Set in the Tammyverse, guess who owns it.
Chapter 20
The group milled uneasily outside the double doors to the Citadel's ballroom. Being called into the presence of the Empress when you were not quite sure what was going on is not a settling experience.
Guards in the black and silver of the Imperial livery flanked the doorway.
The doors opened and the Slayer, in solid black stood in the center of the doorway, "Please come in and be seated."
Entering the ballroom it could be seen that a throne had been placed on the dais flanked by the black and silver flags and guards of the Empress. The throne was made of wood so dark it appeared black and was padded with silver fabric. A small table to one side of the dais was piled with reports. Large well built guards in black and silver and bristling with weapons were standing along the wall at regular intervals.
Chairs had been set up in three sections, the center section much smaller than the two flanking sections.
The Slayer waved to the center section, "My Lord Duke if you and your party will be seated."
The Duke, his bodyguards, Sandry, her bodyguards, Major L'rain Kunsch, Sherluk Homs, Briar, Tris and Daja took seats in the center section filling it completely. The Duke and each of the four mage's each carried a cube approximately eight inches on a side, they placed the boxes on the floor at their feet.
The Slayer had walked to stand by the throne.
Sandry scanned the Imperial guards along the walls.
Oama, leaned forward and whispered in Sandry's ear, "I think Rambow and Konan could whip the lot of them."
Sandry giggled, the Duke look at her with a raised eyebrow.
At some unseen signal the Slayer said, "Her Imperial Highness Empress Berenene of the Namorn Empire."
Everyone stood, with head bowed while the Empress entered the room through a door at the back of the dais, walked to the throne and was seated. Then she nodded to the Slayer.
"The Empress." The Slayer said, everyone bowed or curtsied, "be seated."
The Empress scanned the seated group, "We have studied the reports and heard from the investigators, and there a couple of small items that need clearing up."
"Duke Vedris," the Duke stood, "who was in charge of your guards the night Frantson was killed."
"Captain Patton, Empress." Answered the Duke.
"And where is Captain Patton?"
The Captain, who was in the front row of seats, stood.
"Approach Captain Patton."
The Captain walked to a place in front of the Empress and dropped to his knees.
"Tell me Captain why the Duke's bodyguards did not intervene in the incident at the ball?"
Patton thought for a few seconds and the replied, "We became complacent Empress."
"Complacent? Explain."
"Some time ago the Duke implemented a new policy in regard to his guards and military. If a soldier acts only as a soldier or a guard acts only as a guard they tend to become set in their thinking. This is true also among the provost's guards. So the Duke called the leaders of his military, the Dukes guards and the provost guard together and they agreed on a method to prevent the loss of flexibility among the three groups."
"The basic idea is to rotate the men through the three types of duties. A fixed number of soldiers comes to the Citadel to work as the Dukes guard, the same number of Dukes guards goes to Summersea to work in the provost guard and a like number of the provost guard moves to the military."
"This gives the three units a pool of experienced men to draw upon in case of emergencies, and the variation in experience raises moral."
"On the night of the ball all the guards in the room were soldiers who had been acting as Dukes guards for only one month. No attacks were anticipated so no alerts had been given. When Daja Kisubo struck down the blood mage it distracted all the guards. At that point trained bodyguards would still have been watching the crowd instead they were watching what was going on at the window."
"Baron Frantson was not known as a physical man, the attack was out of character and a complete surprise. Only two people in the room reacted instantly, Briar Moss and Countess Sandrilene fa Toren. The Countess jumped in front of the Duke and Briar Moss intercepted the attack."
"Anything else?" asked the Empress.
"Just that all three units have since started to give the individuals the specialized training for the jobs they have moved into."
"Thank you," the Empress said, "You may return to your seat."
"Is there anyone else who wishes to speak before a decision is made?"
Duke Vedris IV of Emelan stood, "There are two pieces of evidence that you have not yet seen, but before you see them I must prove the accuracy of the evidence."
"Approach."
Duke Vedris accepted the two boxes handed to him by Daja and Tris, placed them on top of the one he carried and walked to the front of the dais and dropped to his knees.
Placing the three boxes on the floor in front of him, he opened the box with the letter S carved into the top.
"Slayer, If you will?" indicating the box.
The Slayer walked over and inspected the glass sphere inside the box, it appeared to be filled with fog.
"These spheres were made here in Summersea, a glass mage has developed the spell used in their manufacture."
"I swear on my life that no harm will result in their use."
"If the Slayer will take the sphere."
The Slayer lifted the rememball from the box.
"Now if you, Empress, will cup you hands, close your eyes, and think a moment of joy in your life, when you have the memory firmly fixed in your mind, nod and the Slayer will put the sphere in your cupped hands. I will speak when the magic has finished doing its work."
The Empress looked seriously at the Duke, then she nodded slightly and cupped her hands, the Slayer walked up to her, the Empress closed her eyes and after a short time nodded. The Slayer placed the sphere into her cupped hands.
The Duke watched the rememball intently, when the image cleared he said, "It is done."
