Chapter 17 Voice of the Lotus

❄Snow❄

Snow went straight to her mother’s bedchambers. Without even knocking she pulled on the ring of the large imposing door. Her mother was standing at the magical table on the right side of the room. A blue light repeatedly emitted from the table. When Snow approached, she saw her mother working on the same frostblade from before. The icy weapon grew and shrank depending on where she hovered her hands. That weapon was now the closest thing her mother had to a hobby, or rather, it was an obsession these days.

“How was your day with Lazarus?” Her mother’s words matched the emotionless look on her face. It was no mystery that she was still upset about that botched meeting.

“It was…eventful, I went ahead and told him about the investment. He agreed to give you the deed for the old mage guild property for free.” Snow declared the statement with a hint of pride, hoping her mother would be somewhat proud of the good news. There was a pause in her mother’s motions before she resumed her work and responded.

“For free?” She questioned, as the blade vibrated, seemingly growing in response to her words before she forcefully shrunk it back down.

“Yes Mother, for free. Not only that, but Lazarus and I made a plan to get the council votes.”

“Did you now?” Her mother stopped her work on the blade and turned to give Snow her undivided attention.

“Let’s hear this ‘plan.’” Her voice was no longer cold as the tundra, but the dryness was hardly an improvement.

“Lazarus said there’s three people that were swayable to turn for a majority vote in your favor: Mage Councilor Augnem, Knight Councilor Harper, and Head Councilor Frederick.”

“Those three are swayable?” Her mother asked, the laughter in her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Tell me Snow, how do we sway such men?”

“We asked Lussuria if she would be willing to negotiate with Augnem with your passage and permission. Considering that the mage guild over there respects her enough to go through the trouble of personally inviting her to join, not to mention the mage guild tends to be neutral in political affairs, it should be no issue. Lussuria has agreed to lend her assistance in that matter.

For Harper: Lazarus stated that we have potential revealing information in our care that can be used to sway him. Lazarus would take care of it once he received the information.

Lastly, for Frederick: Frederick should pass the vote if he is left as the tiebreaker.”

Her mom clasped her chin in a gesture that would have suggested deep thought, if not for the expression of heavy mockery on her face. Her next words reinforced the feelings that were so plainly visible.

“So, this plan entails sending Lussuria all the way to the Mountaineer kingdom to swoon over a foreign branch of a guild she doesn’t even like, give Lazarus confidential information so he can blackmail Harper and pray that Frederick votes ‘yes’ as a means of rationality.” Each word was drenched in sarcasm, which was bolstered by the mocking the clapping of her hands, as if in praise. But she was not yet done twisting the knife. “Excellent. I shall rest easy now knowing that this troublesome matter will be taken care of.”

“…Mother, it’s the best plan we have.” Snow sighed, the small amount of pride she had been killed under her mother’s mockery.

Her mother turned back to the mystical table and resumed her work in silence. A few moments passed, filled only with the sound of shifting ice before she spoke again.

“I have faith Lussuria will convince the Mage Councilman. As for Knight Councilman Harper…you can probably find some information on him. He has so many properties I doubt even he would even know specifics of each one. However, the problem is by far the head councilor.

“Why would he be the problem?”

“Frederick used to be the guild master of the merchant guild.”

“Merchant guild? There’s no such thing.”

“Exactly.”

“Oh…what happened to it?”

“I abolished it. It was one of my first orders as High Queen actually.” A bitter smile flashed across her mother’s face at those words.

“Why would you do that? A merchant guild would grant you nearly as much wealth as the banking guilds do.”

Her mother shook her head as a grimace formed on her face.

“The merchant guild funded my enemies during the war. The banking guilds funded me. That’s all there was to it.”

“Maybe you can offer to reinstate the merchant’s guild, to incentivize him? That should get his vote and get us more revenue at the same time.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“The siege of that kingdom. We could have avoided so much bloodshed if he just gave me the information I needed. But the stubborn fool refused all the way to the end. All for one man’s ego.” Her expression twisted, as the unpleasant memories flashed in her mind, and she gritted her teeth. The frost blade that laid on the table started to vibrate violently as spikes began to grow out of it haphazardly.

“Well, it sounds like you have an ego of your own if you still can’t let go of it after all these years.”

The blade settled down, as silence filled the air. Her mother flashed her a glance from over her shoulder.

“Best watch your words, girl.”

