Rex rubbed both hands over his face. "If I start killing bankers before coronation, people will panic."
"If you let bankers keep owning the state after coronation, people will starve," Arik said. "Choose your panic."
"I'm not saying that I won't kill them… eventually. But in the current situation, I have to borrow money just to pay every worker who did not receive a salary in the last six months." He exhaled, trying to keep his anger under control. "They did not invest in Liam's projects because there was no money, Arik. Nothing. Every coin was in Canmore or one of their ally banks."
The room went quiet.
Even Mezos did not make a dry comment.
Arik looked away first, not because he was moved by George's failure, but because Liam's name had entered the conversation and changed the weight of it.
Liam's projects.
