THE LIAR
2003
Advisor Adam Nive had been in King Justicano’s service for the past twelve years, aiding the King in his rule of Barantia Kingdom. He had spent his years of childhood as the yet to be crowned King’s whipping boy, and after, he had spent his years studying politics and the Kingdom’s history for fourteen years. He had then spent nine years teaching the same subjects to pupils across the Kingdom’s academies.
He had a beautiful wife and a talented daughter who was studying in Gouth learning to play and compose for the violin. The King’s age though, was beginning to show. Adam himself had claim to multiple grey strands; the similarly aged King had a full mop of it.
For the last four years of his service there had been whisperings in the courts, mutterings among the peasants and rumours flying to the various cities across the Kingdom. The King was getting old, becoming senile, relying too heavily on the peace that he had fought for in his youth and those around him to upkeep it. After six months since the start of these rumours from the beginning of these four years Advisor Nive acted in response to the hushed tones, he decided to ‘limit’ the amount of information that the King had access too, effectively ensuring ‘lie’s about the situations of the Kingdom.
The first mistake was before this time; it was the King’s own, a very significant one that had initiated the rumours. It had involved the replacement of the Military Advisor. The previous Advisor had been born and raised in Barantia Kingdom, he had joined the Imperial Army and worked his way up the ranks. The newly appointed Advisor was from Knowlet Empire, openly known as the Empire with which Barantia had the most feuds and was openly opposed to, and had been appointed to appease Knowlet Kingdom into not starting a war over something petty which no one could recall. The new Advisor, thus, was poorly trusted and those in the Imperial Army persisted in pointing to the Advisor’s study of Military History, Tactics, Amour and Weapons but actually had no experience of any of it.
The council of Advisors had decided to restrict the King’s knowledge of situations in order to aid him in making the right decisions for the Kingdom, during which time the Education Advisor, who was the most aggressive, tended to get decisions passed that aided his area of representation. The result of the scheme had been six months of just as poor decisions as that the rumours had told the Kingdom’s people to be afraid of. The scheme was abandoned and the Advisors agreed to inform the King, once again, fully on every situation.
Although agreeing to it in the face of the Council, Advisor Nive was strongly against the idea. King Justicano was increasingly showing his age and weariness. Advisor Nive continued the censor the information the King received, and with the years spent together at childhood and of being the young King’s only confidant, Adam was able to wave away any suggestions at his ‘lying’ with the full trust and support of his King.
Things were different now. The whisperings of the people had turned to topics of outrage, the King had made far too many mistakes and Adam knew most were under influenced by his ‘lies’. There were a few calls for Advisor Nive to be replaced, but as most didn’t know of his interference with King Justicano’s decision making there were greater calls for the King to pass leadership to his son, despite the Prince’s rather unsavoury reputation. The King was casting increasingly speculative glances at Adam when he offered his advice and information.
Everything he did, Adam did for his King and that was why out of all the other bribes and propositions he had been offered he had accepted this one.
Adam had asked one of his servants to go out and buy him the ‘peasant’s’ coat that he wore now. It was tough, but rough on his arm’s bare skin, the fabric now seeming not much different from that of the sacks in which the Market’s wheat and grain lay in. Amongst the low dwellings of the peasant’s houses, specifically in this area where it was no longer ‘tales’ of murder and muggings and rape, he felt out of place. He could have any of these few people scurrying around him put to death for assaulting him, but whether or not he would get back to the Palace to issue such an order was debatable. He hunched over his shoulders, hands buried deep into the side pockets of the garment, his head bent low with the hood pulled up so that his face was mostly in shadow. When he finally reached his destination Adam could feel his muscles stretch and ache in protest as he looked up to the sign of the inn, ‘The Red Dragon’.
Once having entered the inn and finding nothing to indicate that the person he was supposed to meet was there yet, Adam sauntered his way over to the bar and asked for a bottle of white wine. Finding they didn’t have any, he slid a shinny gold coin across the counter and settled for a jug of Ale and a glass, then turned to find a corner in which to wait.
The barman peered at both the strangers who entered his bar with speculation as although about ten minuets apart each retreated with their jugs of Ale, having no wine, white or red, available. No one paid in coins in this part of the city, especially gold, shinny coins at that. Since the tariffs for traders from the other Kingdoms had been reduced by the King trading had become so bad for Barantian merchants that the barman had found himself exchanging a glass, rarely a jug, for so many grains of rice. Both these men had asked for high quality stuff, paid with a shinny, gold coin without waiting to receive the change and bought a whole jug. The barman mentally shook himself; sure he was curious, but he decided he could let it go he had two whole gold coins!
Adam found himself joined by a shifty looking man, who similarly was draped in a wheat-bag cloak, looked as out of place as he himself did. "Advisor Nive." The man greeted sitting beside Adam with his own jug and glass.
"Shh!" Adam quickly reprimanded. "Not here, just Adam."
The man nodded his acknowledgement. "Have you agreed?"
His voice was high, borderline feminine and Adam was certain there was something about the way the man held himself and the shape of his face that he recognised. He quickly dismissed the feeling; it would do him no good to pry into which member of the courts was asking him to lie given that they had come to him to do so. Adam took another mouthful of Ale and glared, with a tint of pleading in his eye, at the man before him. "It is no small thing to lie to your King."
The man made a rather feeble snorting sound. "You’ve been doing it for over three years, Adam, why the defensiveness?" He sneered.
"Everything I did-" Adam shouted, drawing attention from the surrounding patrons and turning to a harsh whisper. "Everything I did, I did for my King. He is far too old and weary, having fought alongside his father’s army and having petty troubles brought before him by people like you! He doesn’t need more and he is certainly too worn down by them to make an informed decision without being easily manipulated!"
