The Trial: Journey's End

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 38: Conspiracies

...Menowa Palace...Days Before Neia's return over the Highway of Tears...

"What do you mean that Neia has 'run away'?" Ainz asked blankly.

"That is what the report I received from Last Home reads." The Ard Rhi replied. "I am sorry, but it seems there was an attack on the fortress by the Devor, and according to the commander, she fainted in fear, then when she regained consciousness, she fled along with one other unknown individual." Mu'Fidelius took a deep breath, "I fear the worst for her, the Devor are a savage people, and she fled east, no doubt thinking to escape trial, but that way lies the empire which has fed on my people for centuries. There is no real hope of her survival."

Ainz looked at the minotaur Ard Rhi with the only expression he had, a blank one. "Neia Baraja, does not run in any direction but forward, she does not fear, but for those she guards. Somebody is lying."

Mu'Fidelius shifted on his throne, "Your pardon, Sorcerer King, but this is what the report says, Commander Mu'Anik has guarded that fortress for many years. He swears that 'after a brief engagement, Neia Baraja collapsed on the field, and when she awoke, she fled the fortress due to the efforts of an unknown individual, and has not been found. Scouts went out to look for her, but... if she has not fled trial, why would she flee?" He held his hands open out in front of him moving them up and down as if weighing the two options.

Ainz stared at him for a very long time. "I will have an answer for this, and Ard Rhi Mu'Fidelius, if I find reason to think you had some involvement in any harm... or attempt at bringing harm to her before the conclusion of this trial, I will be... very displeased."

Ainz laughed internally as the fool attempted to lie to him. 'As if I would not know where she is, as if she would hide from me... but fine, we'll play this out, I want to see where he goes with this...'

"Of course... I wouldn't do anything like that," Mu'Fidelius replied as if affronted, "but, if the Devor did end her life, I would offer you whatever help I could in avenging her. Such is the love I have for my own children, out of empathetic grief I would lend you any support and allow the passage of your armies through my lands to strike the Devor Empire down. I will, of course, keep the knowledge of her flight, classified. Let her be remembered as a hero who fell in battle. That way she will not die tainted by this trial. We can come up with a story of her saving one or two lives, and giving her own in the doing of it, so that she is ensured a proper legacy."

'So... that's his game. The Devor kill my daughter, then enraged, I move to go to war with them, and then his kingdom is saved at no cost to himself. Clever enough, perhaps it would even have been effective, if he hadn't tried it on myself. Damn fool has no idea about the mirror, has no idea of how powerful my servants are, or he greatly overestimates the strength of the Devor raiders.' Ainz thought to himself, if he still had a face, he was sure he would have laughed, as it was, his emotional dampener was working overtime to keep him from laughing or raging at the unfortunate monarch in front of him.

'Should I call him out now on his pathetic manipulations? No... no I want to drive the point home more than anything else... let his lie rise to the peak of folly before I smash it down to nothing. That despair will be sufficient... for a start.' He thought as his anger simmered beneath the surface.

"I see, well have you already made the announcement at the trial of her flight?" Ainz asked with a false dejected tone as he struck 'disappointed monarch pose one, with his hands fallen to his sides and his face lowered.

"No, I wanted to tell you first, the one called 'Raymond' is finishing his testimony soon, and today is a sacred holiday for us, so the trial will not take place today, it will happen tomorrow, it will be announced as soon as he's finished. I just... I wanted to give you time to absorb the news yourself." Mu'Fidelius extended his hand to the Sorcerer King, "Truly, I am sorry."

Ainz reached out, and clasped it in his skeletal palm, it was everything he could do to not completely crush it right then and there.

...Menowa Farmstead...

Nua walked with a spring in her step to the farmhouse that was in less than stellar condition. She knocked on the door, and a middle aged minotaur who had clearly seen better years, one horn was broken, one eye was gone, his body was crisscrossed with scars from healed over injuries. But he had a hardy and confident air about him when he opened the door.

