Chapter 38: What Voss Confirms
Commander Voss stood at attention in the throne room when Ryuji and Selene arrived, iron-gray hair catching torchlight, the scar on his cheek pulled tight with the particular tension of a soldier called before his king on short notice.
He didn’t look surprised to see them.
"Lord Volkris. Princess Selene." Voss inclined his head, formal, precise. "I understand you’ve had an eventful visit to the capital."
"You could say that," Ryuji said.
King Theron sat forward on his throne, sharp eyes moving between Voss and the two figures who’d stood accused before him hours earlier. Ashcroft occupied his usual position at the king’s right hand, composed as ever, though something tighter than usual sat behind his careful blue eyes.
"Commander," Theron said, "I have summoned you to confirm or deny a claim made in this chamber earlier today. Did Lord Volkris and Princess Selene report ongoing assassination attempts against their household directly to you, weeks before this current dispute arose?"
"They did, Your Majesty," Voss said, without hesitation. "I visited the Border Estate personally, following reports of an unmarked rider and irregular activity. During that visit, Lord Volkris confirmed the household had faced repeated attacks by trained, coordinated assassins since shortly after the wedding."
Ashcroft’s composure held, but Ryuji watched something shift behind his eyes, the particular recalibration of a man realizing a piece he’d assumed secure had just moved against him.
"And did you report this to the crown at that time, Commander," Theron asked, voice carrying an edge that hadn’t been present earlier.
"I did not, Your Majesty." Voss’s jaw tightened. "I judged the matter unresolved and preferred to gather further evidence before bringing unconfirmed suspicions before the throne. That was my error in judgment, and I take full responsibility for the delay."
"An honest answer," Theron said, "though not one that fully explains why Lord Ashcroft’s petition for urgent audience arrived before any word of these attacks reached me through proper channels."
The throne room went quiet, and Ryuji felt the particular satisfaction of watching a trap he hadn’t personally set close around a man who’d built his entire career on staying one step ahead of exactly this kind of exposure.
[System Log: Day 52, continued]
[COMMANDER VOSS HAS CONFIRMED THE HOUSEHOLD’S ACCOUNT WITHOUT HESITATION]
[HIS ADMISSION OF DELAYED REPORTING, WHILE DAMAGING TO HIMSELF, SIGNIFICANTLY STRENGTHENS THE ENTITY’S CREDIBILITY]
[LORD ASHCROFT’S TIMELINE NOW APPEARS INCREASINGLY SUSPICIOUS TO THE KING]
[THIS IS A MEANINGFUL POLITICAL VICTORY]
[...]
[I HAD NOT ANTICIPATED THAT HONESTY WOULD PROVE THE MORE EFFECTIVE STRATEGY]
[I SUSPECT THE ENTITY KNEW THIS FROM THE START]
"Your Majesty," Ashcroft said, stepping forward smoothly, "even accepting Commander Voss’s account, this does not explain why the Border Estate believed itself entitled to intercept correspondence traveling through Theron territory. Assassination attempts, however troubling, do not grant unilateral authority over royal roads."
"They don’t," Ryuji agreed. "But border security does. Ask Commander Voss whether questioning suspicious couriers falls within standard practice for territories facing active threats."
Voss’s eyes flicked toward Ryuji, something almost approving in the brief glance. "It is standard practice, Your Majesty. Any territory under active threat has the right to question unidentified travelers moving through its jurisdiction. The Border Estate falls within neutral territory by treaty, granting it exactly this authority."
Theron sat back on his throne, the particular stillness of a king weighing everything he’d heard against everything he’d previously believed.
"Lord Ashcroft," he said finally, "you petitioned this court urgently, on the basis of a violation that appears, upon examination, to fall within the Border Estate’s legitimate authority. You did so before any competing account could reach my ears. I find myself wondering why a man of your considerable political experience would move so swiftly on such thin ground."
Ashcroft’s composure finally cracked, just slightly, a tightening around his eyes that betrayed genuine strain beneath the practiced calm.
"Your Majesty, I acted out of concern for the crown’s interests, nothing more."
"Perhaps," Theron said. "Or perhaps you acted out of concern for interests that are not entirely the crown’s own."
The accusation hung in the throne room, unspoken but unmistakable, and Ryuji watched Ashcroft absorb it with the particular stillness of a man recalculating an entire strategy in real time.
