Fornulus sighed as he stretched his arms out after another tedious afternoon of having scrolls read to him and signing this and that and the other thing. His joints creaked and popped. He was trapped, once again, in the main antechamber of the Doukar's wing of Trigon, doing work with Cordelian. He remembered his father calling him and his brother Braxalus into this very chamber to teach them about ruling. He’d always associated this room with boredom. He was so sick of looking at the damn gold stencil he used to sign his name that he wanted to toss it out of the window. The whole empire was his, yet here he was, inside working on a beautiful day like today.

Meronion had been with them but had stomped off to go yell at some subordinates, leaving the two brothers by themselves. One thing he did like about being Doukar was that Meronion no longer lectured him, instead treated him with respect. He'd commented on it once and she'd told him it was because he was the Doukar, and it wasn't personal. He liked finally getting the respect he deserved.

Vicca had gone into the city early in the morning for a ceremony at the docks, taking the new Decim with her. The little prince wanted to personally oversee her guard as part of his duties as Decim. Fornulus remembered his mother complaining about having to go to the docks all the time too, to ask Oma to make the waters abundant. It seemed dumb to him. Vicca had no control over fish or even shrimp. Now there was a thought, some nice peppered shrimp, bread, tomatoes, olives...

He looked over at Cordelian, scratching away on on his triptytch. No, his brother would say something about work coming first. The lazy late afternoon sun shone through the open windows, making the dust motes in the room shine. Fornulus lost himself in staring at them, the quiet lulling him into almost a doze. It had been a while since he had seen his mother, maybe he should go visit her.

"Your Exaltedness," Cordelian's voice startled him and he jerked upright.

"I wasn't sleeping!"

"Of course not." Cordelian gestured to one of the attending slaves who took a scroll over to Fornulus. "Please sign this so we can begin the acquisition of this lumber for the navy. It is, after all, vital for the defense of the nation, as the Milem forcefully argued."

Fornulus bent over the scroll, which Cordelian had covered with his flowing writing, along with some more angular writing from Meronion. He was pretty sure he recognized a word here and there, but reading had never been his strong suit. He'd never seen the use of it. He didn't intend to be a poet, and there were always servants and slaves to read or write for you. Cordelian loved making his little marks: gifts like wax tablets and styluses and scrolls written hundreds of years ago always went down a treat with Cord.

"Ummm," he looked at the parchment. "At the bottom, like always?"

"Yes, that's right."

Fornulus waited while his slave positioned the stencil at the bottom of the scroll and dipped the reed pen into the ink before handing it to him, being careful not to let her fingers touch Fornulus' gloved ones. Fornulus awkwardly colored in the lines that the stencil left open. He could write his name of course, he wasn't stupid, but there was a whole bit about his titles and his formal approval that he had to fill in every time, and it was a lot easier to do it with the stencil than by hand. Meronion used to complain at him about using the stencil, and he'd heard Euphastolon making some snide comments when he thought Fornulus wouldn't hear.

Vicca had tried to teach him how to write better, but he hardly had any free time now. She was so paranoid, telling him not to sign anything Cordelian gave him without her or Meronion there to read it. Silly thing, what did she think Cordelian was going to do? So fine, Cordelian might pinch a toloi or two from the treasury for himself, well, more power to him. They weren’t hard up for money. Fornulus had always enjoyed the odd prank himself as a boy.

"Is that it yet?" He whined once he was done.

"Yes indeed, Your Exaltedness. Thank you for carrying out this onerous duty to the nation of signing some documents I wrote up for you. All of Dardano thanks you." Cordelian bowed his head. The slave took the scroll back over to him and he began to roll it up.

Fornulus yawned widely. "What are you doing now Cord? I'm probably going to visit mother." Too bad Cordelian's mother was dead, otherwise they could go together.

Before answering Cordelian placed the scroll into a wooden tube and sealed the end with wax, to make sure no one could tamper with it on its way to the primus of Noktios. A tedious woman, and not at all pretty, as Fornulus recalled. Cordelian waved Fornulus' slave off and instead handed the sealed tube to one of his own personal slaves who left with it.

"I was introduced to a rather charming young lady, from an excellent but fiscally restricted family out in the provinces. She's quite beautiful and clever, and just a delight to be around."

Fornulus perked up. He'd always been a fan of charming young ladies. "Tell me more Cord. I thought you weren't interested in girls?"