She entered the home made of ramshackle recovered wood, some of it burnt, some of it broken, and she suddenly felt very self conscious about her fine clothing. Goosebumps rose on her skin and she had to fight to keep her face neutral. 'You know better than anyone, you're not better than this, you had less than this once, do not make him feel small. He is your host, good guesthood pleases the divine.' She reminded herself and held her hand out as she looked up at the minotaur who towered over her.

"Nua Calen Aiwenor, at your service." She said courteously.

"Where're the rest?" He asked gruffly.

"Walking up now." She said, "I'm in your country, so I'll abide by your custom of arrival together. Of course I don't know how many will actually show up... but I did my best to keep your ways. I hope you'll forgive any mistake in my judgement." She didn't smile as she said that, and he looked down at her as he took her hand and shook it in what might have been a gesture of approval.

He grunted, "You're a polite one at least, for a human."

"I'm... actually an elf." She said pointedly.

He grunted indifferently. "Oh, whatever. Sit. I'll let the others in." He pointed to a chair, and she noticed his hand was missing one finger, but without comment, she went and sat politely. Her legs together, her hands resting on her knees, her back straight, as her host opened the door wide for the other local farmers to enter.

They crowded the room, shoulder to massive shoulder, a few even too large to walk through the big door without ducking. Still, in they came, most of them were missing a single horn.

A point of minor curiosity, but she made sure to not stare, and before long the place was packed.

"Alright, say what you want." The minotaur farmer replied and shut the door, leaving only the light that came through holes in the wall along the wall, to illuminate them as she spoke, which... meant there was plenty of light.

She stood up, and then hopped on top of the chair so they could see her better. "I'll be blunt, I know minotaurs don't appreciate having their time wasted."

A rumble of approval came from her little audience.

"Simply put, everything is terrible and it's not your fault." She said, and the vague disinterest vanished as they focused on her with unblinking intensity in their big brown eyes.

"However, I offer you a solution to your problems. I want to buy all of your farms. And I want to pay you to run them, and I want to pay you enough for the sale to live off of for years, and I want to keep paying you a good wage to run them. Do I have your attention?" She asked sharply, her voice going from loud, blunt, and bold, to a firm and almost conspiratorial tone.

She did, she very clearly did. Their silence told her that much.

"Here are my terms, accept them, and you'll walk away with coins in hand." She took up her purse and shook it loudly, the coins clinked within, and the impoverished farmers had their eyes following every wobble and bounce of the bag like teenage boys watched bouncing breasts.

Nua gently put the purse back at her side, and went on, "First, all food produced is routed to my temple for distribution. Second, you all accept undead labor to work your farms. All you have to do is supervise the undead, they're tightly controlled, I assure you. Besides, they'll just be skeletons, your big, strong fists could smash those easily enough if you had to."

She let that praise hang in the air before she added, "Of course, if you're afraid... it's OK to leave, this is an 'offer' I'm not imposing it on anyone. However, those of you who don't accept it, will have to compete with those who do." She pointed that out casually, and the farmers looked to their left and right among their neighbors. The prospect of showing fear of mere skeletons with hoes, was almost as bad as the thought of competing with a farm that had tireless free labor.

"I'm glad to see you're as brave as I've heard, now, in addition, those of you with children will be required to send them to school, they'll need a good education, because we won't see your families fall behind as things continue to change. Questions so far?" She asked, keeping her tone bold and her body, small as it was, taking up as much space as she could atop the chair to increase the presence she conveyed.

"What change? Been farming the same way for hundreds of years, been the same kingdom for hundreds of years, why you think anything'll be different?" Her host asked gruffly.