The Empress opened her eyes and looked at the memory stored in the sphere. She examined the sphere closely and then looked at the Duke.
"The image will remain as long as the sphere is unbroken."
"If you examine the picture closely you will see that it is complete to the smallest detail."
The Duke opened the box with the letter M carved into it and handed the open box to the Slayer along with the empty box.
The Slayer carried the boxes to the Empress, she put the used sphere in the empty box and then removed the fog filled rememball from the other box.
"That one, Empress, will store about a minute of a memory, it is designed to store a moving memory. I stored a image of Yazmin Hebet performing a dance."
The Empress thought for a short time the she cupped her hands, closed her eyes, paused, and then nodded. The Slayer placed the second rememball in her cupped hands.
After a minute the Duke said, "Done."
The Empress opened her eyes and examined the moving image in the sphere and smiled. She waved the Slayer closer and showed the rememball to her, inside was the Slayer and a man wearing padded armor engaging in a practice fight.
"Again, notice the detail. The mind stores the smallest details of what we see even though we don't consciously remember them. The magic extracts all these details and displays them."
The Duke opened the box on the floor by his knee's, it had the letter I carved into the top.
"If your will examine this one," He said, removing a sphere that already contained an image, "you will see the difference between a memory and imagination."
It was the image of the dragon that Evvy had stored prior to sculpting it.
The Empress placed the Slayer fight into the box it came from and took the sphere that the Slayer carried to her.
"The creature is very detailed, but as you move away from the focal point of the imagination the detail softens and blurs, to eventually vanish completely."
"And that is the difference between a real memory and an imagined one, the amount of detail?"
"Yes Empress, if you will permit?" He raised his hand. Tris and Daja picked up the boxes at their feet and stood.
The Slayer went to bring the boxes back to the Duke.
As the Duke opened the box with the letters FS carved into the top he said, "Empress, at the time Frantson's attack I was holding two of the spheres, both a single memory one, and a moving memory one. This is the single memory sphere."
The Slayer carried the box to the Empress. Taking the sphere the Empress examined it closely. The image in the rememball displayed the ballroom as seen from the dais, a crowd in front of the dais, most of them with heads turned to the window where Daja was standing over a black clad body on the floor, a few faces were turned to the front and displayed shock, Frantson, face twisted in rage in full attack, knife in hand.
The Empress replaced the sphere in the box while the Slayer brought the last box to her. She lifted the sphere from the box and examined it. It contained a moving image of the ballroom, the crowd, the attack, Briars response, the death, Briars walk to the dais, the Baroness's attack, Tris tripping her and her death. Playing over and over and over.
"Thank you Duke Vedris please take your seat."
"Briar Moss, Daja Kisubo, Trisana Chandler approach."
The three young mages approached the dais and dropped to their knees.
"Daja Kisubo, you saved the life of Countess Sandrilene fa Toren when you rendered the mage Evilst Rawberry unconscious at the ball"
"Yes Empress."
"Trisana Chandler you saved the life of Briar Moss when you stopped the Baroness Frantson's attack on him at the ball."
"Yes Empress."
The Empress watched the sequence in the rememball play through a couple times.
The Empress replaced the sphere back in the box, stood and stepped down from the dais, standing in front of the kneeling Briar.
"Slayer, your sword."
As the Slayer approached the sinister sound of metal sliding on metal could be heard as she drew her sword. Stopping beside Briar she waited, the light from the windows glinted on the supernaturally sharp blade.
The Duke grabbed Sandry by the shoulder as she started to rise in protest, "Silence," he hissed.
The Empress raised her hand.
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Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, (Theme from Jaws) Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum
Chapter 20
The group milled uneasily outside the double doors to the Citadel's ballroom. Being called into the presence of the Empress when you were not quite sure what was going on is not a settling experience.
Guards in the black and silver of the Imperial livery flanked the doorway.
The doors opened and the Slayer, in solid black stood in the center of the doorway, "Please come in and be seated."
Entering the ballroom it could be seen that a throne had been placed on the dais flanked by the black and silver flags and guards of the Empress. The throne was made of wood so dark it appeared black and was padded with silver fabric. A small table to one side of the dais was piled with reports. Large well built guards in black and silver and bristling with weapons were standing along the wall at regular intervals.
Chairs had been set up in three sections, the center section much smaller than the two flanking sections.
The Slayer waved to the center section, "My Lord Duke if you and your party will be seated."
The Duke, his bodyguards, Sandry, her bodyguards, Major L'rain Kunsch, Sherluk Homs, Briar, Tris and Daja took seats in the center section filling it completely. The Duke and each of the four mage's each carried a cube approximately eight inches on a side, they placed the boxes on the floor at their feet.
The Slayer had walked to stand by the throne.
Sandry scanned the Imperial guards along the walls.
Oama, leaned forward and whispered in Sandry's ear, "I think Rambow and Konan could whip the lot of them."
Sandry giggled, the Duke look at her with a raised eyebrow.
At some unseen signal the Slayer said, "Her Imperial Highness Empress Berenene of the Namorn Empire."
