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Salome walked briskly down the streets of Brass Castle, the setting sun cast long shadow behind him as he navigated the street with practiced ease. He turned around a corner and walked into a small tavern. He have often visited this place in the past namely because he found it easy to collect his thoughts here. The soft music playing in the background plus the only source of illumination of this dimly lit room are small candles placed on the various tables, have often helped him find an inner focus that is rarely found in any other place of the otherwise busy castle. His purpose here today though was not to think but something else, normally at this time the place would have just started to opening up. Hence normally there would not be any patrons at this hour. Yet when Salome walked in, someone was already there at one of the tables. Salome nodded to the man waiting for him and sat down at the table across from him.
"Good you are here, I thought that I might not catch you before you leave for Vinay del Zexay." The man said, his one eye studied Salome intently.
"I am sorry Geddoe, the summon from the council came suddenly and I was too busy preparing. It was some time before I actually received your message." Salome said, looking apologetic for his lateness. "It has certainly been a while hasn't it? When did you arrive at Brass Castle?"
"Just this morning." Geddoe replied, taking a sip from the cup of ale he is holding with his gloved hand. " When are you leaving for Vinay?"
"In an hour," Salome said as he motions the waitress to bring him some ale "We will ride hard into the night and arrive late at Vinay so that I will be ready for the early morning session with the council."
"Then we do not have much time then, I assume you didn't call me all the way from Caleria just to share a few drinks?" Geddoe said, his gaze piercing as he studied Salome carefully as if trying to read the knights' mind.
"If only that were so, I am sorry we could not meet under better circumstances." Salome sighed," Geddoe, I need your help."
"On what?" The one eyed mercenary asked.
"Have you heard about what has been going on lately?" Salome asked his friend as the waitress returned with his ale.
"If you mean the death of Lady Chris, then yes." Geddoe waited until the waitress was out of earshot before replying.
"What do you think of it?" Salome asked again, his eyes locking on with Geddoes' one good eye.
"What happened to Lady Chris?" Geddoe said his full attention focused on Salome. "You and I both know how hard it is to kill a true rune holder, she could not have died out of disease."
"Yet she was almost killed, and as far as I know she may very well be dead already." Salome said, looking down into his own cup. " No I must not think of that, such negativity will just make things worst. By goddess's grace, she should be fine."
"Please explain." Geddoe said, shaking his head and thoroughly confused by the situation.
Salome take a good glance around, making sure that no one will be able to over hear this. He then continued in a low voice. "She was attacked and poisoned. Her assailant used a Karayan blade and a Karayan poison. Though we managed to drive off the assailant, the poison was killing her. So Borus took her to Karaya to seek help."
"Poisoned? That should not be a problem considering she bears the true water rune." Geddoe asked Salome.
"Whoever tried to kill her obviously has taken it into consideration." Salome said, shaking his head. "She could not heal herself with the water rune. It seems that its power was somehow nullified, or suppressed."
"What is it that you want me do then?" Geddoe said.
"Although I am not sure at the time when she was attacked." Salome said with a hint of anger in his voice. "Now I am certain that it has to be one of the council. You see, since the event of five years ago I have felt the need to keep a tap on the going on of council members."
"So you hired people to spy on them." Geddoe finished it for Salome.
"Yes, servants who manages to pass down valuable information now and then of their intentions." Salome said, pulling out a pile of sheets from a hidden pocket within his cloth. "Unfortunately I received the information too late to prevent the attempt, however from the bits and pieces conversation they reported. I am certain that it has to be one of the council who is behind this."
"However these are potentially very dangerous people we are dealing with, and I could not in my good conscious ask them to risk their lives to investigate this." Salome continued.
"So you want me to investigate them for you." Geddoe stated, having guessed what Salome is asking of him.
"That is correct, I understand your capabilities, Geddoe. This task should not be too difficult for you. Further more you are the bearer of the true lighting rune, so this should not pose too much of a danger for you." Salome added.