"Well, that isn't really true, is it? I studied this country's history before coming here, it 'was' more than twice its current size, before the Devor Empire started using your country as a food source, you've lost so much farmland that you now send peasants east to farm land on the border, knowing you'll lose hundreds per year in raids, and your country doesn't even try to put up a strong resistance. Your country has grown weak, and your soil?" She put her hands on her hips and stared at them hard, her eyes becoming as golden as her hair as she spoke... "Your soil is on the brink of ruin. And you know it. Your crops are weakening, you don't have magic enough to alter the weather or the soil, you don't have the technology of the west to renew it without magic, even if you did, you're on the brink of famine within a handful of harvests 'at best' and what happens then?" She let her eyes move over the little crowd, the sullen, stubbornness began to transform into despair as their snouts were rubbed in the truth.

"I lived on farms since the days of your great great great grandfather's childhood, don't lie to me and say things are the same as they've always been, those crops out there weren't feeding this country, you're less than ten years away from eating each other. I'm offering you better. What good is your Ard Rhi doing you right now? Even if he wanted to, which to his credit I think he would if he could... he can't. Now do you want wealth, comfort, and plenty, or do you want to eat each other's children in a few years?" Her blunt, harsh words were effective tools to use on the minotaur farmers, who knew their own stark conditions better than any.

"How can you do anything for us, even with'at skeleton labor you're talkin bout, that don't change the problem with our soil, does it now lil elf?" Her host asked dejectedly.

Far from discouraging her, Nua clapped her hands smartly together and said, "Exactly right, but... my god is generous to his servants, as you'll be growing food that his temple will handle, I'm allowed to use whatever scrolls I need to invest in the prosperity of those who work for him. And yes, his power can restore your soil, it will be as rich and vibrant as it was in the days of your grandfathers grandfathers grandfathers, before ruin marched over distant borders." Her golden eyes shone bright, and the light behind her that illuminated her audience conspired to give her the appearance of a divine dark angel, her hands stretched out as if to save a drowning minotaur she did not blink or hesitate in any word or gesture. Their glances back and forth were questioning, but... she felt their desperate need, and played to it well.

"I realize this all seems too much, hard to believe, yet it's so. Look at me, do I seem poor in body or mind? Am I a broken soul? No. But I was, once, I was once... nothing but a body slave in a dark city, a wretched thing worth no more coins than it cost to buy a single meal at a nice establishment. I was saved from that fate by power overwhelming, found my strength again, found my freedom again, found hope again. I have traveled here, all this way from a far flung part of the world, because I want everyone to gain what I have gained. I'm from so far away, that you didn't even recognize me for what I am, mistaking me for a human. But human, elf, minotaur, it doesn't matter. There is, for me, only good service to His Majesty, who set me free and gave back my tomorrows. Sign with me, and things will change. Or refuse and..." She let the sentence hang in the air until one of them in the back asked...

"And what?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. If you're happy with the way things are going, tell me to get out, and I'll leave and take my offer elsewhere. I won't bother you again."

"Can you... prove that you can do any'a this?" The grizzled host asked with lingering skepticism.

"Sure, but I'm not an idiot, I'm not going to use the magic of my god, and then not have the place I used it on." Nua said, furrowing her brow at him. "But... that is fair, why should you believe these wild claims when I haven't actually 'done' anything? Tell you what, I'll do this." She hopped down from her chair, slapped down a copy of her sale contract, yanked out a quill and inkwell, and then added a line to the bottom of the contract. She read it out loud as she wrote it in their language, "Contract void if restoration is not complete within ten minutes of signing, with coin for sale forfeited to the seller."

She then signed her portion, slid the document over to her host, and she laid a single platinum coin over his signature.

She waited, "Enough, I'll prove it now, or leave, what'll it be?" She asked, her blunt words struck home, and the host marked the contract accordingly and pocketed the coin.

"Better." Nua said cheerfully and exited the farmstead, then withdrew a scroll as the visitors and her host filtered out behind her. She unsealed it, and whispered, [Greater restore area, farm] The scroll vanished in a burst of flame, and as if the soil beneath their hooves and her feet were singing, a noise like a crystal bell rang out, and golden light swept out in all directions from where Nua stood, and the broken, dried, and largely ruined soil that had become like dust, became rich, moist, and dark. Minotaur farmers stood in silent awe, while Nua knelt down, cupped two handfuls of rich, vibrant soil, and raised her hands up over her head, so that it was almost directly under the face of her host.

