Collusion. It had to be.
Jadis had discussed the possibility with Severina and the others. It was just one of many potential ways in which one or more nobles could be fucking with her, either with or without the blessing of one or the other prince. She wasn’t surprised, not since she had already considered the idea that Holtz and Voclain were actually working together in this situation, but she was angry.
As soon as she felt that anger flare up inside of herself, Jadis crushed it under the heel of reason. There was a time and a place for her rage, and this wasn’t it. She wasn’t going to just throw a tantrum and assault these two idiots, even if they deserved it. No, that would only give her enemies reason to treat her as a criminal. She wouldn’t be the one to turn to violence, not unless she or those she cared for were themselves threatened with violence.
Violence. Maybe that was the plan all along, Jadis suddenly realized. If General Egilhard was behind this stupidly transparent plot to antagonize her, it actually made sense that it was so obvious. He knew well enough how bad a temper Jadis had, especially when it came to anyone messing with her lovers. Had he orchestrated this whole thing in order to provoke her into attacking a noble, like Holtz or Voclain, thus saddling her with criminal charges and gaining some leverage over her in that way?
The thought was pure conjecture. She had no proof to support that idea, not yet. But what she could say with confidence was that Count Holtz and Countess Voclain were in fact working together. How else had the countess gotten to Holtz’s estate before Jadis? Someone had to have notified the woman of Jadis’ arrival in Brightstone. It could have been anyone, Jadis supposed, but she would bet her right shoe that the Mayor of Brightstone had been involved. If he truly was the pushover that Bridget said he was, then he probably could have been threatened or bought, and could have sent a message as soon as Jadis had arrived. Once she knew about their arrival, the countess could have traveled all night to arrive at Holtz’s mansion sometime that morning. Likely the meeting Holtz had said was unavoidable was one where he was drawing up battleplans with the countess or maybe even giving her time to rest so that she wasn’t completely exhausted before going into the meeting. Maybe both.
Of course, now that the two nobles were meeting her together, Jadis’ plan of talking with them individually so she could contrast and compare stories was right out of the window. That was fine, though. She wouldn’t stress out over the change in plans. No battle ever went the way she expected it to, anyway. She would improvise and adapt, just like she always did. Besides, in a way, seeing the count and countess together like this was a boon. Now she knew who her enemies were and could better guess how they were going to come at her.
All these thoughts went through Jadis’ heads as she went through the full introductions of her companions, followed by the preliminary skirmish of words that set the tone of the meeting. She didn’t bother doing much of the talking. Severina had come along with them for a reason, after all, and she was right in her element. Jadis knew that the Seraphim was an intelligent warrior and a practiced noble, but she was also a savvy lawyer of sorts. The paladin knew how to talk to people in a careful, legal manner that said a lot without giving away anything. Jadis knew she wouldn’t have been able to match her in that realm. Eir could, and maybe Aila as well, since she was so smart, but Jadis knew that she would have already said something that would have caused the whole meeting to go off the rails already. So, she kept her mouth shut, just watching and listening as she made silent observations about the other people at the table.
While she hadn’t paid much attention to them at first, now that she was letting Severina take charge for the moment, Jadis took a better look at the two other women that were sitting with Countess Voclain.
The woman to Voclain’s immediate left was her daughter, Estelle. She was a young woman, likely somewhere between twenty and twenty-five years old. She had dark hair like her mother, pulled back in a severe bun, and light blue eyes that had more color to them than her mother’s steel gray irises. She seemed like a pretty enough girl, maybe a bit thin and mousy, but what drew the eye was just how miserable the woman looked. Jadis could tell that she was trying to keep up appearances the way nobles normally did to hide their true emotions, but she was bad at it. Her downcast eyes barely left the table, and when they did, she looked like she was either going to sob or bolt for the door.
The other woman was Countess Voclain’s new court mage, Leonore Gielgud. She looked like a stern sort, very similar to Voclain herself, except a little younger and not quite as severe. The mage also had her dark hair tied back in a bun, and her face was more handsome than beautiful. While her dress was modest, Jadis noticed that she had a rather expensive-looking jeweled amulet dangling from a silver chain around her neck. Jadis also noticed that the woman’s brown-eyed gaze was almost constantly locked onto at least one of Jadis’ bodies at any given time.
The back and forth between Severina, Count Holtz, and Countess Voclain, went on for some time. An hour at least, Jadis guessed, though it was hard to tell. Hardly anyone else in the room spoke, except for Morley, whose only contribution tended to repetitive criticisms. Jadis was too annoyed with the situation and too concerned for Bridget’s family to zone out, but when Severina directed the conversation to the true crux of the matter, her attention perked up.