"Don't be too sure of that." Geddoe said shaking his head. "We will head to Vinay Del Zexay tomorrow morning and start the investigation though."
"I have faith in you, Geddoe." Salome said while handing the sheets. " Here are all the information that I have thus far collected and a list of council members and all the info on them I can gather. You should start with the first councilor though, he seemed the most suspicious."
"I'll keep that in mind." Geddoe replied.
"Well, I should get going now, people are still waiting for me." Salome said, finishing up the ale that he had been sipping and got up.
"Good Luck Salome."
"Thank you old friend, we both will need all the luck we can get."
**************************************************************************** ***
Suikoden 3 Fanfic Conflict from within ch6:
Rising Tide
**************************************************************************** ***
With a torch burning brightly to light his way, Borus ran across the grasslands outside the Karayan village. He looked around worriedly, seemingly in search of something.
"Where could they have gone to?" He muttered to himself in frustration.
"Borus?" A voice said behind him.
Surprised, he spun around and drawn his sword halfway out before he realized who it was and sheathed his sword once again.
"Sir Hugo." Borus asked in a respectful tone. "Where is Lady Chris."
"She fell asleep back there." Hugo said pointing back where he came from. " I was dozing off myself but I saw the lights from you torch so I came to investigate."
"I see." Borus nodded.
"Well since you are here, I'll leave her to your care then." Hugo said, walking away.
"Wait! I would like to know what are your intentions toward Lady Chris." Borus shouted to the young Karayan.
Hugo stopped and then looked down to the ground, with a sigh he replied." Only if I knew myself."
"If you are looking for vengeance then know that it was I who burned down your village despite Lady Chris' orders." Borus announced tensely to Hugo.
"It is noble of you to try to protect your captain in such a manner." Hugo said shaking his head "However the debt between us is of a much more personal matter."
"I understand." Borus said looking straight at Hugo, his voice full of determination "However you should know that I will do anything to protect my captain, even if it means fighting you and even if it's at the cost of my life."
"I would expect no less." Hugo replied turning around to look at Borus straight in the eyes. "Yet I can promise this of you, on my honor as a Karayan that as long as you remain as guests to this village I will not to do any harm to you or your captain, Lady Chris Lightfellow and I also swear on my honor to protect you both to the best of my abilities. So you have nothing to fear from me right now."
With that said Hugo spun around and briskly walked away, leaving Borus standing alone in the darkness pondering on what he have just been told.
**************************************************************************** ******
"..Chris, Lady Chris."
Slowly Chris opened her eyes at the sound of her name being called, the glare of torchlight made her flinch back and she shielded her eyes with her hand till they slowly adjusted to the light. As her eyes regained their focus, she could make out a familiar blonde man standing over her with a burning torch.
"What is it Borus?" Chris asked while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Nothing milady, I was worried when you didn't come back so I came to find you." Borus replied studying his captain carefully. "Did something happened betw. Is something wrong?" "Wrong? Nothing is wrong what makes you think that? The weather was just too comfortable I guess I just dozed off. " Chris said, stretching out the kinks in her back. "If I made you worried, I apologize Borus."
"You do not have to milady, though if you are tired, we should head back to our own hut." Borus suggested.
"You are right," Chris replied then looked around. " Where is Hugo?"
"He. um left when I got here." Borus said, a slight hesitation in his voice.
For a moment Chris thought of asking what happened to cause Borus look uncomfortable, but thought better of it. Instead she began walking toward the hut. " Let's head back Borus, we can talk on the way. I have something to ask of you."
"Alright milady." He answered, falling in step beside her.
"Borus, I will accompany Hugo to the clan chief meeting tomorrow." Chris said, glancing sideway at him. "However, I have to ask you to head back to Brass Castle instead."
"But Milady! I can't leave you alone in the grasslands!." Borus exclaimed, his face shows his shock at Chris' request." It would not be safe!"
