"Mistress, if I may," Ilkai said, "Why did that happen? What context could explain what has happened"
"Ilkai, sit down and let me explain. It all started when I heard the king had been killed." Mistress Zakra said.
They were in Tower Valazim, and Ilkai was shocked by what had happened in just three months. In that time, the king and his successor were assassinated and the Jaklai house was extinguished. Recently, Karik Zhala was crowned king after Hesan Kassald had been killed. This whole time, Zakra Valazim had been in the background, playing all sides of the conflict.
"Meanwhile, I had spies in Zhrulaz saying a war was brewing across the continent. I knew this would be my opportunity to take the Kuy Mishn Province for myself. So I approached Sunteng Jakliai with a proposition: stop this crisis at its source, kill Empress Alezna and Karik Zhala. The best royal successor was Hessan Kassald."
Ilkai went from his normal standing position next to Zakra's chair and sat in the one for guests.
"From there, everything went according to plan. I approached Karik Zhala and told him Sunteng Jakliai was going to kill us both. Now Jakliai wanted Zhala dead, and vice versa for Zhala."
"After the becoming feast, I hired an assassin, a tailor, and a thieving crew. The crew stole the lavender from Tower Kanfut, the tailor-made a cape with the Jakliai symbol, and the assassin was given both."
"But why did the Kanfut need to be involved? You were trying to kill the Jakliai for not paying their debt. The Kanfut did nothing."
"I was getting to that."
"The Kanfut have been making an increasing amount of plays for my property. They have been buying up land from minor houses. Now, they were trying to buy my own land from behind my back. I would show them how wrong they were."
"How were they buying your own land without you knowing?"
"Buying land does not require consent from a landholder, just a living direct relative of the landholder. So, my uncle, Sapra, signed the contract, but his assistant delayed the signing a few days and sent me a message. I quickly executed Sapra Valazim and told the Kanfut to back off. They didn't."
Zakra grabbed a glass of water from off of the side table and took a drink. When she was done, she continued to explain. "A month later, after the Jakliai Banquet was announced, I knew I had to make my move. I told the Jakliai assassin to kill the empress and shoot Hessan Kassald on the leg. This way, Karik Zhala, if he had connected the assassin to me, wouldn't know I wanted Hessan on the throne."
"So you were willing to risk Hessan's life just to make the idea of Hessan on the throne untraceable?"
"That's correct. After the plan was successful, I made sure to kill the assassin so he couldn't be interrogated. I plotted with Karik Zhala to be the extinction of House Kanfut and House Jakliai. We would then split up the lands of the Kuy Mishn Province. Everything went according to plan, and now Governor Zhala and I each had half of the province. I've heard some people calling it 'The Tragedy of Shinkil.' From there, I didn't account for one thing: Karik's ambition. A day after he arrived back at Khuykir, Hessan Kassald was dead, and Karik Zhala was king. I would have hired another assassin to kill Karik, then had Hessan crowned king." Ilkai froze up after receiving all of the information.
"There, Ilkai, is your context"
End Of Book One
