Lumber and Leverage
Karman received a report that a merchant house had swept up Petrora's entire supply of timber.
It was not a pleasant thing to hear first thing in the morning.
No king of a nation concerned himself, day by day, with the goods a merchant house dealt in or the fluctuations in its trading volume. But this time was different—this was a special circumstance. Karman gave Kal his orders: find out what this merchant house was up to. Then he threw himself back into his work to wait.
Around the time his patience began to wear thin, a letter arrived concerning the mystery of the timber's whereabouts. It was not from Kal, but from Diana.
"Bring Lady Diana to me at once."
And so Karman summoned Diana to the palace.
That afternoon, as I sat idly sipping my tea, a letter from Karman arrived. At the king's stern command to present myself at the palace immediately, I set down my teacup.
It had been easy enough to predict that Karman would send for me once he read my letter, so I had prepared for the trip to the royal palace well in advance. Thanks to that, I was able to set out the very moment his summons came.
The Ehrenberg residence was not far from the palace. Since long ago, the kings of Petrora had frequently summoned the heads of House Ehrenberg to court, which was why the residence had been built so close to the royal palace. Now the road my father had once traveled at the crown's bidding was mine to walk.
Though I had come and gone along it many a time, this was the first journey I made at the king's summons, and the novelty left me feeling strangely refreshed.
The carriage gradually slowed. We were nearing the palace where Karman kept his offices. Anyone passing before the palace where the king resided was expected to dismount and walk whenever possible, and those on horseback or in carriages were to slow their pace to a crawl—all so as not to disturb the king at his duties.
"You've arrived, Lady Diana."
The carriage rolled to a stop, and as I stepped down, Kal, who had come out to receive me, offered his greeting.
"There are formal procedures to observe, but I'll see them waived today. His Majesty is pressed for time, you see."
An audience alone with the king required elaborate identity verification and a whole catalogue of courtesies. For someone of no special standing like me, those formalities were enforced all the more strictly. It was all, supposedly, in the name of the king's safety—but knowing how formulaic and hollow such rituals truly were, I was deeply grateful for Kal's words.
The door opened, and Kal stepped aside, motioning me to enter.
"Am I to see His Majesty alone?"
"Yes, my lady."
I smiled brightly. At the sight of that smile, something in Kal's eyes wavered.
Even full-grown adults dreaded a private audience with the king. However warm one's relations with him might be, no one could say what might unfold at a king's whim. In form, at least, the king too stood beneath the law—but for anything that happened behind closed doors in his presence, no one could ever hold him to account, for there would be no witness left to prove his wrongdoing.
A sensible king would hardly be fool enough to summon a person to his palace only to have their throat slit. But history had known such things; unless one's backing was ironclad, a private audience was rightly feared. That was why people avoided them whenever they could.
And here I was, practically relishing one. No wonder Kal looked so taken aback.
"His Majesty is waiting. Please, go in."
While Kal still hesitated in his fluster, I answered with a small nod of thanks and stepped into the chamber. Behind me came the heavy thud of the great door closing.
Karman sat at his enormous desk, nose buried in his documents. He seemed not even to have noticed my entrance. I approached him slowly.
Clack. Clack.
I had walked as quietly as I could, but there was no silencing the click of my heels against the marble. Even so, Karman never lifted his head. I found myself torn between taking a seat on the reception sofa and going to stand before his desk, and finally settled somewhere awkwardly between the two.
Then—clack, clack—I rapped the floor twice with my heel. Louder than my footsteps, certainly, but Karman remained as still as ever.
You summoned me here, and now this—what exactly are you doing?
Annoyance prickled at me, but his expression was so careful, his gaze so deeply grave with concentration, that interrupting felt impossible. Whatever weighed on him, it was work done for Petrora's sake. He failed to drive out Julia, but he was never a bad king. He has never once treated me ill, either.
Karman turned a page. If I were simply meant to keep waiting, that would be one thing—but this was the perfect moment to speak. In a voice soft but precise, I addressed him.
"I greet the radiant light of our kingdom, His Majesty the King."
Karman's head rose slowly. His pupils widened just a fraction, as if to prove that he truly had not known I'd arrived.
"Sit, Lady Diana."
Setting down the documents in his hand, Karman gestured toward the reception sofa. I offered my thanks and settled demurely where he had indicated—though leaning back against the cushions sent my legs floating clear off the floor, leaving me no choice but to perch at the very edge of the seat.
At the sight of me sitting so stiffly, Karman let out a quiet laugh.
"You carry yourself with such audacity that I forget how young you are. You're thirteen this year, aren't you?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Thirteen this year."
Though the soul inside this body was already well past twenty.
"Thirteen makes you two years Dayson's junior, and two years senior to Yumire and Cassion."
I had assumed a father so indifferent to his children wouldn't know their ages at all, yet Karman recited all three of them without a single slip. When I gave a sheepish smile, he nudged the glass jar of candy on the low table toward me and opened the conversation in earnest.