"It won't be as dangerous as you think," Chris said, holding out a hand to placate the emotional knight. " I am fully capable of defending myself. Furthermore I will hardly be alone, the Karayans and other clan chiefs will be with me."
"By Karayan you mean Hugo." Borus said tensely, looking away into the night.
"He knows his duty and I know mine," Chris looked down at the ground and said with a hint of sadness. "With two true runes at this meeting our enemy will think twice before trying anything."
"I suppose I should know my duty as well and follow the order of my captain then." Borus said almost bitterly.
"You know I don't mean it like that Borus." Chris sighed shaking her head. "It's been days and we yet to hear from Salome, we need to let him know that I am alright. I am sure they are worried about me. Furthermore I am worried about Salome as well. From the encounter on plain Amur that you told me about they probably know that I am still alive. We do not know what our enemy is capable of and Salome must be informed of these matters. Therefore it's imperative for you to return to Brass Castle so that we know what has transpired during the past few days."
"Very well I will do as you asked," Borus said resignedly, "I will return as soon as possible with any news I learned."
"Thank you Borus, not just for this but for everything you have done for me as well." Chris said turning her head to look straight at the blonde Zexen knight. "I am lucky to have you and the other knights as friends."
"It is a honor for us to serve you milady." Borus replied, sincerity evident in his voice.
"A honor for me too," She replied as they arrived at the hut, "We should take what rest we can tonight. Tomorrow promises to be a long day for both of us."
"I know." Borus said, slightly hesitant." I hope that everything will go smoothly."
"I hope so too Borus, I hope so too."
**************************************************************************** *******
Salome took a moment to look out through the window unto the street of Vinay del Zexay, from the upper level hallway of the council hall. Though being so early in the morning it was fairly empty, he knew from experience that soon the street would be crowded with people doing their everyday activities. Briefly he wondered if the ordinary ever stop and ponder about the momentous decisions that were being made behind the finely crafted wall of this building. Certainly what will happen in the next few moments may very well be one of those decisions. He knew that he had a difficult task ahead of him, from the rumors of the mob gathering he had surmised the intention of the council in summoning him. It might very well mean warfare if he could not convince the council that Karaya had nothing to do with the assassination of his captain.
'Attempted,' he corrected himself though he could not let the council learn of that.
He paused for a second, taking a few deep breath to calm himself and collect his thoughts. Then he opened the door in front of him and entered the council chamber. As he entered the councilors all stood up. The first councilor Lorn brought his hand to his chest and bowed his head.
"We are honored to have Lord Salome of our mighty Zexen knights with us, Goddess be with us today and here at the council."
"Let me give thanks to our goddess for allowing this occasion to gather here today." Salome said, following in suit to gave the ceremony reply.
"Ah Lord Salome, We have been waiting for you," First councilor Lorn said from behind the large table, sitting down with the rest of the councilors. "I hope you had a pleasant trip from Brass Castle. I apologize for the short notice but the matter we must discuss is quite.. Urgent."
"That is what I was told, hence I came as soon as I was able." Salome replied sitting down himself.
"You see Lord Salome, recently we have had heard quite a few rumors." Lorn continued while gesturing with his hands for emphasis. " So we would like you to clear a few things up, namely the cause of Lady Chris' death."
"I believe I have already made a report on that." Salome replied raising an eyebrow. " Or is it the practice of council now to believe in rumors."
"Nevertheless we would like you to swear by the goddess that the rumor isn't correct." Lorn said, leaning forward slightly. "That Lady Chris Lightfellow was not attacked by a man using Karayan blade."
Salome studied Lorn carefully, his mind turning over what Lorn had just said, after a short pause he finally said." No I can not do that."
"Then you admit to lying to the council?" Lorn asked archly.
"As the commander of the knights it is within my right to do what is necessary to prevent unnecessary battle." Salome replied. "Under the circumstance I exercised that right, considering how potentially dangerous such information can be if the public was to learn of this. Especially since it was not made certain that Karayan is really behind this."
