“A clever fox has multiple holes leading out of their burrow.” - Old folk saying.

“Well, I guess I do have the authority to be the judge on matters like that,” muttered Aideen at Zayid’s admission. “In this case, though, I do not think your actions have led to any harm to the Lichdom’s interest. If anything, they are entirely beneficial for the Lichdom, as long as the young Emir wins this war and kept his given words, so I proclaim you not guilty of anything.”

“My gratitude for your benevolence, o Maiden in Silver,” said Zayid with a low bow that pressed his forehead against the ground.

“Please keep the titles in check. I don’t really like people referring to me by titles, believe it or not,” groaned Aideen with some annoyance. It was one reason she preferred to keep a low profile during her travels when possible, yet bard’s tales of the Maiden in Silver kept becoming more and more widespread with time. “I don’t think you would be blinded by familial love for your nephew, so I assume you have realized that not everyone on the Emir’s side approves of your group, yes?”

“Of course, Milady,” replied Zayid with a nod. “We are well aware that the young Emir’s vizier has never looked upon our kind with any good intention. The man is a leftover from the previous Emir’s reign, and while he was loyal to a fault to the previous Emir, he is very much an old man stuck in his ways. At the moment he and the people who supported him would not act against us as they are aware of the poor position the young Emir is in, but once things settle down…”

“I expect you to have prepared some countermeasures, then, mister?” asked Eilonwy with some curiosity. The girls weren’t particularly attached to the Emirate in any way, but neither of them wanted to see innocent people suffer either. In this case, the conflict of interest between the criminal organization that wished to turn a new leaf and old retainers who were against them would probably affect the whole nation.

“Please be assured, Milady, that we have no desire to allow this little unpleasantness between us and some of my nephew’s retainer to affect the innocent either,” assured Zayid almost as if he had read Eilonwy’s worries. Given the man’s occupation and experience, Aideen assumed that Zayid was just good at reading facial expressions and had logically guessed what Eilonwy was worried about given the topic they just discussed.

“Could you tell us more about that, if you don’t mind?” asked Kino in turn, her features showing more curiosity than anything.

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“Certainly. As the old saying goes, everybody tends to have a skeleton or two buried in their backyards,” said Zayid confidently. “My people have long gathered many such skeletons in case we would need them in the future, and in the case of the Emir’s retainers who are against our inclusion to society… we know enough dark secrets about most of them to drive their entire families to extinction, if necessary.”

“I guess that would deter most of them from moving against you, and you could destroy them at will, to boot,” said Kino as she nodded. “I guess I should have expected no better than people… are there no clean ministers in the court?”

“There are several, actually. One of whom is the old vizier himself,” explained Zayid. “The old vizier is a stubborn, conservative man, but at the same time, he was also far too proud and principled to actually abuse his position for personal gain. In fact, many amongst my people respect the man’s integrity, even if he stood against us openly.”

“What do you have in mind for him, then? You said he was the biggest opponent to allowing your people to turn a new leaf, didn’t you? That would mean you would need to deal with him one way or another eventually,” asked Eilonwy, now also showing some curiosity.

“At the moment, our primary plan should things come to blows would be to break apart the faction that supported the Vizier’s rhetoric. Most of the members of that faction are dirty, so we can either coerce them into withdrawing their support or more directly eliminate them from the board without much trouble,” said Zayid openly. “Our hope is that the lack of support would make the vizier stop his stubbornness and give up his resistance.”

“And if he doesn’t comply?” asked Kino.

“I have ordered a special alchemical concoction from an ally of mine in Assadun once it became obvious that the vizier was opposed to us,” said Zayid calmly. “It is a rather unusual concoction, one local to this region, often favored by Emirs and Shahs, and rich Beys who could afford them. Its effects when imbibed are… most peculiar.”

“In what way?”

“When one first imbibes the concoction, it would cause the consumer to fall into a state of high fever, often sending them unconscious, even. This state could last for up to two weeks or more, and my contact said that there have been cases in the past where some would remain in such a state for up to a month,” he said in reply. “It was this oddity that at first made people mistake the concoction for some sort of poison.”

“It’s not a poison, then?”

“On the contrary, Miladies. The high fever and unconsciousness were caused by the consumer’s body cleansing itself of impurities, which in some might take longer than others,” explained Zayid. “Once that was done, they would wake up healthier than before, and the concoction has a reputation that all who drank it would remain hale and hearty even in their old age.”

“Clever. So you would be giving the vizier a warning and a peace offering at the same time,” noted Aideen as she heard Zayid’s explanation.

“Precisely, Milady. If we resort to this, the vizier would be made aware that we could have very easily taken his life if we wanted to. At the same time, we expect him to be wise enough to understand the peace offering as what it is. After all, if my people do turn a new leaf, it would be in our best interests that the Emirate remained strong and united for the foreseeable future.”