Free Web NovelChapter 24: The Impossible Tithe
The silver ring of the Shadow Advisor felt heavy on Silas’s index finger. It was a constant physical reminder of the precarious ledge he was currently standing on.
He sat behind the massive black desk in his new office watching the perpetual twilight through the towering arched windows. He had survived the Blood Moon Banquet. He had secured a thirty percent cut of Lady Seraphina’s black market empire. He had placed his own loyalists in the upper ranks of the City Guard.
To the rest of the court he looked like a man who had conquered the Sunless Throne in a matter of days. But Silas knew the truth. He had simply painted a massive glowing target on his own back.
A sharp knock echoed through the room.
Elara opened the heavy oak doors and stepped inside. She kept her eyes lowered respectfully but her posture was rigid with tension.
"Silas," she said her voice tight. "The Queen’s personal guard is waiting in the corridor. Her Majesty demands your presence in her private solar immediately."
Silas stood up and smoothed the front of his dark charcoal tunic. A summons to the solar was different from a summons to the bedchamber or the throne room. The solar was where Ravena conducted her true political warfare.
"Thank you Elara," Silas said walking past her. "If I am not back in two hours assume the worst and initiate the lockdown protocols we discussed."
Elara nodded her pale green eyes filled with quiet determination.
Silas followed the armored guards up the winding obsidian staircase to the highest peak of the royal spire. The guards opened a set of intricately carved iron doors and gestured for him to enter.
The solar was a circular room lined with massive glass windows that offered a dizzying view of the dark sprawling capital below. There were no shadows to hide in here. The room was brightly lit by dozens of floating violet crystal orbs.
Queen Ravena stood by the largest window looking out over her empire. She wore a gown of deep blood red silk that clung to her voluptuous figure. She did not turn around when Silas entered.
"You look entirely too comfortable in your new clothes Silas," Ravena said her melodic voice cutting through the silence of the room.
"I am simply adapting to the environment Your Majesty," Silas replied stopping a respectful distance away.
Ravena turned slowly. Her glowing silver eyes locked onto him. There was no trace of the dark passion they had shared the night after the banquet. Today she was not a lover. She was an apex predator evaluating a tool that might be growing too sharp for its own good.
She closed the distance between them her heels clicking sharply against the polished stone floor. She stopped just inches from him looking up into his dark eyes.
"Do not mistake a new title for freedom little bird," Ravena whispered reaching out to trace the heavy silver ring on his finger. Her touch was freezing cold a stark reminder of her lethal magic. "You sit at my right hand because I allow it. You breathe because I allow it. If you ever forget who holds your leash I will hang you from the highest tower of this palace."
"I have never forgotten my place Your Majesty," Silas said keeping his voice perfectly steady and his heart rate completely calm.
Ravena smiled a cruel testing smile. She walked over to a small marble table and picked up a rolled piece of parchment. She tossed it onto the floor at Silas’s feet.
"Prove it," she commanded.
Silas knelt and picked up the parchment. He unrolled it and scanned the elegant ink. It was a royal tax ledger.
"Lord Vaneer," Ravena said pacing slowly around him. "He governs the western iron mines. He is a fat arrogant pig who has not paid his royal tithe in two years. He owes the crown a mountain of gold."
Silas recognized the name immediately from the files Lyra had shown him in the deep vault. Lord Vaneer was not just a minor noble. He was one of Lady Seraphina’s most loyal lieutenants. He controlled the iron that Seraphina used to arm her private mercenary forces.
"If he is in defiance of the crown why has the City Guard not seized his assets?" Silas asked playing the part of the dutiful advisor.
"Because Vaneer is a proxy for the Silk Spider," Ravena sneered her silver eyes flashing with irritation. "If I send soldiers to kick down his doors he will cry oppression. Seraphina will use it as an excuse to freeze the eastern grain routes in protest. The capital will starve in a month. I cannot use brute force without starting a civil war."
She stopped in front of him crossing her arms beneath her generous chest. freёwebnoѵel.com
"But you are my Shadow Advisor," Ravena purred her voice dripping with dangerous expectation. "You are the man who claims to see the truth. I want my gold Silas. I want Vaneer to pay every single coin he owes the crown and I want it done without giving Seraphina a single reason to retaliate."
It was a brilliant flawless trap.
Ravena was testing him. If Silas failed to collect the gold she would deem him useless and strip him of his new power. If he used force and angered Seraphina the Queen would blame him for the resulting civil war and execute him. He was trapped between the wrath of the Queen and the infinite wealth of the Silk Spider.
Silas looked at the parchment and then looked up at Ravena. He did not frown. He did not show a single ounce of hesitation.
"You will have your gold by the end of the week Your Majesty," Silas promised his voice smooth and absolute.
Ravena tilted her head her eyes narrowing in deep suspicion. She wanted to see him sweat. She wanted him to beg for more time or more resources. His absolute confidence infuriated and intrigued her in equal measure.
"Do not disappoint me Silas," she whispered turning her back on him to look out the window once more. "You are dismissed."
Silas bowed and walked out of the solar. As the heavy iron doors closed behind him his System interface chimed brightly in his mind.
[System Alert: New Quest Initiated.]
[Quest: The Impossible Tithe.]
[Objective: Extract the owed taxes from Lord Vaneer without triggering a political retaliation from House Caligari.]
[Reward: Plus 1 Cunning and 200 SP.]
Silas smiled a cold calculating smile as he descended the obsidian staircase. Ravena thought she had handed him an impossible puzzle. She did not realize that corporate extortion was the exact game he had played every single day in his past life.
He did not return to his office. He bypassed the upper spire entirely and headed straight for the grand library. He needed to see Lyra. It was time to dig into Lord Vaneer’s financial history and find the leverage that would break him.
