A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3) - Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Nothing else was said until we found a more private room to talk in. Tannix and Tandrin, Queen Navire, me, and...
Prince Valkiros. I couldn't quite wrap my head around it. Let alone what it meant about the king—his uncle—Valkiros was supposed to be dead. Queen Navire had mentioned him once in Navire, as the unfortunately long deceased younger brother of Kalvahi. Little Valkiros, she had called him. A child.
"I thought he was dead," Tannix said what I was thinking.
Queen Navire nodded. "So did I, because that's what we were told. A sickness ran through the castle in 402, killing King Orikos, his son Prince Kalkari, and Prince Valkiros. Kalvahi's grandfather, father and younger brother. That was the announcement."
Valkiros nodded. "Yes. I was sick. It was... better?" His gaze found the Queen and he spoke in Deoran.
"More convenient," she translated. "It was easier for Idavari to pretend he had died." She spoke in Deoran, and even in her voice it was distinct from Navirian. Valkiros nodded, and she spoke again. "He is giving me permission to explain. Valkiros and Kalvahi share a father, not a mother. Valkiros is an illegitimate heir. But, an heir nonetheless. If he wishes, he may be the answer to our concerns about what to do with Deorun."
Tandrin took a deep breath. "It won't be that simple. He's supposed to be dead. We didn't know that he was alive, with our intelligence networks or spies. That can only mean that the amount of people who actually knew were few and far between. If it was common knowledge in Deorun, we would have heard."
"People did not know," Valkiros said. "It was... I was..." He hesitated again, but didn't look to Queen Navire for translating. It was more of a thoughtful silence. I thought I knew why, and spoke up for the first time since Queen Navire had said his real name.
"Do you want me to explain?"
He was still staring at the floor, but he nodded.
"Vali—" From the corner of my eye I saw him wince, and I correctly myself, "—Valkiros was a... servant is too generous a word, I think. Kassia said that people referred to him as King Idavari's pet. When I met with the king, Valkiros was with him, serving him food and translating for him. I think the problem is that everyone in the castle would just think he's a..."
"Ah," Queen Navire interrupted me. "That will make it very hard to instate him as the next King Deorun."
Tandrin looked at her. "How did you know?"
"I knew his uncle, on his mother's side," she explained. "Valkiros could be his twin brother."
"That won't be enough to convince the people," Tandrin said.
"No," Queen Navire agreed. "We need someone the Deorans will trust, who can confirm who he is."
"If he even wants to be King Deorun," Tandrin said. "We won't force you, Valkiros. If you want to, we will help find a way to make this work. I won't lie to you, this would be ideal. An ally on the Deoran throne would be an enormous relief."
"An ally?" Valkiros repeated. "I am not a prisoner?"
Tandrin and the Queen exchanged a glance, and she spoke for both of them. "You are not a prisoner. You have done us a great service by killing your uncle. If you do not wish to be king, you may leave with honour. I would be happy to arrange a place for you in Navire, if you wish to leave the country altogether."
"Or Zianna," Tandrin said.
"However," the queen continued. "If you wish to take the throne, as an ally, we will help you. Navire, Zianna and Deorun are siblings, just as our deities are."
"There will be..." Valkiros switched to Deoran.
"Conditions, yes," the Queen agreed. "There must be, after a war like this and the damage Deorun has done to Zianna. With your help, we can ensure they are fair conditions."
"If there is a person to say who I am," Valkiros said. "To make Deorans know me."
"Yes." Tandrin nodded. "And that brings us back to the main obstacle, doesn't it? Who knew? The king, obviously. Kalvahi, who's gone missing. Any other servants, or maybe the nurses who would have raised you?"
I could feel Tannix staring at me, thinking the exact same thing I was, but I managed to avoid looking at him. "Kassia knows," I said. I had no real proof, but with sudden clarity I knew she was in on the secret.
Tandrin glanced at Tannix, who was still staring at me. Valkiros hesitated before nodding. And Queen Navire spoke.
"We will need to speak with her."
Kassia was brought up to the castle in chains. She strolled into our private meeting with her wrists shackled behind her back, a Navirian guard holding her left arm, and a Telt guard on her right. They forced her into a chair and added more chains to lock her place. She endured the whole thing with one eyebrow cocked, like it was somehow amusing.
When the guards retreated again, Kassia looked around the room with a pleasant smile. "Ah, the five most powerful people in the three kingdoms—aside for some powerful wives, of course. Finn." She turned to me. "You're the odd one out. You should probably be dismissed."
"What makes you think you have any power?" Tannix snapped.
Kassia looked at him. "Well, it seems pretty obvious to me. You had me summoned to a private meeting with Queen Navire, King Zianna, Lord West Draulin, and Prince Valkiros. Yes," she added sharply, before anyone could interrupt. "That is his name. I know you know it, or he wouldn't be here." She rolled her shoulders and settled back into her chair like it was the most comfortable couch in the castle. "So." She crossed one leg elegantly over the other, despite the chains around her ankles. "What do you expect me to do?"
Tandrin put a hand on Tannix's shoulder. It wasn't a subtle gesture, but it worked to silence him. "We would like to instate Valkiros as King Deorun, but we recognize that we need help convincing the Deorans of his identity."
"Hmm." Kassia looked at me. "And the thief is part of this discussion, because...?"
