She shook her head, clearly not amused at his proposed entry point. Truly, he wasn’t built for infiltrating palaces, but he’d have to make it work. He used his hands to portray swinging down and prying open the window. Shanon gestured to herself and approached the edge.
Hatan grunted and conceded that she'd be a better choice.
Shanon went to the edge, and Hatan leaned out and held one of her hands as she dropped down. Once her feet got on the window ledge below, she hugged the wall and shimmied to a crouch. Hatan wiped his forehead as he watched from above. She’d have to wedge the window open with her knife before giving it a good shove. It took far longer than he would have wanted, but she finally gasped with relief before pushing the window in on its hinges. She spared a look up, nodding at Hatan before disappearing inside.
Hatan wiped his hands and his cloak and took a couple deep breaths before following after her. When he got his feet on the ledge below, he tried shimmying down like Shanon had done, but had difficulty keeping his hips close to the wall. Sands, was he too tall for this? He barely got a hand under the lip of the window sill and quickly swung a leg inside the window, helping balance his weight better. Shanon grabbed his hand from inside and helped pull him through.
This room belonged to Agwe, the head servant. The room was immaculately maintained, and it looked as though all of Agwe’s things were still present. He hoped that meant she hadn’t been executed by the Kestens. That dungeon had been awfully lonely, so clearly nobody else had been imprisoned. That meant that the remaining servants in the palace had been executed or… trusted? He didn’t imagine the Kestens being very trusting. Or maybe they’d been taken somewhere else? He’d have to figure that out when he got to it.
Shanon went to the door of the room as Hatan closed the window. The palace was riddled with hidden passages meant only for use by the royal family. Hatan was privy to only a few of them, but he knew there were several more yet unknown to him. He’d almost made a game of checking behind all the decorative curtains, paintings, drapes, or practically anything that obscured a wall. With enough years here, he’d stumbled across four additional passages that hadn’t been blatantly shown to him by Migo.
“To the kitchen,” he whispered to Shanon. He just had to hope they wouldn’t cross anybody on the way there.
Shanon nodded. She’d lead. She had sharper senses and would have a better chance of getting them there without being spotted. She waited before opening the door. It opened quietly, and they slipped out into the halls together. They dashed down the hall, heading toward the staircase that led straight down to the kitchen.
The halls were dark and empty, their footsteps echoed with dull padding, making Hatan clench his jaw as though that would make his feet quieter. It was likely nobody would be on the second or third floors at all right now, as all attention would be diverted to hosting all the noble houses of Jehubal. He also doubted that the Kestens were staying in the palace, which meant that the only residents would be the servants themselves and perhaps some of the Kestens’ lackeys, if they were staying onsite.
They reached the stairs and headed down more cautiously. The smell of baked bread had Hatan drooling by the time they reached the bottom. They turned the corner and peeked inside the kitchen door. It was Agwe. Hatan sighed and went in first, Shanon right behind him.
“Ah, Regent Padarro,” Agwe said as if everything was normal. “They didn’t kill you then? I thought you were dead.”
Hatan put a finger to his lips. “No, not dead,” he whispered.
“Ah, well, whatever you're planning, regent, try not to get the palace too messy, eh?”
“That’s the goal,” he said, walking straight to the pantry. The secret tunnel beyond was clearly designed as a possible escape route should such a thing be necessary.
“There’s not much left in there, sir, if that’s what you’re after.”
“No, thank you, Agwe,” Hatan said, pushing out the fake wall at the back of the pantry. “Just don’t mention we came through here. Have a pleasant cycle.” He and Shanon disappeared behind the pantry, and he slid the wall back into place. The passage beyond was extremely narrow. He walked sideways to get through the darkness, one hand on the wall, the other held out before him. Shanon had no trouble following behind him as they shuffled along.
They came to a split where they could go in either of two directions. “This way,” Hatan whispered, heading to the right. They continued along for a while, ducking down as the passage got shorter to accommodate for some of the windows that would otherwise have been just above them, but instead provided light to the rooms above. The ground also sloped down. They were close.
There were three potential exits. One right around the bend, or one further along that emerged near the front door of the main hall, and a third that was more difficult to reach, as it was a tunnel that went up, curving with the rounded walls. It had a trap door on the outside of the palace wall that went straight down, practically impossible to enter from the outside.
This first exit would be the best for their current objective. He paused and felt around the opposite wall until he found the groove he was looking for. Before opening it, he whispered to Shanon. “There’s a shaft just a few more steps down. If we need to, we can climb up through that to get out of the palace.” Without another word, he stepped out of the way and tugged up on the groove. A brasswood frame shifted, sliding to the side with much more noise that he would have appreciated, but it was best to move it fast. Once out of the way, he stopped and placed his ear up against a second wooden panel. This one would also swing open, just behind a small curtain in one of the large waiting room alcoves adjacent to the massive entry hall.
He could faintly hear voices, echoing in the distance without much distinction. He waited a moment longer to see if anybody may have noticed the noise from opening the first wooden panel, but he couldn’t hear anything else. If he waited too long, they might miss part of the council. With another careful shove, he opened the panel and stepped out onto the stone framing behind the seats of an alcove. He peeked behind the curtain that covered the secret entrance and saw that several chairs had been placed in a large circle at the center of the entry hall. The chairs were all filled by the various noble houses.
