The Suzerain

Nobody goes back from being an assassin. No one can take back a kill. The villagers think that the dread of being unable to redeem oneself can stop people from becoming assassins, but they are wrong. They are foolish and cowardly and gullible. They believe in the existence of ‘moral’ and ‘immoral’ because they are powerless.

A cornered dog retaliates, and so do common people when they find out about those in power. Those with lives in their palm. This is why the world is ruled from the shadows. Why do people disappear in the dark? Why do the Chalices rule from the backstage?

A Chalice, a group of assassins and capable masterminds, is a myth in the villages. It is a long-gone rusted rumor that is used to scare children and captivate tourists. But what the people don’t know is that it is very much real. The Chalices may not be The Palace but have their own tiers, rules, and lands. Assassins are led by Crawlers who in turn are led by Soldiers. About eight Soldiers report to the Haut of the State. There are four states in the Kingdom. The person of the highest power in a Chalice has the influence equivalent of the king and is called the Suzerain.

The position of the Suzerain is hereditary, much like the position of the king. However, if the bloodline ends, the father of the Suzerain- the Great Father, has the power to appoint a new leader based on the power and influence of the person. Hence, there is always a fight for the throne. It is not uncommon for members of the esteemed family to be killed or exiled.

This is why, to protect and advise the Suzerain to keep their position, an advisor is always appointed. The job of the advisor is mainly to keep a check on the influential members of the Chalice and prevent any uprising. It is not a difficult job. Or so Drew, the advisor of the 57th Suzerain thinks before a major issue arises.

Drew glances at Suzerain Werian for confirmation. The Suzerain gives him an almost imperceptible nod. So there will be no change in the plan. Drew looks at all the important members of the Chalice, discussing amongst each other. There are five in all, excluding his Majesty. There’s himself, Drew Garand, the advisor and close confident of the Suzerain, and four Hauts. The Haut of Ferador and the Haut of Reyn, both seem to be loyal and trustworthy. The problem lies with the Haut of Calrade and the Haut of Sardonem. The former, Haut Harrow, is greedy and will pounce at any chance of having more land, wealth, or resources; while the latter is sly and holds a grudge against the Imperial family that no one knows about. 

“Silence.”

The clamor falls into a hush. Everyone turns their eyes on Drew because the authority in his voice commands them to do so. The Haut of Sardonem, Malsha holds her fan against her face, concealing her expression. For a second, Drew is tempted to doubt her, but he stops himself. He has an announcement to make. A job to do. He sets his eyes forward.

“Last night, there was an attempt at the Great Father’s life.”

Malsha’s fan freezes. Harrow’s moustache stills. Nobody moves as the Suzerain’s eyes roam the hall. It could cost them their lives, they know it well.

Drew continues after a beat.

“A needle coated with lethal poison was discovered on his bed. If a maid hadn’t discovered it, the Suzerain’s father would have lost his life.”

The court of Heathwall is enveloped in a tense silence. Snow falls outside the abandoned palace, oblivious to the turmoil beginning to stir in the hearts of the men inside.

Werian inspects each one of the Hauts properly.

He had an elder step-brother, Charon, who had been banished to the Faraway Islands by the late Great Mother. By the right of succession, the throne he was currently sitting on belonged to Charon. Despite that, Werian and his mother had schemed and planned together to get him out of the way, because his step-brother was incompetent, naive, and incapable of ruling. He didn't know how to handle the power of the throne.

Looking back at it, everything would have been a lot better if Charon didn't exist. His mother had to give up her life for Werian to earn his rightful place. Just thinking about it made his chest ache. Charon had been so stubborn and persistent, that Werian had to resort to poisoning his own mother and framing his step-brother. It was all his fault. If Charon had just given up his place. If he'd just realized that the better one of them was him, he wouldn't have had to sacrifice his gentle mother. If he weren't there, rumours wouldn't have spread throughout the kingdom making him out to be a villain. He wouldn't have had to say that he was safeguarding the throne till Charon came back.

