Before the convocation, when he went to meet Pascal with Quintus after securing his loan, it was finally time to enact Augustus’ plan. Pascal opened the door and let Yander into the room. He had waited at Pascal’s estate at their behest, with the six barrels full of the kisum spice that remained unsold.

“Greeting Master Augustus,” said Yander, bowing his head down in reverence, “and Pascal, and Quintus.”

“Have a seat,” said Augustus. Pascal pulled a chair from the table and offered him the place to sit. Once he was seated, Augustus didn’t waste any time. “I will be buying the rest of the kisum, for sixty gilden.”

“You’ll be buying it personally?” asked Yander, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Do you wish to make me a party to embezzlement?”

“No. I simply wish to close the account of the expedition. It is in the best interests of the family. You aren’t privy to this information, because you aren’t a member of the family, but our coffers are dangerously empty.”

Yander looked from Augustus to Pascal for reassurance. Pascal nodded.

“Besides,” continued Augustus, “It will be a known purchase for anyone to see. I make no attempt to hide the transaction, I have brought two witnesses from the family. Let me be clear, my intention is not to enrich myself, it is only to aid my family.”

“Very well. I have no choice but to accept your offer,” said Yander with a nod.

It was a good price. Augustus had tracked the offers and he knew he was offering a premium. In all likelihood, Augustus would take a personal loss from this transaction, unable to sell the kisum at the price he purchased it, a loss he felt was more than worth it.

“Good,” said Pascal. He went to a cabinet and brought back the parchment contracts already filled out. “Here are the contracts.”

They both signed, with Pascal as the witness, and Augustus handed over almost all of his gold. “You brought the ledger, correct?” asked Augustus. At the affirmative response, he continued, “Then close out the account now, so that I can be paid out my share and we can take the gilden to the manse to be directly deposited into the family coffers.”

The most important part of Augustus’ plan was timing. Pascal brought him an abacus, then they watched as Yander got out the ledger and began his calculations right there in front of them. Quintus double-checked the math and once the ledger was verified they went immediately to the manse. Augustus got seventy gilden returned and the family trust received one hundred and thirty gilden.

Augustus could have immediately gone to the Sentellius estate to square away his debt, if he wanted, but there was no benefit for him to pay it off early. Instead, he returned to Pascal’s estate to begin sending out his bribes, targeting those Pascal had researched were weak links in Giovannus’ base of support. The people that were unhappy when their loans ceased after the raid.

During the convocation, just before they were set to go on stage, Augustus paid Cladius his fee.

“All the kisum has been sold,” said Augustus, “here is your coin.”

Cladius accepted with a wide smile. “I told you I’d get the job done.”

When they walked on stage, Cladius appeared overly friendly, chit-chatting with him with a friendly smile in full view of the audience. Perfect, thought Augustus. He made sure not to return the friendly attitude, just showing confidence. He intended it to appear to the audience as if Cladius knew Augustus would win in the end and tried to curry favour.

It was strange to Augustus how he felt. As he listened to Giovannus speak a pit grew in his stomach and a chill ran down his spine. Giovannus had a convincing speech, but that wasn’t the cause of that sensation. Augustus’ leg shook and even though he had just urinated, he could feel the pressure in his bladder, he wanted to leave the stage and run but knew how terribly that would look. The speech was good, emphasizing what Augustus knew were the strongest points. But, it was quite predictable. Everything went as he thought it would. The payout to the family as soon as Giovannus learned that Augustus secured a loan, the emphasizing of that payment in his speech and the value of his mentor Marcus. Augustus felt confident but he felt like running away, a contradiction he didn’t readily understand.

Giovannus finished speaking to a silent audience. He could see the uncertain faces in the crowd, fearful of making the wrong decision. He could see the empty seats of family members out on expeditions or just visiting another city. Despite that, he remained confident in his groundwork. He closed his eyes and took deep breathes to calm himself before standing and heading to the podium. He meant to show confidence, but the pace of his heartbeats was quickened. Until he saw Marielle in her seat, staring up at him. Their eyes locked and he felt her belief in him come through the eye contact. She trusted in him and his abilities, whether genuine or because of necessity, being the only light of hope to cling onto, she relied on him to resolve this situation. Somehow, looking into her eyes settled his nerves and slowed his heartbeat.

