Magic and Gold

7: Grave Problem

I wiped away my tears, trying not to think about what Blade had said about me. Once I got ahold of my emotions, I walked into the council room through the double steel doors. The meeting was already in motion. Mouths quieted and eyes flickered to me. I sat down on Capo's right and asked, "What did I miss?" My eyes worked their way down the table. Most faces looked pleased to see me here. After working so long and so closely together, the Magia became a family of sorts, especially in between Department Heads.

The Capo was the leader of this whole organization. This Capo was not the first, but every leader had the same title. No one knew his true name, and that is where the nicknames stemmed from. Underneath Capo were the Department Heads, specially chosen for their skills in a certain area. We were all second-in-commands, but some Departments were more important than others.

"We made a decision on a rather important, yet necessary course of action. Because you were late, your vote was overruled, and even so, it was nearly unanimous anyways," Pol, Department Head of Weapons, said. He was getting old, and it was said a certain someone would take over for Pol when he retired. I hoped to never see the day when Blade carried a leadership position. Blade was young, but so was I. Skill was more important than age, and despite how much I hated him at the moment, I had to admit he was amazing with any weapon. He was known for his legendary skills with a sword.

"And?" I asked, leaning forward on the table with my fingers in a steeple position.

Some members of the table looked at the ground as Pol said with gusto, "The assassination of the king must be followed through. People of his nation are starving. Homeless live on the streets. The king hoards his magic, giving it to only the rich, while ignoring the perils of the impoverished. Everyone would benefit from this death."

I felt a knot in my throat form as I nodded slowly. I was the Department Head of Stealth, and would most likely work closely with Pol to achieve this blasphemous goal. I had always known it would come to this someday, but did not expect it to be today. "Regicide seems harsh, but I was late for the vote, so I accept your plan. Carry on. Sorry for the interruption."

The Capo said in his slow drawl, "In order for this to work, we need cooperation. Department of Spies, I need infiltration. DOPlanning, I need you to calculate every factor that could come to play. DOSteath, we go in during the night, and come morning, the royal family will be no more."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up." I held up a hand, raising my index finger. "Royal family?"

"Yes. For our plan to work, the whole royal family needs to be wiped out. It shouldn't be impossible, there's only three of them," Pol said.

I saw a grave problem with this plan.

I had not been completely on board with the plan to kill the king, but I could have gone through with it. In their original speech about the plan, they forgot to mention this detail that was of utmost importance to me. The king was one thing, but the whole royal family was another. I cared deeply for Tristain. He had never been callous nor mean, he was merely waiting for his moment to be a kind ruler. I also happened to be a member of the royal family, which complicated matters. "The Prince and Princess are just kids."

"They're nearly grown. The Princess is about your age, and look at you. At her age, people are able to choose how they handle the situations they're given. Both of those royals have been raised by their cruel father for their whole life, so how could they be any different from him? We need a clean start. We shouldn't trust the people who have sat by for their entire lives, watching this country burn. How would they be any different?"

I had no reply. Even if I didn't have to protect my identity, I had no defense for myself anyhow. Pol was right. I had sat around my entire life watching people suffer. But that was why I was here, in the Magia. It hurt, knowing what normal citizens thought of me. Over the course of today, I had already been called selfish and predestined for cruelty. But maybe they had a point about me. For the rest of the meeting, I sat there in silence, staring at my palms.