CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
“HAVE YOU TESTED IT?”
Late in the afternoon, after the conference had adjourned for the day, the members of the Royal Council quietly filed into chambers for a review of the day’s events. They were not prepared for what they heard from King Arkády.
“What!?” shouted Prince Kiríll. “He’s doing what!?”
Expressions of outrage filled the room.
The king explained what steps he had taken to counter Kipriyán’s proposed coup d’état, adding:
“We still have the lancers of Munkás and Éskak to consider, but if they can’t enter the city, they’ll be temporarily neutralized.”
“I can handle that little business,” Kiríll interjected.
“Good,” the king commented. “I want the ringleaders arrested and sent to Legalsó Vár. Speaking of which, I’ve ordered Lord Lásky to appear before this council meeting to report on the security improvements he’s made at the keep. I expect he’s waiting outside right now. Captain Fösse, be prepared to follow my lead. Call for Lord Lásky,” he added.
“Call for Lord Lásky,” echoed out into the hall, as the guards, who had been carefully selected by the captain, escorted the Governor of the Royal Prison into the room.
“Thank you for coming on short notice,” the king smiled, motioning the diminutive baron to sit. “We’re all interested in hearing about the new security measures you’ve instituted.”
“Yes, your majesty,” he stated, shuffling some notes he had brought with him. “Well, sire, in the wake of the unfortunate break-out of several months ago, we have inaugurated new checkpoints and examinations of passes. I can now say with some assurance that no one who has been incarcerated at Legalsó Vár will ever escape from it again.”
He paused, suddenly embarrassed, for it was the very king sitting before him who had managed to break out of Lásky’s prison so recently.
“Are you quite certain, Lord Lásky?” Arkády inquired.
“Absolutely, sire,” the little man replied. “Why, I’d stake my life on it.”
“But have you tested it?” the king pressed.
“I don’t understand,” the governor replied. “How can we possibly do that?”
“Well, you might try imprisoning someone who really knows how the system works, and see if that individual could successfully get away,” the monarch posed.
“I, uh, don’t think that would be practical,” Lásky indicated.
“Oh, I think it would be most efficacious,” Arkády ventured, “and I have just the candidate for the initial experiment.”
“You do?” the prison supervisor stated.
“Yes, Lord Lásky, you,” the king said. “You would do very nicely indeed.”
“I don’t understand,” the baron responded.
“I’m quite sure that you do,” King Arkády noted. “Lord Lásky, I charge you with high treason, in that you did conspire with the Duke of Tighris to restore him to the throne and murder your legitimate monarch. How plead you?”
At that question, two guards seized the governor and pulled him from his seat, knocking it backwards in the process. There was a loud rattle as the chair toppled over.
Lásky’s face went completely ashen. His hands began to tremble, and his mouth moved up and down as he tried to speak.
“You have but one chance to save your miserable little life, Lásky,” the king stated, “not to mention preserving your titles and estates for your family. Confess everything, name all of your co-conspirators to this council, detail your plans, and you may spend the rest of your days in your own prison, with your wife retaining your property. Otherwise...well, you do know the penalty for treason, I believe.”
It didn’t take the little man very long to reveal everything that they needed to know.