“You look terrible, Shiver. Are you still drunk?”
Sammah reclined in his chair exhaling smoke rings from a long draw on his pipe as the Lord of Sevenspells swayed on his feet. He was a pathetic sight, with long dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, his hair dishevelled and his white tunic blotted pink with spilled red wine.
“I’m fine, baron.” Shiver’s words were heavy. He deliberately intoned, as if he was concentrating on pronouncing each and every word correctly. Elias had just dragged Shiver out of his bed without warning. Sammah needed to let Shiver know who was really in the dominant position in their partnership.
“We’ve isolated one of your men, Shiver. Why are you trying to work a position on me?”
“Men?” Shiver staggered back a step and belched. Sammah kept his face straight, taking another long toke from his pipe, exhaling yellow smoke at the blind-drunk lord.
“One of your spies. He wasn’t what I’d call robust. Very easy to break. I hear you’re trying to position yourself against the king on revenues. Why didn’t you run this past me first?”
Frowning, Shiver tried to form a response. “I didn’t plan this, baron. It wasn’t my idea.”
“Aren’t you in control of what your men do?”
Shiver bristled through his drunken haze. “I am Sevenspells. No one moves without my consent.”
Sammah waved Elias closer into the room. “So I’ll ask you again, and this will be the last time I ask you politely. Why are you moving against the king out of our agreed position?”
Sammah watched Shiver’s Adam’s apple work up and down, suddenly thinking it would have been a good idea to have Quinn in here. The cloud of alcohol though, he knew, would confuse what she felt in the room.
“What the king charges in taxes has nothing to do with our agreement. This is for my people, not for you. Not against you.”
Sammah flicked a finger up at Elias. The huge guard grabbed Shiver’s wrist, twisting the loose arm behind the lord’s back and pushing up viciously. Shiver yelled out in agony and shock as Elias pushed him down to his knees, now pulling up on the vulnerable arm to keep Shiver under control. Shiver started panting, the unexpected pain sobering him in an unexpected and unwelcome way. His eyes darted to Sammah, who was still reclined in his chair, quietly smoking from his pipe, assessing the situation.
“You must understand Shiver, that I don’t like doing this. You are my strongest ally. I hate having to teach you lessons. But I don’t trust you, and you are doing nothing to help me change my mind. We can’t push forward with our plans, if I’m occupied with keeping an eye on you all the time. So, here’s what you’re going to do.
“Call off your men. I’ve already got rid of one of them. I want the rest of them out of the city by sundown tonight. I don’t care what the king is taxing you. Think of the wider work here, Shiver. It’s not going to matter in the future, the little extra the king takes from you here and now. You’ll get it all back and more. You just need to start falling in line. If you can’t follow basic orders, then I will need to replace you with someone more manageable. There are others that think the same as us, Shiver. Don’t think you’re the only one I can lean on to get this done. I’ve heard pain gives you great clarity, Lord Shiver. Am I clear enough?”
“Yes! Please, baron, it wasn’t an aggressive move.”
“Maybe not Shiver, but this is. I don’t care what you’ve achieved for this country. I’m the one in charge in Everfell. You’ll come back here tonight, and I’ll ask you the same questions again. And Shiver?” Elias yanked Shiver’s head up by its hair, so he was forced to look into Sammah’s malevolent eyes. “I’ll know if you’re telling me the truth, Shiver. If you defy me, if you lie, I suggest you make arrangements to take your eldest son somewhere safe.”
Elias released Shiver’s hair and arm. The lord collapsed forward, gasping and muttering. Unwanted tears littered his eyes, but he blinked them away. He scrambled to his feet, trying to sketch a bow to Sammah, but staggering forward instead nearly falling into the baron’s lap. “Get him out of here. Take him down to the bathing rooms and get him cleaned up. He looks more like a drunk stable boy than a lord.”
Sammah recoiled in disgust as Elias grabbed Shiver by the back of the tunic, handling him out of the room. The door slammed behind them both as Sammah relaxed back in his chair. He reached for his pipe again, sighing as another deep lungful of smoke drifted from between his parted lips. Sammah extinguished the pipe. The sky was starting to lighten, though the sun hadn’t crested the horizon yet. Time for a few hours of rest. The first court meeting was later, and he would need to be alert. If he allies were trying to flank him, he was going to need to ask a lot of searching questions over the next couple of days.