Chapter 413: Terms
Cyran stared at Arik for several seconds.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
Mezos’s expression did not change, but Cassian lifted one eyebrow above the rim of his coffee cup.
Arik leaned back.
"Something amusing?"
"Not particularly."
Cyran rubbed one hand over his jaw, exhaustion finally beginning to show through the polish he had maintained since being brought into the room.
"It is simply impressive how efficiently you prove my argument whenever you are irritated."
Arik’s gold eyes cooled.
"Careful."
"There." Cyran pointed toward him. "Exactly that."
Mezos shifted slightly in his chair.
Cyran noticed and lowered his hand.
"I am not insulting him."
"You have a questionable understanding of that concept," Mezos said.
Cyran returned his attention to Arik.
"You can expose everything. Gerard’s money, the compromised commission staff, my involvement. You can dissolve the election process, take back appointment authority, and put whoever you want in the prime minister’s office."
"Yes."
"And everyone will know you can."
Arik’s expression remained unreadable.
Cyran leaned forward.
"That is precisely the problem."
Cassian set his cup down.
"Explain."
Cyran looked toward him.
"Nuria emerged from behind the Gate stronger than almost every country surrounding it expected. It has territory, ether resources, military capability, technology nobody properly understands, and an emperor who can personally make half the continent reconsider whether antagonizing him is sensible."
Arik’s mouth twitched.
"That sounded almost flattering."
"It wasn’t."
Cassian smiled.
Cyran continued.
"You already favor Agaron openly. Nobody questions why. It raised you, your parents rule it, and your brother will inherit it. Wrohan receives exceptional access because Liam is Wrohanian and his family remains there. Donin has King Christian, Damian’s brother, sitting on its throne."
Arik’s expression sharpened slightly at the implication.
Cyran did not retreat.
"Three countries have personal access to the Imperial House of Nuria."
"They are also countries I trust."
"Yes, because you have family there."
"And?"
"And everyone else sees the same pattern."
The room grew quieter.
Cyran rested both hands on the table.
"Gerard took offense because he saw Nuria building an inner circle that he could never enter on equal terms. I thought his reaction was excessive. I still do. But he is not the only ruler thinking it."
Arik studied him.
"You know this how?"
"Because politics does not happen only in official correspondence. Ambassadors complain. Ministers talk. Trade delegations compare treatment. Smaller states watch where you travel, who gets agreements first, whose requests receive immediate answers and whose wait three months."
Cassian’s gaze shifted toward Arik, thoughtful rather than critical.
Cyran noticed.
"You can punish Gerard. You probably should. You can make an example of me and everyone who helped him. But what happens after?"
Arik folded his arms.
"You tell me."
"You prove every nervous monarch correct."
The answer came without hesitation.
"You prove that Nuria’s emperor does not need foreign cooperation because he can simply crush anyone who displeases him. That may feel efficient now, but eventually you will discover you have made enemies out of everyone except the three countries where you and Liam happen to have relatives."
Mezos’s voice remained cold.
"Gerard attempted to interfere in a sovereign election."
"I am not defending him."
"You benefited from it."
"Yes."
Cyran did not try to soften the admission.
"That is why I am sitting here negotiating for my life instead of pretending I am innocent."
Arik watched him.
For all his arrogance, Cyran was good at this.
Annoyingly good.
He knew exactly when to push, when to concede, and when to say something unpleasant enough to force attention without crossing completely into stupidity.
Arik hated that Gerard had recognized the same value.
Cyran leaned back.
"You wanted an elected prime minister because Nuria needed something larger than your personal authority. If you abandon it the first time someone corrupts the process, you teach every enemy you have exactly how to make you retreat from your own reforms."
Silence followed.
Cassian broke it.
"He has a point."
Arik looked at him.
Cassian shrugged.
"I dislike that too."
Cyran almost smiled.
Arik ignored both of them.
He had no intention of surrendering Nuria to foreign pressure merely to appear agreeable, but that was not what Cyran was suggesting.
The bastard was arguing that Arik should refuse to let Gerard decide what happened next.
That was considerably harder to dismiss.
Arik looked at Mezos.
"How much can we control?"
"If Solvere cooperates completely?" Mezos asked.
"Yes."
"Every contact with Gerard can be monitored. Any communication passes through us first. Meetings are observed. Money is traced rather than intercepted unless necessary. We use him to map the entire network."
Cyran said nothing.
Arik turned back to him.
"And you continue campaigning as if none of this happened."
"Yes."
"You win without Gerard’s illegal assistance."
Cyran’s brows drew together.
"The existing campaign structure—"
"Anything funded illegally is cut off."
"That places me at a disadvantage three days before voting."
"That sounds like your problem."
Cyran stared at him.
Arik leaned forward.
"You wanted the election preserved. Then earn it."
The room remained still.
"If the people choose Mireya, Evander, or Hana, they become prime minister. I will not interfere."
Cyran slowly nodded.
"And me?"
Arik’s gaze hardened.
"If someone else wins, your usefulness ends."
Cyran understood immediately.
His face lost a little color.
"You would execute me."
"For conspiring with a foreign king to penetrate my government?"
Arik tilted his head.
"Yes."
No one at the table pretended otherwise.
Cyran’s jaw tightened.
"So this deal requires me to win an election honestly after you remove the support that helped build my campaign."
"It requires you to prove you are as capable as you claim."
"And if I win?"
"You become prime minister."
Cyran blinked.
Arik continued before he could misinterpret that as generosity.
"You also become the man helping me expose Gerard’s network."
"And afterward?"
"That depends on whether you remember who you work for."
"Nuria."
"Good answer."
Cyran exhaled slowly.
Arik’s voice dropped.
"One wrong step, Solvere. One hidden message, one meeting you fail to report, one attempt to feed Gerard information I did not authorize, and Mezos will not need to interrogate you again."
Cyran glanced toward the arcanist.
Mezos met his eyes without expression.
The threat settled properly.
Arik extended one hand across the table.
"You wanted a deal."
Cyran looked at it.
"You really are unpleasant to negotiate with."
"I have been told."
After several seconds, Cyran took his hand.
Arik’s grip tightened once.
"Win your election."