Cordelian smiled. "I was thinking of introducing her to Pelagius. I'm sure he would be quite smitten with her, and no doubt she would be very eager to make the acquaintance of a member of the royal family, the Decim no less. A gift for his elevation, as it were."

"Wait, Pel, why? He wouldn't even know what to do with a girl like that. He'd just take her to church and splash some of that water on her. It's a complete waste Cord!" Fornulus said.

Wait, was Pel the one who loved the church or was that Nik? Pel was the tall one, right? He must be, as it was the tall one who had gone with Vicca. The churchy one was the one with the potato face.

Cordelian smiled. "Haven't you heard, Your Exaltedness? Pelagius is turning into quite the charmer himself. The ladies of the court find him very attractive – why, they say he's like you. In your youth."

Fornulus sputtered. "In my youth?! I'm young now, thirty-five, I'm in the prime of my life. There's nobody the court ladies like better than me." He hit the table for emphasis.

"Well yes, you are the Doukar," Cordelian said slyly.

"Are you saying that they only like me because I have the crowns?"

Cordelian shrugged, smirking.

Fornulus burst out laughing. "You cheeky little shit! Bring this girl to me, and I'll show you I've still got what it takes to sweep a girl off her feet, as a man, Doukar or not."

"My, my, you're going to steal your younger brother's present?" Cordelian laughed along with him. It felt nice, like old times when they'd just been two brothers getting up to mischief. Well, mostly him or Brax getting up to mischief, and dragging Cord into it. Usually Cord ratted them out to their father, getting a pinch or a slap from Brax for it.

"Well as you pointed out, I'm an old man now, two fingers from the tomb. Any day could be my last, any girl could be my last. But young, strong, handsome Pel, he has so many more chances." Fornulus coughed dramatically. "Oh, I'm not feeling good, must be my age catching up to me, I think I might die any moment now."

"Fine, fine." Cordelian shook his head, cutting him off. "I'll bring her to you, Your Exaltedness. Although, will the Empress approve?"

Fornulus paused. Vicca would probably be angry, wouldn't she?

"Well," Cordelian said, "of course I'm not suggesting that you, the Doukar, need her permission for anything. And of course, as Doukar you can take more than one spouse. I just thought she had ordered you not to play around with other women."

Fornulus drew himself up and out of his chair. "Nobody orders me, not even Vicca. Anyway, I'm not talking about sleeping with the girl. Just having a little fun, a little chat. Who could get angry at a chat?" Cordelian was too well-meaning for his own good. He should learn to live a little.

"An excellent observation, Your Exaltedness. No one could object to something so innocent. Although, if I may be so bold as to impose, I would prefer it if you didn't mention my involvement to the Empress."

"Ha, little Cord scared of Vicca. Don't worry, I won't rat you out like you always did to me. Remember, like the time I stole one of the crowns? Told on me right away you did."

Cordelian groaned. "If I bring the girl to you do you promise to stop bringing that up? It's been over twenty years."

"Now that's an agreement I'll sign happily." Fornulus walked around the table and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Well, let's go meet this charming young lady."

"Right now?" Cordelian grumbled as he collected his things.

"Yes now, move it - your Doukar commands you!"

Fornulus was going to have some fun at last.

The early morning sun was still shining through her Eastern window, but Meronion was already working. She had promised to watch her daughter Doricassian play her harp in the afternoon, so she wanted to finish work early.

She sighed when a servant announced the arrival of the Empress. Vicca was a born meddler, who didn't respect expertise and always thought she knew best. It also wasn't appropriate for the Empress to come to her personal chambers. Did the woman think they were friends now that Meronion had approved of her idea of marriage for Euphastolon?

Meronion stood to greet the Empress when the woman was shown in, while Khristos gathered up scrolls from her desk. No reason to let the Empress see anything she didn't need to. Meronion didn't want to encourage any more meddling.

She completed the formal greetings before asking, in so many words, what the Empress wanted. The other woman sat without being invited to, fussily readjusting her robes, making Meronion wait. She probably thought this was some cunning power play. Meronion just sat down and waited, staring over crossed arms at her. Eventually the Empress spoke.

"Milem, I am concerned about the latest budget proposal."

"What's the problem?" Military spending was a matter for the Doukar to decide, not the Empress, but Meronion decided not to argue the point. Her eye would grow back before Fornulus got off his lazy behind to do anything himself, and mostly she just wanted this conversation to be over so she could get back to her work.

"It is a great deal of money that you are requesting."

"Yes, it is."