"So it was you, Lady Diana, who swept up every last stick of Petrora's timber."
In my letter to Karman, I had simply informed him that I now held a very large quantity of lumber. I'd judged that Kal would have briefed him on the situation in the Brooke Kingdom—and there was no way a man like Karman would fail to connect Brooke's troubles with a sudden glut of timber. My prediction had hit the mark; his immediate reaction to my letter made that plain enough.
"May I ask you a few questions?"
I set aside my musings on Kal and gave Karman my full attention.
"Of course, Your Majesty. I shall answer to the best of my ability."
That proof you're looking for—I'll show it to you starting now. So make your questions good ones.
"What do you intend to make with this timber?"
"I have no intention of making anything with it, Your Majesty."
"Then why on earth did you buy it?"
"To resell it."
"Resell it, you say. To whom?"
"To whoever wants it, of course."
"Lady Diana, are you aware of just how staggering the amount of timber you've purchased is? Don't tell me you misread the figures and acted in error."
"Your Majesty, I grew up at my father's side studying House Ehrenberg's budget proposals from the age of five. While other children read fairy tales, I read the documents my father was reviewing. Someone raised like that could hardly have misread a number. Besides, I'm still young—my eyes are sharp."
It was true that I had played at my father's side, but the claim that I'd been reading budgets and ledgers since five was a flat lie. Still, even a genius requires a process before she produces results. Everything I intended to do from here on would only be possible if that genius happened to be granted a share of luck as well—so a light coat of pretty paint over the past was simply necessary.
"I had heard House Ehrenberg begins its heir's education young, but at five? The previous Duke Ehrenberg's devotion to his house was extraordinary indeed. Let me ask again, then. To whom do you intend to sell this timber, Lady Diana?"
Karman studied me with eyes grown deep.
"I would be honored if Your Majesty bought it."
Karman said nothing. Instead, his eyebrows twitched—twice. For all his outward composure, he was startled. Well, since I've already surprised him once... why not twice?
"And if Your Majesty declines, then I suppose I shall sell it to the Brooke Kingdom."
Karman's eyes flashed sharp. Suspicion brimmed in them.
"Lady Diana. What is it that you know—and how much?"
"I know that the Brooke Kingdom is preparing for a war at sea."
"Absurd. I don't know what rumors you've heard or where, but the Brooke Kingdom is preparing no naval war."
That was Karman's lie—a probe, meant to sound me out. If he insisted it wasn't true, then all I had to do was prove that it was.
"Your Majesty, the Brooke Kingdom has been buying up the timber of its neighbors for several months now. Its shipyards have been running day and night, without pause. Brooke has long voiced its resentment at being forced to route all trade with the Empire through the Donet Kingdom. And not long ago, Donet sharply raised its port fees—timing that falls precisely when Brooke began purchasing lumber. The motive for war is certain, and the materials for it are already on the move."
"Even granting all that, isn't that a wild leap? They raised port fees, so perhaps Brooke simply means to expand its trade volume and absorb the cost."
"Your Majesty, Brooke's principal goods are spices and provisions. No matter how much they raise production, they cannot conjure goods beyond a fixed amount. You know full well that the ships they are building are not meant for carrying cargo."
"Very well, Lady Diana. Let us suppose that Brooke goes to war, just as you say."
Oh, for goodness' sake—just admit it already!
"Here is my question, then. You would sell that timber to the Brooke Kingdom all the same—so why offer it to me? Do you expect Brooke to invade our kingdom?"
"Of course not. But I cannot promise that our kingdom will stay free of the war."
"And why is that?"
With a faint smile, I explained, calm and measured.
"The naval war between Brooke and Donet will be a long one—neither kingdom will willingly let maritime supremacy slip from its grasp. And as the war drags on, both will begin reaching out to the nations around them. Ours will be no exception."
"I intend to take neither side. I am, after all, a pacifist."
Peace can, at times, be won by turning one's back on war. But to me, it sounded like a man content to burrow into the present and call it peace.
"Whatever choice Your Majesty makes, I will support it as your subject. I merely stockpiled the timber so that I might be of use when Your Majesty has made that choice and moves to act upon it."
Even as I condemned Karman's lukewarm dithering in my heart, I bowed my head and answered with flawless courtesy.
Karman said nothing. In grave silence, he simply studied my face, his gaze boring into me.
If, after all of this, he still saw me as no more than a precocious little girl and brushed my words aside, then the timber would have to go to the Brooke Kingdom. It would pain me to let naval supremacy slip through our fingers, but I stood to make a handsome profit, so that would be that. The thought that I would have to draw up yet another Plan B for winning Karman over left me tired already—and keeping this bright, sunny smile fixed on my face made the fatigue feel twice as heavy.
Just how long had I been wearing that strained smile?
"My lady."
At long last, Karman spoke, quite abruptly.