Impressions 3. Royal People

Impressions 3. Royal People

Father and son glared at each other across the room. Both felt they had some important points to make. Neither wanted to bend. Finally, as the silence grew awkward and even slightly aggressive, Alphonse gave up.

"At the time, I believed I had good reasons not to embroider you in that particular mystery, my son." - he offered placatingly - "What you genuinely do not know can not be weaseled out of you."

"I understand why you thought so." - Hiram agreed - "However, not knowing had put me in a very awkward situation with lady Gillespie. Now I have to either admit I was kept in darkness about our own spymaster and his circumstances or lie. And lady Gillespie had shown more than enough capacity with light magic to make it a certainty I would be caught lying."

"Hiram, you are first in line to succeed the throne of Kraut." - Alphonse pointed out the obvious - "I hardly think lady Gillespie is in a position to demand any accounting of you."

"And why would she demand anything, father?" - Hiram riposted irritably - "She has far better leverage than etiquette in her disposal. Imagine, if you will, that Great Forge will always surreptitiously find themselves all sold out of ripple steel whenever it is Kraut kingdom inquiring. And never mind that everyone else could buy it every day by quintal."

"And you're certain she would dare to snub our custom out of petty aggravation?" - his father inquired with rising irritation of his own - "Even if she is that foolhardy, I dare hazard a guess her father and her liege would both deter her from inviting our ire."

"Did you happen to forget what else was presented with the head?" - Hiram pressed on - "Slavery collar. Ruined one. If she presented those to her liege and not to me, we would be at war right now."

"Perhaps. But she did not, so that trump is out of her hands now." - Alphonse waved it off, sitting down on the chair heavily - "Damn it all, Hiram. I understand she is your friend. I understand she introduced you to your paramour and possibly can influence the end of your relationship as well. But we can not and should not bend over backward to satisfy a woman who does not even have a domain to call her own yet."

"Perhaps. But we also can not and should not bend over backward to cover up for utter foolishness our homunculus of a spymaster gets up to." - Hiram retorted angrily - "Are you not worried about setting the precedent? If it is acceptable for US to enslave family members of other dynasties, then certainly someone will make a case for enslaving US in return sooner or later."

As much as Alphonse wanted to object... he found himself lacking any good rebuttal. Certainly, just being plausible did not mean certainty, but... Alphonse grimaced as he arrived at an unpleasant conclusion that Hiram's theory was a pretty strong contender for the title of actual explanation, and so far, nothing contradicted it.

"On one hand, I would like to caution that possibility does not equal certainty..." - he began - "On other, I have to admit it IS a strong possibility. So far, everything we do know does not contradict your theory. However, equally viable theories suggest that either Lady Gillespie is a spymistress in her own right on par with Klaus or that she is simply unbelievably lucky in her interactions with Klaus."

"There is that, but my suggestion would be equally valid for either of those theories. Regardless of how lady Gillespie bests Klaus, be it by divine knowledge, luck or her own wits, ordering him to report every action he undertakes involving her still makes sense. As the proverb goes, three heads are better than one." - Hiram replied.

"...Fair enough." - Alphonse acceded - "I shall order Klaus to report whenever he has any news or plans regarding lady Gillespie or her endeavors so that we may ride herd on his tendency to wreck himself upon this cliff."

He paused for a few moments.

"Hiram." - he then soldiered on - "You were right with your first point as well. I should have given you information on Klaus so that you could have made better decisions on how to handle his fallout. With that in mind, I would like you to hear me out. As much as I want to believe I stand above lady Gillespie, I have to admit that her influence will reshape the very society around us considerably. Even if she were to never invent a single new thing from now on, the very existence of such things as copperphone and airship change things. You have a good rapport with her, and I would like for you to maintain this rapport, and if necessary, distance yourself from whatever actions Klaus and I may undertake that lady Gillespie is likely to view with disfavor. Should our actions bear fruit, your amiable stance towards her would be of no consequence... and should our actions bring ruin, blame them on myself and Klaus. If needs be, if the situation calls for it... My son, I do believe you are ready to take the throne. So if it comes to pass that we are in a bind, I ask of you to accept my abdication and blame whatever is the source of discord on me. Stating that you have assumed the throne and exiled me to our estates to live in confinement should assuage any transgression I can presume to be taken to task for."

Hiram frowned - "Forgive me for saying so, father, but I do sincerely hope that the day I have to exile you should never come to pass."

"So do I hope, my son. So do I hope. But do promise me that you will take the reins should I falter." - Alphonse agreed.

"I will, father. If it comes to be that I must, I will."