The Storm King

Trajan hated the feeling of powerlessness that he felt when thinking about Justin Isynos and his absurdly powerful companions. It would be nigh-impossible to have all of them tailed, not to mention extraordinarily dangerous. A seventh-tier mage could easily detect someone following them if they were attentive and observant enough, and they would then be able to kill those following them with ease. They might not be able to do so in public, but Trajan wasn’t going to risk sending his knights to keep watch over Justin and his people.

However, time was critical, he had to get his surveillance established while Justin was still settling in to the city. Unfortunately, he didn’t think his knights were up to the task. When it came to killing monsters and defending the borders from hostile states, Trajan thought his knights unmatched in all the Kingdom, but for such delicate work as spying and surveillance, they were possessed of only limited expertise.

To that end, Trajan could only turn to one man: The Royal Spymaster, Sir Publius Umber. He had been appointed to his post by King Julius, and to Trajan’s knowledge, hadn’t overtly supported either August or Octavius.

In fact, neither had the other two of the top three officials within Julius’ government—Tacitus, the Chancellor, and Laurus, the Chief Steward—publicly declared for either of the two Princes. Still, as useful as these latter two could be in this situation, Trajan wanted to keep his investigation tight and need-to-know only, so he decided to only contact Publius.

So, after passing his duties off to Minerva for an hour or two just in case anything came up that needed attention, he left his office and made his way over to the Spymaster’s wing of the Royal Palace.

Many thought of the Spymaster as being a master manipulator, a dark mage that used strange rituals and even took the risk of projecting his own magic body outside of his physical body to spy on the entire Kingdom, all from a secret dungeon beneath the Royal Palace or some other confidential location. The truth, however, was much less dramatic. Publius Umber was a bureaucrat, a paper pusher that had more in common with accountants than with a stereotypical spy. After all, most of the ‘spies’ who worked for him were accountants.

The Spymaster’s office was in a wing of the palace separate from the main administration building where the throne was located. It was as nondescript as a wing of the Royal Palace could be, and if Trajan didn’t know any better, he would’ve guessed it was nothing more than a guest house or something of an equally boring nature. In reality, it was a much more boring building than most thought, as it was filled with tax records, census data, copies of intercepted messages—most of it utterly worthless—and other such paperwork that made it almost worse than a more stereotypical headquarters for a master of spies.

Trajan made his way toward the front door, with one of his assistants hurrying forward to open it for his Prince. However, the door swung open just as the assistant reached for the door handle, and out came Octavius and his own entourage of assistants and secretaries which for once didn’t include either of the Paladins in his corner.

“Uncle!” Octavius cried out in surprise as his mouth turned upward in a bright smile. “What a coincidence!”

“Indeed, Octavius,” Trajan responded as he smiled at his nephew. “I wasn’t expecting to run into you so soon.” Since their time in court had ended not even an hour before, Trajan had thought that both August and Octavius would’ve done like him and returned to their offices to take care of their last bits of business for the day.

“Ah, well I wanted to speak with some of the Spymaster’s investigators regarding a recent incident in the Duchy of Aurelianorum,” Octavius explained.

“I assume you mean that team of investigators that were sent to look for signs of Silverleaf production? The ones that were wiped out by a group of bandits?” Trajan asked, his eyes narrowing as he remembered how much Silverleaf had been moving through Ariminium under his watch, and how likely it was that an exceptionally powerful noble was somehow involved.

“The very one,” Octavius responded. “I simply wanted to know how the investigation was proceeding. Such lawlessness in our Kingdom is something that a Prince-Regent ought to concern himself with, no?”

“It is,” Trajan replied. “All those of the Royal Bloodline ought to be concerned when the King’s own knights are killed in a vassal’s territory. Some might think the Crown is weak if such things aren’t punished…”

“Indeed. Do you have some business with the Spymaster?” Octavius asked curiously as he tried to deflect the conversation. “Whatever it is, it must be important for you to come all the way here, Uncle. Perhaps I could help as well?”

