43 Plans and Accidents

Nuri’s POV

In the hall of the palace, a group of ministers bowed their heads and dared not speak. The Queen sat in her chair on the highest step and acted like an outsider.

My cold eyes swept over all the people in the room, gritted my teeth and said, “My soldiers have been fighting on the border. They are all young men. They gave up the chance to be with their families and chose to bleed for the honor of their country. Without them, you would now be slaves to the nobles of other countries. But what did you do to them? You have swapped their winter grain for moldy rice for money!”

As I finished, my knight Roth walked into the hall with a bag of rice that my men had been given, and dropped it in the middle of the hall.

Every October, the government sends food to the army, which the knights need for the winter and is vital to keeping the army stable. But this year, when we got the grain, we found it was moldy.

These grains have a lot of white or green mold, emitting a damp musty smell.