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00:00I was bastard-born. My father was the High Archon of the Realm.
00:04Sixteen years ago, when my mother carried me in her womb,
00:07she traveled with him to his ancestral rites,
00:09where they were ambushed by Aegean pirates,
00:11and she drew them away alone to save him.
00:14My father was saved.
00:15My mother was eventually rescued too,
00:18but the pirates were without mercy,
00:20and they violated her while she still carried me in her womb.
00:23Everyone said my mother had lost her honor and should hang herself,
00:26but she refused.
00:28She endured and lived on.
00:30For my sake.
00:31My father could not divorce her outright for the sake of his own political standing,
00:35because she had saved his life.
00:37To cast her out would mark him as a man without gratitude,
00:40and that would damage his career.
00:42So he had her sent to a remote outpost farm, beyond the city walls,
00:46telling everyone it was so she could rest quietly during her confinement,
00:49away from gossip.
00:50But that outpost farm had fallen into ruin long ago.
00:53It was no place for a woman with child.
00:55Over the following six months, as people forgot my mother,
00:58my father took a new wife in a full legitimate ceremony,
01:01the daughter of his mentor.
01:02And on the very day of his wedding, my mother gave birth to me.
01:07My mother and I lived at that remote outpost farm for eight years.
01:11My father never came once.
01:13Only two royal handmaids were assigned to care for us,
01:16though in truth they were our keepers,
01:18forbidding us from leaving or receiving any visitors.
01:21The outpost was desolate,
01:23and guarding us was drudge work,
01:24so the two handmaids resented it
01:26and took their frustrations out on my mother and me.
01:29They called my mother a harlot who had lost her honor and should have died,
01:32and called me a bastard,
01:34a child my mother had conceived by some unknown man.
01:37My mother argued back fiercely to protect me,
01:39but every time she was beaten until she bled.
01:42Once, while the handmaids were beating my mother again,
01:45I crept under their bed that night to frighten them,
01:47and overheard them whispering that all the abuse and humiliation directed at my mother and me
01:52had been ordered by Mara,
01:54the second wife back at the estate.
01:55The purpose was to break us until we could no longer endure and took our own lives.
02:00Not that Mara was too timid to kill us outright,
02:02but that she and my father feared their reputations,
02:05and if we were murdered and someone found proof,
02:08it would become a weapon against them at the height of my father's career,
02:11a risk they could not afford.
02:13Our suicide was the cleanest outcome they could hope for,
02:16and even if someone discovered the handmaids had driven us to it through torment,
02:19my father and Mara could simply claim they had been too far away to supervise the servants properly,
02:24and washed their hands of it entirely.
02:26I told my mother everything I had heard,
02:28but she did not make a scene.
02:30She simply began teaching me in secret,
02:32reading, writing, and certain rules of conduct I did not yet understand.
02:36I was not willing to accept it and wanted to confront my father,
02:39but my mother stopped me sharply.
02:41Defiant, I refused to submit.
02:43And finally, when the estate sent a cart out to the farm,
02:46I hid inside and wrote it all the way back to the estate.
02:50That was the first time I saw the Archon's estate,
02:53carved columns, painted archways,
02:55magnificent beyond anything I had known,
02:58and I, in my ragged clothes,
02:59was thrown out as a beggar.
03:01At the gates, I saw my father returning in a litter,
03:04with a girl beside him who looked like she had been carved from pale marble,
03:07and I ran forward and called out to him,
03:09but his guards kicked me to the ground.
03:11My father looked at me with undisguised contempt,
03:14ordered me sent back to the farm,
03:16and his voice was cold,
03:17his eyes seeing me as nothing but a mark of shame.
03:20I heard the girl ask my father who I was,
03:22and he answered her gently,
03:24Just a beggar, filthy creature, Calia.
03:26Don't look, you'll dirty your eyes.
03:29Later, I learned that girl was Mara's daughter, Calia,
03:32only seven years old,
03:33and already celebrated for her talents throughout the city.
03:36The pride of my father's heart.
03:39At eight years old, I still believed naively
03:41that if I studied hard enough,
03:42I could be loved by my father the way Calia was,
03:45so I threw myself into learning everything my mother taught me.
03:48As I grew year by year and became more striking in appearance,
03:51my mother's brow grew more and more furrowed,
03:54and she forbade me from adorning myself,
03:56to keep the two handmaids from noticing my face.
03:59She even made me deliberately look plain.
04:01On the day I came of age,
04:02my mother said something to the handmaids that I never heard,
04:05and they actually took her back to the estate.
04:07But she was gone only half a day before she returned,
04:09and when she came back, she was deeply sorrowful.
04:12I did not know what had happened to her at the estate,
04:15and she told me nothing,
04:16only drove herself to teach me music,
04:18drawing, dance, and all the rest.
04:20A few months later, my mother took her own life.
04:23Without any warning, she was simply gone.
04:27She left behind a written confession, full of self-reproach,
04:30saying she had been defiled, and had no right to go on living.
04:33I did not believe a word of that confession,
04:36and I did not believe she had died by her own hand.
04:38I flew at the two handmaids in a rage,
04:41certain they had driven her to it,
04:42and they beat me unconscious.