“Thank you Giovannus,” Augustus began, “for bringing up the matter of the payment, those gilden that were handed out so recently. That truly is the most important matter. I could talk about our father’s death, your temperament as head of the family, or matters in the north, but, in the end, it doesn’t matter, does it? The matter that truly commands the votes is the payments. And you have given out a generous payment. I collected it yesterday, a whole sixteen gilden. It doesn’t make up for the payments that were missed, but still, it is good to have gold in hand. But I find it strange how you act as if that payment was given out through your own achievement.”

Augustus looked back, first at Giovannus, who returned a confused look, then at Pascal, who had a delightful smile.

“See, it was two days ago that the Maysian expedition account was finally closed. And in that closing, one hundred and forty gilden were put into the family trust’s coffers. You would have us take it as a mere coincidence that so soon after those gilden were available that payment was issued? You must have smiled to see that gilden come in, your chance to send out a bribe now that your stewardship is being scrutinized. But, the members of this family aren’t so easily fooled. Under your leadership, dear brother, our business is being led to ruin and still you stand up on this stage and speak lies! That is the most egregious sin. To lie here is unforgivable, to not show us the information that we need to make a proper decision. At the least, he should be removed if only to have this investigated without his interference.”

In truth, Augustus didn’t know the financial state of the business. As far as he could tell from the ledger stolen from Giovannus’ estate, everything was appropriate. He only suspected a second ledger that hid the true details. But the truth didn’t matter here, what mattered was how things appeared. The timing of the payment was too much to be ignored. Giovannus’ actions looked deceitful and desperate, a fatal combination.

“You say you’ve made investments but our father made investments too. Take my wife’s homeland for example. He put a heavy weight of gilden into that port, building that road, and arranging my marriage with her and yet still managed to pay the family reasonably. What grand investment have you made that is so draining? Even if it is as you say, all our ports are being expanded as we sit here, how was that good governance? We should always have coin on hand to deal with bad fortune and to take advantage of new opportunities. Even in your lies, you show your incompetence. Now, before my brother gets to respond and call me a liar as his defence, I shall mention that I have proof. The ledger was shown to Pascal and Quintus, signed and dated. They have been showing it around to those who will look at it. Just look around you and see the nodding heads of those who have seen it.”

Augustus paused to allow the audience to do just as he asked. He could hear the faint whispers in the crowd as they confirmed the validity of his statement. Augustus leaned forward, placing his weight on the podium, ready to address the next issue when the room quieted again.

“As for the matter of Marcus, I can’t deny that I had him disposed of. Nor do I want to. He betrayed our family, and not just there on the island, leaving the family exposed to retribution from the Senate but, as you all know, a deeper betrayal even before he left. I will not apologize for punishing that transgression.” Augustus left the specifics unsaid. After his father sent Marcus away and denounced Giovannus as his preferred heir, everyone knew something strange had happened. It was sudden enough to have been instigated by something specific. They had surely all heard rumours and here he was, standing before them, all but confirming them as true without hinting at which of the rumours were true.

“I know he had influence with the Inu-tok peoples, but that was a price I was willing to pay. Besides, what is in the past is in the past. He is dead. We must look to the future. The question that is relevant now is whether Giovannus is fostering trade with the Inu-tok people. I would say he isn’t. Why else would our finances be so strained? He has been fumbling the negotiations and spending gold to make up for his incompetence. He has experience and training from Marcus, but so what? He is like a smith with a great lineage and training, but still produces goods of terrible quality. Will you continue to be his patron when he totes his training and experience, or will you accept that despite all advantages, he simply has no talent and will never excel. His training and experience are not a boon, but a testament to his ineptitude.”