"And I suppose it is also your judgment as the 'commander' to conceal this information from the council?" Lorn asked sharply.
"Yes to a sense I am afraid that there might be a possible information leak. Certainly if what I have worked to kept hidden could be leaked to the public. Then any info on the report I sent you could be leaked out."
"Is that so? I question if that is your true reason for hiding this info from the council?" Lorn said, his tone turning accusing. "Perhaps you have a more personal stake in this matter?"
"What are you implying? first councilor Lorn." Salome asked tensely.
"You are the natural choice to take over the command of the knights after Lady Chris." Lorn said addressing the Zexen knights. " You see, after years of being made subordinate whom you considered your intellectually inferior. You finally found the perfect opportunity to get rid of her. By collaborating with the Karayans you devised a plot that would get rid of her. The misinformation that you gave us is simply a way of covering up your crime so no one would suspect you."
Murmurs of surprise and bewilderment erupted from all over the table at first councilors accusation. Salome stared at the councilor, unable to believe what he is hearing. He had came here, prepared to try to convince the council not to resort to military might against the Karayan. What he did not expect was to be accused as a criminal who tried to kill his captain.
"That is ridiculous, I don't have to stand for these kind of wild accusations from you, first councilor." He snapped at the man in front of him.
"Wild accusations? I am afraid not," Lorn said, pulling out several documents and throwing them in front of Salome. "I have gathered information from several source which indicates your involvement in the assassination. Furthermore I have a letter that was written by you to the Karayan chief, discussing the details of assassination."
Wordlessly Salome picked up the documents, the so called sources are all negligible. They are mostly reports of witness seeing him acting suspicious, items that could be easily made up and bared no actual weight in implicating him. His blood stopped cold when he reached the letter though, it seemed impossible yet there it was, in his own writing, a detailed description planning the assassination of Lady Chris. From smuggling the assassin in through a backdoor of Brass castle to poisoning Lady Chris's food to make her more susceptible to assault. It was of course a forgery because he himself knew that he had not written a letter such as this, yet what chilled him more is that even he himself could not distinguish the handwriting from his own.
"Impossible." He gasped out loud.
"Afraid not," Lorn said quietly then raised his voice to call out to the hall. "Guards! arrest this man on the charge of treason."
The door slammed open and 2 guards walked in one on each side of Salome. They moved as to haul Salome up but he stopped them with a wave of his hand. "That is not necessary, I'll do it myself."
Slowly he stood up and for a moment he locked eyes with Lorn. "We both know that your accusations are false, these so called evidences of yours are fake."
"Your claims of innocence are wasted on me." Lorn said calmly, then gestured with his hand. "Take him back to his residence in Vinay and confine him there."
As the guards took Salome out of the chamber, one of the council member turned to Lorn with a grim expression. "That is a serious accusation, First councilor, are you certain of this?"
"As I have said, I have solid proof. He will have his chance to defend himself in the trial." Lorn replied.
"What will we do about the mobs then?" Another councilor asked.
"The only thing we can do now that we have learned the truth." Lorn replied calmly. "Or do you propose that we let the savages get away with murdering one of our own."
For a while the rest of the council murmured amongst themselves discussing things over with those that are closest to them in hushed tones.
"Then it shall be war." One of the councilor finally announced as the various murmured died down.
"Yet how do you propose we proceed with this, we do not have anyone in command of the knights." Another added.
"As to that my dear councilors I do have several suggestions." Lorn announced confidently, looking around the table. Though he appears to be calm on the surface, inwardly he was seething.
'For now I will do as you have planned Damian, but you better watch yourself that you don't fall into my hand.' He thought darkly to himself.
Up next: The count down to war has begun. Meanwhile Geddoe and his team struggle to uncover the truth behind the recent conflict. Will they succeed in finding the truth? or will the glimpse of darkness swallow them whole?