“I’m just saying! It’s going to be a definite no if you can’t give him something relevant. And aren’t you the one who told me not to have emotional outbursts?”

Her mother turned her way fully, pointing the sword at her.

“You have no idea, zero. Of the atrocities of those times. If you did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Snow took a step back putting her hands up. “Okay ill just… be quiet then.”

The sword her mother was holding slid forward nearly out of her grasp before she gripped it again. It was a subtle movement but a noticeable one, and based on her mothers reaction, Snow saw it. Her mother looked surprised for a moment before quickly lowering the weapon and defaulting her face back to normal.

“Mother, what was that?” Snow looked at the sword and back at her hands.

“Nothing.. you know what, fine, I’ll forgive his blind patriotism and let him reinstate his damn guild. It would provide more needed job positions, which fits into my other plans. Use that as a counteroffer if needs be.”

“But you didn’t answer my-“

“Their kingdom will be having another big council meeting soon. I will arrange passage for you and Lussuria to visit. Considering recent events, it is not safe for any of us to be traveling officially; too many people would need to be notified. You two will be going in secret accompanied by three Lotus guards. You leave tomorrow.” Her mother’s words had a note of finality to them, Snow was just shocked at everything her mother just said.

“Wait, what, okay I guess? But who will be the one to speak to mediator Frederick? Are you sending Brutus?”

“You will.” Her mother declared before adding “You will also speak to Harper.”

“Me? I can’t negotiate?” Snow exclaimed, shocked at the very idea of her being the voice of her mother.

“What’s the issue? Lussuria must go over there to talk to Augnem, and you will go with her. Your job will be to speak with Harper and Frederick on my behalf. I am not going to trust Lazarus to do that.” But that still didn’t answer Snow’s question, not to mention that sword that her mother seemed to be gripping tightly and away from her now.

“Lussuria can negotiate with the other two if you don’t trust Lazarus! I don’t mind accompanying her but why must I be the one to do the talking?!” The queen finally lost patience with Snow’s questioning.

“I won’t have Lussuria correcting your mishaps! You botched the meeting, you opened your mouth, and now it’s time for YOU to fix YOUR mistakes!” Her mother shouted. She stood with a huff of irritation, then opened a drawer beside her and pulled out some keys, holding them out to Snow.

“The archives are right next door. Mountaineer Kingdom, third aisle, box two, Sir Harper. Find them and bring them here. This is your last chance to prove you are a part of this family Snow. Complete your task.”

Snow was just overwhelmed by all this information. When she took hold of the keys her eyes glanced down her mothers side, at the blade. Her mother responded by holding it behind her leg out of view.

“Did I make that sword move?” Snow asked directly.

“Don’t be ridiculous. How could you do such a thing without activating your blood. I told you the sword is volatile. Go and get the files now. I assume you know how to distinguish discrepancies with reported revenue considering your specialty in sabotaging monetary affairs.”

Her mother had left with the sword to allow her to work in peace. Snow had laid out a bunch of files on the floor like a map in her mother’s room.

Soon, the one box she brought turned into two, then three then ten. Her mother came back to check on her when day turned into night.

“If I didn’t know better, I would assume you were committing an investigation on more than one man. Did you find anything useful?” Her mother asked as she entered the room, stopping just before the map of papers.

Snow had papers, folders and the scrolls all laid out in spiraling and interconnecting lines, like an absurd fusion of a whirlpool and spider’s web.

“Mom, I was looking at Sir Harper’s files and do you know he has ties to the mercenary guild?” Snow gathered a bunch of papers together, before flipping through them to a specific one and showing it to her mother.

“Yes, I know he does.” The queen confirmed, barely looking at the piece of paper that was practically thrust into her face.

“The mercenary guild charges up front and in gold; Sir Harper is extremely wealthy and owns several establishments that don’t deal in credit and writes most things off as undescribed expenses. He recently reported an increase in his lumber businesses but the official council spending on building material has lessened, not increased. If there is one group of people that would need wood it would be-” The queen cut her off with a hand on her mouth.

“Snow.” When Snow stopped and looked at her mother, she removed her hand.

“Yes?”

“Forget about what happened in the Old District. It’s over and done with.”

“But Mom, I was told to look at his income and if we just follow the money this could lead to something way bigger-”

“There’s no trail to follow. You’re just fishing for a lead. Just get what you need to get the vote done and that’s it.” Her mother cut her off again, her voice uncompromising, but Snow was undaunted.

