Chapter 756 A Chance
Hearing the explanations of Merchant Brinsop, Dyon smiled.
"Take Merchant Brinsop to Lady Penelope, our best, to be healed. Provide him with lodging, food, and also prepare the same evacuation measures for him as one of our citizens." Dyon spoke quickly and didn't explain his words. After finishing, he looked at Merchant Brinsop, "Be ready to leave early tomorrow morning. If you perform well, saving your family will be a part of our plans. Do you understand?"
The change was much too quick. They had gone from torturing Brinsop to making him one of their own? What was going on?
However, those more intelligent had an imperceptible light flash in their eyes. This was especially so for Amphorae. It seemed that from beginning to end, Dyon had all of the happenings well within his control. It was almost as though… He didn't need to ask the questions at all…
As the thoughts spun in Amphorae's mind, her evaluation of her husband seemed to continue sky rocketing.
When you thought about it, what would have made people the most unsatisfied with taking Merchant Brinsop in? Wouldn't it be the lack of punishment? Yet, didn't he lose two fingers after facing unimaginable pain?
'Could it be that Dyon let himself be placed in a dangerous situation in hopes that Brinsop would attack?...' Amphorae shook her head. Such planning and foresight had to be beyond the scope of humans. It was simply inconceivable. It would imply that Dyon knew that Brinsop would be useful before hand and was prepared to set up a situation where he was punished enough, and yet in good enough shape to be used for the next day.
This was even a two-pronged attack. Dyon purposefully used this opportunity to bring his integration of women into their fold. How could the Angel Clan not have male healers? Yet, he not only crown Lady Penelope as the best, he also thrust her into affairs of war before everyone. Anyone insightful enough could see his motives.
The most stunned individual was, without a doubt, Brinsop. Never did he imagine that he would have another chance at life. He had made many friends here, but in one fell sweep, he had betrayed them all. He wouldn't have been surprised if he received the worst punishment and torture possible even after telling them everything he knew. But, this was well outside of his expectations.
This was, of course, within Dyon's calculations as well. Although he could rule Brinsop's future with his array, it wasn't ideal. He needed Brinsop for diplomatic reasons, and much of that would require Brinsop admitting that he was a spy to those clans. This would automatically shatter much of his prestige in those clans. Because of this, Dyon needed him to be his very best, and him being fearful and restrained wasn't the right way.
Again. A King needed to understand how to best use his subjects.
This was also of benefit for his questioning of the other traitors as well. They saw that there was a way out. But, they also saw that it was the only way out. If Dyon wanted, he didn't have to treat them well at all, because he could force them to answer anyway. This left only one person with the worst of cold sweats: Minister Brodaya.
No matter what, anyone here knew that it was impossible for him to be forgiven. While Merchant Brinsop was coerced, forced and technically not of their people, Minister Brodaya was different. He was of Angel Clan blood. He felt the need to kneel when he saw Dyon's wings. He had grown up with them all. His son had died for them! His only future was to spill his everything, then die.
Before Merchant Brinsop left to be healed and fed, Dyon made sure to ask detailed questions about his network of people in the Angel Clan. His network in those other clans could wait for the trip tomorrow, but Dyon needed this short cut toward uprooting his own clan's issues first.
As much as Dyon wanted to use Brinsop's influence to control them all, he knew that would be na?ve. Everyone had their own interests and their own families and futures to worry about. Because of this, there was only one possibility, and that was to force arrays into them all as well. Only then would Dyon be at ease.
After learning of the network, Dyon left this task to his trusted soldiers. They were actually made of his male friends from youth. While everyone else was scheming behind his back, only they had his back because only they truly understood what was going through his mind. Their group of about 20 had become his personal guard, as was tradition. Of course, Dyon was also wary of the feelings of this body of his clouding his Perception of the situation. But, luckily he hadn't triggered any of those between them yet when he investigated them thoroughly. For now, they were clean.
Finally, Dyon sent Brinsop off with his eyes, tasking his protection to a couple guards. Then, ignoring the ministers in the room for a moment, he turned toward Amphorae who sat by his side.
"Amphorae," Dyon smiled, taking her hand.
A faint blush colored her features, but she still managed to keep her composure, nodding faintly. She could tell that Dyon was about to task her with something important.
"Tomorrow, I leave with Queen Luna. Do you understand?"