04:44When I came to, I ran out of the farm in a frenzy,
04:47and found the city coroner,
04:48demanding an examination of her body,
04:50and the verdict came back that my mother
04:52had indeed died by her own hand.
04:54Stop making trouble.
04:55Your worthless mother killed herself willingly.
04:58She made a deal with the High Archcon and Mara.
05:02She died to preserve the honor of the estate,
05:05and in exchange, you would be found a decent match.
05:09Mara, in her generosity, has already chosen someone for you.
05:13A lame widower who slaughters pigs for a living.
05:17A girl of your standing should count herself lucky to marry him.
05:20So prepare yourself.
05:22They'll come for you in a few days.
05:24The handmaid smiled with great satisfaction,
05:26as though she was celebrating the end of her thankless duty guarding us.
05:30This time, I did not argue or make a scene.
05:32The two handmaids assumed I had accepted my fate,
05:35but what they did not expect,
05:37was that in the dead of night, once they were asleep,
05:40I strapped my mother's body to my back, and fled.
05:45By the time I reached the city, dawn had broken,
05:47and I carried my mother on my back all the way to the Archon's estate.
05:51I wanted only to demand justice from Creon for what he had done to her.
05:54When I arrived at the gates of the estate,
05:56I found a long procession already moving out,
05:59a true display of splendor, lavish beyond measure.
06:02From the whispers of the crowd around me,
06:03I learned that my beloved sister Kalia was being summoned to the palace that very day
06:08as royal consort to the new king.
06:10I saw Creon standing at the gates to see her off,
06:13his face bright with pride,
06:14while officials surrounded him with flattery and praise.
06:17His expression was one of pure triumph,
06:19and it was plain that my mother's death had not touched him in the slightest,
06:23that this was only joy added to joy for him.
06:25I stood in the crowd with my mother's body on my back,
06:28and simply watched in silence.
06:30And the coins and sweets that the servants tossed toward the crowd struck my body,
06:34but I felt no pain.
06:35I clenched my hands until my nails drove into my palms,
06:38and I swore to myself then,
06:39I will avenge my mother,
06:41I will make Creon and everyone in that estate pay with their lives to accompany her.
06:45The Agora Vault was the greatest auction house in the realm,
06:48within its walls past every rare and precious thing imaginable,
06:52nothing it could not procure,
06:54nothing in all the land it did not dare put up for sale.
06:56No one knew who stood behind the Agora Vault,
06:59but neither noble sons nor heirs of great houses dared cause trouble within it.
07:03Now I stood on its highest floor,
07:05facing Master Solon across the table.
07:07What are you here to purchase, miss?
07:09I am not here to purchase anything.
07:11I am here to sell.
07:13And what are you selling?
07:14An item worth 50,000 drakons.
07:17Can you authorize that amount yourself?
07:19Though I am only the master of the vault,
07:2250,000 draklons is well within my authority to authorize.
07:25Miss, please, speak.
07:28I am selling myself.
07:32Miss, please do not jest.
07:34I am the legitimate firstborn daughter of the current High Archen,
07:37and the elder sister of the Royal Consort.
07:39I am worth 50,000 drakons.
07:42I am auctioning myself to fund my mother's burial rites.
07:45This story alone will make the Agora Vault the talk of every street in the city,
07:49and your name will rise higher than it has ever been.
07:53You lose nothing in this bargain,
07:55and the vault boasts there is nothing it does not dare sell.
07:59So I ask you, do you dare take this deal?
08:02I used the simplest form of provocation.
08:05Master Solon studied me for a long moment, then said,
08:08Please wait a moment, miss.
08:09He withdrew, clearly to consult the vault's unseen owner,
08:12and after roughly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he returned.
08:16The Agora Vault accepts your business.
08:18The auction will begin in three days.
08:20Before the auction, I need the Era Vault to do two things, I said.
08:25Please speak, miss.
08:26The first is to spread the news of my auctioning myself to fund my mother's burial rites as widely
08:31as possible, and the fact that I am the High Archon's legitimate daughter,
08:35and the Royal Consort's elder sister, must reach every street and alley in the city,
08:40and even the palace must hear of it.
08:42The second is to protect me for three days.
08:45No matter who applies pressure to the Agora Vault during those three days,
08:48I need the auction to proceed without cancellation,
08:50and I must not be handed over to anyone.
08:52Master Solon nodded.
08:53Miss, it seems you have declared a blood oath between yourself and the High Archon,
08:58but the Agora Vault agrees.
09:00I smiled.
09:01Of course it was a blood oath,
09:02though Creon was already the head of the civic factions with countless supporters.
09:06There would always be those who wished to see him humiliated,
09:09and I intended to make Creon the laughingstock of the entire city on the day of the auction.
09:14But I wanted more than his humiliation.
09:16I wanted justice for my mother.
09:19As expected, the news of my auctioning myself to fund my mother's burial rites
09:23had spread through the city and caused a sensation in less than half a day.
09:27Because alongside that news came the story of what had happened 17 years ago,
09:31how my mother had been violated by Aegean pirates while saving Creon.
09:3417 years had passed and few still remembered.
