When all the lords had seated themselves, Relam’s father straightened in his seat and leaned forward slightly, resting his clasped hands on the table. “Welcome, my lords. I understand you have some issues to lay before me?”
“You know what the issues are, Orram,” Garenes replied scathingly.
Relam shifted uncomfortably. Not a good start, not at all. If the lords were frustrated enough to approach the king in such an aggressive manner, and neglecting his proper titles, then this meeting could go very poorly indeed.
“The correct form of address would be ‘Your majesty’,” Clemon put in.
Garenes curled his lip in disdain. “Spare me your groveling and sniveling, chatelain. We are here on business, not at some formal occasion.”
“And since we are here for business, we will be keeping it professional I assume? Ignoring petty disputes that may exist between certain members?” Relam’s father asked matter-of-factly.
Garenes snorted but made no reply, so Lord Thius took the floor.
“The fact of the matter is, your majesty, that there are certain problems that the Assembly feels you should resolve immediately, and that should have been resolved a long time ago. Many,” he added, looking to his fellows for support, “Feel some of these are cases of gross negligence.”
“Very well, let’s go down the list, shall we?” the king said, snatching up a copy of the scroll he had received from the Assembly the previous week. “Let’s see here: Reduction of taxes for the nobility . . . I think not, you can pay the same percentage as the beggars and peasants do easily enough. A council for meting out justice . . . Now that would be useful! It would save me hours of wasting time adjudicating petty disputes. Consider that request met, gentlemen. And that leaves-”
“The largest issues, which you have so far ignored,” Laurencian interjected.
“Ah, I believe you are mistaken there, my good lord,” Relam’s father replied. “The first item on your list of demands has been dealt with already.”
“Excuse me?” Garenes interrupted.
“Of course,” the king said, looking at Garenes. For a moment, there was dead silence and no one moved. “Go on,” Orram said, making a little shooing motion. “You’re excused, as you requested.”
Garenes’ face darkened to an ugly red but he stayed seated, glowering at the king. Relam could not help admiring his father’s ability to crush the representatives of the Assembly so easily. He would have taken notes, but there were no writing utensils or parchment handy.
“As I was saying,” the king continued, “Item one has been dealt with. Last week, an expedition was sent into the Midwood to deal with the bandit situation. The result was nearly sixty bandits killed, four captured, and a significant amount of plunder returned to Etares.”
The lords sat back in their seats utterly flummoxed.
“Our forces suffered no losses,” the king continued, turning his attention back to the parchment. “Oh, and Relam led the mission in case you were wondering.”
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence for several moments. Finally, Lord Thius spoke again.
“And what will this newfound wealth be used for?”
“I’m not keeping it,” the king snorted. “No, I rather thought that we might use the funds to clean up the Furnier and do something about the west side of Etares.” He and Relam had discussed this the previous day, and decided it would be best if the king introduced it as his idea.
“Over the bridge you mean?” Garenes asked, frowning.
“Is there another west side of Etares that I am unaware of?” the king replied mildly.
“Fix it how?” Lord Umeron asked in his slow, deep voice.
“Thank you for asking, my lord,” the king said, nodding to Umeron. “Unfortunately, I don’t have that answer yet. It will take time to make sure we do this right. I think the priority is proper housing and sanitation. That will help with the river situation too, keep people from dumping . . . erm, well, things, into the river all the time.”
“That could work,” Laurencian admitted grudgingly.
“Like I said, we will investigate to be sure, but I am optimistic as well,” the king said, nodding to Laurencian. “If the Assembly would like to contribute to this effort in the way of ideas or management, that would be welcome and it would also speed the process along.”
“Well, we’ll see,” Thius said hastily. “The Assembly is very busy at the moment and-”
“I believe his majesty meant a few members of the Assembly, not the Assembly itself,” Clemon broke in, glancing to Relam’s father for confirmation.
“Yes, that will be more efficient,” Orram agreed.
Relam nodded thoughtfully. His father had addressed nearly all of the nobles’ demands, and maintained control throughout by seizing the initiative. And, Relam realized, he hadn’t let up, constantly keeping his opponents off balance with little things like excusing Garenes. A masterful performance by a master manipulator.
“As for this last item,” the king continued. “The formation of a royal navy. We have an extensive harbor guard here at Etares. I understand the Assembly wishes to extend this to the other waterways of the kingdom as well?”
“Particularly in the south,” Thius agreed, nodding emphatically.
“Why?” the king said bluntly.
“I beg your pardon?” Lord Farad said, leaning forward.
“Granted,” the king said automatically, causing Farad to reel back in his seat. Relam hid a smile behind his hand and quickly composed himself.
“Why do we need a navy in the south?”
“To protect the merchant fleets!” Lord Reshi said quickly.
“Ah,” the king said, glancing at Clemon. “Marc, do you have those reports I asked you for about the disruption in southern trade routes? Sea trade routes, that is?”
“Yes, your majesty, right here,” Clemon said, handing him a sheet of parchment in what was very obviously a prearranged display.
The king held the parchment up and scanned it briefly. “Here we
