It had taken him a while to reach a point where he was able to accomplish this. He had toiled as a mere functionary in the beginning, quiet and obsequious, always in the background, always letting others claim credit for the successes he had fostered. Years passed before he was able to elevate himself to a Minister’s position, still a shadow among substantial men and women, still helping others without asking for their consideration, toiling in the warrens and hallways of the Council chambers and offices, one among many, but never one they noticed.

Until by the time they did, it was too late.

Though what would they do even if they knew the full extent of his duplicity? Demand he step down from the pinnacle of success he had achieved? Ask for an accounting? Seek his elimination?

All of these and more, he imagined. But they couldn’t quite see him the way he was, and he never gave them reason to think of him as anything but a safe compromise in a maelstrom of warring factions that constantly sought to devour one another. Each of them believed in all seriousness that he was the lesser evil.

They would learn eventually, perhaps, if they survived long enough.

Drust Chazhul would teach them.

Really, he had been teaching them all along. They just hadn’t been paying attention, save for a handful, and most of those were gone.

Ten days ago the former Prime Minister, a man neither old nor weak, had succumbed to an illness of such virulent purpose that it killed him within twenty-four hours. Its origins were a mystery to everyone but his eventual successor and his accomplice, and the intense struggle over his succession distracted those who might have looked into the matter more closely.

Everything had gone according to plans conceived well in advance of the need for them. Drust Chazhul made a show of refusing the nomination when his name was finally put forth to break the deadlock between the two candidates who were openly campaigning for the job. Satisfactory neither to each other nor to each other’s followers, the two found themselves bypassed in favor of a man who barely colored in enough space in the political landscape to merit recognition and who, upon being nominated, insisted repeatedly that others were better qualified and more experienced.

In spite of heated objections from both real candidates, the non-candidate was elected and the new Prime Minister sworn in.

It had taken some doing to get the job done, to be sure. He had lobbied long and hard for the votes it required, all without seeming to do anything but offer advice and consolation to those who were openly hungry for the position, all without seeming to have any interest in the post. Some believed him an acceptable alternative to choices they could not tolerate. Some believed him ineffectual enough that they could manipulate him into serving their own purposes. Both were misguided.