"It is done. My god. Is god. Your land is healed." He held out trembling hands to take the soil from her , and he began to knead it in his fingers, looking at it like it was something from another world, unable to bear it a moment more, he fell to his knees and wailed with overwhelming joy, he fell to all fours and scrounged through the land of his birth and of his life, and that of his family, the land that had nearly died beneath his hooves, and he hugged it to himself as if he were a child.

He scrambled like a child who found a big mud puddle to play in, laughing like a madman while the others dropped to their knees in turn to hold the soil for themselves.

The 'former' owner of the land was the first to come to himself, but he didn't stand up, he went only to his knees. "I have prayed to Kiril for all my life, as my father before me, and his father before him. My grandfather spoke of a time when the soil was like this, my father said he had vague memories of it, I have none, only dreams, dreams and prayers that bought me nothing as I saw my harvest fall every year since childhood. Here in a moment, your god answered prayers my god ignored. Your god, is my god, the god of plenty, and good harvests, and my farm is yours, and will grow food in his name."

Nua reached out to touch his cheek, "Be proud, you who feed the people, without whom people grow hungry, desperate, and break. You've taken the first step toward a glorious and wonderful future. And because you are the first of the farmers of the Minotaur Kingdom to embrace my lord, you will be first among them in all things. Now, tell me your name, let me hear it with my own ears."

"Mu'Agros." He said solemnly.

"Thank you, for taking a chance, Mu'Agros, your boldness today, will serve you well for the rest of your life." Nua's other hand went to his cheek, and gently she pulled his face down so that he was looking at his soil. "Go on, savor it some more, some people keep their eyes on heaven, but those who farm the soil, keep their eyes to that, and we need more of the latter in the world, than the former."

Her clear reverence for their work, and the undeniable magic she had brought to bear, had the rest of the farmers up and rushing into the house to sign the contracts of sale and return them to her. She handed out coins one after the other, and explained, "You'll be paid out of the sale of each harvest. One part in every ten will be set aside for temple use, one part in ten will be set aside to pay for undead labor, one part in ten will be set aside to feed the poor, and two parts in ten will account for your pay. As your harvest grows, so does your yield in coin, but 'no' independent sales unless you buy another plot of land for that purpose. If you want undead labor for that, you have to get it separately. Anything you'd like to know?" She asked as she handed out coins and took back contracts.

"When... when do'ya take care of our farms?" One of them asked from their knees as their hands still kneaded the soil in their fingers as if afraid it would crumble to dust again.

"How long does it take a wagon to get to them? I brought a scroll each." She replied, and jerked her thumb toward the wagon. "Hop on, and we'll make a full circuit right now." She looked down at Mu'Agros then and asked, "Want to come too, I like to tell stories to pass the time, and I've got a good one today."

Mu'Agros jumped to his hooves and headed to the cart with the rest of them.

As she returned to the cart she'd come on, Mu'Sula was already getting ready to push, "Can you handle this many of your folk at once?" Nua asked uncertainly.

"Boss, with your offer, I'll handle ten times that much, but... I still hope you've got a good story to tell on the way, I have a weakness for those." He said enthusiastically.

"Damn straight," Nua said as she jumped up into the cart and sat among the farmers, "I call this one, 'The Demons and the Zern Prince' I heard it when I was training to become a priestess." She looked around and had all eyes on her, and she began, "In a far away land, a great demon emperor, Jaldabaoth by name, threatened to destroy all things and took for his prisoner, the prince of a people called the Zern..."

...Crescent Lake...

Bertra was at the market when she heard the people talking, she picked up a piece of fruit and put it into a small basket as she listened. "...How could anyone accuse him? He's so generous, his building projects have resulted in businesses opening all over the city. It's just a baseless rumor, slander is what it is, libel, to accuse a man with that kind of reputation of something so horrible. Must be some jealous bitch, angry that he rejected her advances."

