Eric was tracking how long his letters went unanswered. Will's network had reported the explosion, and the subsequent coma Eirian and Lord Ye had ended up in the day after it had happened.
Eric knew enough about Eirian's magic not to worry just yet. She had come back better than ever from some truly gruesome wounds before, to the point where it was hard to remember they'd even happened.
It's the only reason he isn't marching the Imperial Army straight to the Camelia.
That, and Will confirmed the amount Uncle Francis was paid for Eirian and it took two days for it to sink in.
It was well above Queen Helia's and she'd come with an entire kingdom!
Eirian must have lost her mind when she heard. Maybe that was why she'd decided to stay in the Camelia to investigate.
How the hell had the Camelia even had that much gold? The tribes in the borderlands were agricultural nomads, constantly shifting with the seasons. How the hell had they managed to build up such wealth when they carried their entire lives on their backs?
Had Lord Ye and the court of the Camelia been hiding it from the capital? It seemed impossible that they hadn't recognized the wealth moving through the border tribes, but they had just concluded a decade long war just last year, so it was possible that they hadn't understood the extent of it until after.
Eric didn't generally like to give people the benefit of the doubt, he didn't have that luxury, but this was Eirian's husband.
For now, at least. Eirian's letters had grown cautiously optimistic in regard to him. She thought they might become friends if he lived long enough, and she'd become convinced his family was the target of the poisoning in the Camelia. Eric had been looking but Arnheim in the capital records for her, but he hadn't found much. Will had put out a few discreet inquiries to anyone that might know a bit of history, but Arnheim had either never been to the capital or people really, really didn't want to admit their ancestors had associated with him.
Eric didn't fully understand how someone had poisoned the Camelia two hundred years ago and or how it had been mixed with magic, but he was less worried about that, Eirian would explain it once she figured it out, than he was about the fact that Uncle Francis had lied to his face about the bride price. Eric had given him two more chances to admit the truth and both times Francis had given numbers that were far, far below what Will had turned up.
Which was why Eric was pulling on his gloves and cloak and preparing to head to the Soliel Estate with a contingent of the Imperial Army.
He was going to do exactly what he'd warned his uncle he would if he found out he was lying about the bride price.
Will was already waiting at the head of the force as Eric mounted his own horse. A beautiful roan stallion called Lord Fleet that had been a gift from Eirian two years ago and was a full sibling to her beloved mare Fleet Goddess. Both horses had a bit of attitude that their lineage was known for, but it was far more famous for its speed and both Eric and Eirian loved to race them.
"Lord and Lady Soliel are home." Will murmured. "Would it be better to wait?" Will, like most commoners that rose to work directly with nobles, knew better than to question Eric outright and he had developed unique way of wondering about things that never sounded like criticism but always let Eric know when he thought he was fucking up.
While he trusted Eirian explicitly in everything. Eric trusted Will without question when it came to his job, they were even friends as far as Eric was concerned, though he knew that Will probably just saw him as another noble. Maybe not as bad as the rest, but Eric wasn't foolish enough to think he was anything special to Will.
Eirian always looked at him funny when he said things like that, but she had yet to explain what she was thinking at those moments and Eric was always careful to never cross the line between professional and personal with Will. Wary of getting stabbed in the back as much as he was of being disappointed to find out he really didn't matter that much to someone he admired. Even liked.
Will had a vicious sense of humor and an interesting view of the world that wasn't quite jaded but not optimistic either. He hated social conformity and uniforms of any kind, often using his work in intelligence to justify wearing whatever he damn well pleased. Even now, a horse behind Eric and in front of the fully kitted out Imperial Army, he was in simple travelling clothes covered by a black cloak and hood.
"Why wait?" Eric asked him as they started forward. It wasn't that far to the Soliel Estate from his own residence, but it was long enough for word to get around and a crowd to gather to witness his uncle's humiliation.
Eric was counting on that.
And Will knew him well enough to know it, but he still said, "Less drama."
"He was warned. Repeatedly." Eric's voice carried a bite he normally managed to hide.
"Fair." Will sounded amused. He generally was by nobles fighting each other. "Suppose it is better you than yer Da."
There'd likely be a war if Jaques took anything else from Frances and Eric knew his father was honestly trying to avoid that as long as possible.
Not that Francis had the support to win, but he could probably drum up enough to cause significant damage. His uncle was not suited to rule, regardless of what Francis thought. Too obsessed with being special, too concerned with reminding people of his power instead of actually exercising it.
Too entitled. That had been Eric's older brother's biggest complaint about Uncle Francis. He used to say "Uncle thinks the world owes him something, but the truth is the world doesn't own anyone anything. It doesn't need us; we need it and people who confuse that only hurt the world and the rest of us."
His brother would have been a great king, but a game of power had ended that. The first of Eric's siblings to be assassinated by a rival family. There still wasn't enough evidence for an arrest, but both Eric and his father knew exactly who was responsible.
And it might take a while, but they would avenge him.
~ tbc