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“I suppose, but the rumours are not enough. He tried to tell Selim to take me from Damon. But Damon won’t let that happen. I’m glad you are here. I don’t have any talent for palace intrigue.”
“Oh, I think you do fine,” Opeth says laughing. She holds out the tonic bottle, tapping it against Lyr’s shoulder so he can feel it in the dark.
Lyr takes it and drinks. His head already feels so nice and fluffy. He cannot feel his sore lip anymore.
“Atticul hates Damon so much,” he says, mostly idle musing.
“Because he fears Damon will become Emperor instead of him.”
“Is he really such a fool? Damon is certain that could never happen. He is a bastard.”
“Oh, Atticul is a fool. But that notion is not quite so foolish.”
Lyr leans closer.”Really? How so?”
Opeth laughs. “The thing you have to understand about this place, about Azuria, is they love laws. They have so many laws. And a lot of those laws are about who gets to inherit what when their fathers’ die.”
“Really? Is that so important?”
“Oh, it is so very, very important.”
“And there are laws that mean a bastard could inherit wealth? Become emperor?”
“Not exactly. Damon is right when he says a bastard could never become emperor, that's clear in law. But, well, Atticul talks a lot and he has thought about every single way Damon could turn out to not be a bastard.”
“He could…? What?” This seems such a strange statement to Lyr. He had assumed that being a bastard was something Damon was. An unchangeable fact.
“In Azuria, the law is the law, until it isn’t. Things can be changed. Especially for the convenience of powerful men. Damon might insist he is no threat to Atticul, but he could be. If enough powerful men wanted him to be. If the Rose Court wanted him to be. And Atticul knows it. Many people think their father Rafus could legitimise Damon when he becomes emperor.”
“Mina told me that. Could Rafus really do that?”
“He could, but there's no reason to think he would. He is very fond of Damon, but he also threw him to the mercy of the empire to save his own skin. I don’t think Rafus would do anything to benefit anyone other than himself. And there’s not even any guarantee that Rafus will become emperor. He’s only a couple of years younger than Selim so it’s not certain by any means. So although that’s a possibility, it’s not as big an issue as the Ullinor Question.”
“Who’s Ullinor? What’s the Ullinor Question?”
“Ullinor is Atticul’s mother. Rafus’s second wife. Now, this gets complicated. Or it sounds complicated. It’s not really. Rafus has two wives. It used to be common enough in Azuria for noblemen, but now permission for a second wife is rarely granted. Doroth Zain has declared the practice against the laws of Zai. But back when Rafus got permission to take a second wife, things were easier. His union with his first wife – Princess Karo – was childless, which is the standard reason for allowing a second wife. So he had a good case, and he got permission and married Ullinor.”
“So what’s the question? What does this have to do with Damon?”
“Because if Rafus got Damon’s mother with child after he had permission to marry again, by law he should have married her. In Azuria if an unmarried man gets a woman with child he is meant to marry her. It doesn’t always happen, but he can be made to by law. Some people think that same law should apply to a man who has been granted permission for a second wife. Rafus should have been bound to marry Damon’s mother.”
“But he didn’t marry Damon’s mother. He married Ullinor.”
“Some people think that fathering Damon should have made it illegal for him to marry Ullinor.”
Lyr laughs. “That would make Atticul the bastard.”
“It would. That’s what he’s afraid of. A legal challenge that legitimised Damon and delegitimised him.”
“So he fears there might be calls to legitimise Damon, and if there were, the law could be twisted this way, which is why he wants to get proof Damon is sly.”
“Oh yes,” Opeth laughs. “That would be very convenient. That could get Damon exiled. No longer a problem. That’s what happened to Emperor Markus.”
“Markus? The older brother of Selim? Yes, I’ve heard about that.”
“Markus only ruled for three moons before he was exiled for being sly. Many people think that was a mistake, that Markus would have been a good and just ruler.” Lyr can see the shape of Opeth nodding in the dark. “Atticul is very happy about what happened to Markus. It makes it clear that a sly man should not be Emperor of Azuria and it means that no one can ever say a Darek could not be sly.”
Neither of them speak for a moment. They pass the bottle of pearl tonic between them. Lyr barely notices the taste anymore.