The woman behind the stall didn't say anything as the two customers spoke and condemned the writer of the terrible graffiti. Bertra could not help but interject, "Maybe so, but... if it's true, maybe that's the only way she could say anything at all, exactly because they're afraid of being thought of the way you speak of her now. Maybe she's lashing out precisely because she knows there's no way she'll get justice."

"Nonsense, somebody would have said something by now if he were that kind of man." That got a few frowns turned her way, and the pair stormed off in a huff.

Bertra smiled weakly at the uncomfortable woman behind the fruit stall, and took several more apples before handing over her coins. "Sorry, didn't mean to disrupt anything, keep the change as my apology."

The vendor cracked a smile.

And the chatter was everywhere she went that day. As she passed by the city center, she saw that 'her wall' was already cleaned of her words. She felt bitter tears come to mind. 'You think you can just erase it...? That that'll be it?!' Bertra thought angrily and stormed off home.

That night, she took out the paint again, and wrote on two more walls. 'Lovien of House Alu Raped Me'

The next morning when she opened up shop, feeling cathartic and satisfied that she hadn't been silenced, she was smiling as customers entered, picked up or dropped off a few books, and even stayed for tea, and it was when a few were drinking, that she was asked by her neighbor who ran the shoe shop next door over, "Did you hear about the graffiti?"

"No, what about it, somebody put it on another wall again?" Bertra asked while she kept her smile inside her own mind.

"No, it's on three walls this morning, though why they used blue on one wall and white on another, I don't know." He shrugged, "Terrible though, to falsely accuse a man like that, a man of such standing and reputation, of something so terrible. You know, he even got us a deep discount on the cost of building our shop, all my wife had to do was ask while I was out of town procuring leather, and a few days later, we got our rates reduced and our shop was as good as built." Her neighbor had a confident, knowing look on his face as he drank the tea she'd served him.

"A good man like that, what kind of dirty, underhanded monster would slander the name of someone who's been such a friend to me for these last few years?" He sounded affronted as he spoke, "Could I ask for one of those lemon biscuits to go with this, those are the best."

"Y-Yes of course." Bertra said, and glanced at his wife who sat opposite her husband, and saw her eyes turn aside from the man she loved. A snap decision came to Bertra's mind.

When she came back a moment later, laying a small tray down between the two, though she spoke to the husband, she looked to his wife. "Well, I don't know what motivates a person to write something like that, but I do know that if someone did, and it was true, they did it because speaking up about it made them feel better, even if they never expected anything to come of it. Holding it in, maybe they just couldn't do that?"

She shrugged calmly, but the husband appeared angry, "He's a friend of yours, isn't he? Comes by this shop, you should be ashamed of even suggesting something like that of a man who is a pillar of Elven society!"

Bertra kept the feeling of being slapped in the face by her neighbor, to herself, and went about the business of tending the customers of her shop.

She went out that night again, as she expected, her words were erased.

She painted again on a wall, "Lovien of House Alu Raped Me" in big, white letters, and she slept soundly. He didn't come by her house in all that time.

The morning came and she stretched out happily, starting her day to the sound of people shouting outside.

She looked out and saw a half a dozen elves looking at different walls. Her central location, close to the great square, made it easy to see.

The same message was present, all in different colors, on three walls she hadn't touched, and the guards were out in force.

When she opened her shop, she was all smiles when Soren entered, ducking his head as he came in through the door and brushing the bell with his shoulder.

"Ooops, sorry." He grinned like the lunkhead he appeared to be.

Bertra couldn't help but grin as he blushed, always so self conscious of his size. A memory came to mind, 'She likes cute things.' Entoma had said, as she bought a stuffed toy called a 'teddy bear' as a gift for CZ, 'He's like a big teddy bear.' She thought with a laugh that could only be described as a giggle.

He looked down at her and she laughed him off with a shake of her head, "It's nothing, your book came in." She crouched down at the counter and took it from the shelf there and handed it to him.