09:37But I remembered, and my mother had died because of it,
09:40while Creon, who had benefited most, lived on without consequence.
09:44That was too unjust to bear,
09:45so I had paid people to spread the story again.
09:47Some said Creon had mistreated my mother and me so badly
09:50that there was no money even for burial rites after her death,
09:54which was why I had been forced to auction myself.
09:56Some said Creon was a man without gratitude,
09:59that he had betrayed the woman who had saved his life.
10:01And some said the place of royal consort should have been mine by right,
10:05since the king had originally sought to wed the High Archon's legitimate daughter,
10:08and I was the legitimate daughter while Kalia was born of Mara,
10:12which made her by all proper reckoning,
10:14nothing more than a daughter of a concubine.
10:15In less than an hour, a furious Creon arrived at the Agora Vault
10:19with several fierce-looking servants carrying clubs,
10:22intending to take me away.
10:23Though his manner made it plain, he meant to beat me to death on the spot.
10:27Fortunately, I had already hidden myself somewhere safe,
10:30and Creon searched the Agora Vault without finding any trace of me,
10:33and was forced to leave in frustration.
10:35Master Solon told me that Creon had left eyes watching the area around the Agora Vault,
10:40that the palace had also sent people to keep watch,
10:42and that a number of Creon's political enemies had stationed men there as well.
10:47None of this surprised me, for I had anticipated all of it,
10:50and so I settled in to wait out the three days.
10:53Master Solon also told me that on Kalia's first day in the palace,
10:57the king had not visited her chambers once,
10:59not even once, because of my affair.
11:01I allowed myself a faint smile at that.
11:03This was only the beginning,
11:04and the reckoning of the House of Creon had only just begun.
11:08The three days passed quickly,
11:09and on the third day the auction hall of the Agora Vault
11:12was filled without a single empty seat,
11:14and it was then that I made my entrance.
11:18I sat on the high platform with bidders surrounding me on all sides,
11:22examined like a piece of merchandise,
11:24and I remained composed and indifferent.
11:26I swept my gaze around the room and saw Creon seated at the very center,
11:30his face dark with fury,
11:32his eyes burning with a consuming rage.
11:35Had this been anywhere other than the Agora Vault,
11:37he would likely have had me struck down already.
11:40My eyes passed over him without pausing for even half a breath,
11:44and finally came to rest for a moment on a private booth on the upper floor.
11:48Master Solon had told me it was occupied by someone from the palace,
11:51though he did not know who.
11:52Master Solon stepped forward,
11:54and without lengthy introduction,
11:56my identity was known to everyone.
11:58He simply laid out the rules of the auction.
12:01Today's bidding would not be conducted aloud.
12:03The floor price was 20,000 drachmas,
12:05and each person would write their offer on a piece of parchment,
12:09all of which would be handed to me to examine,
12:11with the highest bid taking the prize.
12:13I watched Creon's eyes flash
12:14with the certainty of a man who considers the outcome already decided,
12:18and he rose to his feet.
12:19I am this wretch's father,
12:21that she has done something this disgraceful today as my failure as a parent.
12:26I offer 20,000 draxons,
12:28and I ask everyone here to do me the courtesy of stepping aside.
12:32Creon looked around the room as he finished,
12:34as though memorizing every face present.
12:36I allowed myself a small smile.
12:39Those words were a threat,
12:41and it seemed few people would dare to outbid him today,
12:44though the sealed nature of the bidding
12:46meant there might still be someone willing to go higher than Creon.
12:50Half an hour later,
12:51Master Solon brought me all the written bids,
12:53and I opened them one by one,
12:55keeping a record as I read.
12:57The Council Secretary Lycos,
12:591,000 drachmas.
13:00The Chief Justice Heron,
13:028,000 drachmas.
13:03The Head of the Academy Sorin,
13:0410,000 drachmas.
13:06Every one of them had shown deference to Creon the High Archon
13:09by keeping their bids low,
13:10yet not so low as to be insulting to a legitimate daughter of the Archon.
13:14Truly,
13:15they had managed to offend no one on either side.
13:17I opened the final piece of parchment,
13:19and written on it were the words,
13:21Creon,
13:2220,000 drachmas,
13:23the highest bid in the room.
13:25Master Solon glanced at the figure
13:27and leaned close to murmur in my ear,
13:29The Agora Vault
13:30only recognizes the bid.
13:33You will have to rely
13:35on your own fortune from here.
13:38I understood what he meant.
13:39He believed that if Creon bought me back,
13:42my fate would most likely be a grim one.
13:44But the Agora Vault only honored bids
13:47and would not involve itself in anything beyond that,
13:50which was their principle,
13:51and not something they would break even for my sake.
13:56I smiled faintly,
13:57picked up Creon's parchment,
13:59and looked toward him where he sat wearing the expression of a man who has already won.
14:03The highest bidder today is the High Archon Crayon.
14:06His offer is 50,000 drachmas.
14:09Creon's face went rigid and he rose at once,
14:12already preparing to protest.
14:14I did not give him the chance to speak.
14:16The second highest bid was 49,000 drachoms,
14:20just 1,000 short.