Salome walked briskly down the streets of Brass Castle, the setting sun cast long shadow behind him as he navigated the street with practiced ease. He turned around a corner and walked into a small tavern. He have often visited this place in the past namely because he found it easy to collect his thoughts here. The soft music playing in the background plus the only source of illumination of this dimly lit room are small candles placed on the various tables, have often helped him find an inner focus that is rarely found in any other place of the otherwise busy castle. His purpose here today though was not to think but something else, normally at this time the place would have just started to opening up. Hence normally there would not be any patrons at this hour. Yet when Salome walked in, someone was already there at one of the tables. Salome nodded to the man waiting for him and sat down at the table across from him.
"Good you are here, I thought that I might not catch you before you leave for Vinay del Zexay." The man said, his one eye studied Salome intently.
"I am sorry Geddoe, the summon from the council came suddenly and I was too busy preparing. It was some time before I actually received your message." Salome said, looking apologetic for his lateness. "It has certainly been a while hasn't it? When did you arrive at Brass Castle?"
"Just this morning." Geddoe replied, taking a sip from the cup of ale he is holding with his gloved hand. " When are you leaving for Vinay?"
"In an hour," Salome said as he motions the waitress to bring him some ale "We will ride hard into the night and arrive late at Vinay so that I will be ready for the early morning session with the council."
"Then we do not have much time then, I assume you didn't call me all the way from Caleria just to share a few drinks?" Geddoe said, his gaze piercing as he studied Salome carefully as if trying to read the knights' mind.
"If only that were so, I am sorry we could not meet under better circumstances." Salome sighed," Geddoe, I need your help."
"On what?" The one eyed mercenary asked.
"Have you heard about what has been going on lately?" Salome asked his friend as the waitress returned with his ale.
"If you mean the death of Lady Chris, then yes." Geddoe waited until the waitress was out of earshot before replying.
"What do you think of it?" Salome asked again, his eyes locking on with Geddoes' one good eye.
"What happened to Lady Chris?" Geddoe said his full attention focused on Salome. "You and I both know how hard it is to kill a true rune holder, she could not have died out of disease."
"Yet she was almost killed, and as far as I know she may very well be dead already." Salome said, looking down into his own cup. " No I must not think of that, such negativity will just make things worst. By goddess's grace, she should be fine."
"Please explain." Geddoe said, shaking his head and thoroughly confused by the situation.
Salome take a good glance around, making sure that no one will be able to over hear this. He then continued in a low voice. "She was attacked and poisoned. Her assailant used a Karayan blade and a Karayan poison. Though we managed to drive off the assailant, the poison was killing her. So Borus took her to Karaya to seek help."
"Poisoned? That should not be a problem considering she bears the true water rune." Geddoe asked Salome.
"Whoever tried to kill her obviously has taken it into consideration." Salome said, shaking his head. "She could not heal herself with the water rune. It seems that its power was somehow nullified, or suppressed."
"What is it that you want me do then?" Geddoe said.
"Although I am not sure at the time when she was attacked." Salome said with a hint of anger in his voice. "Now I am certain that it has to be one of the council. You see, since the event of five years ago I have felt the need to keep a tap on the going on of council members."
"So you hired people to spy on them." Geddoe finished it for Salome.
"Yes, servants who manages to pass down valuable information now and then of their intentions." Salome said, pulling out a pile of sheets from a hidden pocket within his cloth. "Unfortunately I received the information too late to prevent the attempt, however from the bits and pieces conversation they reported. I am certain that it has to be one of the council who is behind this."
"However these are potentially very dangerous people we are dealing with, and I could not in my good conscious ask them to risk their lives to investigate this." Salome continued.
"So you want me to investigate them for you." Geddoe stated, having guessed what Salome is asking of him.
"That is correct, I understand your capabilities, Geddoe. This task should not be too difficult for you. Further more you are the bearer of the true lighting rune, so this should not pose too much of a danger for you." Salome added.