Shanon came through beside him and peeked out from the other side of the drape.
The voices were clearer, though many backs were turned to them, so Hatan couldn’t tell exactly who everyone was. There were also several other attendants standing throughout the room. Thunder rippled across the echoey room as the chatter among the nobles dissipated.
Vitori Kesten stood from his seat, hands raised. The council had started.
“We are not here to discuss allegations against Migo Rikaydian. Those have already been concluded.” The person who spoke was Lord Obet Ilanitan.
“Lord Ilanitan is right,” said Lady Khadij Mayari, rising from her seat. “Jehubal has gone too long without proper leadership. It withered under the Rikaydian family. Our best hope is to settle on a house with strong lineage. One that has proven the ability to effectively manage a large estate and is financially stable. This is why I want to present Lord Avidazj Kesten as our greatest chance for a successful future. He’s already been managing their estate for several years, and he has four young, healthy children. This is the vote of House Mayari.” She returned to her seat.
Vitori Kesten rose right after her. It seemed they were all seated in a row of general priority. “As Lord Avidazj’s father, you might understand that I have seen both the best and the worst in my own son. I built up House Kesten when we had little more than a bit of land and a single caravan. Handing over operations to my son was no small matter, but I have seen his tenacity over the years. I am confident that he will bring a bright and prosperous future to the entire city. Many of you have already worked with him in coordinated marketing, trade, or land agreements. You’ve seen his ability to come through on promises. He has earned my trust. This is the vote of House Kesten.” He sat.
Next rose Nedro Wajek. He raised his hands to the side and chuckled. “I never thought we’d see this moment. Although he could use some skill in the food trade, Avidazj Kesten is indeed an excellent choice.”
Shannon muttered a curse.
“However.” Nedro looked around the room, twisting a ring on his finger. “Well, Regent Hatan Padarro is the next in line to inherit the throne.” Vitori visibly gaped before clamping his mouth shut. Whispers hissed through the stillness.
“I think it would be unwise to disregard the proper order of things,” Nedro continued. “He has long served the people of Jehubal without being self-seeking. If we are looking for someone who will look to the needs of the people, he has firsthand experience with that. At a time when honor has been overlooked with little regard, he has stuck with it. The citizens have felt betrayed by Queen Tilayna Rikaydian over these many years, and surely the deposing of King Migo Rikaydian, a man they have deemed as the Hero of Jehubal, has already pained many of them deeply. If we are seeking to properly enforce the laws of our land by deposing King Rikaydian, then it is only sensible to continue the standard maintenance of these laws by placing House Padarro on the throne.”
“Lord Wajek,” Vitori interjected while still seated, “let me remind the council that our laws allow for the replacement of the royal family when a removal of the current monarchy is necessary.”
“Yes, Lord Kesten, but those are in cases when there may be no viable heir,” Nedro said, dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief. “Hatan Padarro is such an heir. This is the vote of House Wajek.”
Vitori shared a look with Nadim Mayari who sat beside him. Vitori stood before the next person could get up. “Before anyone else places their vote, I am aware of Hatan Padarro’s ambition. I have heard reports from several of you regarding visitations from some of their mercenaries visiting you in your home, trying to persuade you to support House Padarro by means of coercion.”
Nedro laughed out loud. “Those thugs were sent by you, Lord Kesten. We all know you were trying to frame Regent Padarro.”
Vitori smirked and withdrew two documents from his robe. “I have here a copy of the document that Padarro’s thugs tried to have everyone sign. I also have another document—the ledger from Rikaydian Palace. It shows funds being transferred to various mercenary groups at the time that they were visiting the homes of the nobility to coerce them into supporting House Padarro.” He handed the documents to Nedro. “You’ll see it has been signed off by Regent Padarro’s clerk, Penym Galan. Even that violence in the streets when we arrested Regent Padarro happened because he was trying to cover up the whole thing.”
“Lies,” Penym blurted from across the room. “I only signed that forgery because your men threatened to kill me. The coin to pay those thugs came from your household, Lord Kesten.”
Vitori laughed. “You need not fear the regent, Penym. He is in prison, and his followers have been dispersed. All those of you who have been threatened, let me just urge you to vote with your heart. We have removed the threat.” He thumped back into his seat.
Clever. Hatan shook his head. Vitori’s deception had gone deeper than he’d thought. But it appeared not everyone could be bought or threatened. He thought that Vitori would have learned by now that Hatan was not still in the dungeon. Perhaps he knew and was trying to deceive everyone anyway.
The next person rose and another vote went to Avidazj Kesten. Then another. The third person then voted in favor of Hatan. The next several votes favored the Kestens. With some forty noble houses present, Hatan worried that things wouldn’t actually go in their favor at all. Did they have a backup plan if things went the wrong way? Once it got to Sinteya Jenali, she too voted for Hatan, as expected. From this point on, things took a bit of a turn. Feeding off Sinteya’s momentum, most everyone started voting for Hatan.
“It might actually work,” Hatan whispered.
