The Courtesan

Chapter 48

Third Person's POV

The time frame in which the King had fixed the meeting was too close to the ending of the ball and the departure of the guests. In fact, there were some guests that still remained; the King of Perimas. An old man that shared a like mind with King Mival. In the presence of these two cunning bastards, Miriam felt like a deer caught in a trap. 

Geraldine accompanied her so she was safe but she wasn’t allowed beyond the throne room doors. She sent her silent encouragement as the doors closed, separating them both. 

“We will now start the strategy meeting” One of the minister’s in the King’s house said. There were seats for the four dukes present, the prince and the only general present, the general of the south. The presence of a man of his calibre was more shocking to Miriam amongst anything. 

To the best of her knowledge, he wasn’t someone who could compromise easily. Miriam couldn’t imagine what would make him side with the king. 

“I want to thank you all for being present in this important meeting. It is my pleasure to announce that we’ll be launching an attack on Uramuth next month.”

Everyone already knew. Still, hearing him confirm it, made it feel too real. 

“Pardon me, your majesty, this is a meeting involving the high ranking officials of our kingdom. Why is there an outsider here?” Duke Eli, the Duke of Lyrel interjected. He was a fit middle aged man whose territory was heavily invested in agriculture. He was the only man Miriam could trust among the high ranking nobles because of his character. 

“Duke Eli, King Johaness is our close ally. He is also willing to lend us resources for the war. For what reason should he not be present?” 

Hearing that certainly came as a shock. It was no wonder he was so confident in starting the war without the backing of all the generals. Still, King Mival didn’t look stupid enough to rely only on foreign backing. So, what was the catch?

“Your majesty, you said Lend?” Duke Erik spoke, looking laid back. 

“Yes? Is there a problem?”

“What is the condition of this lending? What is the agreement between this alliance that no one in the kingdom has a clue to?”

Duke Erik was known for being silent and cunning. While he appeared docile, Miriam couldn’t tell what he was thinking half of the time. Baring the problem openly, one couldn’t tell how he would react. 

And it was truly unexpected. King Mival didn’t look offended. Instead, he smirked. He clapped his hands and one of his attending ministers ran up to them with a map. He laid it on the table and spread it. 

“This is just a map of the continent” Duke Erik commented, sounding underwhelmed. 

“Indeed it is. But it is filled with some markings. Please, go ahead and study them. Duchess Miriam, I am sure this is an area in which your expertise will come in handy.”

Miriam nodded, standing to survey the map fully. In the room of all men, she was the only woman and all eyes were on her. There were a mixture of feelings she perceived but she only focused on the silent encouragement from Duke Eli. 

The markings on the map separated territories, topography and of course, mineral markings. Ores of silver and tin were common, gold ores were rare and the last one…

“It can’t be!” Duke Erik exclaimed, shooting from his seat. 

“Your Majesty, is this true?” Duke Eli asked, his hands trembling as they hovered above the map. 

Miriam felt a chill settle in her heart. In the kingdom of uramuth, many mineral markings were made all over the kingdom of a particular mineral that was said to be elusive and rare. It was the most powerful mineral ever discovered; Iorite. 

There was no need for further questions in the meeting. All the men were on board. No matter how kind hearted a man was, in the face of great riches, his greed will always win. 

Overwhelmed by the opposition, Miriam had no other choice than to vote that the war would take place. She also knew deep in her heart that Elayne couldn’t hope to win against King Mival, especially not if he had those minerals in his possession. 

“So, how’d it go?” 

{I couldn’t stop it.}

“Did you want to?”

{A little part of me wanted to. However, this war is definitely going to become worse in the future. I can see it now.}

“What do you mean?”

{They have a bigger goal now. I’m afraid our complaints would be crushed in front of this goal. I’m also afraid it will not take a lot of time before the other generals are involved in this.}

“Oh my, that’s bad. Elayne will have it rough then.”

{We just have to support her then. In the worst case scenario, we’ll go with your idea.}

“See?! I told you it was a great plan.”

Miriam facepalmed, shaking their head. They were heading towards the direction of the west quarters. Elayne had kindly requested they got something of hers in there so they had to get it before they left. In front of the door though was an unexpected presence. 

“Lord Erik, what a surprise,” Geraldine greeted. The hand poised to knock the door froze and he turned to look at them. 

“Lady Miriam, Lady Geraldine.” 

“I didn’t know your hobby was harassing women now.” 

“What do you mean by harassing? I have come to see a friend.”

“Oh. If she were your friend as you have said, you would know she is not in there by now,” Geraldine taunted. 

Ever since the last incident with Prince Miyon, none of the ladies had particularly good feelings towards the duke or the royal family. Neither Miriam nor Geraldine were willing to give him information as to where she was. If he ever found out Elayne was Princess Ariana, only the gods knew what he would do. 

“Lady Geraldine, I have come to offer my apologies and not to fight. I realize I was wrong and shouldn’t have done that to her.” 

If they would admit it, they were shocked with the sincerity of his apology. He looked like he would do anything for her to accept his apology. Unfortunately for him, they weren’t the kind that would back down easily. 

“How touching... However, you have reached a position where she can no longer hear you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“See for yourself.”

He could see the provocation in Geraldine’s eyes and the fact that her lady let her go ahead with it meant she was also on board. He clenched his fist and knocked twice. When he received no answer, he barged in. All three of them were shocked with the result. The entire room was torn upside down. It was like a hurricane cut through the room, leaving nothing unturned. 

“What happened?! Where is Elayne?”

“How would I know?! I just know she’s not here!” 

“Then where is she?!”

“I don’t know! Gods, who could’ve done this?”

Annoyed, Erik stalked to the door and slammed it behind him. When he was sufficiently far away, Geraldine pulled up her skirt, removed a dagger from the holster and threw it at a seemingly empty wall.