"Don't be too sure of that." Geddoe said shaking his head. "We will head to Vinay Del Zexay tomorrow morning and start the investigation though."
"I have faith in you, Geddoe." Salome said while handing the sheets. " Here are all the information that I have thus far collected and a list of council members and all the info on them I can gather. You should start with the first councilor though, he seemed the most suspicious."
"I'll keep that in mind." Geddoe replied.
"Well, I should get going now, people are still waiting for me." Salome said, finishing up the ale that he had been sipping and got up.
"Good Luck Salome."
"Thank you old friend, we both will need all the luck we can get."
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Suikoden 3 Fanfic Conflict from within ch6:
Rising Tide
**************************************************************************** ***
With a torch burning brightly to light his way, Borus ran across the grasslands outside the Karayan village. He looked around worriedly, seemingly in search of something.
"Where could they have gone to?" He muttered to himself in frustration.
"Borus?" A voice said behind him.
Surprised, he spun around and drawn his sword halfway out before he realized who it was and sheathed his sword once again.
"Sir Hugo." Borus asked in a respectful tone. "Where is Lady Chris."
"She fell asleep back there." Hugo said pointing back where he came from. " I was dozing off myself but I saw the lights from you torch so I came to investigate."
"I see." Borus nodded.
"Well since you are here, I'll leave her to your care then." Hugo said, walking away.
"Wait! I would like to know what are your intentions toward Lady Chris." Borus shouted to the young Karayan.
Hugo stopped and then looked down to the ground, with a sigh he replied." Only if I knew myself."
"If you are looking for vengeance then know that it was I who burned down your village despite Lady Chris' orders." Borus announced tensely to Hugo.
"It is noble of you to try to protect your captain in such a manner." Hugo said shaking his head "However the debt between us is of a much more personal matter."
"I understand." Borus said looking straight at Hugo, his voice full of determination "However you should know that I will do anything to protect my captain, even if it means fighting you and even if it's at the cost of my life."
"I would expect no less." Hugo replied turning around to look at Borus straight in the eyes. "Yet I can promise this of you, on my honor as a Karayan that as long as you remain as guests to this village I will not to do any harm to you or your captain, Lady Chris Lightfellow and I also swear on my honor to protect you both to the best of my abilities. So you have nothing to fear from me right now."
With that said Hugo spun around and briskly walked away, leaving Borus standing alone in the darkness pondering on what he have just been told.
**************************************************************************** ******
"..Chris, Lady Chris."
Slowly Chris opened her eyes at the sound of her name being called, the glare of torchlight made her flinch back and she shielded her eyes with her hand till they slowly adjusted to the light. As her eyes regained their focus, she could make out a familiar blonde man standing over her with a burning torch.
"What is it Borus?" Chris asked while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Nothing milady, I was worried when you didn't come back so I came to find you." Borus replied studying his captain carefully. "Did something happened betw. Is something wrong?" "Wrong? Nothing is wrong what makes you think that? The weather was just too comfortable I guess I just dozed off. " Chris said, stretching out the kinks in her back. "If I made you worried, I apologize Borus."
"You do not have to milady, though if you are tired, we should head back to our own hut." Borus suggested.
"You are right," Chris replied then looked around. " Where is Hugo?"
"He. um left when I got here." Borus said, a slight hesitation in his voice.
For a moment Chris thought of asking what happened to cause Borus look uncomfortable, but thought better of it. Instead she began walking toward the hut. " Let's head back Borus, we can talk on the way. I have something to ask of you."
"Alright milady." He answered, falling in step beside her.
"Borus, I will accompany Hugo to the clan chief meeting tomorrow." Chris said, glancing sideway at him. "However, I have to ask you to head back to Brass Castle instead."
"But Milady! I can't leave you alone in the grasslands!." Borus exclaimed, his face shows his shock at Chris' request." It would not be safe!"