Amphorae's heart beat quickened, "You mean…"
Dyon nodded. "While I'm gone, the highest authority in our clan is you."
The ministers were stunned by Dyon's words. After all, this wasn't protocol. Amphorae might not even be hundredth in line for such a responsibility. Although that was an exaggeration, it wasn't too far from the truth. Concubines truly weren't given much power, and this was doubly true with Dyon's ignoring them for so many decades.
However, the ministers had no right to protest. Just as a few wanted to, they were reminded of Dyon's words just yesterday, words that had become law as soon as he uttered them. He had said that all decisions during this time of war would be made through him, and only him. They were in a state of martial law, as such, Dyon could do whatever he wanted.
This was without a doubt yet another power move. It not only gave silent consent to women gaining more power in the clan, it also elevated Amphorae's status to an all new level. Without even the words being uttered, those around already began to think the words: Queen Amphorae, even without noticing it.
There was, of course, another reason for this as well. Many here thought that Dyon bringing Amphorae here was just an empty gesture. Like duct tape to try and cover over a gaping hole. Even Amphorae couldn't help but hide such a feeling deep within her heart. However, Dyon simply shattered all of that in one move. This was the ultimate showing of strength, a move that was nothing less than a master stroke.
Amphorae nodded, "Yes… Royal Husband."
With how intelligent Amphorae was, how could she not see these hidden reasons? Maybe a normal woman would be jealous that her husband was taking her competition out instead of her, but Amphorae saw through all of this. In fact, it could be said that the one who would truly be jealous was Queen Luna.
Not only has Queen Luna never had such a privilege, Dyon taking her with him only proved one thing: He didn't trust her to stay here without his supervision. While it may seem only right for a King and Queen to take diplomatic visits together, this was nothing more than a fa?ade. It also let the other ministers rest their hearts easy… Even the Queen wasn't safe from the label of traitor.
This worked doubly to strike fear into the hearts of those Dyon called out as well. If the Queen wasn't safe when the King loved her so much, how could they be?
Dyon smiled, raising Amphorae's place in his heart once again before turning his attention to the rest of the traitors. By now, there were only three left. The traitorous merchants were obviously a part of Brinsop's network, so they were controlled with Arrays and sent off to be healed.
After doing this, Dyon also sent out half of his personal guard to re-capture those he allowed to escape. He realized and was willing to admit his mistakes. Although the plan seemed perfect, who knows what would have happened had they let Minister Brodaya escape? They could only be described as lucky for catching him, he could have very well been on the "allow to escape" list.
Eventually, Dyon probably would have realized that the fake Minister Brodaya in their hall had something off with him. After all, it was his high Perception that caught something wrong with the prisoner to begin with. However, that only happened because Dyon was closely inspecting the traitors with such a purpose. He, obviously, wasn't inspecting the ministers so closely. At most, he judged their reactions to certain situations, but didn't delve too deeply. After all, there were more than 50 of them. Even his Perception had limits.
In truth, Dyon thought it was risky to recapture all of those he allowed to escape. But, he had no choice. He would rather the Moon clan catch wind that something was wrong instead of allowing another Minister Brodaya to be under their nose. So, he ordered this recapture secretly.
In reality, though, Dyon was lucky once again. What he hadn't known for sure all of this time was that Queen Luna was more than just suspicious, she was a main culprit, although even Merchant Brinsop was unaware of this – such was the caution of the Queen.
What this meant was that was any change of Queen Luna would be even more easily detectable by their enemies. And, even worse, Queen Luna herself could secretly communicate the clan's situation herself.
That said, she did none of those things. But, even then, the fact she didn't check in because of her guilt, was already noticed by the Moon Clan.
The reason none of this mattered at all was that the fool of a King leading the Moon Clan now actually decided to not change his battle plans at all, even knowing the likelihood that the Angel Clan was preparing.
This was why whether Dyon captured them or let a few escape meant nothing. Whether they escaped or not, the Moon clan was already aware of the situation, and were still not doing a thing. So, Dyon's worries were baseless.
Maybe he was too blinded by his love for Luna… Such a mistake wasn't something Dyon would ever make…
Without realizing it, he had left a large blind spot in his preparations. A mistake only a fool would make. However, he seemed to not notice at all. Or, maybe…
He already knew the truth and was just giving his wife a chance to change her mind…