many of them. Bribes, threats, and lofty promises… even these attacks along the border are one of many ways he is drawing the rest to his side. As it stands, he will get a majority vote for whatever motion he puts forward—most likely, war against us and Pyra. However, there are good, decent members of the council. Members who will vote against Rolan and against war. It’s simply a matter of evening the odds.”
“Evening the odds…,” Tristan repeated. “I don’t understand.”
His father smiled, a slow, feral thing. “As it happens, Rolan’s closest allies and confidants are also the very same people who voted to have your mother executed.” He paused, lifting the dart from the table again and holding it up between them. “It would give me great pleasure to see them once more and to deliver the killing blow.”
“You want to kill them… in the middle of the Grand Council chambers?” Tristan asked, barely believing his ears. “Surely there are smarter ways to assassinate people? Ideally not in a room filled with witnesses?”
“It would require time we don’t have and resources we can’t afford to take them out one by one. But, in a single move in a single day, I will not only improve our chances and our standing in the empire, but I will remove the entirety of Rolan’s cohorts, who have long been thorns in the side of the rest of the council. By removing those members, I will give our friends—not his—a chance at a ruling majority. On the matter of the Grand Council meeting, but also on other important decisions. The magetax and the registry. The ban on trade and travel into Pyra. And of course, the legality of the order of the Phoenix Riders.”
“You expect them to vote while their fellow council members lie dead on the floor?” Tristan asked, incredulous.
“I expect the vote to be delayed. I will be held indefinitely while they vote and vet new members, and meanwhile, our faction will have the majority. Rolan’s supporters will have lost sway, power—and their lives. New members might just reconsider voting in his favor… especially when there will be no one for them to rally behind.”
“So you intend to kill Rolan as well,” Tristan said.
“My first dart has Rolan’s name on it,” the commander said, his lip curled.
Tristan gaped at him. Everything his father did was measured, careful, and deliberate. But this plan… it was beyond reckless, the very thing his father often chastised him for. And yet it didn’t lack for scope or vision. He wasn’t just trying to prevent a war or get revenge for the past…. He was trying to build the future. Of course he was still using his “politician’s tricks,” as he’d called them. Still trying to cut deals and cultivate influence instead of dealing with the problem head-on.
“If I manage this, we’ll be a part of the empire once again. Pyra will thrive, and the Phoenix Riders will serve a council that is just and capable.”
“You don’t think there will be kings and queens again?” Tristan asked, momentarily distracted. How might his father’s plans change if he knew he had an Ashfire heir on his side?
“There’s a reason the Blood War happened, and it had been brewing long before Avalkyra and Pheronia were even born. It is a dangerous thing to have an elite military force sworn to a bloodline—to a single person—over an ideal. The Phoenix Riders would be better, I think, if their loyalty were to the empire as a whole and not some king or queen, who might use their abilities however they saw fit. Just as the Feather-Crowned Queen did.”
Tristan considered those words, his mind reeling. But no matter the future possibilities and strategic benefits, what his father was intending to do… this plan was murder. It was bloody vengeance.
“Even if you pull this off… you’re not walking away afterward. You’ll be convicted—you’ll be sentenced to death.”
His father shook his head. “I’ve contacted some of my own allies on the council, who will stand to benefit from this plan as much as we will. I’ll be imprisoned for my actions, not killed. When the dust settles, I will be able to negotiate the terms of my release.”
“There has to be another way,” Tristan said faintly, staring hard at his father. “You’re putting yourself at the mercy of your enemies. If one single thing goes wrong… if they go back on their promises…”