“It’s nothing too important, I just ran out of work and decided to handle this myself,” Trajan responded. “I guess I’ve picked up some micromanaging habits in my time as a Consul that I need to drop.”

“Mm, micromanaging is hardly the worst trait for a Prince and a Consul,” Octavius countered.

“It can sometimes get in the way, though,” Trajan replied. “Not always the worst thing to trust your subordinates to do their jobs.”

“Well, I should let you get to it, but if Sir Umber is unable to help, please don’t hesitate to call upon me,” Octavius said as he started walking back toward the main palace building.

Trajan sighed as he watched the Second Prince walk away. He didn’t know the real reason why Octavius had been here, but he also wasn’t in the mood to investigate, not when Justin Isynos was still running around completely unhindered in the center of the Kingdom’s power. He turned and walked into the Spymaster’s headquarters.

Several minutes later, Trajan was led into Publius’ office, where the Spymaster was going through a few reports on his desk. As soon as the Prince walked in, though, Publius set aside the papers and hurriedly stood up, saying, “Your Highness! What a pleasure to see you here!” The Spymaster bowed and waved his secretary out of the room so that he and the Prince could speak privately. He was under no illusions that whatever Trajan had come all this way unannounced for wasn’t something he wanted anyone else to know about, even the tight-lipped employees of the Spymaster’s department.

As the two men sat down in armchairs by a hearth, Publius made some meaningless small talk while he made sure his enchantments preventing all sound from leaking were working properly, as he did for every visitor he received. The walls of his office had been so heavily enchanted to prevent outside surveillance that the air within the office became almost twice as dense with magic as the air outside of it.

While the Spymaster was doing this, Trajan sat silently in his chair and took stock of the man. He was of about average height, with short dark brown hair and light brown eyes. His jawline was relatively weak, as was his chin, but his cheeks were wide, and his nose was long with a prominent hook. He was fairly thin, had a weak sixth-tier aura indicating his recent ascension, and his dark grey clothes were modest and monochrome. All in all, he was a man with average looks and Trajan would have a hard time picking him out in a crowd without some thorough inspection with his magic senses.

All that being said, though, his mind was anything but average. He could take one look at the tax statement of a noble and be almost always able to tell if the noble wasn’t paying their share. He had a gift with numbers, and no irregularities that could indicate illegal activity escaped his notice.

“… but it ended up being a warm day, anyway, so I brought the coat for nothing!” the Spymaster said with a smile. Trajan politely chuckled but he had no idea what Publius had been talking about, as it had been so boring it was almost impossible to pay attention. “So, anyway, what brings you out here, Your Highness?” Publius asked once his quick inspection of the defensive wards was over.

“Hmm,” Trajan hummed in thought. It had been a difficult decision to decide where to start, and he hesitated a bit before beginning. But he couldn’t wait forever, and Publius stared at him patiently waiting for the Prince to get around to his sensitive business.

“No need to rush, Your Highness,” Publius said with a soothing smile. “If there is anyone who is able to keep a secret, it’s me, so rest assured that anything we talk about will be kept confidential.”

“I appreciate it,” Trajan said. He had intended to make that clear himself, but he was grateful that Publius said it first. “I need information on a foreign noble currently in the employ of one of the Regents,” Trajan finally said.

“Which one?” Publius asked. Each of the Prince-Regents had hundreds of nobles in their service, and there were more than thirty nobles in both camps who were not born in the Bull Kingdom.

“Justin Isynos,” Trajan stated.

“Justin Isynos?” Publius repeated as he leaned back in his chair. “A popular man, I just had a request come in yesterday for information about him…”

“Who made that request?” Trajan asked.

“Someone in Prince Octavius’ office. His people have made similar requests for information on just about everyone within Prince August’s employ, just as Prince August’s people have requested information on Prince Octavius’ subordinates,” Publius answered. He shrugged his shoulders and half-smiled half-grimaced at Trajan as if he were asking the elder Prince what he could do. “As Lord Isynos’ was one of the last of the men whose information was requested, his name naturally sticks out to me.”

