Whispers of Fire Ch15 Ficbit – Bluff, Called

From that slide of red eyes, Cassim knew Judar was watching him too. And not in the half-friendly way the Magi had that night at the canal-side, wanting to play with the King of Sindria.

We can use that.

And it was we, because if Alibaba meant it… if Alibaba meant it, his crazy prince foster brother didn’t want to be king.

Which was smart, because Cassim had a plan to start at the top and kill his way down. They didn’t need Sinbad getting involved in that. Balbadd’s problems were Balbadd’s to fix, not Sindria’s.

“Who cares if he didn’t lift a hand to do it? King Rashid is still dead, and that bastard did nothing to stop it.” Abhmad sneered. “A coward has no right to be recognized as pure blood!”

“Oh, rights.” Judar swung his braid around, one hand playing with the tuft at the end. “Funny you should bring that up. Your customs are so odd! In the Empire, the Emperor names his heir aloud before he dies. Here in Balbadd… King Rashid wrote it down, doesn’t he? Right and proper, signed and witnessed.” Judar’s smile was bright and sharp as a new blade. “I’d love to see that.”

“So would I!” Kougyoku stomped forward. “If I’m supposed to marry the true king, I should know who has the right!” She blinked then, shy and demure, and gestured to Ka Kobun. “But… I already did.”

With a subtle gulp that would have done credit to a new thief out on his first robbery, the court official pulled a document out of his robes. Yet didn’t open it, beyond the very bottom, where the royal seal gleamed in scarlet wax.

Kougyoku raised a brocaded sleeve, eyelashes fluttering. “Should we see who is listed? Or… who is not?”

The hush was deafening.