The Unwitting Thief

MARTIN

Martin sat back in his chair, feet resting on his desk, as he flicked through the Aeredale news, and with each turn of the page his smile grew larger.

The Kingdom of Asthaea was in chaos.

Things were going even better than he had predicted and events were unfolding at a much faster speed than he could have dreamed.

In the last month the date of the Meet had come and gone; but there had been no Meet.

Two of the three Viceroys that Martin had orchestrated to receive his letters, those from Ostshore and Qaedith, had flat out refused to attend. Instead, they had sent responses filled with impossible demands and venomous threats should those demands not be met. The straw had broken the camel's back, and the camels were biting back.

Ostshore was in a powerful position to make demands, what with it being the largest coastal province with strong ties to other lands across the waters. Qaedith, however, had surprised everyone. It was easily the smallest and weakest of the the three main provinces, powerful in the Meets based merely on it's population, as it was perched on the edge of the Kingdom, looking out into a dessert wasteland that no one had ever successfully traversed.

Each of the representatives from the smaller provinces, dotted here and there across the Kingdom, had rallied around the third Viceroy from Killead, who had attended, but only in order to voice his ire in person rather than in writing, as the others had done. Everyone knew the people from the north, up amongst the mountains, had a reputation for being bitter and tough. Of all the provinces they were the most desperate to separate themselves from the monarchy and be done with the tenuous alliance that had been brokered after the Civil War. They had no love for politics, preferring a show of force over any other negotiation technique. Martin couldn't have picked a better Viceroy than Savas Wyatt from Killead to come and fuel the fire here at the heart of the Kingdom in Aeredale, especially when he noted that Wyatt had brought a fairly generous number of guards with him, each looking more menacing than the next.

Everything was at a standstill, as all the representatives from across the Kingdom were refusing to sign or agree to anything without everyone being in attendance and in agreement. As a result, the Lords of Aeredale were in deadlock. The younger Lords, as predicted, were too proud to even try and negotiate. They obviously had no idea what had triggered such responses from the Viceroys, and how could they, thanks to Martin, but they were not prepared to appear ignorant and ask. Instead, they wanted to fight back and take a stand for their honour. Of course, the older generation of lords were all running around like headless chickens trying to solve a problem that was already far outside their realm of control with words that no one wanted to hear.

Reports were flying in of armies were being drafted across the Kingdom, so guards were out in force in the streets of Aeredale, and houses were being raided thanks to rumours of spies amongst the people. The excitement and fear in the general population was filling the taverns more than ever, and Martin was raking in money faster than he could count it from all directions. Especially since he had managed to acquire a share in almost every tavern and whore house in the city.

On top of that, jobs were flowing in faster than Martin could allocate them, with desperation driving people to actions they would never have considered before. The threat of war was a powerful force, and the amount of money Martin had made in this last month was enough to set him up for life. Of course it was more than money Martin was after.

He wanted power.

Thinking of power, Martin folded the paper as his mind wandered across the Kingdom of Asthaea, out into the north western wilderness; to Thomas. There was more than one type of power out there and Martin wanted it all. He didn't know exactly what Thomas would find in the ruins when he got there, but he could tell that his client was desperate for it. A crystal that stood out from the rest of the treasure, whatever it was worth or whatever it could do, Martin wanted it. There was just one problem.