“As you seem to have waived all rights to the disputed land, as well as agreed to the claim that taxes are owed,” Severina addressed Count Holtz, “I will fly straight to the point. Since the taxes as well as the lease payments have all been made to you in error, as you have agreed that those funds should have gone to Countess Voclain instead of you, then it follows that you are responsible for paying those funds to the countess, not Clan Warsong.”
“Damn bloody right,” Morley muttered, though not quite so loud that he interrupted the debate. “Ridiculous…”
“Perhaps,” Holtz inclined his head. “I could argue that from a lawful standpoint, my house provided the services incumbent upon them to fulfill as landlords and protectors during those sixty years and thus have every right to lay claim to those taxes.”
“If that is your argument,” Severina replied without blinking, “then it remains a dispute between you and Countess Voclain. She desires reimbursement and you object to providing said reimbursement. Either way, Clan Warsong has no involvement as they have already paid the necessary taxes.”
“Those taxes are mine,” Voclain insisted without changing her ramrod posture. “I will not forgive them.”
Holtz looked like he was going to say something, something possibly more heated than he should. However, he shut his mouth and silently worked his jaw for a moment before visibly regaining his calm. Turning his attention back onto Severina, he gave the Seraphim a thin-lipped smile before addressing her again.
“Presuming, for the moment, that I agree with your assertion that the disputed funds should come from my coffers, then I must say that Clan Warsong is still very much involved.”
“How so?”
Holtz blinked, no doubt a little startled by Jay’s blunt question. Jadis had been keeping silent for a while, so he seemed to have half forgotten about her presence. Her question had no doubt brought his attention back to the three heavily armed and heavily armored intimidating giants in the room. If Holtz was in on whatever plot Egilhard had cooked up, Jadis supposed he was probably regretting his involvement now that he could see how much danger he was in. The man had his personal guard and court mage at his side, but Jadis doubted that either man could do anything to stop her if she were intent on getting to the count. That was a fact that Holtz was likely only just then coming to realize.
“I cannot afford to pay the requested funds,” Holtz said after a pregnant pause. “My treasury is nearly spent from the effort of arming troops and sending them to the front lines. This is not a financial burden that I, nor my county, can bear.”
“You don’t look like you’re hurting for coin,” Dys said as she glanced around the richly decorated dining hall.
“I assure you that my coffers are as light as they can responsibly be. I will not risk the safety and security of the entire county over this matter. The funds simply are not available.”
“And you expect Clan Warsong, a bunch of farmers, to be able to pay this sum when a count cannot?” Jay asked with incredulity in her tone.
“We’re mercenaries, too, you bloody giant,” Morley scowled at Jay.
“Not the point, Grand Da,” Syd shot back at the old man.
“I do not care where or in what manner my compensation comes,” Countess Voclain said while pointedly ignoring the old orc. “Only that I am given what I am owed, in full, before the summer solstice. While I am loathe to discuss such matters with… outsiders, my own treasury is in a less-than-ideal state thanks to the invasion. Those funds would have a huge impact on the people I am duty bound to protect, which do not include Clan Warsong.”
“As you can see,” Holtz motioned with one hand towards the countess. “If I am forced to agree with the proposition that I owe Countess Voclain the stated funds, I would also be forced to pay those funds in a relatively short period of time.”
The summer solstice was the middle of summer, Jadis remembered from her basic lessons. Since they were already in early spring, that meant the countess was expecting full payment of her demands in only a few months.
“I am limited in my means to gain those funds in that timeframe,” the count continued in a strained tone of voice. “My liege lord, Duke Messer, has already informed me that he cannot accommodate a loan of the funds at this time.”
“Sounds like a shitty lord.”
Multiple people flinched at Syd’s frank accusation, including Severina. Morley, however, only let out an amused grunt while the rest of Jadis’ companions didn’t react at all, likely due to an earned immunity to her bluntness.
“We are all feeling the pressure right now,” Count Holtz said stiffly. “This war is… a terrible burden on us all.”
A reasonable excuse, Jadis would almost agree, except that if the only concern was the coin, then the logical solution would be to simply defer the debate, or at least the compensation, until after the war. Maybe Voclain needed the money, but if she was so desperate that she needed the funds in the next few months no matter what, then she had bigger problems on her hands than just a lack of coin. That was tantamount to admitting she was hemorrhaging cash, which was not a good look for a countess; even Jadis had enough political sense to see that much. In fact, Jadis was surprised that both Voclain and Holtz were just putting it out in the open that they were both broke. She couldn’t imagine Severina or Eir’s parents ever admitting a position of weakness like that, especially not in a conference with someone who wasn’t their ally. Jadis didn’t think either noble was that careless or stupid. However, one thing that Holtz had said rang true. It was very likely that both were feeling the pressure. Not from the war, but from others above them.