"Thanks Bertra, you're the best." His apple colored blush hadn't faded and he put the coins on the counter.

"I know, and you're observant." She teased and pretended a cocky smile, "How are things with you? You haven't been in much lately."

"Fine, I got the contract, but Lord Lovien isn't around much, the last few days have been chaotic. He actually lost his temper and was yelling at his servants to find who was responsible. When I showed up at the palace for him to present me as his intended builder, he was begging Queen Zesshi to 'do something about the lying sluts who were ruining his good name with their baseless, jealous accusations.' Isn't that something?" He asked as he shook his head. "Still, he doesn't have to be around, I can manage without him. Oh... and one more thing."

Bertra's face betrayed no emotions as she listened, "Oh, what's that?" She asked.

"He said I should thank you for the great terms I was getting, and he even gave me a recommendation to several other nobles with a mind toward expanding their manor houses. He said I had you to thank for going the extra mile. Whatever you said to him, sure had an impact. So, thank you." He said with innocent warmth to his words.

The memory flashed back to the feel of his body slapping against hers in her bed, she closed her eyes and felt sick, "It, ah, you're welcome, excuse me." She said, and hurried away as he looked at her in confusion as her back retreated from him and she slammed the door to the back room.

Soren rubbed the back of his head, his ears twitched. "Something I said?" He wondered, and was about to walk out, when he heard a faint sound of retching and choking, his ears twitched again and a frown formed on his face.

He hesitated, looking to the exit, and looking to the back. There was nobody else in the shop just yet, and wouldn't be likely for a bit. A moment later, he made a decision. He flipped the open sign to closed, locked the door, and headed to the back room. The door was shut, but he knocked. "Bertra? Bertra are you alright?"

There was coughing and hacking, "Are you sick, are you alright? Should I come in?"

"No, no it's fine, just not feeling well." She forced out as she hunched over the disposal pot in her little kitchen area. "You can go! Go on and get to work, I'll be fine!"

"Oh-OK." He said, and hesitated. A moment later, he heard her footsteps coming quick on the floor, and the door swung inward. She stood there with rage on her face as he had turned halfway on his heel.

"Why are you still here?!" She shouted furiously, "Didn't I say to leave! Didn't I say to get out and leave me alone!" Her face twisted in wrath, and her eyes went narrow as she looked at him with fury, she caught a glimpse of herself, reflected in the mirror, and saw not eyes of her own, but eyes closer to those of Neia Baraja as her venom was turned on the Theocracy Cardinals in Draudillons great Capitol years ago. 'Now... now she makes more sense...'

He reared back from her in surprise, his eyes as inversely wide as hers narrowed. He looked down at her in utter confusion. "I was-"

"Do you want to do it too! Is that why you're still there when I told you to leave?!" She balled up her fists and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Bertra I..." He reached out to take her hand and she yanked it back, "Don't touch me!"

His hand snapped back away from her, and he took a step back. "I wasn't going to-"

"I was just leaving, I was just worried about you... you're my friend." He added, and stepped back again.

She looked up at him, the big teddy bear of an elf, a wall of muscle and flesh beneath a cherubic and innocent face and big blue eyes that looked as harmless as a child's. "The last man who said that to me... the last man to call me a friend... raped me. Now just... get out, if you're really my friend, you'll do what I ask."

Soren stared down at her blankly, "I... yes, I'll do what you ask, I'm sorry I- I'll go if that's what you want." He stammered out.

She looked down, suddenly very tired, very weary, holding onto the door with flecks of spittle still on her lips and jaw, she nodded. "Th-thank you. Maybe you're telling the truth."

Not knowing what else to do, Soren left, but he kept the door locked as he exited.

Bertra spent the rest of the day in the darkness of her room, the fact that Lovien seemed to have 'kept his promise' made her feel worse, like she really just had been an object in a bargain, exploited but not regarded.

She did not go out and paint that night.