Vicca seemed put out by the short answer, but Meronion wasn't interested in explaining herself to some island girl getting drunk on her first taste of real power. She remembered how Vicca had been when she had first come to the palace. Wide-eyed, trembling in fear and excitement, thinking her provincial manners would be acceptable here.

The Empress leant forward to speak more clearly. "Is it necessary to request so much?"

"Yes, it is." Meronion figured she’d get the hint and go away eventually.

Vicca put her hand to her head in frustration, but still attempted to remain polite. "Why is it necessary?"

Meronion tried not to roll her eye. This was exactly the kind of waste of time she didn't need. "Armies are expensive. We must pay the soldiers well and on time unless we want them to desert. Besides, I won't let you pay those brave men and women less than they deserve. They risk their lives to protect us and our way of life and they should get even more than we pay them." She poked her finger down at her desk for emphasis.

"I understand," Vicca said. "I'm not suggesting we impoverish the soldiers. But grain production has been low the last couple of years, so its price has risen dramatically. If we keep spending like this, we may not be able to buy enough for the grain allowance in the capital. The military is the biggest drain on our revenue. I thought we could save money if it was necessary to keep the capital fed."

Meronion frowned as she thought, not answering right away. This was a real issue, Vicca was right. The grain allowance was the daily ration of grain handed out to the noumens in the capital. They needed it to keep the masses happy and fed. Unhappy noumens meant fewer recruits and more of her soldiers tied up in keeping the peace. Soldiers were also more likely to desert or to steal from the locals if their families were starving. Why hadn't Cordelian brought this up at the Kolonai? The grain allowance was the job of the Eukrates. Selfish and ruthless he may be, he took such things seriously. Perhaps he didn’t want to admit to any problems under his watch.

"The navy spends a lot of money," Vicca noted. The woman seemed pleased that Meronion was taking her concerns seriously.

"We need the navy to protect the realm, and to bring the grain into Dardano in the first place. Cutting their budget won't help."

Vicca leaned forward, relaxing. "I've looked at them, but I don't understand the reports the army produces. Aside from the wages, what is the largest expense the military has?"

The Empress was deferring to her expertise for once. Meronion respected that. "Equipment. Weapons, armor, and horses are expensive, but that's another place I won't let you sell them short. Equipment keeps them alive. We need to hire the best smiths, coopers, and carpenters, and buy the best metal and horses for them."

"Wait, I understand that, but why are we buying metal for them? I thought the empire produced the bronze itself."

"We have plenty of copper, but the royal tin mines don't produce nearly enough. We have to buy tin from the patros," Meronion explained.

"We let private individuals own tin mines when we need it? I thought the imperial family owned most of the tin mines," Vicca said, shocked.

Meronion shrugged. "Doukar Kratobolus sold off many of the royal tin mines. He was raising money to buy alliances with Monar, to fight off the Circiniad Crusade."

Vicca struggled to remember when this would have been. "That's not that long, a couple of generations?"

"Kratobolus was the forty-third Doukar, my father's great-uncle. It was the Crusade of the 70s."

"The patros haven't owned them for long. If we took them back, we wouldn’t have to buy tin and could even sell the excess. That would save a lot of money."

"Not if we have to pay the patros a fair price for them." Meronion was starting to like the direction of this conversation.

"Fornulus is the Doukar, why should he have to pay? The whole empire belongs to him."

Meronion leant back and smiled. She had gained a fair bit of respect for the woman. She had a backbone after all.

"I like the idea, but the patros won't," she said.

Vicca chewed her bottom lip. "We'll find a way to make it up to them. Maybe honorary titles or promises of more land out near the borders."

"The Eukrates won't like it." Meronion noted.

The Empress' eyes flashed. "The Doukar rules the Empire, not him."

Meronion inclined her head.

"I’ll raise it to Fornulus." Vicca said. "Will you support me?"

Meronion considered it. It would ruffle many patros feathers and make some enemies for her. But it would be good for the empire and her soldiers. In the end she couldn't care less what those preening ninnies thought, nor Cordelian. They could come complain to her face if they had a problem with her, the cowards.

"I will," she decided.

"We'll need to move fast before the grain allowance becomes a problem."

"Suits me. The faster you move the less chance the patros will have to do anything about it."

They soon reached an understanding. Meronion couldn't wait to see Cordelian's face when he heard about it. It would drop him right in it: many of his closest allies would lose a fortune. They'd blame him for not protecting them. What a shame.