"How old is your beloved King again?"
"What business is it of yours what age the King is?" Adam continued to snap his responses.
"Last I heard you two were the same age, anyone could forgive you for being too senile to make an informed decision on the King’s behalf and for being too feeble to realise that you are the very one manipulating your King."
"Silence!"
The truth was that was just what was about to happen. Three years of the King’s trust and support and potentially fatal decisions for the Kingdom made by with holding information and putting bias slants on that which wasn’t with held. In his arrogance Adam had dismissed his childhood companions opinion and good judgement and trusted his own, placing it above everyone else’s; even his beloved wife’s. The result had been three further years of bad decisions, increasing criminal activity, loss of land being nibbled away at Barantia’s borders and a fall in the Kingdom’s economy. This is where his good judgement had got the Kingdom; this is what his lies had created. If the King were to act upon the murmurs of his manipulation of the Monarchy Adam may be spared death, but he would loose everything and most likely be locked in a cell like the man before him deserved.
Advisor Adam Nive, the King’s liar, so dubbed silently by a few rumours, saw that he had only one choice. He would accept this offer, most likely one that would trigger a war, as all of the other propositions would have led to, and purposely lie. With the money he would flee the Kingdom amidst the chaos of the war with his wife and daughter and settle in another far from Barantia. Then when it would all be over the King would come to know the truth, but would be unable to pass judgement upon the traitorous Advisor Nive and would return, despite his old age, to governing the Kingdom as it should have been. "What is it your master requests I lie to the King with regards to?"
The man snorted again. "Nothing, He will pay you not to lie."
Adam was in shame that he had forged such a reputation for himself that he would be paid not to lie, when all others that had requested it and would have relied on him had he accepted the offer. "So what is it?"
"The Knowlet Empire has been picking at your borders without challenge for the past three years. In three months time they plan of seizing Gouth."
"Gouth?" Adam asked, alarmed that his daughter could be in danger.
"My master will pay you to rightfully advise the King that if he does not go to war over the invasion then his Kingdom will fall."
Adam sat quietly rolling over this information in his mind, sipping at his current glass of Ale. "And my reward?" he finally asked after a prolonged silence.
The man dragged a bag to the side of the table from underneath his seat and unlocked the clasp. Inside were many shinny gold pieces all with King Justicano’s insignia printed on one face of the coin and the date of printing on the other along with the historical motto of Barantia, ‘Our truth will prevail’. Adam’s lies seemed to be haunting him everywhere.
There was enough of these coins in the bag that if Adam were any more weedy he would struggle to carry it home, as it was he’d probably have to rest a lot and carry the bag in different positions, staggering and shuffling along the streets. The man in front of him definitely seemed scrawny and trying to be subtle Adam swept the area with his eyes looking for any other unsavoury characters, only to find that he couldn’t distinguish one from another in this place.
"Where did you get this?"
"That isn’t your concern." The man replied. "You will receive the same amount when the war commences."
Eyes travelling over his surroundings again Adam finished the remainder of his Ale and stood, bending slightly to pick up the bag. His company’s hand was on the handle before Adam’s reached it, locking the clasp and radiating a sense of possession over the object between them. "Well, what do you say, ‘Adam’?"
Adam sighed; it was far too late to turn back, three and a half years too late. "Very well" he said.
The man removed his hand and stood while Adam tugged at the bag, quickly being pulled back down by its unexpected weight, and disappeared into the Summer day outside the inn. Adam staggered and shuffled his way to the more prominent parts of the city drawing more attention to his presence in the slums than he had before.
What was he to do with this information? How could he possibly last the nest three months knowing that Knowlet intended to invade? Did the military Advisor know, he was from Knowlet, perhaps he was still taking orders off someone over there? Adam couldn’t possibly wait three months knowing Gouth would be seized, his daughter studied there. Would anyone believe him anyway if low-lifes such as the one who paid him knew of his lies? But he wasn’t lying, merely trying to ease the King’s burden. What was he going to do? He had enough money now, he could flee before any of this happened, but then he’d be easier tracked and who knows what would happen if his disappearance was connected to the war.
He’d research, look for historic information confirming what the man had said, what if he was lying? With his sources and collected records of previous events Adam approached the council of Advisors, informing them of the impending war. It took a month’s work of convincing, and then everyone was tense about the short amount of time they had to prepare. The fourth month since having accepted the bribe passed and there was no invasion, everyone was in a foul temper mostly directed towards Adam. The fifth month since accepting the bribe, Knowlet invaded Gouth and Barantia retaliated. Adam found a large bag of gold outside his door and promptly fled with his wife and daughter, who he had sent for at the start of the third month and left vague details to one of his servants about sending him word of the Kingdom’s activities.
Barantia’s retaliation was feeble and slowly but surly over the next six year period Knowlets forces swept through all of Barantia, rumours telling of King Justicano’s requests to bring him his friend, confidant and Advisor Adam Nive. The people kept an eye out for him; not knowing of Advisor Nive’s manipulation of the King, of his lies, such knowledge never seeped beyond the courts. As with many prisoners of war when Knowlet struck Barantia City the King was capture and interrogated along with all those in his service. Barantia Kingdom never returned to the rule of King Justicano and his good judgement and Adam had planned.
Not long after receiving the news of Barantia’s fall Adam Nive found a large bag of gold outside his small lodge high in the mountains far from both Knowlet and where Barantia once stood. He sat down on the steps up to his house and wept.
This is a story that I wrote for ‘The Liar’ as part of my creative writing course. As always, let me know what you think and how to improve.
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