14:22Creon opened his mouth and said nothing.
14:25I knew he likely suspected I was lying,
14:27but he could not afford to gamble on it,
14:29because he had to have me.
14:31If I were bought by someone else today,
14:33Creon the High Archon would lose all face before the city,
14:36and I would slip beyond his control,
14:38which could mean endless trouble for him in the future.
14:41So his only choice now was to swallow this humiliation in silence.
14:45Creon's face turned the color of iron as he reached into his robe
14:48and produced a draft for 50,000 drachmas,
14:51and handed it to the vault's representative,
14:53then moved to take hold of me and drag me away.
14:56I shook his hand off sharply,
14:58then accepted from Master Solon my share of 40,000 drachmas.
15:01The Agora Vault retained two-tenths of the auction price,
15:04leaving me with 40,000.
15:06Creon fixed his eyes on me.
15:08Come back to the estate with me, I'll deal with you there.
15:11And those 40,000 drachmas won't leave with you either.
15:16I looked at Creon.
15:19I'm afraid you will be disappointed, High Archon.
15:22Before he could react,
15:23I turned toward the private booth on the upper floor and spoke clearly.
15:27I, Lyra, offer 40,000 drachmas in silver to the soldiers on the frontier,
15:32and present a temple ledger of immeasurable worth
15:35that resolved the king's most urgent difficulty.
15:38I ask only to be summoned to the palace as royal concord.
15:44At those words, Creon's face changed completely.
15:47He shot me a furious glare and turned quickly toward the upper booth.
15:51This wretch is speaking in jest.
15:53The new king had only recently taken the throne,
15:56and the frontier was unstable.
15:58Skirmishes had already broken out several times,
16:00and the king wished to fight one decisive campaign
16:03to intimidate the border tribes and establish his own authority.
16:06Creon, as the leader of the civic faction,
16:09had consistently opposed it out of reluctance
16:11to see the military commanders grow powerful.
16:14And with the treasury depleted,
16:15the matter had been left unresolved and dragging on.
16:18Now I was willing to donate 40,000 drachmas
16:21as provisions to support the king's campaign,
16:23and I was certain the man in that booth would be moved.
16:26And indeed from the booth came a warm and measured voice.
16:30What temple ledger?
16:31The moment the words fell,
16:33a palace steward hurried down from the upper floor
16:35and came to stand beside me.
16:37I drew something from my sleeve and handed it to the steward,
16:40and he carried it quickly back up to the booth.
16:43After a short pause,
16:45the steward came back out holding a royal edict.
16:47By royal decree,
16:49Lyra is hereby named Royal Consort Lyra
16:52to enter the palace this very day.
16:56I accepted the edict,
16:57and a deep steadiness settled in my chest.
17:00I had finally taken this step.
17:02Creon's expression turned ugly in an instant,
17:04and he fixed his eyes on me.
17:05You vile creature.
17:07You and that vile mother of yours are equally repulting.
17:11I paid him no attention at all,
17:13and instead looked at Creon and said,
17:15Hi, Archeon.
17:16Today is my wedding day.
17:18As your legitimate firstborn daughter,
17:20My dowry should be no less than my conkine-born sisters,
17:24and my mother's dowry that was taken from her
17:26must also be returned to me.
17:28I have the full inventory of both.
17:30With so many people of standing present today,
17:33I trust the High Archman would not embarrass himself
17:35by being known as a man who seized a woman's dowry.
17:38Creon's face was the color of ash.
17:41You deserve to die.
17:43You should have gone the same way as that vile mother of yours.
17:47You should have died long ago.
17:49I should have strangled you at birth.
17:51Do you truly believe that entering the palace means I cannot still destroy you?
17:56I felt nothing at Creon's curses,
17:58only a faint sense of absurdity.
18:03Riding the litter into the palace,
18:04I felt something close to joy.
18:06Today's confrontation had been my victory,
18:08though a fortunate one,
18:10achieved because Creon had been caught unprepared
18:12and I had slipped through the gap.
18:14That so-called temple ledger
18:15was nothing more than the names of every official
18:18who had placed a bid in the auction hall today.
18:20With the amount each had offered written beside it.
18:23The treasury was depleted,
18:24yet these same officials had been pleading poverty before the king.
18:28And here they were spending so freely to acquire a woman.
18:31If they could spend so much on that,
18:33they could certainly be made to contribute
18:35as much to the treasury to support the frontier campaign.
18:38With that ledger in hand,
18:40the king could compel those officials to donate to the war effort.
18:43And though it was only a list of names,
18:46it was genuinely a temple ledger worth its weight in gold
18:49for resolving his most pressing difficulty.
18:52Upon moving into the wing of good fortune,
18:54the first thing I did after entering the palace
18:56was donate every piece of dowry Creon had given me in full to the treasury.
19:00Everything from Creon I found too filthy to keep.
19:03Only my mother's dowry I stored away carefully and kept close.
19:07This gesture delighted the king greatly,
19:09and he immediately praised me for my civic virtue
19:12and bestowed on me a considerable number of treasures.
19:17Half a day after entering the palace,
19:19the head steward of the household office arrived at my courtyard
19:22with several palace maids and stewards in tow.
