworking girl. As bright as a button and everso loyal.

She's so refined that some even mistake her for nobility... Of course, such a gem is no stranger to unfortunate attentions... As we all are," she flicked her red hair back with her hand, seeming to imply that she herself was part of that beautiful and much-pursued group.

The Ministers remained quiet, and waited for her to continue.

"Well... uhm... there's no easy way to say this, but Oliver Patrick was one such unwanted bit of attention," she said, almost whispering it, as though it was court gossip.

It was only then that Oliver realized who she was – or at least, who she wasn't. He'd been studying her intently from the moment she'd been introduced as an acquaintance, looking for signs on her that he recognized... and there hadn't been a single thing to jog his memory. The reason finally became clear to him. He'd never met this woman in his life.

"I understand, such matters are delicate... Please, take your time," the Minister of Information said gently.

"Thank you... Of course, Felicity refused him. A good, honest girl. She knows the stories of Oliver Patrick, and she worried for her station. But Oliver Patrick, as you might imagine... does not take no for an answer."

Even the girl herself seemed almost disappointed that it was over already, but that did not stop her from marching towards the doors with the same smugness that she'd come there with – if anything, it had only increased. It was hard to imagine a woman more obsessed with her own vanity than her.

"Minister of Logic, the floor is yours," Tavar said, rising from his seat for a brief moment, before he sat back down again, a grave expression on his face, as his hand was under his chin, and he engaged in deep contemplation.

Angry, Hod strode back to the centre. He eyed Tavar and he eyed Gavlin. "This is what happens when you allow deceit free reign for so long, Ministers. Deceit itself becomes truth – it even becomes worth more than truth. Reap your bed of lives. We all suffer for our inattentiveness."

Those were words exclusively reserved for the Ministers. Lazarus and Jolamire betrayed no reaction. Lazarus acted as though he didn't know that words were directed at him, whilst Jolamire lounged on his silver throne as though he'd just completed a troublesome task, and could now relax fittingly.

Hod was like a caged animal in the way he marched to and fro. "Those Lords that are amongst you, how well do you see through façade?" He challenged them. He did not need to point out what the façade was – indeed, to point it out would be to invite the other Ministers to challenge it.

Just as they had no conclusive proof that such an act had happened, so too did he have no way of proving that she was lying.

"I spoke earlier of a strong nation, the future of this one," Hod said, "I spoke of a past that brought us the glories that we now all indulge in as though they're afternoon wine. Every possession we own is stained in the blood of our ancestors.

I do not expect complete reverence at every moment of the day, but I do hope for at least some measure of self-restraint... Some goodwill towards that which is not ours. A temporary reprieve from abject selfishness, as we eye the good of the country as a whole, rather than merely what benefits our faction."