The only thing that kept Tannix quiet was Tandrin's fingers tightening on his shoulder. "Because," Tandrin said calmly, "Finn found Valkiros. He's part of this."
"So Finagale, thief of Zianna, stole the heir of Deorun. Is that what you're going to claim?" Kassia asked.
It was quickly dawning on me that Kassia wasn't going to properly talk to the nobles. She knew they needed her and she wasn't going to make it easy for them. But she loved talking to me.
"Kassia—" I interrupted Tandrin without meaning to. "You stayed in Deorun to protect Valkiros. I thought it was because you were worried that people would retaliate after he killed the king, but you really did it because you know who he is."
She looked at me and blinked slowly. "Observant as always."
"You've never called him Vali." I thought back to every time she had referred to him. Even that first time, in the interrogation room nearly a year ago, when she had explained who King Idavari's pet was. She had simply said Va before cutting herself off.
"He doesn't like it," Kassia said. "It's a low-class name. That's how Idavari disguised him."
Everyone in the room was watching me. "Why do you know who he is? Did Kalvahi tell you?"
Kassia scoffed. "Kalvahi hates him. He would have hidden the truth from me if he could have."
"Why couldn't he?"
Kassia's eyes darted to Queen Navire. "You recognized him because he looks like his uncle, didn't you? That's why I figured it out, too. I knew Oktor very well. He was one of a pair of twins. He had a sister. Kirya, Valkiros' mother. My mother."
Kassia's announcement resulted in shocked silence. I looked over to see the Queen, Tannix and Tandrin exchanging looks. Valkiros, the only noble who wasn't still standing, stared down at his crossed arms. It finally really dawned on me how out of place I was in this room. Even Kassia was related to a ruling family.
Tandrin broke the silence. "You're Idavari's niece?"
"No." The one word nearly dripped with distain. "Prince Kalkari was not my father."
Tandrin nodded thoughtfully. "You're half-siblings, then. We know, because of your first attempt to—"
"My only attempt," Kassia interrupted.
Tannix bristled, Tandrin merely narrowed his eyes. "Yes, goad me about killing my father. It won't change anything. As I was saying, we know, because of evidence from the first attempt on Edarius' life, that you are an Associate. Associates never break during interrogations, but you seem willing to provide information."
Kassia's manacles scraped together as she shrugged. "Nobody can control what information I provide, when the information doesn't involve the organization."
"So, Valkiros' identity doesn't involve the Associates?" Tandrin asked. "Being betrothed to Kalvahi has nothing to do with the Associates?"
"Trying to avoid making enemies, King Zianna?" Kassia asked. "You don't need to worry. We don't hold grudges. Our employers might."
Another detail popped into my head. "You told me that you aren't Deoran."
Lazily, she turned to look at me. "I'm not. That's hardly secret information, Finagale."
"I mean..." It almost felt like all this information should come together in a way that would make Kassia make sense. I could feel the edges of her story. "You were hired by King Idavari to start the war. Your half-brother is an heir to the throne, and you were betrothed to his brother. But you're not Deoran."
Kassia's mouth curved into a smile. "What do you think you're saying?"
I had no idea, that was the whole problem. "Was the king paying you this entire time?"
"Hmm."
"With Idavari dead," Queen Navire spoke up. "Is your contract dissolved?"
Kassia tilted her head thoughtfully. "My contract could, in theory, be inherited by Idavari's successor."
"Wait." Tannix ignored the look Tandrin shot him. "Are we seriously considering letting Valkiros hire her? Why would the people believe a hired assassin?"
I answered without thinking. "Most people probably didn't know she was hired. She was supposed to marry Kalvahi." I glanced at Kassia. She wasn't looking at me, but she was smiling. "You were paid to be an assassin. You weren't paid to marry Kalvahi. But you were doing it all to protect Valkiros, weren't you? You couldn't kill the king because he was the one paying you, and regardless of personal feelings you're a professional. So, you found another way into power with Kalvahi. When the king died, you would become the queen, and then..." I paused. Part of me realized how ridiculous the situation was. A king, a queen, a prince and a lord were just letting me talk. The rest of me was busy trying to make sense of what I was saying. "You would have killed Kalvahi, to become Queen Deorun and free Valkiros. And then name him the king? But do you care about the Deorans?"
"Speculate all you want," Kassia said. "But know that the Deoran people are innocent, and despite my line of work I am firmly against innocent people being hurt. I do care about the Deorans, in that capacity. I never wanted a war, and I'm glad it's over."
Tandrin cleared his throat pointedly. "While I would like to piece this story together, right now I have one question. If we instate Valkiros as king, how can we trust that you'll help him? And that you won't do any future harm to our countries, or," his eyes flickered to Tannix, "our families?"
"Trust that I'm a professional," Kassia said simply. "And trust that I have never once done my brother any harm."
Queen Navire nodded. "Given what we know about you, I do believe those words, at least. There is much more to discuss here. Many more details and conditions. But before we dedicate energy towards those matters, we need a firm answer. Prince Valkiros."
He looked up for the first time in quite a while, meeting her gaze with a weary look.
"Will you become King Valkiros Deorun?"
It must have taken immense courage to nod. "I wish to protect Deorans and be allies. Yes, I will be king."