"Bees?" incredulously.
"That's right, Sire. He and three of his men were attacked by a swarm of bees in one of the basement rooms of his palace, and died within minutes."
The emperor was silent for moments, mind roiling. Then he shook his head as though almost not daring to believe this news.
"It may sound strange, Hawarden," he said at last, "but I do not think I was ever as glad of anything in my life as I am of this. He was an evil thing, though I did not even begin to suspect it until years after I appointed him my Minister. By the time I felt sure, it was too late. He had ... gotten some sort of a hold over me ... I no longer seemed to have a mind or will of my own any more."
The admiral risked a glance at Hanlon, who nodded agreement.
"Do you know what he was planning, Your Majesty?"
"Planning? Planning? You mean something else beyond ruling Simonides through me, or possibly supplanting me entirely?"
"I'm afraid he was, Sire. Did you know he was secretly building a great war fleet on another planet?"
There was an almost-imperceptible pause before the answer was barked out. "Nonsense, sir. That I can't believe!"
Hanlon shook his head. The emperor was lying now. Why? Was he part—perhaps head—of the plot?