Chapter 38 Maintain Your Authority

  “First on the list,” Isaac began while sitting with his legs crossed in a posture very reminiscent of a teacher getting ready to explain exactly how disappointed they were in their student. “You skipped Sera’s birthday ball. Did you even send her anything?” Isaac questioned as he looked up from his note of things to interrogate the duke about.

  “What?” Arthur replied utterly dumbfounded. “What does that have to do with all of this? Is that why you demanded an audience and wouldn’t go away?”

  “Arthur Sasston.” Isaac spoke his name calmly while very deliberately dropping his honorific of ‘Von’ that denoted him as a duke. “Serentia is your sister, and a wonderful woman who has been nothing but kind to Lenna and I, yet you didn’t even show up for her birthday ball, a mere thirty miles away. Before we get to all of the things pertaining to you as a duke, let us sort out the one related to you as a brother.”

  “I, I don’t have to answer to you about that.” Arthur declared. “That is family business and no one, not even C.A.S.T. or its Guild Leader, have a say in such matters. If that is why you are here then you can show yourself out.”

  “He forgot.” Lenna spoke in a stage whisper as she leaned slightly towards Isaac.

  “Definitely.” Isaac agreed. “No excuses, though I would imagine that it was around the time his wife started appearing pregnant.”

  Lenna nodded. “Agreed.” She stated and leaned back into her seat as she had before.

  Arthur was visibly turning red with anger. “Guards, escort Lord Wexler and Lady V’Nova out.” He ordered through gritted teeth. “They have overstayed their welcome.” Only one of the guards made a move to follow the order but was immediately cowed by a questioning glance from Lenna. Arthur’s head snapped to look at his guards. “I gave you all a direct order.”

  “My lord, please, no one has died yet, and I would not like to be the first.” One of the braver guards pleaded with the duke. A few of the other guards nodded in agreement as Arthur could do nothing but seethe in anger. He knew that he had burned through most of the respect and goodwill that his men had for him over the past year. He also knew that being heavy handed with them at that moment would most likely lead to the entire power structure toppling to the ground.

  “Arthur, right now, I am not talking to you as the Lord of all that is Dark, the highest authority on darkness that walks on two legs, I am talking to you as a good friend of your sister.” Isaac spoke with every ounce of compassion that he had in his heart. It was not very much but at least some of it probably got through in his voice because Arthur seemed to relax ever so slightly. “If your sister knew half of what was going on, she would be bedridden for days, immediately after she made the trek here to slap some sense into you. I don’t want my first letter to Sera to be one about the sorry shape that her brother is in.”

  “Arthur, that leads us to the next point, your alcoholism.” Lenna continued. “There are thirteen empty bottles in this room alone, and knowing ducal staff, it was probably cleaned yesterday. You are lucky to be alive. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tell Sera about this.”

  Arthur took a deep calming breath as he took Isaac and Lenna at their word. “I’ll fix it.” He promised them. “Just give me some time, and please, don’t tell my sister. You are right, she has always been frail and the last thing that she needs is to worry about me and her hometown.”

  “How will you fix it?” Isaac asked him. “And what will you fix?”

  “I’m not sure yet, but I will.” Arthur assured them and then turned to his guards. “All of you, since you are as useless as an armor stand in a ballroom, get out of here. Silence the alarm bells and let the staff get back to their duties.”

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  “Yes, your grace.” One of them spoke.

  “Of course, my lord.” Another said at the same time and the guards all left them while closing the doors behind them.

  The magistrate cleared his throat. “If I may, why am I here?” He asked the duke, Isaac, and Lenna.

  “We’ll get to that.” Isaac told him. “For now, I will use Duchess Serentia Von Arbencroft’s authority to command you to sit and wait your turn.” Isaac told the man coldly. He was incredibly disappointed in the man that was supposed to be keeping order and making sure that the dukedom complied with the will of the king.

  “You have that?” Arthur questioned.

  Isaac nodded and pulled a letter out of his shadow and handed it to Arthur. “I do.” Isaac replied.

