Upon arrival, the guards discovered a horrific scene. Four assassins with wounds of varying severity, one defender who was especially full of holes, and a frightened prince under the bed.What happened?I was sleeping, then somebody pushed me from the bed, bolts started flying, I crawled to the nearest hiding spot, there was a battle...is it over yet?They pulled me out, assured me that everything would be all right, and asked who had protected me.I have no idea.Yes, the country should know its heroes, but personally, I don’t know this one.Find out yourselves who it is, and don’t forget to protect me.They were trying to murder me! Enemies all around! Marquis Chartreuse tried to calm me down, but I was hysterical, and continued writhing in it until the arrival of Tom, whom I promptly assigned as the captain of my personal guard.Chartreuse tried to object, but the five bodies seemed quite convincing.No, marquis. In the future, you’ll only be guarding the dowager queen, and I’ll be

Duke Rataver was hung on the city square in two days. He was declared a warlock, and his daughter, the murderer of poor King Rudolph. Of course, that wasn’t proven, but who else could it be? And really, as soon as we catch her, we’ll prove everything! She’ll definitely confess.The Church will gently convince her to! We sent a letter to Mikael’s son in Tevarr, complaining that my royal counterpart had given me defective goods. Not just shelf-warmers, rotten since day one! And don’t even say that your father hadn’t known it.And now...such a blow!I’m positively shaken. The only way to ease my anguish was a big piece of land, and since my father-in-law was an unholy warlock, then Rataver could be a good way to compensate me for my torment. Either by the king’s will, or my own.I wasn’t laying the duke to rest. I had more important things to deal with: review the troops, hang six generals, two dozen colonels, and a countless number of lieutenants. Based on the results of the review, two

Argadon left at dawn, and his army with him. They were a gruesome sight. Well, they hadn’t been nice to look at from the get-go, but clutching pieces of bloody flesh in their claws and paws and fangs and teeth, all smeared in blood, some of them wearing human guts as bandoliers, they could creep out anyone.Ak-kvir stayed, baring his bloody teeth at me.“What are your orders, Master?”I made sure that no other demon other than him was nearby and broke the protective circle. I came out of the pentagram and dusted myself off.My next task was to clean up. I left the bodies where they were, took the cloak with me. The dagger, the candles...is that all? Ak-kvir dutifully let me mount him and darted off.I released him not far from our camp and got a look full of devotion.You bet.So much food each time. I covered the rest of the distance on foot. My absence, however, had been noticed, and six colonels were waiting for me in the camp.“What are you sitting around for?”I greeted them.“Yo

The next day, the Chartreuses seemed somewhat subdued. And Viscount Latour...“Your Majesty, my wife...”After hearing out his anguished plea about his wife who had vanished together with his heir, I nodded.Of course, you should check the palace and question everyone, you are in your right.Go on.And I...sympathize with you so much. By the way, couldn’t she have left you, too?Carlie is a flighty girl, and during pregnancy, when even the most dignified women start being irrational... Abigail grew pale.Sure.She needed a newborn! But who would give birth? Finding a baby wouldn’t be too hard, but she needed that one specifically. Or would she get up the nerve to buy or kidnap the first baby she could get her hands on? She would, of course she would... Once, my mother had scraped the palace library clean. I made a mental note to return the books later.Before the princess’ departure, Abigail had never read any of them, and afterward, she couldn’t, but there was a lot of interesting re

“I want to see the Retainer. Invite him to the palace.”“Your Majesty,” the holy thrall pouted. I looked at him coldly.“If he doesn’t come, I will revoke the tithe.”Actually, I was going to revoke it anyway, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. Aww, he grew so pale.The next morning, I got a letter from the Confidant of the Bright Saint, who agreed to receive me... In your dreams. I summoned the chancellor, Henry Morinar.“Prepare a decree. I will revoke the tithe. The Confidant has consented.”“Your Majesty!”The servitor was exasperated. I threw him an innocent smile.“I think we’ve discussed that...”“Your Majesty, don’t be hasty, I implore you.”“I will announce the decree the day after tomorrow.”The Confidant arrived at the palace in the evening. I looked at him, curious.Now that was a smart man, no mistake about it. His robe might have been expensive, but plain enough, and it was clearly hiding a strong and powerful body, while his eyes were full of intelligence and cunning.