The Alpha King’s Reborn Queen
"No, no, no, Your Majesty! I made no weapons, I swear it! I sold it. I sold the ore to the neighboring kingdoms. It was greed, only greed, a moment of weakness. I would never dream of rebellion!"
"Oh?" I tilt my head. "You sold it?"
He sees the opening and grabs it. I watch the hope rise in his face, a drowning man catching a rope, and he nods so hard that his jowls shake. "Yes. Yes, Your Majesty."
"To whom?"
"To..." He swallows. "To many places, Your Majesty. Not one buyer. It was sold in small batches, to many different merchants, over many years."
I regard him in silence. My index finger begins to tap the arm of the throne, slow and even, one tap at a time.