“Mom, you are getting this information and letting it collect dust. There’s some corruption going on somewhere. After looking at Harper, I started looking at the other council members. The amount of tax they report is nowhere near equal to the amount of wealth their assets generate. Which means they are lying on the amount of revenue they collect. This isn’t just about the attack. They’re lying on their taxes! There’s no way you’re collecting this information and not seeing it!”

“Right now, the most efficient way to deal with them is to get the vote in our favor. I cannot have Warden Isabella or the Lotus Guard investigating them right now.”

“You said the most efficient way to handle this problem is with wealth, so I looked at just that. I looked at everything, their royal treasury, the banking guild reports and more. Everything looks fine until I get to the Council, whose transactions are barely recorded, and I can’t find what they are spending most of their gold on. Money is going into the Council and basically disappearing! All the while, certain council members and plenty of nobles report increases in revenue. Why do you think that is? Oh wait! I know! It’s because they are stealing their own money! Maybe the declining economy has nothing to do with your decrees and everything to do with their own greed! Their whole argument against your decree is invalidated when the loss of slaves isn’t the leading factor of these trends!?” Despite the increasingly pronounced frown on her mother’s face, Snow couldn’t find it in her to care as she paced around the room.

Her frustrations with this issue dominated her mind. She did all this investigating and there’s more questions than answers. It was particularly annoying for Snow personally, because all the money her mother needed for her project could have already been theirs, if her mother wasn’t so lenient with the taxes. When Snow stopped moving and turned to face her mother properly, the frown on her mother’s face had become a mocking smirk.

Now it was Snow’s turn to frown.

“What’s so funny, mother? Is it funny that money you need has been stolen from you? That they continue to steal from you?” Snow asked, redirecting her frustrations towards the queen.

Her mother responded by walking to her desk and sitting down before speaking to her.

“It's like despite skipping all those lessons, you managed to learn something after all. Now do you see it, the web of issues that plague us? You want to hold them accountable for lying about their taxes? Sure, I’ll send the Lotus Guard over there to investigate. However, which enforcers do you want to take? The ones investigating whatever the elves are up to? How about the ones tracking down stolen relics in the insect marshlands? Or maybe those in charge of deterring the angels off our trade roads? What of the ones here, considering the attacks we just faced? Which problem do I leave alone to solve this tax issue, Snow? Maybe I’ll tell the Mountaineer King and let that boy see just how little I can enforce my taxes on them? Shall I send Warden Isabella, who is currently investigating mass kidnappings, to ask some nobles why they didn’t give a thousand more gold coins than they were supposed to. Do you see our problem now?” Her mother’s voice never changed, but the scathing quality of the words cut into Snow anyway.

“I think I do.” She muttered, cowed as her frustration-fueled anger cooled.

“You think it’s easy to maintain control over nine different realms all while allowing these governments to run with almost full autonomy? We get it done, but it’s not perfect.”

“…Yes Mother.”

“Now, do you see how big an issue it is when I can singlehandedly solve such a large and complicated problem like slavery for an entire realm and that plan gets ruined by a certain little girl who could not hold her tongue nor tantrum.”

Snow now saw the gravity of the deal she had ruined, but still didn’t feel regretful in the slightest.

“I may understand but I still don’t agree. I would never trade away never Mr. Windram’s life for a business deal.”

“Fine, then fix the problem you caused, and it won’t matter. You convinced Lazarus to give us the deed, now we just need those votes. I won’t even ask you to find a way to get the gold, I’ll worry about that myself. Now I hope you’ve got enough information because you and Lussuria leave early tomorrow. I am putting my trust in you one final time Snow; you will be representing our family in a foreign nation-do not forget that. This will be your first-and last-real test if you are worthy of holding any power in this family. Now, it’s getting late: time to call it a night.”

Snow nodded and started to put all the files away.

“Just Leave it, I’ll put it away.”

“Okay…good night, Mother.”

“Good night. “

Snow left but after two steps away from her mother’s room she squeezed her fist and prodded back up to the room in a fit of confidence. When she re-entered, she could see her mom eyeing the papers and the way they were arranged. She interrupted her mother’s examination with her voice.

“When I return with success, I demand an apology.”

Her mother looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“For your disciplining?”

“No, To Windram and his family.”

The side of her mother’s mouth curled up into a smile.

“Sure.”