"I will not rule against you today, Lord Ashcroft," Theron continued. "I have no proof beyond suspicion, and suspicion alone does not condemn a duke of this realm. But I will say this, clearly, before this court. I expect future concerns regarding the Border Estate to reach me through proper channels, verified, rather than urgent petitions built on incomplete accounts."
Ashcroft bowed, composed once more, though something colder now lived behind his careful smile. "As Your Majesty commands."
Theron’s gaze shifted to Ryuji and Selene, weighing them with fresh consideration.
"Lord Volkris. Princess Selene. I find your account credible, supported by Commander Voss’s testimony. I regret the inconvenience this audience has caused you both." A pause, something almost respectful entering his tone. "The Border Estate’s stability appears to matter more to Theron’s interests than certain parties within my own court have suggested. I will remember that going forward."
Selene curtsied, deep and precise. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
They were dismissed shortly after, and once safely beyond the throne room’s reach, Voss fell into step beside them, his stride matching theirs with the particular ease of a man who’d decided, somewhere in the last hour, that he no longer needed to treat them as suspects.
"You handled that well," he said. "Both of you."
"We had help," Ryuji said. "You didn’t have to admit the delay in your own reporting. That cost you something."
"It cost me less than watching a duke manipulate my king through incomplete information would have cost the realm." Voss’s gray eyes held something that hadn’t been there during his estate visit weeks ago. "I respect strength, Lord Volkris. I am beginning to respect honesty from unexpected sources as well."
Selene studied him with genuine curiosity. "You believe Ashcroft is dangerous."
"I have believed it for some time," Voss admitted. "I simply lacked proof strong enough to act against a duke’s standing. Today’s audience has not given me that proof. But it has given me permission to look harder."
They parted ways at the palace gates, Voss returning to his own quarters, Ryuji and Selene finally free to return to their guest chamber for what remained of the night.
Selene’s exhaustion finally showed fully once the door closed behind them, composure dropping away entirely, and she sank into the nearest chair with a long, unguarded breath.
"That could have gone considerably worse," she said.
"It could have." Ryuji crossed to her, kneeling slightly to meet her eyes. "You okay."
"Tired. Relieved. Frightened, still, though I dislike admitting it." She reached for his hand. "Ashcroft is not finished. Theron did not condemn him. He simply delayed the reckoning."
"I know," Ryuji said. "But we bought time. Real time, this time, not just a maneuver that might fall apart tomorrow."
She studied him for a long moment, something warm and exhausted both behind her violet eyes.
"Ryuji."
"What."
"You said, earlier tonight, that you want considerably more than you used to let yourself want."
His breath caught, the memory of the vulnerable admission still fresh, unguarded in a way he rarely allowed himself to be.
"I remember," he said.
"I have been thinking about that," she said, quiet, careful. "I find that I want considerably more too. More than I believed a marriage built on political necessity was supposed to offer either of us."
He reached up, brushing a strand of silver hair back from her face, the gesture familiar now, worn smooth by months of small, deliberate tenderness.
"Selene."
"What."
"We’re going home tomorrow. Back to the estate. Back to pancakes and assassins and whatever the Wardens still haven’t decided."
"I know," she said, leaning into his touch.
"I’d like to keep wanting more, once we’re there. If that’s alright with you."
Her breath caught, sharp and soft, and for a moment neither of them said anything at all, the quiet weight of an unspoken promise settling into the space between them.
"It is more than alright," she said finally, and pressed closer, the particular vulnerability she’d learned to offer only him, in rooms where no audience existed to perform for.
They departed Aldenmarch the following morning, the political crisis eased if not fully resolved, and as their small party rode west toward the Grey March, Ryuji found himself thinking less about Ashcroft’s inevitable next move and more about the woman riding beside him, silver hair catching morning light, hand finding his without hesitation across the space between their horses.
Behind them, in his Aldenmarch study, Lord Maren Ashcroft sat alone with the ashes of his failed petition, composure fully restored, patience renewed with the particular coldness of a man who understood that losing a single battle changed nothing about his intention to win the war.
He reached for a fresh sheet of parchment, and began drafting instructions that would not fail as this attempt had.
This time, he decided, he would not rely on assassins, couriers, or daughters who could not be trusted to remain loyal.
This time, he would go directly to the source of the anomaly himself.