"It won't be as dangerous as you think," Chris said, holding out a hand to placate the emotional knight. " I am fully capable of defending myself. Furthermore I will hardly be alone, the Karayans and other clan chiefs will be with me."
"By Karayan you mean Hugo." Borus said tensely, looking away into the night.
"He knows his duty and I know mine," Chris looked down at the ground and said with a hint of sadness. "With two true runes at this meeting our enemy will think twice before trying anything."
"I suppose I should know my duty as well and follow the order of my captain then." Borus said almost bitterly.
"You know I don't mean it like that Borus." Chris sighed shaking her head. "It's been days and we yet to hear from Salome, we need to let him know that I am alright. I am sure they are worried about me. Furthermore I am worried about Salome as well. From the encounter on plain Amur that you told me about they probably know that I am still alive. We do not know what our enemy is capable of and Salome must be informed of these matters. Therefore it's imperative for you to return to Brass Castle so that we know what has transpired during the past few days."
"Very well I will do as you asked," Borus said resignedly, "I will return as soon as possible with any news I learned."
"Thank you Borus, not just for this but for everything you have done for me as well." Chris said turning her head to look straight at the blonde Zexen knight. "I am lucky to have you and the other knights as friends."
"It is a honor for us to serve you milady." Borus replied, sincerity evident in his voice.
"A honor for me too," She replied as they arrived at the hut, "We should take what rest we can tonight. Tomorrow promises to be a long day for both of us."
"I know." Borus said, slightly hesitant." I hope that everything will go smoothly."
"I hope so too Borus, I hope so too."
**************************************************************************** *******
Salome took a moment to look out through the window unto the street of Vinay del Zexay, from the upper level hallway of the council hall. Though being so early in the morning it was fairly empty, he knew from experience that soon the street would be crowded with people doing their everyday activities. Briefly he wondered if the ordinary ever stop and ponder about the momentous decisions that were being made behind the finely crafted wall of this building. Certainly what will happen in the next few moments may very well be one of those decisions. He knew that he had a difficult task ahead of him, from the rumors of the mob gathering he had surmised the intention of the council in summoning him. It might very well mean warfare if he could not convince the council that Karaya had nothing to do with the assassination of his captain.
'Attempted,' he corrected himself though he could not let the council learn of that.
He paused for a second, taking a few deep breath to calm himself and collect his thoughts. Then he opened the door in front of him and entered the council chamber. As he entered the councilors all stood up. The first councilor Lorn brought his hand to his chest and bowed his head.
"We are honored to have Lord Salome of our mighty Zexen knights with us, Goddess be with us today and here at the council."
"Let me give thanks to our goddess for allowing this occasion to gather here today." Salome said, following in suit to gave the ceremony reply.
"Ah Lord Salome, We have been waiting for you," First councilor Lorn said from behind the large table, sitting down with the rest of the councilors. "I hope you had a pleasant trip from Brass Castle. I apologize for the short notice but the matter we must discuss is quite.. Urgent."
"That is what I was told, hence I came as soon as I was able." Salome replied sitting down himself.
"You see Lord Salome, recently we have had heard quite a few rumors." Lorn continued while gesturing with his hands for emphasis. " So we would like you to clear a few things up, namely the cause of Lady Chris' death."
"I believe I have already made a report on that." Salome replied raising an eyebrow. " Or is it the practice of council now to believe in rumors."
"Nevertheless we would like you to swear by the goddess that the rumor isn't correct." Lorn said, leaning forward slightly. "That Lady Chris Lightfellow was not attacked by a man using Karayan blade."
Salome studied Lorn carefully, his mind turning over what Lorn had just said, after a short pause he finally said." No I can not do that."
"Then you admit to lying to the council?" Lorn asked archly.
"As the commander of the knights it is within my right to do what is necessary to prevent unnecessary battle." Salome replied. "Under the circumstance I exercised that right, considering how potentially dangerous such information can be if the public was to learn of this. Especially since it was not made certain that Karayan is really behind this."