“If I am forced to pay this compensation,” Holtz said as he continued his explanation, “I will need to generate the funds in a short amount of time, with the least amount of burden to my people and my estate as possible. The most reasonable means, I fear, would be for me to take back the farmlands that Clan Warsong has been working all these years and sell them. The compound that has been built on the property would actually cover quite a lot of the cost, as would—”
“Okay, let’s just cut to the chase here,” Jay cut the plain man off by setting her armored fist down on the table.
While Jadis hadn’t meant to, the force of her hand meeting the wooden surface caused a crack to form as the whole table flexed under the effects of her barely restrained strength. That fact did not go unnoticed by the two nobles and their retinues as all eyes briefly flickered down to her fist, then back up to her violet eyes.
“I know you don’t actually want to repossess Clan Warsong farmlands,” Jay spoke in a dangerously quiet tone. “You don’t have money troubles. Neither of you do. These farmlands are rich and your counties are safe, far away from the front lines of the invasion. This thing with the stream is bullshit. I doubt the old map is even real. And if it is, it’s awfully fucking convenient that you just happened to come across a mage who had it in her possession and was willing to sell it to you now, and not fifty years ago.”
As Jay spoke, she dragged her glare across the nobles. Holtz and Voclain sat with their backs straight and didn’t flinch at her words, but she could tell by the color in their cheeks that they were either angry or embarrassed. Probably both. When Jay glanced at the countess’ daughter, Estelle, the girl acted like she had been physically struck, cringing as far away as she could in her seat. The only one of their number who didn’t look upset was, strangely, the woman who had sold Voclain the map, Leonore. For some reason, the woman was faintly smiling.
“Severina was trying to do this the polite way, and I thank her for that,” Jay nodded towards her blank-faced lover. “But now you’ve crossed the line, so you’re dealing with me.”
“Such uncouth behavior,” Countess Voclain hissed with a sneer. “I cannot fathom how one such as you could possibly be meant to represent the Goddess of beauty and grace.”
“It’s because I’m a good lay,” Syd hissed back, making the older woman’s eyes bulge with outrage. “Ask any of my wives.”
“Lady Jadis—”
“Shut it, Holtz,” Dys pointed at the man with a single finger. “I know this isn’t your show. Just sit there and be the patsy that you are and let me talk with the bitch in charge.”
“Pat—what are you—?”
Jadis ignored the man as she focused her full ire onto the countess. The old woman looked like she was about ready to start biting heads off with how her fingers were trembling and her face was flushed with temper.
Good.
Jadis hadn’t lost her temper. Well, that wasn’t true. She had lost her temper. She’d lost it a long while ago. But now she was harnessing that anger specifically to antagonize the two idiot nobles. She had chosen the timing of her outburst precisely at the point when she could see that Holtz was finally getting to the heart of the matter. He was threatening to kick Clan Warsong off of their farmlands. Jadis had already guessed that was going to be the ultimatum a while ago. What else could the count or the people behind him really threaten Jadis with in this situation? It was going to be do what they wanted, or they take her lover’s family farm.
Since she had just interrupted the flow of what had felt like a rehearsed dialogue, Jadis hoped that she would be able to get Voclain to reveal more of her plans than she meant to give away. She wasn’t the only one with a temper to exploit, after all. Maybe the countess really was trying to goad her into a physical attack like Jadis guessed was the plan, or maybe it was something else. Either way, she felt it was time she did the provoking, rather than the other way around.
“What’s the matter, Voclain? Lares got your tongue? Why don’t you just fucking say it. What stupid plot did you come up with to try and screw with me? Huh? Why don’t you just lay it all out on the table for me, right now, so I can take whatever idiotic offer you might have and shove it up your wrinkled butt flaps—”
“How dare you!” Countess Voclain leapt to her feet, her face twisted up in fury as she spat out her next words. “How anyone could expect me to hand my daughter over to filth like you is pure insanity! You should have your tongue removed you deplorable—”
“Daughter?”
Countess Voclain froze at Jay’s question, her already wide eyes growing somehow wider.
“Why would I have anything to do with your daughter?” Jay asked quietly.
As the hall fell into uncomfortable silence, the only sound to be heard was the rustle of fabric as the countess slowly lowered herself back down into her seat.
“Aside from monetary compensation,” Holtz abruptly stated as he leaned his head against both of his fists, “there are other, potentially mutually beneficial arrangements that could be made between noble houses.”
Holtz looked physically pained as he spoke, almost like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world than at his own dining room table at that moment. When he shifted slightly, Jadis could see his strained expression flicker between her and Voclain’s daughter, Estelle.
“You have got to be fucking shitting me,” all three of Jadis spoke flatly.
251