The next day however, she had to go out for food, and on walls all over much of the market square, were various colors of paint in loud letters large letters, done in various hands, "Lovien of House Alu Raped Me".

Her eyes could barely comprehend it, and the buzz of conversation as guards went out to erase it, but it was far, far too late for that.

...Elf Queen's Palace...

Zesshi looked out over the court, her head resting on her fist, her black and white hair hung loose down her back, grown longer with time, it was one of her few sources of vanity, as everything else in her dress was battlefield pragmatic. At her left and right hands stood Thirg and Tefl Dahn, dressed in full military kit with their customary weapons always close at hand to defend their Queen.

The royalty of the elven province was in attendance, lining the walls of the great hall, save for the spot where the Elf King had broken through after Zesshi had sent him flying down to the city streets. Nobody ever stood in front of that spot, as it was considered disrespectful to block anyone's view of the place where their nightmare had ended.

"I don't have to tell you this is a problem, do I Lovien?" Queen Zesshi asked.

He knelt several feet from her with his head bowed low. "No, you don't, Your Highness. But I swear, I didn't do these things!"

Zesshi's fingers rapped lightly on the armrest of her throne, "You know, when a man can't figure out who is doing something like this to him, it's either because he does not think he has any enemies at all, or because he's got so many, he can't hope to narrow it down."

He raised his head and looked at her with terrified eyes, "Your Highness!"

"So, which is it?" Zesshi asked bluntly.

"Your Highness, my family has been a pillar of elven society for generations! I was a slave in the Theocracy, I would never...!" She raised a hand to cut him off.

"Lot of words there for 'none'. It's fine, I take your meaning and I'm not in the mood to waste my time. The guards are out in force to look for vandals, but there are a lot of walls and only so many people. I'm assuming you have your own household guards out doing the same thing, but..." She stopped drumming her fingers and rested her arms on her knees as she leaned forward earnestly, staring at him with her heterochromatic eyes, "I don't have to tell you that if you catch anyone, they get brought to the city guard. No time 'alone' with you. No time confined in your custody, straight to my guard and nowhere else, anything more than that, and I'll carve your heart out with a rusty spoon and feed it to the twins here as a snack."

Thirg and Tefl licked their lips for emphasis on her words, and a collective shiver ran down the spines of those who heard the warning.

She then sat up straight as he silently acknowledged her orders. "I'm ordering the rest of you to put the rest of your soldiers to work doing the same thing, I want to get to the bottom of this. I know tensions are running high with the Great Deliverer on trial... especially given the revelations laid bare by the former Cardinal, Raymond Zarg Lauransan... and with the many biographies being released on the lives of our people in human bondage. But I won't have my rule be marked by anything like my father's. If they lie, they will be punished... severely. If they tell the truth..." She narrowed her eyes on the noble in front of her.

Lovien swallowed audibly enough that the entire court heard him.

"They don't." He said firmly. "I admit, majesty, I've had many women over the years, I enjoy that, I do. But I don't need to force them. When you're a wealthy nobleman, they just let you do things, they want it, I don't have to use force, I'd never make someone... just show them how much they're wanted! These are baldfaced lies, libel, slander! Why would someone with my reputation risk destroying it?! Do you think me insane?!" He asked, aghast and dismayed.

That made the Queen relax in her throne, "No, no I suppose not. Nonetheless I won't allow trial by rumor to be the justice of my province either. His Majesty would be disappointed in me, and I can't help but think my friends would be disappointed in me." Zesshi said, and then looked out over the court, "I know you all had intended to go watch the trial today, but instead I want you to prepare your soldiers, have them in plain clothing, but give them the royal seal to ensure it is understood they have the right to detain. However again, they come to me, not to you, if they arrest anyone. Any questions?" She asked.

Silence.

"Good, then go, Thirg, Tefl, stay here." She said as she looked up over her shoulder as the court emptied.

