Freeda was not happy to say the least. Lee missing breakfast and then running off like that almost gave her a heart attack. But in order to hide bruises and avoid unnecessary questions, he mumbled few excuses, went to his room, and meditated till the sunrise.
As expected, the next morning Lee was completely healed. After a lengthy apology and promises to never do that again, Freeda forgave him, and the two had a sumptuous breakfast.
She did loose her appetite when Lee expressed his wish to follow Prophet's orders, but she already expected that and only could sigh saying, "… children grow up so fast ..."
Hearing that while not being ten years old was amusing, but Lee had other thoughts in mind. He asked, "Do you get any news from Sunwell? I want to be prepared before I return."
"I get all the news from the fucking capital. That's the damn job of the Third Hand, my job – to manage our people there. Partially it's been done by Cai, but the bastard is more all over the place kind of guy." Freeda said.
"Alright! Then tell me what's going on with the noble families. Let's focus on ministers." Lee said.
"Hmm … the main news you heard from Him." She said, "Following your advice we hung that cunt Kris Ironfist, and her younger sister, Cecil, became the new heir. Probably neither she nor her slut of a mother have realized that since the Ironfist household is still in chaos. Then there was a lucky turn of events when after burning down the warehouses the dumbass emperor exiled Minister of Finances Bishop along with her whole clan, and the Hand of God immediately gained a valuable member, a bunch of followers, and a buttload of resources. What else …"
"What about the young generals?" Lee asked.
"Sigh … I don't know what to tell you, pumpkin. Those motherfuckers are tough nuts to crack. I don't see any other way for you to deal with them apart from using a borrowed knife – just like you did with Kris Ironfist." Freeda said and winked, but Lee pretended to not notice it.
"What about Newmans? And … how's the love triangle doing?" He asked.
"Hahaha! Right! You don't know THE shit! It was the topic of the day for a fucking year straight after you dealt with Lance and Drevin." Freeda laughed.
Then she said, "If I knew it was caused by you, I would've been so damn proud! Anyway. After you killed Lance and Drevin was executed for the murder, Helen became the Newman family heir. The first fucking female maritime minister ever! She tried to object, but didn't really have a say, so in the end gave in. It's been said that at the same time some kind of argument occurred … anyway … the two bitches that were once the best friends don't talk to each other anymore."
"Oh? And who got Hardwood?" Lee asked. It didn't really matter, but was he kind of curious.
"Well … from what I know the guy still parks his stallion in both residences." Freeda said, "But nothing good can come from it. Real love can be only between two people – like me and your grandfather! What a fucking man he was … sigh …"
Lee glanced at his right palm, at the mark resembling yin-yang symbol and also sighed. He missed Lisa.
But then he forcefully shook his head, trying to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, and asked, "What about Victoria?"
"What about her? The bitch is supposed to marry Edward Bates in few months, in the spring. Otherwise there's nothing new about her." Freeda said.
Lee pondered for a bit, and said, "I need an access to the Newman residence. Judging from what you told me, it's probably the most stable household belonging to one of the old ministers. Can you arrange for me to get employed there?"
Freeda was not happy at all to hear the last part. She said, "Pumpkin! What's the rush? Stay here for a year or two. Aren't we having a good time?"
Lee could answer only with a sad smile. He did enjoy living with his loving grandmother, but the idea of one day meeting the Prophet again gave him goosebumps. At least in the capital he could hide while at the same time settling his own matters. Afterwards he could always return, and that was the promise he gave before the departure.
A couple days later Lee strode along the country road, kicking around the colorful autumn leaves, whistling a happy tune in a carefree manner. He was not in a rush – it will take more than a day to get to the capital.
Of course, technically he had never left Sunwell, but the fact that formally the vast fields around it were considered a part of the capital didn't mean he was not living in a country.
Meanwhile, people in the actual city felt as if dark clouds had gathered above Sunwell, even though the sky was bright and sunny. The suffocating feeling intensified by day ever since the eldest daughter of the minister of justice was found dead, supposedly hung by rebels from the Hand of God.
For days the city guard kept checking every passerby without any luck or hope to find the perpetrators, and the only result they got was the displeasure and even hate from the common folk. But they had no choice – Claire Ironfist wowed to not rest until the murder of her daughter was found.
Unfortunately it was over a month ago, and by now she had long become a laughing stock and object of public ridicule. Everyone had long realized that even if someone was caught, most likely it would be a random person that was falsely accused, and, in fact, people began to place bets which noble heir was going to be the next victim.
While the world formally was still unified under the name of the Sky Empire, it was clear that the emperor's grasp was neither strong nor lengthy enough. Even without the Hand of God there were multiple forces on other continents that actively fought against the empire and reports of small uprisings kept piling up on His Majesty's desk.
The strongest man in the world was still the strongest, but as it turns out, he was not omnipotent. Even sitting on the lavishly decorated golden throne in front of his own Imperial Council, he couldn't keep up the previous haughty bearing. At this point even a blind man could see the emperor was dead tired, but the annoying bitch kept screaming the same sentence over and over again.
"I WANT BLOOD!!!" Minister of justice shouted.
Earlier the emperor tried to pacify her, just like he did during the previous council session, but the grieving mother was clearly loosing her last bits of sanity. The rest of the present people were either pretending to ignore her, or doing their best to drill holes with their eyes in the wooden table in front of them.
Victoria glanced around the hall and snickered to herself. It was hard to believe her father had gathered such bunch of useless clowns. Both Minister of Agriculture Farcry and the recently appointed Minister of Works Orpen, together with their heirs, were a total waste of space. Ironfist had completely lost her mind and Newman with his last heir, his daughter, were a pair of drunkards. She could even smell the stench of alcohol from the other side of the table!
The only two exceptions were Alan Green and Prime Minister Bates – actually competent people, but no matter what transpired, they kept looking at the emperor for approval like loyal dogs. If only they knew how she hated them.
And then there was Edward. He was not half bad, at least not as bad as the others, but the thought of getting married to him, or married at all, made her hair stand on end. But there was still time, almost half a year.
Victoria glanced at the empty seats of generals and their heirs – the only capable people were deployed on different missions, and she would've loved to switch places with any of them, no matter the price.
Unfortunately her father made it clear she had to stay next to him. She knew it was the correct decision, considering the current situation in the capital, but she didn't like it nevertheless.
"I WANT BLOOD!!!" Claire Ironfist shouted again, and smacked her fist on the table, but Victoria couldn't take it anymore.
She slowly stood up, walked around the table and under the terrified eyes of the minister of justice drew her sword. For a moment it felt like the time stood still, and then the minister's chair broke in small pieces. Apart from the emperor, no one even saw the princess move.
"The next one who raises their voice in the palace will loose their head." Victoria calmly said, sheathed her sword, and went back to her chair.
"Valen …" Claire Ironfist wanted to say something, but only a weak, whiny sound came out. Her tall and thin statue seemed to have shrunken by half under the princess's threat.
"Thank you, Victoria!" Contrary to the rest, the emperor felt particularly invigorated. His eyes sparkled, him at least partially regaining his usual demeanor. He happily said, "You all heard her! We're done for today. I'll inform you about the next meeting. Dismissed!"