"And I suppose it is also your judgment as the 'commander' to conceal this information from the council?" Lorn asked sharply.
"Yes to a sense I am afraid that there might be a possible information leak. Certainly if what I have worked to kept hidden could be leaked to the public. Then any info on the report I sent you could be leaked out."
"Is that so? I question if that is your true reason for hiding this info from the council?" Lorn said, his tone turning accusing. "Perhaps you have a more personal stake in this matter?"
"What are you implying? first councilor Lorn." Salome asked tensely.
"You are the natural choice to take over the command of the knights after Lady Chris." Lorn said addressing the Zexen knights. " You see, after years of being made subordinate whom you considered your intellectually inferior. You finally found the perfect opportunity to get rid of her. By collaborating with the Karayans you devised a plot that would get rid of her. The misinformation that you gave us is simply a way of covering up your crime so no one would suspect you."
Murmurs of surprise and bewilderment erupted from all over the table at first councilors accusation. Salome stared at the councilor, unable to believe what he is hearing. He had came here, prepared to try to convince the council not to resort to military might against the Karayan. What he did not expect was to be accused as a criminal who tried to kill his captain.
"That is ridiculous, I don't have to stand for these kind of wild accusations from you, first councilor." He snapped at the man in front of him.
"Wild accusations? I am afraid not," Lorn said, pulling out several documents and throwing them in front of Salome. "I have gathered information from several source which indicates your involvement in the assassination. Furthermore I have a letter that was written by you to the Karayan chief, discussing the details of assassination."
Wordlessly Salome picked up the documents, the so called sources are all negligible. They are mostly reports of witness seeing him acting suspicious, items that could be easily made up and bared no actual weight in implicating him. His blood stopped cold when he reached the letter though, it seemed impossible yet there it was, in his own writing, a detailed description planning the assassination of Lady Chris. From smuggling the assassin in through a backdoor of Brass castle to poisoning Lady Chris's food to make her more susceptible to assault. It was of course a forgery because he himself knew that he had not written a letter such as this, yet what chilled him more is that even he himself could not distinguish the handwriting from his own.
"Impossible." He gasped out loud.
"Afraid not," Lorn said quietly then raised his voice to call out to the hall. "Guards! arrest this man on the charge of treason."
The door slammed open and 2 guards walked in one on each side of Salome. They moved as to haul Salome up but he stopped them with a wave of his hand. "That is not necessary, I'll do it myself."
Slowly he stood up and for a moment he locked eyes with Lorn. "We both know that your accusations are false, these so called evidences of yours are fake."
"Your claims of innocence are wasted on me." Lorn said calmly, then gestured with his hand. "Take him back to his residence in Vinay and confine him there."
As the guards took Salome out of the chamber, one of the council member turned to Lorn with a grim expression. "That is a serious accusation, First councilor, are you certain of this?"
"As I have said, I have solid proof. He will have his chance to defend himself in the trial." Lorn replied.
"What will we do about the mobs then?" Another councilor asked.
"The only thing we can do now that we have learned the truth." Lorn replied calmly. "Or do you propose that we let the savages get away with murdering one of our own."
For a while the rest of the council murmured amongst themselves discussing things over with those that are closest to them in hushed tones.
"Then it shall be war." One of the councilor finally announced as the various murmured died down.
"Yet how do you propose we proceed with this, we do not have anyone in command of the knights." Another added.
"As to that my dear councilors I do have several suggestions." Lorn announced confidently, looking around the table. Though he appears to be calm on the surface, inwardly he was seething.
'For now I will do as you have planned Damian, but you better watch yourself that you don't fall into my hand.' He thought darkly to himself.
Up next: The count down to war has begun. Meanwhile Geddoe and his team struggle to uncover the truth behind the recent conflict. Will they succeed in finding the truth? or will the glimpse of darkness swallow them whole?