When they were alone, she stood up from her throne and went back into her private office, there she sat at her desk, a dark wood with stacks of papers on it, a map pinned to the wall beside it that showed the surrounding nations and the Sorcerous Empire itself, and the a small wine rack with bottles and glasses.

"Sit." She said, gesturing to two ornate chairs of elegantly carved black wood, with its engravings being those of growing vines and large twisting leaves.

They did, and she frowned deeply, "What do you think?"

Thirg grunted, "There are a few possibilities. One, he's telling the truth. Two, he's lying. If he's telling the truth, then he's got either one enemy trying to hurt him, or many." His heavy fist sat limp in his lap and he rubbed his chin. "If he's lying, I can't tell, he's better at it than I am at detecting it."

Tefl rolled her eyes, "Brother, when was the last time you won at a game of cards?"

"So you can tell if he's telling the truth?" Zesshi asked with sudden attention.

"Me? Oh, hell no. I'm just saying that musclehead over here couldn't do it either." She shrugged her arms apart and let them fall down in frustration. "He is right though, but one thing caught my attention."

"What's that?" Zesshi inquired.

"Majesty have you seen the writing on the wall?" Tefl inquired with sharp eyes focused on her Queen.

"No, no I haven't." Zesshi answered, "I haven't had a chance to get out much except for work. Never thought I'd respect anything about Dominic but... say what you will of that bastard, he had one helluva work ethic."

Tefl huffed and went over to a work table beneath the map that bore ink, paper, and other assorted items, and she quickly snatched up three sheets and laid one in front of each of their places, she then took three quills and the ink bottle and set it down in between them. "Write what was written on them, please, Your Highness."

Though she got questioning looks, they followed her instructions and each wrote the same phrase. She then took them and laid them down side by side.

"Each of these is a different hand, no two people that I've ever seen, wrote exactly the same way, I've read enough orders and notes to know that for a fact. All the writing on all the walls except for the second day, were different, where there were two matches out of the three. Also, each of them used different sized brushes, and almost all of them were different colors of paint. Now... unless we've got a libelest running around carrying a bunch of paint colors, different brushes, and changing up their handwriting every time... these were all written by different people. Also, they were written at different heights, suggesting that different people wrote each one. A height changing person carrying all that crap around would definitely be noticed." Tefl's face did not have its usual cocky smirk, instead the vampire was calculating and thoughtful as she pointed out the many differences.

"So... either conspiracy, or the first one inspired others to come forward." Zesshi concluded, "But then, why not report it to the guard?"

Thirg looked at her like she was dense.

"What?" Zesshi asked flatly, meeting his rolling eyes.

"Our culture, My Queen, did nothing to show the victims of this crime any sympathy, your late father, may he suffer forever, did it all the time. I fear that the aftermath of that is a culture where we don't prosecute it much, especially if the person is powerful. Lovien is a powerful and popular person, he's done a lot for the city, and I'm out in the streets, people were calling the authors liars, cowards for not coming forward, slanderers, nobody wants to imagine Lovien would do this." Thirg explained patiently, holding his hands out as they rested on the table, his red eyes intent as he said it.

"But you think it's possible, don't you?" Zesshi asked.

"His denial seemed genuine... but... I'd be more comfortable if we had actual witnesses." Thirg replied. "We can't prosecute the guy on rumors and graffiti, even if they paint the damn city with them."

"Fine, so go out looking for them yourselves if you have to, but I want this messenger in the darkness, dragged out into the light. Rumors spread like plagues, they're always far ahead of the cures, which is in this case, the truth. We have to prevent this epidemic before it gets worse." Zesshi ordered brusquely and slammed her hand down on the table hard enough to rattle it, spilling some ink out onto the paper as she did so.

"Highness." The pair said, stood, and bowed, and made their exits after rendering a martial salute with their fists over their hearts.

"Well, isn't this a helluva thing?" She asked the empty room, and flung herself back in her throne. "Really wish some of the other Kings, Queens, and Governors had this problem of feeling like they're not up to this, it'd be nice to have someone to bitch with over it.