"Well, it all started before Mileth. In the winter preceding the spring campaign, Nikephoros had an idea. He decided to form a council - a shadow council, as he called it - that would 'Serve the good of the realm, and not the good of the crown'. While this may seem shocking to you, I would like to remind you that at that time you had exiled William for doing an outstanding work, and we were all starting to doubt your sanity. The three prime members were Nikephoros, Avitus, and me. The head of the military, your main diplomatic advisor, and the most powerful noble of the kingdom. We figured that in a time of crisis, we should be enough to take control of the kingdom temporarily and fix the mess you would have done.
And then, Mileth happened. I can tell you that Nikephoros was quite... Angry, when he came back from the campaign. He kept on talking about how you had stolen his victory, and how his glory was no longer as it once was. He suggested that we organized a coup. Avitus and me refused, since we could not agree on what to do after - Nikephoros wanted to install a new monarchy, Avitus wanted a republic similar to Vasir, and I wanted either you or the rightful heir to the throne. We decided that our actions would be political, trying to get into higher positions in order to prevent you from making new catastrophes.
On the Red Day of Summer, someone tried to assassinate me. To this date, I still do not know who it was or why, although I have my doubts. I went to the castle's physician, and the next thing I knew you were out in the streets massacring peasants, claiming that someone plotted against you. Someone later told me that had started because the army had left the city, and I supposed that you had simply lost your mind completely and had probably been murdered by your ships' crew by now. Next morning, I met Nikephoros in the palace, to talk about the nation's future. We created what Nikephoros called a Republic, but was in fact an oligarchy. I as Lord Chancellor, responsible of politics, economy, laws and the nobility - he as Lord Protector, responsible of the army and justice. Things were good. He went to the border to deal with bandits and expend the nations' size - we were in dire need of money - and I started to repair what had been destroyed by your forces while you fled. Somewhere during that time, William came to us and we sponsored his invasion of Polca.
However, Avitus disappeared during last autumn. At that point I started to wonder about what was happening, and I investigated about some things. How the mobilization of the army had been done against your orders, about how my own soldiers had received an order from the marshal to not let the generals out of Talama. I started to piece things together. Nikephoros had plotted against you to rule over Ligoria, and he wanted to use me as a pawn to do, in his words, the "boring work". To keep things simple, let's just say I put an end to that. I organized a meeting with him, and I spoke to him, trying to convince him to heed my advice. When he made it clear that I had no business in telling him what to do and that if I tried to interfere with him he would replace me with a more docile Lord Chancellor, I killed him. He was a good fighter, but not nearly good enough.
And then, well, you came back."
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Topic: You Are King II.I: Tales of the Storm Coast (Summer 417a) (Read 110538 times)