19:25My lady Lyra,
19:26these servants have all been trained by the household office.
19:29Please see if any suit your taste.
19:31The head steward smiled with great deference.
19:34I swept a glance over the row of stewards and maids standing before me,
19:38then looked back at the head steward.
19:40Choose a few yourself.
19:41I have only one requirement.
19:42The ones you choose may be the eyes of the king and the queen,
19:45but they must not be the eyes of royal consort Calia or of Creon.
19:49If I discover otherwise,
19:51I will stake my life to see you finished,
19:53so consider carefully whether the silver Creon pays you
19:56is worth more than your life.
19:57Do not dismiss my words lightly.
19:59I swear on a blood oath without end.
20:02My words made the head steward's expression shift,
20:04and then he smiled and said,
20:06My lady Jace,
20:08how would this servant dare?
20:10I drank my tea and ignored him.
20:12And after a long moment of visible deliberation,
20:15the head steward selected a few stewards and maids from the group,
20:18then led the rest away with a deep bow.
20:23Upon entering the palace,
20:24I was required to pay my respects to the queen.
20:26And when I arrived at her hall in the wing of unending spring,
20:30a considerable number of people had already gathered.
20:33The queen sat at the center of the room,
20:35and I stepped forward to offer my greeting.
20:37My movements were precise and faultless,
20:40as though I had practiced them 10,000 times.
20:42The consorts who had been waiting to see me stumble
20:45looked at one another in surprise,
20:47because they all knew I had been raised on a ruined outpost farm
20:50with no proper instruction,
20:52and had assumed I would be coarse and unable to conduct myself in polished company.
20:56Yet my bearing was composed and remarkable.
20:58The queen smiled.
21:00Rise, Lyra.
21:02Bring her a seat.
21:03I rose and walked to a seat nearby,
21:05and my gaze settled on a woman sitting across from me.
21:08I knew her to be Kalia,
21:09the current royal consort,
21:11Creon's daughter and the pride of his house.
21:13The queen looked at me and said,
21:15Today is Lyra's first day in the palace.
21:19From now on,
21:20you are all sisters,
21:21and you must live in harmony.
21:23Kalia looked at me,
21:24her eyes filled with undisguised hatred.
21:26Sister certainly has talent.
21:28Your mother has been dead only three days,
21:30yet you could not wait to enter the palace,
21:32auctioning yourself to fund her burial rates
21:34and playing the object of pity to win sympathy.
21:37What a fine performance.
21:38And I wonder whether your mother,
21:40knowing your conduct,
21:41could rest in peace.
21:42I glanced toward the queen.
21:43She had just finished speaking of harmony,
21:45and Kalia had immediately begun to mock me,
21:48showing no regard for the queen's face whatsoever,
21:50and clearly meaning to establish her authority over me
21:53from the very first moment.
21:54That Kalia moved so quickly to mock me
21:56meant my earlier actions
21:57had already caused her considerable distress.
22:00Because I had first donated 40,000 drachmas to the treasury,
22:03and then sent in nearly 10,000 drachmas worth
22:06of the dowry Creon had given me.
22:08And everyone was praising my loyalty and virtue.
22:10This had placed Kalia in an impossible position.
22:13For as Creon's other daughter,
22:15she faced the same question.
22:16Donate her dowry or not.
22:18And either choice cost her something.
22:21That too was the outcome I had wanted.
22:23I intended for everyone in Creon's household
22:25to know no peace.
22:27The other consorts watched me one by one,
22:29their expressions bright with schadenfreude.
22:32I smiled faintly.
22:33I was no soft target.
22:35And looked coldly at Kalia.
22:37So you do know my mother died only three days ago.
22:40My mother passed,
22:41and you, a daughter of a concubine,
22:44were permitted to take a husband,
22:45so why should I, the legitimate daughter,
22:47not be permitted the same?
22:50Whether my mother can rest in peace I cannot say.
22:52But the concubine who bored you
22:53must be sleeping very uneasily.
22:55The whole world now knows
22:56that so-called second wife of your fathers
22:58is nothing but a kept woman
22:59deceiving herself with a title she was never given.
23:01And you, sister,
23:02will be a daughter of a concubine
23:03for the rest of your life.
23:04That is truly pitiable.
23:07My words drained the color from Kalia's face
23:09because the rumors had already spread
23:11that a concubine-born daughter
23:13had taken the place of the legitimate daughter
23:15as royal consort,
23:16that the king had not visited her chambers
23:19once in three days,
23:20and that she had become a laughingstock.
23:22She was just drawing breath to fire back
23:24when the queen cut across her sharply.
23:26Enough, both of you.
23:30Lyra, remain behind.
23:32The rest of you may withdraw.
23:36Kalia was furious but had no choice,
23:38and she left with the other consorts.
23:41When everyone had gone,
23:42the queen looked at me and said,
23:43Lyra, the king and I are both aware
23:46of the grievances between you and the high archant.
23:48You helped the king today,
23:49and I will remember that debt.
23:51And though I too must be cautious
23:53of the high archant within this palace,
23:55it is within my power to protect you.
