Politics in the Palace
Cybele sat in her father’s throne room, seated not on his throne, but on a smaller high-backed chair where she overlooked a gathering of family and advisors. Beside her stood Samlet, tall and powerful, he stared down her opposition with the threat of violent rage. Now was not a time to be bickering, but Cybele was learning fast that politics in the palace go part and parcel with leadership in the palace.
Her younger brother, Toll, the next in line after her, but also the first male child of King Oteptun Ra’nen, was already on the warpath in his aims to usurp Cybele’s claim to leadership and potentially to rule. Toll had always been a bully, using his superior male strength to intimidate his younger siblings during their childhoods. Cybele always had the upper hand of age, but during a number of wrestling matches between the two of them in years past, it would be difficult to say who was the winner.
This was not going to be like any wrestling match. Political negotiation and diplomacy depended upon holding the right information at the right time, and the way that you used that information. Currently, Cybele was one of the few people that knew where her father was likely being kept. There may have been serious doubt amongst her father’s most trusted advisors that King Oteptun Ra’nen was even still alive. That was vital information that she could use to her advantage in these negotiations.
The one man who would hold any real influence over the way these meetings went was not present at this point in time. Caesar had taken ill, possibly food poisoning the night before, the entire kitchen staff had been flogged with cat o’ nine tails. Cybele would be speaking with Caesar about that when things settled down.
The most unfortunate matter was yet to be addressed. Cybele knew that only Caesar could ensure her rise to ruling over all of Tegea without bloodshed. What irked her the most was the fact that she knew in her heart the only way to convince the old buzzard would be to bed him. She had no doubt she would succeed in this endeavour if she did choose to partake in his greed. Her concern was how would she measure her own integrity after making a political manoeuvre so daring as adultery with the Ruler of Empires.