“That’s... odd,” Emily said. She hadn’t been planning to attend the conference at Laughter, before it had been cancelled. She’d certainly never been invited. “Why do they want that?”
“I don’t know,” Alassa said. “But it isn’t all they want.”
Emily tensed. “What else do they want?”
Alassa sighed. “They want you to mediate the situation in Alluvia, on the grounds you might be the only one everyone involved will listen to.”
“I...” Emily stared at her. “What situation in Alluvia?”
“You don’t know?” Alassa leaned against Jade. “You really don’t know?”
Emily looked from one to the other. “No,” she said. She’d heard vague rumors, while she’d been at Laughter, but none had really caught her attention. “What happened?”
“There was an uprising,” Alassa said. “A big one. A bad one.”
“And...?” Emily was sure she was missing something. “I haven’t been to Alluvia for... months. Not since the end of the war.”
“They’re blaming the rebellion on you,” Alassa said, quietly. “I think - I don’t know - that some of Master Lucknow’s backers believe it.”
“I didn’t,” Emily said. She stared at her friend. “I’ve been in the tower, then Laughter...”
“I know,” Alassa said. “But how many people do believe it?”
Emily made a face. “What do they want me to do? And what’s actually happening?”
Alassa leaned back against the sofa. “According to Prince Hedrick, my spies and a handful of reports that have been passed down to me, the kingdom has been suffering severe social unrest since the end of the war. A lot of tiny riots, a handful of manors being attacked and burnt... matters weren’t helped, apparently, by a major crop failure. The country has been dangerously dry, on the verge of famine. And then there was a bread riot in the capital that turned into a full-scale revolution.”
She took a breath. “The king, the queen and a handful of courtiers attempted to escape. They were caught and, apparently, taken prisoner by the rebels. This sparked off additional riots, with the net result that most of the country - including all the major cities - are in rebel hands. Crown Prince Dater - I believe you know him - has taken command of what remains of the army, but it isn’t clear if he can actually retake the capital and save his family. Prince Hedrick” - her lips twisted in distaste - “asked for my help personally.”
Emily blinked. “Your help?”
“Mine,” Alassa confirmed. “Hedrick was the one who informed me that you were being blamed. He appears to believe it.”
“I see.” Emily vaguely recalled the younger prince, but her memories weren’t very clear. He’d tried to court Alassa... then nothing. He hadn’t taken part in the war. “And what do they expect me to do?”
“I don’t know,” Alassa said. “I don’t think they know.”
“They’re setting you up for failure,” Void said. His voice was cold and hard. “Whatever you do, whatever the outcome, you’ll be blamed. You shouldn’t agree to these terms.”
Emily suspected he was right. The rebels would be foolish to just back down and return to... to whatever they’d been doing before the revolution. There was no shortage of horror stories about monarchs making tactical compromises, perhaps sending a handful of unpopular advisors to the gallows, while preparing the force to crush the rebels, hang the leaders and make it brutally clear to everyone else that rebellion was not going to be tolerated. They were committed now. They’d laid hands on a monarch, his wife, and a bunch of noble hangers-on. Emily knew Dater personally. She highly doubted he’d let that pass.
Her mind raced. There was little hope of brokering a compromise that would please everyone - or even a majority. Neither side could surrender... she wondered, suddenly, if she should advise Dater to go into exile. But she knew he wouldn’t listen. And even if he did... the other monarchs would not be pleased. Even Alassa would have her doubts about a land that had overthrown the king. There were plenty of people who’d take note if the revolution led to a better world.
She felt her heart sink. There were no good answers. Void was right. Whatever she did, whatever happened, there was going to be blood. The neighboring kingdoms would move to crush the rebellion, if Dater and his men couldn’t do it for themselves. They wouldn’t want to let such a precedent stand. And even if they didn’t give a damn about the king, the opportunity to lay claim to disputed borderlands would be irresistible. The southern border of Alluvia pressed against the Craggy Mountains. The remainder of the borderlands would be up for grabs if the king’s power evaporated.
“Ask them for something else,” Lady Barb said. “They don’t need Emily to sort out the mess in Alluvia.”
“We need a solution before all hell breaks loose,” Alassa said. There was a hint of desperation in her voice. “The remaining monarchs are already considering their options.”
“Then they can do it without Emily,” Void said, sharply. “Tell them she’s going back to my tower to complete her apprenticeship. She’ll stay out of the way of the world...”
Emily felt a hot flash of anger, mingled with a trace of resentment. She was his apprentice. God knew she’d pushed the limits as far as they would go, when Lady Barb had asked her to go to Laughter. He was quite within his rights to demand she return to the tower and complete her apprenticeship, before leaving to strike out on her own. And yet...
She looked at Alassa. Her friend was worried, deeply so. She’d always been more plugged into the surrounding world than Emily herself, honing her talents at Whitehall before deploying them in the service of her kingdom. If Alassa was concerned... she must have reason. Zangaria might have found a precarious stability in the wake of the civil war, but the rest of the Allied Lands hadn’t gone through the fire. And if a