23:57In the half-day since I had entered the palace,
23:59the king had already taken my ledger
24:01to the homes of the relevant officials
24:03and pressed them for contributions,
24:05with clear justification,
24:07and those men had found it difficult
24:09to plead poverty any further.
24:10I looked at the queen
24:12and considered her words carefully.
24:13After a long pause, I spoke.
24:16I am grateful for your kindness, my queen.
24:19But between myself and Creon's household,
24:22there is a blood oath without end.
24:25The queen sighed.
24:26Why bring this upon yourself?
24:28You have no power, no allies.
24:31How do you expect to fight?
24:33In the end, the queen had no choice
24:35but to let me withdraw.
24:36On my first day in the palace,
24:38it was understood without question
24:40that I would attend the king that evening.
24:42That was the unspoken custom of the palace.
24:45At the hour of the setting sun,
24:47the king came to my wing of good fortune,
24:49and I stepped forward to greet him.
24:56The king walked to the table and sat down.
24:58I recognized the voice.
25:00It was the same warm, measured voice from the booth that day.
25:03The king's palace steward then withdrew with everyone else,
25:06and I knew the king had something to say.
25:09Lyra, the high archerate came to find me today
25:12and asked me to cost you into the forgotten wing.
25:14The king looked at me and said,
25:16I walked to his side and poured him a cup of wine.
25:20And what did the king say?
25:22I have only recently taken the throne
25:24and the court is unsettled.
25:26If the high archerial supports me,
25:28the council will be stable.
25:30The king finished speaking
25:31and let a troubled expression show,
25:33then picked up the cup and drank.
25:35I smiled at his side.
25:37The king very much wished to agree,
25:38but I had just helped the king,
25:40and moreover had donated 50,000 drake rooms and silver
25:42as provisions for the frontier soldiers
25:44who will all remember that gift.
25:45If the king were to punish me now,
25:47not only would the frontier soldiers feel the cold of it,
25:49but all those who do things on the king's behalf
25:51would feel it too.
25:52The king looked at me,
25:53a flash of surprise passing through his eyes.
25:56Lyra, you are very shrewd.
25:57You have been calculating every step since the auction.
25:59Since you are this shrewd, tell me, did I agree?
26:01I shook my head with complete certainty.
26:03The king would not agree.
26:05The king was curious.
26:06Why not?
26:08Those reasons you gave are not sufficient
26:09to make me refuse the high arpats goodwill,
26:12because I could simply wait six months
26:14until everything has settled
26:15and then find some pretext to cast you into the forgotten wing.
26:19Because the king is the king,
26:21the son of heaven.
26:22The king does not submit to another's will.
26:26Kriam's help resolves one crisis,
26:27but what of the second?
26:29And the third?
26:31So the king would not agree.
26:32I finished speaking and looked at the king.
26:35The king said nothing,
26:36and his eyes fixed on me,
26:37cold and still.
26:39And after a long moment,
26:40he suddenly broke into laughter.
26:42Lyra,
26:43if you had been born a man,
26:45I would have made you my chief minister.
26:47I could see it clearly.
26:48In that one instant,
26:49the king had felt the urge to have me killed,
26:51for a ruler does not tolerate
26:52a shrewd mind dwelling in the inner palace.
26:57Your majesty,
26:58shall we make a bargain?
27:00Speak.
27:01I will help you bring down Kriam.
27:04And when Kriak falls,
27:06I ask the king to let me leave the palace
27:08and take my vows at the shrine of Hestia.
27:11I finished speaking and looked at the king.
27:13I accept.
27:14But do you understand how deeply Kriod is rooted in this court
27:18to speak such bold words?
27:20I nodded.
27:21Kriam was the high archon.
27:22And six of the seven councils fell under his influence.
27:26It was an iron fortress
27:27that even the king could not yet pry open.
27:30Then I will watch and wait.
27:32The king did not waste further words.
27:34After sitting in my chambers for more than an hour,
27:37the king departed,
27:38having clearly stayed long enough to preserve my honor,
27:41so that everyone would believe I had attended him that night.
27:44After entering the palace,
27:46the king came to sit in my chambers every evening
27:49for three days running.
27:50And most of the time,
27:51we played strategy games across a board.
27:54But in the eyes of others,
27:55I was considered deeply favored,
27:57attended every night.
27:58I heard that the wing of green bamboo
28:00had already gone through several sets of ceramic vessels,
28:03smashed in succession.
28:05The wing of green bamboo was Kalia's quarters.
28:07I could see that the king was doing this deliberately
28:09to provoke both Kalia and the man behind her,
28:13Creon.
28:13And indeed on the fourth day,
28:15word came from the archon's estate
28:17that Creon had formally annulled his marriage to my mother
28:20on the grounds that she had been dishonored,
28:22and that from that point forward,
28:24my mother and I had no relation to the house of Creon.
28:26And my mother was to be barred from burial
28:28in the archon's ancestral ground.
28:30I gave a cold laugh,
28:32who wanted anything to do with the archon's ancestral ground.
28:35My mother would find it filthy even to be buried there.
28:37But Creon had made his move,
28:39and I had to answer it.
28:42That same afternoon,
28:44I asked the king to summon Creon and Mara to the palace.
