The Emperor leaned back on the throne, "I have made the arrangements for Alvaton, you people need not worry much about that. Alvaton would not survive for long. And Zereth, you have been too impulsive recently, control yourself."
"Father, What I had done in Everine was part of my plan. I was fully in control of myself." Zereth said glaring at Jeeves who was standing beside the Emperor and staring at the gate as if all this didn't concern him at all.
" First brother, please do not hold back and tell us your marvelous plan, we want to learn from our elder brother." The second prince said with a sly grin. He didn't know what his brother had done but since the Emperor was grumpy. He could use this chance to at least embarrass the first prince.
Zereth glanced at his brother then at the Emperor, who gestured to him to tell it. He knew his father favored him, but he didn't help out today. He guessed correctly that his father was very disappointed in them, today.
Zereth knew the reason. The Emperor wanted to appoint a successor as soon as possible and all of them had failed to achieve anything substantial in recent missions.
Only someone stupid would tell lie in front of the emperor of Belur. He was a last stage grandmaster, one of the strongest person on the continent. He could catch even slight fluctuations in your emotions. It was better to not open your mouth than a lie.
Zereth started narrating the events that transpired that day, he started narrating from the brothel incident where he killed six men.
The second prince laughed and asked, "Oh! Big brother, You went on a mission to form a pact with the king not the whore. I was better than you in this regard, I wasn't distracted. Hehe!"
"What you know, Second. Let it be a lesson for you, every information travels to brothels eventually, long before it is known to the public."
"Then, Jeeves arranged a second date with the king, and when, I reached the palace the king ignored. I returned"
"I fixed a meeting with the first prince of the Everine, after coming back from the palace and promised to support him in his bid to crown if he approves my proposition. And he agreed."
The second prince again interjected, " But he isn't the king. The king of Everine is still alive,"
Zereth had a grin on his face, "second brother would you please stop disturbing and let me continue. King of Everine is alive, surely, but would not be for long."
"You mean, you planned to kill the King." the second prince was shocked, just like the other people except for the Emperor, who still had an expressionless face.
"You know what would happen if that leaks out. The people of Everine would bear a permanent grudge against us. Haven't you learned anything from the incident that happened years ago in Dazar? The Dazarians hate us to death. However the royalty favors us but it cannot go completely against the people, who consider regicide to be the ultimate crime."
This time the king growled in anger, "Second, you keep your mouth shut and let zereth continue." The man who made the blunder in Dazar was the current Emperor. The hall went completely silent.
The Second prince started sweating, his heart started beating hard, his legs became shaky. He wasn't a swordmaster like his brother who might handle the angered cry directed at him by a grandmaster.
The second prince somehow managed to mutter, "Yesss… fa..ther"
Zereth shook his head. He had purposefully stressed at that part so that the second brother could find fault.
"Um yes... Second, don't worry, no one would know. I poisoned him through the wine which I drank with him, on our third meeting. He called me as soon as word went to him that I have made some kind of deal with his eldest son"
"In that gathering many people were present and we drank in front of everyone so that no one would ever doubt. The poison is slow acting and the king didn't have the antidote. His condition would continue to worsen."
The emperor had a smile on his face now, he didn't favor the first prince for nothing. Out of his nine sons, only the first prince did things like he used to do.
"I estimated, within a month the fight for the crown would start in Everine. I even proposed to be married to their princess, just for the deal."
The second prince was muttering in low voice, only the princes near him could hear, "Only a fool would believe you lecherous bastard. He must have fallen for her beauty." The other prince nodded their head but kept quiet.
The secrets revealed in the hall never get leaked. The people present in the hall would give up their life but not the state secrets or their entire family would be wiped out, it was also one of the rules not broken since the early days of the empire.
"You all know how important it is for us to get our hands on the two ports. The vessels are bound to pass through these two areas if they want to do business with the rest of the continent. And our sea fleets increase each passing day. If we want to dominate the waters we need complete control over these two ports." The Emperor leaned back in his seat.