  Arthur tentatively took the letter and opened it slowly and carefully. He unfolded the paper and began reading it aloud: “To whom it may concern, this is a letter of introduction written by her grace, Duchess Serentia Von Arbencroft, of the city of Safeharbor, in the Kingdom of Altia. Before you stands the honorable Lord Isaac Wexler, a man who has proven himself mightier than The Glinting Blade, and as trustworthy as the cycles of the moon. Beside him is the virtuous Lady Lenna V’Nova, former heiress of the city of Contantis, in the Drow Empire, a woman who has proven herself to be more steadfast than bedrock, and more noble in heart and deed than any man or woman I have ever met or known. I, Duchess Serentia Von Arbencroft, introduce them in good faith, that whoever reads this might treat them as they would me, in both their time of need as well as in passing. With Grace, Duchess Serentia Von Arbencroft.” Arthur finished and handed the letter back to Isaac. “That is definitely real. Just what have you two done to warrant such faith from my sister?”

  “Killed Jallen V’Nova.” Lenna spoke calmly.

  “Stopped a skeleton invasion.” Isaac added.

  “And a chimera invasion before it started.” Lenna continued.

  “And an undying mushroom and Ori-Masa invasion as it was starting.” Isaac included.

  “And shut down a criminal organization that was being run by a wizard and a doppelganger.” Lenna tacked on.

  “And stopped the main, and almost all of the secondary, slave traders in the city either directly or indirectly.” Isaac said with a gesture and a look at Lenna like they had both forgotten about it until then.

  “Rooted out the corruption in the city guard and corrected some of the other flaws in leadership in the city.” Lenna brought up with a similar gesture and look to Isaac.

  “Okay, okay, I get it.” Arthur said with his hands raised. “You have been very helpful and very busy for very long time-”

  “About eight months.” Isaac corrected him. “Lenna can’t sit by and watch bad things happen to good people.” Isaac said which got him an elbow in the side from the woman in question. Isaac didn’t even flinch.

  “I, I see.” Arthur began again.

  “Back to the topic at hand.” Lenna spoke to get them back on track. “There are a lot of problems going on both in the city and in this citadel that need to be addressed. We will only be here for a few days, but by the time we leave, most of them will be sorted out.” Her words brokered no argument as her unwavering silver eyes locked onto Arthur’s sapphire ones. “Firstly, no more alcohol for you for six months.” Arthur visibly recoiled as if struck. “Secondly, we are going to have to talk about the rumors about your wife’s child and your connection with the criminal underlady, Topaz.”

  “What do you mean?” Arthur asked her with perfect neutrality in his expression and voice.

  “Duke Arthur Von Sasston, is the duchess’s child yours?” Lenna demanded of him. Fury, sadness, indignance, and pain warred with each other across the duke’s features. “Arthur, we cannot help you unless we know the truth, not what you want people to know, but the truth.” Lenna explained to the duke.

  Arthur leaded forwards and cradled his head in his hands. “No.” He whispered meekly. In that moment he was not a duke but a man whose wife had cheated on him and bore a child to another man. A broken man who was ready to just throw it all away and leap into the sea. “He is not.”

  “Who is the father?” Lenna asked him gently.

  “The Captain of the guard, Fernando Stine, the man next to me and, formerly, my oldest friend.” Arthur spoke like a lifeless corpse.

  “Okay.” Lenna said after a deep focusing breath. She turned to Isaac who was actively looking down on Arthur. “Isaac, how does this get fixed?”

  “Do you want the political answer or the empathetic one? They are mutually exclusive.” Isaac asked his mate.

  “Both.” Lenna replied.

  “Execute the Guard Captain for the rape of the duchess. Acknowledge the child as an illegitimate heir and shut down any and all negative comments about him, at least until a legitimate heir is born. After that, then the illegitimate child can be forced into a position subservient to the legitimate heir, or disposed of.” Isaac explained as if he was detailing the process of removing his armor. The guard captain tried to speak but his shadow continued to smother all sound that attempted to come out of him. “Down.” Isaac ordered Fernando’s shadow which drug the Guard Captain back down into his seat as he tried to stand.

  “But that’s not what happened…” Arthur spoke solemnly. “And I am infertile, otherwise, we would already have a legitimate heir. That’s not even mentio-”

  “That is irrelevant.” Isaac cut him off. “That is the move that should be made in order to maintain your authority over the duchy while you still can. The duchess will not leave the citadel at least until the boy is an adult. Anything less and people will spread even worse rumors. ‘The jealous duke executed his wife’s lover after he discovered their affair.’ That is what they will speak in hushed tones to each other.” Isaac finished. “You and your wife are in charge of a hundred thousand people. You are both in the top dozen most important noble figures in this country. You both needed to remember that before making any stupid decisions.”