The Flames of Dragons (33 page)

Dirio shook his head. “Nothing like that. There are a few older pieces, but for the most part the vault was a legal repository. It stored proclamations set down by the kings. I wanted to know more about how my predecessors governed, so I’ve been reading them. Most are legal nonsense. A few weeks ago, though, I came across one that could change Lodia forever. If it’s released to the public, it would throw us back into civil war.”

Minawë’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?” she asked. “How can a document do that?”

“Because it proves Amroth Angustion never should have been king of Lodia.”

“No arguments there,” Iren replied.

Dirio shook his head. “That isn’t what I mean. I mean he had no legal right to take the throne.”

“When the king dies, his first legitimate son replaces him,” Iren said. “If there’s no legitimate son, his chief advisor becomes king. That’s how succession works. Amroth was Azuluu’s chief advisor. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that Azuluu had a legitimate son.”

Iren scoffed. “You’re from Veliaf, so I understand if you aren’t familiar with Azuluu’s reputation. I lived in Haldessa while he was in charge. That guy had plenty of children, but none of them were legitimate. If he’d sired one, we all would have known it.”

“That’s the trouble,” Dirio said. “He didn’t sire one. He adopted one.”

The color drained from Iren’s face. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me . . .”

Dirio motioned to his bodyguard again. The man retrieved a folded parchment from his pack and handed it to Dirio. “Only my advisors and I have seen this,” Dirio said. He held out the document to Iren. “You’ll understand why when you read it.”

Iren’s hands trembled as he took the parchment. “This is . . .”

“Your adoption certificate,” Dirio finished. “When Amroth brought you to Haldessa as an infant, he convinced King Azuluu to adopt you as his son. That way Amroth could keep an eye on you without being directly involved with you.”

“Azuluu was no father to me,” Iren spat. “He hated me. He made me live in the Tower of Divinion. He couldn’t say my name. He even ordered my execution.”

“How he treated you is irrelevant. The point is that after he discovered you were a Left, he never officially disowned you. When he died, you were technically still his legitimate son.”

Iren put his hand to his head. “Which means that when Amroth took over the throne, he had no authority to do it. I was first in line.”

“Moreover,” Dirio added, “it means that when Amroth died, the mayors had no authority to form a council according to the Succession Law. You were alive, and therefore the one who should have become king.”

Dirio fell silent to let his words sink in. He had ruled Lodia for over a decade, but that didn’t mean anything. There were still parts of the country, especially Orcsthia, that resented his rise to power. They had never forgiven eastern Lodia for what had happened to their army at Kataile. If word got out that Dirio didn’t have authority to rule, it would mean insurrection. The rebels wouldn’t necessarily want Iren Saitosan in charge, but they would use him as a banner cry in their war efforts.

“Is this why you were so intent on finding me?” Iren whispered. “Because you wanted me to become king of Lodia?”

“It’s your right as Azuluu’s son,” Dirio said. “More important, it’s the only way to preserve peace in this country.”

Iren pulled in a long breath. He held it a moment, then exhaled. He stared at the parchment in his hands.

“I know this is sudden,” Dirio said, “but think of the possibilities. You’re the Maantec emperor. You’re married to the Kodaman queen.” He inclined his head at Minawë, who had her eyes locked on her husband. “If you become king of Lodia, the pair of you will have united the northern lands. We’ll have peace between humans, Kodamas, and Maantecs. Our empire will reach from one ocean to the next.”

Iren folded up the adoption certificate and handed it back to Dirio. “Not interested.”

Dirio gaped. “What?”

“I’ve had enough of empires. I’ve seen what they do to people like Melwar, and even to those like my father. I don’t want that.”

“But when word gets out—”

“Rip up the certificate. Then there will be no proof, right?”

Dirio shook his head. “Enough other people know about it that destroying the evidence would only make me look guilty. My advisors would turn on me. Whatever the result, I have to face this problem directly.”

“There’s no other way?”

“None that I can think of.”

Iren scowled. He folded his arms and stared down at the table.

Kaede tugged on her father’s sleeve. “Daddy?”

“Daddy’s busy right now,” Iren said.

“I have an idea, Daddy.”

Iren lifted an eyebrow. “You do?”

The girl’s head bobbed up and down. “Yep!”

“What is it?”

“It’s a secret.”

Iren’s eyes crinkled. “All right, whisper it in my ear.” He leaned down and let her say it to him.

When Kaede finished, Iren sat back. He looked smug. Dirio took that as a bad sign.

“I’ve decided to do what’s right for Lodia,” Iren said. “To preserve peace, I will become its king.”

Dirio’s jaw dropped again. How had an eight-year-old convinced Iren to change his mind in a matter of seconds?

“In the presence of these witnesses,” Iren said, gesturing around the table and to the bodyguards standing watch, “I hereby accept my place as rightful king of Lodia. You are officially deposed. However, though you reigned more than a decade in violation of Lodian law, you did so in the best interest of this country. It would be wrong of me not to recognize that experience and use it to my advantage. Accordingly, as my first official act, I name you, Dirio Cyneric, as my chief advisor.”

The smug expression deepened. Iren paused for a breath, then continued, “For my second official act, I abdicate the throne. As I have no legitimate son, and as Lodia’s misguided laws do not permit my highly capable daughter to follow me, I’m afraid there’s no choice but for my chief advisor to take over the position. Congratulations, Dirio Cyneric, you are now king of Lodia.”

Dirio didn’t think his jaw could fall any lower. He’d been wrong. “Iren, you can’t be serious.”

Iren shrugged. “Now it doesn’t matter what people say. Whether they acknowledge my adoption or not, you’re Lodia’s rightful king.”

Dirio looked at Kaede. She had a toothy grin that took up more than half her face. Combined with her green eyes, it made the resemblance that much stronger.

“She really does take after her grandmother,” Dirio said. “Who other than Rondel could come up with a loophole that absurd that quickly?”

Minawë and Iren laughed. “Scary, isn’t it?” Minawë asked.

Dirio sat there a moment. He ran a hand over his bald head. Then he joined in their laughter. Twelve years later, and despite where their paths had led them, Iren and Minawë were still the friends he would rather spend time with than anyone else on Raa.

“You know what?” Dirio said. “Maybe I’ll have a crab or two after all.”

“That’s the spirit!” Iren cried. “We’ll order another round. Daichi, put down that sword and join us. Dirio, your men can sit too. The booth’s plenty big. We’ll eat, drink, and laugh until dawn!”

And they did.

Josh VanBrakle is the author of the perfectly logical combination—to him anyway—of epic fantasy novels and nature non-fiction. His fantasy novels include the award-winning
Dragoon Saga
trilogy, and his debut nature book is
Your Woodland: A Hands-on Guide to Doing Right by the Land You Love
.

When he isn’t writing, Josh works as an education forester at an environmental non-profit promoting rural land conservation. Originally from Hershey, Chocolatetown USA, Josh now lives in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York with his wife Christine and two ill-behaved cats.

Writing the
Dragoon Saga
has been Josh’s dream since high school. It’s his first book series, so please let him and other readers know what you thought of it by reviewing this book wherever you purchased it. Josh appreciates these reviews and uses them to grow as an author and improve future books.

To stay up to date with the latest news about Josh and his upcoming titles, please visit
www.joshvanbrakle.com
or follow Josh on Twitter
@joshvanbrakle
.