With Julian's emergence as an Arch Mage, Liam had been losing ground steadily. The breakfast revelation had dismantled the succession argument he had been building around Marcus. The duel had dismantled whatever remained of the argument that Kraven was unsuitable.
If the King had arrived on schedule, the visit would have confirmed Julian's position.
So Liam had moved the King.
Julian did not know how but he was sure this was exactly what had happened.
He stood in the corridor and felt something he rarely permitted himself toward opponents.
Genuine admiration.
Moving a king required patience and specific courage that even the strongest in the kingdom lacked.
However, Liam had done it in less than a week. He had assessed the new situation, identified the single point of leverage available to him and applied it before anyone else had finished processing the change.
And the most impressive part was not the delay itself.
It was that Liam had predicted the Duke's response to it.