Nikolonium had spent the last several days mulling over his conversation with Ophelion at the church. To clear his head, he had decided to pass the time by studying some theology at the library, which he always found edifying. He was walking down the hallway from the palace library back to his chambers when he heard his name called out.

"Hullo Nik!"

Only another royal would dare address him in such a way, and indeed he turned to see Pelagius some feet down the corridor. Nik went over to him, and Pelagius suggested going to the courtyard just outside the corridor. There were plush chairs set out there for relaxing royals and patros. The early evening was pleasantly cool, and the gentle, flickering light of the tripods was relaxing. Since neither of them had any pressing engagements they had a slave go and fetch them some wine and figs, and soon enough were enjoying themselves outside. Only the chirping of insects and birds around them broke the quiet.

"Something to tell me Pel?" He asked, after they exchanged greetings.

Pel glanced around to make sure nobody was around, but it was just them and their attendants and strigulos, as always.

"Vicca's had an idea." Pel was grinning, eager to share some gossip.

Nik gestured for Pel to continue.

"She's stripping some of the tin mines from the patros, returning them to royal rule. They just announced it earlier today in the Kolonai. Cordelian's livid because it will ruin a lot of his friends. I've never seen him so openly angry in front of other people before."

"What did Meronion say?" Nik asked.

"She backed the Empress. I stayed out of it. Fornulus tried to calm them down – Cordelian was nearly shouting at the two of them."

That surprised Nik, as their older brother was ususally unflappable.

"Meronion supported the Empress?"

"She and Vicca seem to be forming some kind of alliance," Pel said.

He'd always gotten the impression Meronion didn't like Vicca. He wasn't sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, the two of them fighting Cordelian was good, but on the other hand, where did that leave him? It would be harder for him to win Fornulus' ear if Meronion already had it.

Nik said nothing for a while, mulling over this latest development.

"It can't go on like this," Pel said more moodily, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Cordelian and Vicca are escalating their conflict. Cordelian's setting Fornulus up with some floozy to undermine Vicca, and Vicca's attacking Cordelian's allies. They're both hitting each other where it hurts. Something's going to give, soon."

Floozy? She must be the woman he heard about from Ophelion. "What will Cordelian do?" Nik said, thinking Pel was being overly dramatic.

Pel shook his head. "I don't know. I'm going to keep my head down, and I suggest you do the same. No good will come from being dragged into this. Neither of us can do much. Let the older royals fight this one out."

Nik shook his head. "I need to do something."

"Why start now?"

Nik looked at his youngest brother in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Pel sighed and looked around the empty courtyard as if looking for backup. Finally, he continued, reluctantly.

"What do you do Nik? You talk about stopping Cordelian, but I never see you actually do anything."

Nik was offended. "It's not easy. I need to be careful. I can't just blunder around without a plan."

"That's what I'm saying. Be careful and give up on this idea of fighting Cordelian, he's too much for you."

Nik jumped to his feet in indignation. "Now look here little Pel. I have many plans underway you're not privy to. Do you think you're so important that you know everything about my affairs?"

"I know you're all talk." Pelagius shot back angrily, looking up at Nik from his chair. "You don't have the first idea what to do about Cordelian. He's the Eukrates and you're just the Fourth Prince. Once Fornulus' sons come of age you won't even be that. They'll shunt you off to be primus somewhere unimportant, just like our uncles and aunts."

Nik was getting angry now. The position of Decim must have gone to Pel's head if he saw fit to mouth off to his older brother. He tried to think what measures he had taken that he could explain to Pelagius.

"I've been gathering lots of information, making connections," he said, wincing. It sounded weak even to himself.

Pel scoffed.

"What have you done?" Nik asked, looking down at his little brother.

"Nothing," Pel said firmly, "and that's exactly what I plan to keep on doing. I'm going to keep Helastus and Ophelion, and myself, safe by staying out of everyone's way."

"I’ll keep them safe, and better than you!" Nik slammed his palm onto the table. "What happened to you supporting me?"

"So far there's been nothing to support!"

Nik turned around to stride off before he truly lost his temper and said anything he'd later regret.

Pel called after him. "Just leave it Nik. Stay out of this, for all our sakes. You can't do anything."

Nik wanted to shout back, to defend himself, but he couldn't think of what to say. Pelagius was right, he needed to take more action, but he didn't know what to do. Every idea he had he agonized over, over whether Oma would approve and whether it was best for the people. He needed to come up with something, because otherwise Cordelian would have free rein. Vicca was no match for him.