28:46The king was reluctant at first,
28:48but when I told him this move would help him crack open
28:50the civic faction's united front,
28:53he agreed with some reluctance.
28:55I waited in the wing of good fortune for an hour,
28:58and then a palace steward arrived
29:00leading Creon and Mara inside.
29:02In the council hall,
29:03Creon stood second only to the king himself,
29:06and all the stewards and maids bowed and scraped before him.
29:09Creon clearly enjoyed this,
29:11and his expression was one of triumph throughout the walk.
29:14When Creon saw me,
29:15his eyes still carried fury,
29:17but then he smiled.
29:19You called the old man to the palace
29:21to ask for your mother's burial
29:22in our ancestral ground?
29:23I swept a glance over Creon,
29:26then looked at the woman beside him,
29:27Mara.
29:28She was genuinely beautiful,
29:29and Kalia had clearly inherited her looks.
29:33Hi, Archrin.
29:35Such great official dignity.
29:37To not offer a greeting
29:39when standing before the king's concord,
29:41is that contempt for the royal house?
29:43I gave a cold smile.
29:46Creon's face stiffened,
29:47and then he gritted his teeth
29:49and bent into a bow,
29:50while Mara's expression turned equally ugly
29:53as she followed with a reluctant curtsy.
29:55I drew something from my sleeve
29:57and set it on the table beside me,
29:59facing directly toward Creon and Mara
30:01as they bowed.
30:02When Creon straightened
30:04and saw the object on the table,
30:05his face turned the color of iron.
30:07Laia, you are truly insolent.
30:10And Mara, upon seeing it,
30:12went equally pale with barely concealed rage.
30:14But I only smiled
30:16and ran my fingers gently
30:17along the object beside me.
30:19It was my mother's mourning tablet,
30:21small enough to be carried close to my body
30:23and smuggled into the palace.
30:25And Creon and Mara had just bowed,
30:27which was the same as bowing to my mother,
30:29and that was why they were so furious.
30:31I simply enjoy speaking to my mother's tablet
30:33in my leisure.
30:34How is that insolent?
30:36The High Archman is welcome to explain himself.
30:39Creon was too enraged to form words,
30:41and Mara spoke up in his place.
30:43You made my lord bow to that creature.
30:45Does she deserve it?
30:46What business does a kept woman have
30:49questioning anything concerning my mother?
30:52Someone come!
30:53Royal Consort Mara has shown disrespect to me.
30:57Thirty strokes across the face.
30:58Who dares?
30:59The stewards and maids in the room indeed
31:01did not dare step forward,
31:03and Mara looked at me with triumphant contempt.
31:06I rose from my seat and walked forward.
31:09I dare.
31:10And struck Mara hard across the face myself.
31:13And he raised his hand to strike me.
31:15How dare you!
31:17High Archman, think carefully.
31:20If that hand comes down,
31:21it is the same as striking the face of the royal house,
31:24and your honor will be destroyed in a single moment.
31:27I fixed him with an icy stare.
31:31Creon had spent his entire life guarding his honor.
31:34He would never break that code for the sake of a kept woman.
31:38Creon trembled with fury from head to foot,
31:40but the hand never fell,
31:42and I turned and struck Mara across the face a second time.
31:46My hand was strong,
31:47and Mara had lived a pampered life.
31:49Two strikes from me sent her crumpling to the floor,
31:52stunned and unable to speak.
31:53Laia,
31:54I have more than enough methods to make you beg for death and be refused it.
31:58In the past,
31:59I held back out of what little regard I still had for the tie of blood between us.
32:03But today,
32:04you have humiliated me like this,
32:06and I will not let it pass.
32:07High Archman,
32:09the moment you drove my mother to her death,
32:12a blood oath was sworn between us,
32:16without end.
32:18Less than half an hour after Creon left with Mara,
32:21a pile of formal accusations before the council had been sent to the king's war chamber.
32:26That evening, the queen came to my courtyard.
32:28Walk with me to the shrine of Hestria,
32:30and bring your mother's mourning tablet.
32:32The shrine of Hestria was a small sanctuary within the palace,
32:36tucked in one of its more secluded corners,
32:38set aside for consorts who wished to observe rites of prayer and offering.
32:42I carried my mother's mourning tablet,
32:44and followed the queen to the shrine of Hestria,
32:46where she offered incense first,
32:48and then turned to speak to me.
32:49Leave your mother's mourning tab here in the shrine of Hestria.
32:53Palace law forbids the keeping of private mourning shrines.
32:56I nodded.
32:58Laia,
32:59this time you have gone too far.
33:01The king must discipline you.
33:04The queen spoke plainly.
33:07I nodded again.
33:09I had already prepared myself for this,
33:11and today was my mother's seventh day of mourning,
33:13and I had done what I did for her sake.
33:15The queen saw my composure and sighed.
33:17Fortunately, your earlier acts of virtue counted in your favor,
33:20and I have also spoken to the king on your behalf.
33:23So this time the punishment will be light.
33:26A rep remained and the copying of sacred texts.
33:29Lyra,
33:30I can see from the way you carry your mother's mourning tablet
33:33how deep the bond between you was.