“Did you give either of them any of their requested information?” Trajan asked exasperatedly.

“Only what I’m authorized to give them,” Publius replied. “There’s a lot I had to keep confidential, though, things that are either of a personal nature or restricted by the King’s regulations.”

Trajan knew that many of those who were with August and Octavius were members of the government, and a lot of their activities would be kept secret. There were also strict regulations dictating what the Spymaster could share with people other than the King. Julius had access to whatever information he wanted in the Spymaster’s possession, but the same could not be said for anyone else in the Kingdom. Privacy was always a sensitive topic, and the King didn’t want to alienate the powerful people in the Bull Kingdom by allowing his Spymaster to spread their secrets.

Of course, most of those powerful people would’ve preferred if the Spymaster didn’t look for those secrets, but since many of those secrets involved violating the law, there had yet to be a case made that convinced Julius or any previous Bull King to restrict what information could be collected.

“What kind of information did they ask for?” Trajan inquired.

“Standard fare, basically anything they could get,” Publius answered. “Records of how well he administered Calabria were of particular interest to them, but personal details, family records, and anything I could tell them about where he came from were also sought.”

“I assume that you didn’t pass most of that along,” Trajan said.

“Correct, Prince Octavius’ people only have a few things from his time as Exarch of Calabria that I gave them, aside from the information that is already available to Prince Octavius as a Prince-Regent such as the bureaucratic records of his time in Calabria,” Publius confirmed. “What are you looking for in regards to Justin Isynos?”

“Everything,” Trajan stated. “I want to know everything that you know about the man. Will you give me this information?”

“Why do you want it?” Publius asked.

“Does it matter?” Trajan replied.

“It does, I can’t give sensitive information, not even to you, without direct authorization from the reigning Monarch,” Publius said.

“In that case, what does my motivation matter? My Royal Brother is currently busy with his training.”

“I do have… some discretion when deciding what constitutes ‘sensitive’ information,” Publius said with a smile. “I rarely give over anything without His Majesty’s approval, but if I find that the motivations of the requester are pure and honorable, perhaps I might bend my current definitions…”

Trajan was silent for a long moment as he contemplated what exactly to say. He was already determined to keep his cards close to his chest, but he also wanted that information. The key thing was that he didn’t want to say too much and stir up trouble for himself and for Leon if Publius couldn’t give him anything of value.

“I consider you an honorable man, Your Highness,” Publius said as Trajan sat in contemplation. “I want to help you, but I need a reason.”

“I… have reason to believe that Justin Isynos may have treasonous intentions,” Trajan finally said, choosing his words carefully. “How clean was his administration of Calabria?”

“Spotless,” Publius said as his smile faded. Treason was a grave charge, and he gave it all the seriousness it deserved as he recalled everything that he could remember about his own investigations into the Isynians over the past fifteen years. “I haven’t heard so much as a rumor about him enriching himself at the expense of the state, not even a single whisper about him taking a bribe. He even cracked down hard on the corruption that had been seeping into the dock inspectors that monitor and tax the trade going up and down the Naga.”

“Then he’s very good at what he does,” Trajan said with a sigh. “How about his subordinates? How big is his clan? How many people work directly for him personally, rather than through the Exarchate?”

“What is it that has led you to believe that Justin Isynos is a traitor?” Publius asked instead of answering Trajan’s question.

Trajan stared at Publius, his killing intent slowly leaking out of his body. Publius felt fear start to fill his body as he was quietly submerged in the Prince’s terrifying aura.

“You will not spread this, you will not tell your people about what I am going to say, you will let no one know what I am about to tell you,” Trajan said with the confidence of a man holding all the cards. “I know this because you are a smart man and you don’t want to die. And if word of what I’m about to say leaks, then your head will quickly be parted from your shoulders.”

Publius nodded his head so fast that his neck popped, and he glanced down at his panel of enchantments to ensure that his defensive wards were still functioning perfectly.

“Justin Isynos is probably responsible for the death of Archduke Kyros and the fall of House Raime,” Trajan said.