Now, because of Charon, he had to keep his father sick enough to hand over the seat of Suzerain but well enough to stay alive. If the Great Father died, the next Great Father would be chosen by right. This meant that Charon would be called back right away to be crowned Great Father. The mere thought of it sent Werian’s blood boiling. To have that lowlife, a no-good person has such a beautiful crown would be a disgrace to the Empire.

Things had been much harder recently. It had recently been reported to him by a spy, that Charon was spotted in the Kingdom. He sent out people in secret to find him, to kill him, but to no avail. The man had become a ghost after the incident. It set him on the edge. Made him nervous. So he gathered the Hauts in the hall and told them about the news, hoping for news or sightings. Instead, not long after, the Great Father was attacked.

This, as pointed out by Drew, could not be a coincidence, and the enemy was one of the four Hauts who was in the hall with them.

It was most likely that one of the Hauts was unloyal to him, and sent a signal of revolt against Werian as soon as he heard that Charon was alive and well. The enemy had meant to kill the Great Father right after gaining conformation that Charon was alive and healthy.

Now all Werian has to do is catch the culprit. He swears he’ll have them beheaded for their crime.

“It’s one of them. I know it is,” says Drew, looking so agitated that Werian has to calm him down; something that rarely happens. In the end, none of them had given away any reason for him to believe that they had committed the crime. Malsha’s eyes were daring and fierce from behind her fan as if to say ‘as you can see, I am unafraid because I have done nothing'. Harrow looked deep in thought as though he were calculating the losses he would suffer if the Great Father would have died.

“The maid discovered the nightshade’s needle, right? Maybe she was the one who planted it. Maybe the attacker was just a decoy. In that case, the person would be a woman… a Haut-,” Drew mutters, eyes losing focus. Werian shakes his head and claps Drew on the shoulder to bring him to the present.

“If you think it’s Malsha, you’re wrong.” Drew halts in his tracks. “She might seem to hate the Imperial family, but she is loyal to the fault and helps keep us in check.”

Drew visibly deflates at this. Werian appreciates the effort he’s putting to solve the mystery, but he’s tired and feels like a good night’s sleep is plenty due. To both of them. He tells Drew to go rest up and send him some tea while he’s at it.

The door knocks. It’s his tea. He tells them to come in without bothering to look up. If he’d looked, he would have noticed that the maid who was serving him his tea was the very maid who had discovered the poisoned needle.

A suspect.

Werian dismisses the maid once her work is done, and pours himself a cup.

The tea tastes strange. Not alarming, not too sweet, not too watery- just strange. Werian assumes that the tea leaves used are from a different Kingdom, and makes a mental note to ask the maids about it. He closes his eyes to pinpoint the taste that he can’t quite place. When that doesn't work, he takes a strong whiff of the tea.

It relaxes him and puts his body to sleep. The scent oddly reminds him of nightshade…

Nightshade.

His eyes fly open. He never told Drew about the poison that had been used on the needle.

He looks down at his wine and drops it in horror. Who was it? Was it the maid? Was she working for Drew? Why would Drew betray him?

Werian’s mind races, trying to figure out the traitor and the motives behind them. Sweat runs down his skin as his body tries to fight the poison. He needs help. He needs to tell someone that Drew betrayed him. A mad grin makes its way onto his face. That’s right. He might die, but he’s going to drag that unloyal dog along with him!

Werian swivels his head around to look for a servant. His eyes fall upon a blurry image of a man in his room. A servant. His tea! Of course! He’ll send a message to the Hauts through this servant about his betrayal! Werian stumbles towards to figure and reaches out to grab him.

"Sir?" asks the person.

Werian tries to speak, but he feels as though there are cotton balls stuck in his throat. He can't breathe. He clutches at his neck. Why is he here? Has he been here all this time, right under his nose? Has he been tricked from the start? No. He can’t be here. He can’t be Drew. Werian’s legs give out and hit the ground. Through his swimming vision, he sees a flash of white teeth. Why is he-?

"It was all a part of my plan,” says Charon. “Oops.”

He couldn’t have lost. Impossible. Yet the poison has completed its job.