33:35Your mother's spirit would not wish you to take such risks.
33:38I looked at the queen.
33:40My queen need not trouble herself to dissuade me.
33:43A blood oath has been sworn without end.
33:47Look at those young palace maids.
33:49The queen sighed again,
33:50and she pointed toward the garden outside.
33:52I followed the direction of her gesture and looked out.
33:56A group of young palace maids were tending the garden flowers at the edge of the shrine,
34:00pulling weeds from the beds.
34:02And perhaps because the shrine of Hestia was so deep within the palace and consorts rarely came,
34:07the maids had grown bold,
34:09working and playing at the same time,
34:11their laughter carrying across to where we stood.
34:13This palace is full of darkness,
34:16full of that which devours people whole,
34:18but there is also hope and quiet ease.
34:20If you can wait one year until everyone has forgotten you,
34:24I can ask the king to release you from the palace,
34:26and you can find some place to live in peace.
34:29I looked at the queen and asked the question that had been in my mind.
34:32Why are you doing this for me?
34:36From my very first day in the palace,
34:38I had sensed that the queen regarded me differently.
34:41And now she was even speaking of sending me away from the palace.
34:44That was not something a queen should say.
34:47The queen smiled.
34:48You may not believe me when I hear it,
34:50but I see in you the defiance I always wanted for myself,
34:54that ferocity willing to fight against everything.
34:56I spent my whole life serving my family and the king,
34:59and could only ever be the queen,
35:01but you are different.
35:02You can have far more than that.
35:04I turned her words over in my mind all the way back.
35:07And when I reached the wing of good fortune,
35:09I found Kalia waiting at the entrance to my courtyard with her attendants.
35:13Lyra, you vile creature!
35:16Kalia lunged toward me the moment she saw me,
35:18though her maids held her back.
35:20My lady, you are too precious to lower yourself to a direct confrontation with her.
35:24My lady, calm yourself.
35:25The High Archal has already rallied the council members
35:28to submit formal accusations against her.
35:30The voices of those around her gradually brought Kalia back to her senses.
35:33I looked at Kalia.
35:34Would you like to know what a strike across the face feels like as well?
35:37You think you can rely on the king's favor?
35:39I am telling you now,
35:40I will take every last drop of that favor from you.
35:43Just you wait.
35:44Kalia finished speaking,
35:45and swept away with her maids and stewards
35:47in a great show of fury.
35:49Word spread afterward that Kalia had gone on her own initiative
35:52to the king's war chamber with a bowl of warm broth.
35:55In the past, this would have been unthinkable.
35:57Kalia had always held herself above the other consorts
36:00because of her standing as the High Archon's daughter
36:03and had looked down on them for sending the king nourishing gifts and broths,
36:07calling it fawning.
36:08Yet now here she was,
36:10doing the very same thing she had once despised,
36:12only she had not anticipated that the king still came to my courtyard that evening.
36:18The king tossed a pile of formal accusations before the council onto the table.
36:22I will give you a chance to explain yourself.
36:25I picked up one of the documents,
36:27scanned the contents,
36:29and then smiled.
36:30Today the king has at least seen clearly how much reach Krayon has in the council.
36:35These officials submitted accusations against the king's own consort
36:38for the sake of Krayon's kept woman,
36:41the king said.
36:42I do not need you to tell me that.
36:44I smiled.
36:45Before the assembly convenes tomorrow,
36:47I ask the king to issue one more royal edict,
36:51summoning Krayon and Mara to my wing of good fortune,
36:54with the message that I wish to offer them a formal apology.
36:58You are retreating this quickly?
37:00The king jaced.
37:01Does the king think Krayon will come?
37:04Most likely not.
37:05Krayon is the head of the civic faction.
37:08After suffering such a humiliation,
37:09he could never let it rest and he will certainly refuse.
37:12If you already know he will refuse,
37:14why ask me to issue the edict?
37:15Because if the king issues the edict
37:17and he does not come,
37:18that is defiance of a royal command.
37:21But to avoid the charge of defiance,
37:23his only recourse is to claim he is bedridden with sudden illness
37:26and unable to enter the palace.
37:28And then?
37:29A man confined to his bed with sudden illness
37:32is naturally in no condition to attend the assembly.
37:35So tomorrow in the council hall,
37:37those civic officials will be without their leader.
37:40And the king as sovereign will have room to act.
37:43The king shook his head.
37:45That will not work.
37:46Those officials are not fools.
37:48With Krayon absent,
37:49they will simply play ignorant
37:50and I cannot have them executed.
37:53The king cannot execute them.
37:54But the king can refuse to adjourn the assembly.
37:57And tomorrow,
37:58the king can simply defly to dismiss the session
38:01until the goal was achieved.
38:03I do not believe they can hold out indefinitely.
38:06The king paused,
38:08then let out a short laugh.
38:09That is genuinely underhanded.
38:11It has never occurred to me to try something like this.
38:14Because the king is an upright man by nature.
38:17But sometimes,
38:19a little shamelessness goes quite a long way.
38:21The king is an upright man by nature.
38:23The king is an upright man by nature.
38:23The king is an upright man by nature.
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