Thread Slivers

Chapter 12: Fate is Circular

-Dohma-

Dohma smiled as he entered the palace foyer. He had been feeling increasingly better about the events of the previous days. Sure, the city is sealed tight as a drum after an ancient terror, or hero, seized control of the city. Daggers are now officers of the throne, and all eighty personal guards that survived the first day by hiding on trial as traitors. The pretenders’ families are all accounted for, and in the royal prisons, the three pretenders were simultaneously and gruesomely executed in public, witnessing each other’s suffering and deaths over a full day. And every noble in the city is under house arrest or in the prison because of attempts at bribery or escape. Inexplicably, the townspeople were enjoying all these events. They have been extremely cooperative, and even giddy, at the changes and orders. I feel better about serving here than I have ever felt. I am proud to be an instrument of true justice.

He stopped to watch fifty workmen removing the paneling that had been put up in front of the palace foyer walls. Behind the ornate plaster, with its gaudy, embossed golden inlay, were walls of towering marble, with an intricate pattern that looked familiar. Once a larger section fell, it became clear that the pattern was an old seal like the one on the covenant. They spent hundreds of years hiding our history. How could so many generations remain so corrupt? It’s hard to believe, but the evidence is mounting that each generation of usurpers was more ruthless and corrupt than the previous one. Pirates…this was a nation run by pirates. They robbed on the seas, calling it ‘patrol tariffs,’ but really, the navy was manned with mostly cutthroat pirates. It is no wonder, then, that so many nations tried at times to break our hold on the merchant lanes. According to the records, the responses were far more brutal than anyone here knew. I hope we can establish a more peaceful relationship with our neighbors. I suppose the excessively gruesome and lengthy executions will provide some good faith in that direction.

Duke had ordered every wall of the palace to be hammered on, and if any wall cracked, it was to be broken down, to reveal the true palace that was hidden underneath. It was a strange order at first, so Dohma followed the workmen around as they pounded on the walls. Most of the palace had been plastered or tiled over, which explained why it was all brash. Behind the facades, were wondrous friezes, showing the history of the ancient city. There were some interesting pictures, to be sure. The building of the city was depicted, with representations of the Gods watching over the construction.

Amazing images of buildings were floating over the sections of the city walls, which were hanging down from the buildings, being moved into place as complete sections, instead of being built up one stone at a time. Also, one mural looked down on the finished city from a great height, showing multitudes of people moving about. Where the central market was had been a field, with smooth, rounded buildings, which stood off the ground on legs that ended in immense wheels, as if they were meant to move, except there was nowhere for them to go. In almost every picture of the city, was a large wolf, which had to be Duke. Even more interesting, was that in a number of pictures, the landscapes were covered with snow. No one has ever mentioned that it used to snow here. I wonder what happened that could cause it to become so much hotter that it never snows. And when did it happen?

Whole generations of Princes of the Empire were represented in detail. The faithful regents’ line was also shown in one grand hall. It was obvious, from examining the art, that the Princes he had known were not of either line, which is why they tried to hide it.

Dohma continued into the throne room, which held no thrones, but had a large bench-table on the floor in front of the dais. With all the work that was going on Dohma had noticed that sections of the palace were far cooler than before. The throne room felt almost chilly compared to the halls around it. Duke’s massive chair sat behind and at the center of the table. Three seats were to his left and two to the right, for the yet-to-be-named new regents. In the center of the room, a circular table sat, and on it, were books and maps of the city.