Everyone stood, with head bowed while the Empress entered the room through a door at the back of the dais, walked to the throne and was seated. Then she nodded to the Slayer.
"The Empress." The Slayer said, everyone bowed or curtsied, "be seated."
The Empress scanned the seated group, "We have studied the reports and heard from the investigators, and there a couple of small items that need clearing up."
"Duke Vedris," the Duke stood, "who was in charge of your guards the night Frantson was killed."
"Captain Patton, Empress." Answered the Duke.
"And where is Captain Patton?"
The Captain, who was in the front row of seats, stood.
"Approach Captain Patton."
The Captain walked to a place in front of the Empress and dropped to his knees.
"Tell me Captain why the Duke's bodyguards did not intervene in the incident at the ball?"
Patton thought for a few seconds and the replied, "We became complacent Empress."
"Complacent? Explain."
"Some time ago the Duke implemented a new policy in regard to his guards and military. If a soldier acts only as a soldier or a guard acts only as a guard they tend to become set in their thinking. This is true also among the provost's guards. So the Duke called the leaders of his military, the Dukes guards and the provost guard together and they agreed on a method to prevent the loss of flexibility among the three groups."
"The basic idea is to rotate the men through the three types of duties. A fixed number of soldiers comes to the Citadel to work as the Dukes guard, the same number of Dukes guards goes to Summersea to work in the provost guard and a like number of the provost guard moves to the military."
"This gives the three units a pool of experienced men to draw upon in case of emergencies, and the variation in experience raises moral."
"On the night of the ball all the guards in the room were soldiers who had been acting as Dukes guards for only one month. No attacks were anticipated so no alerts had been given. When Daja Kisubo struck down the blood mage it distracted all the guards. At that point trained bodyguards would still have been watching the crowd instead they were watching what was going on at the window."
"Baron Frantson was not known as a physical man, the attack was out of character and a complete surprise. Only two people in the room reacted instantly, Briar Moss and Countess Sandrilene fa Toren. The Countess jumped in front of the Duke and Briar Moss intercepted the attack."
"Anything else?" asked the Empress.
"Just that all three units have since started to give the individuals the specialized training for the jobs they have moved into."
"Thank you," the Empress said, "You may return to your seat."
"Is there anyone else who wishes to speak before a decision is made?"
Duke Vedris IV of Emelan stood, "There are two pieces of evidence that you have not yet seen, but before you see them I must prove the accuracy of the evidence."
"Approach."
Duke Vedris accepted the two boxes handed to him by Daja and Tris, placed them on top of the one he carried and walked to the front of the dais and dropped to his knees.
Placing the three boxes on the floor in front of him, he opened the box with the letter S carved into the top.
"Slayer, If you will?" indicating the box.
The Slayer walked over and inspected the glass sphere inside the box, it appeared to be filled with fog.
"These spheres were made here in Summersea, a glass mage has developed the spell used in their manufacture."
"I swear on my life that no harm will result in their use."
"If the Slayer will take the sphere."
The Slayer lifted the rememball from the box.
"Now if you, Empress, will cup you hands, close your eyes, and think a moment of joy in your life, when you have the memory firmly fixed in your mind, nod and the Slayer will put the sphere in your cupped hands. I will speak when the magic has finished doing its work."
The Empress looked seriously at the Duke, then she nodded slightly and cupped her hands, the Slayer walked up to her, the Empress closed her eyes and after a short time nodded. The Slayer placed the sphere into her cupped hands.
The Duke watched the rememball intently, when the image cleared he said, "It is done."
The Empress opened her eyes and looked at the memory stored in the sphere. She examined the sphere closely and then looked at the Duke.
"The image will remain as long as the sphere is unbroken."
"If you examine the picture closely you will see that it is complete to the smallest detail."
The Duke opened the box with the letter M carved into it and handed the open box to the Slayer along with the empty box.
The Slayer carried the boxes to the Empress, she put the used sphere in the empty box and then removed the fog filled rememball from the other box.
"That one, Empress, will store about a minute of a memory, it is designed to store a moving memory. I stored a image of Yazmin Hebet performing a dance."
The Empress thought for a short time the she cupped her hands, closed her eyes, paused, and then nodded. The Slayer placed the second rememball in her cupped hands.
After a minute the Duke said, "Done."
The Empress opened her eyes and examined the moving image in the sphere and smiled. She waved the Slayer closer and showed the rememball to her, inside was the Slayer and a man wearing padded armor engaging in a practice fight.
"Again, notice the detail. The mind stores the smallest details of what we see even though we don't consciously remember them. The magic extracts all these details and displays them."
The Duke opened the box on the floor by his knee's, it had the letter I carved into the top.
"If your will examine this one," He said, removing a sphere that already contained an image, "you will see the difference between a memory and imagination."
It was the image of the dragon that Evvy had stored prior to sculpting it.
The Empress placed the Slayer fight into the box it came from and took the sphere that the Slayer carried to her.
"The creature is very detailed, but as you move away from the focal point of the imagination the detail softens and blurs, to eventually vanish completely."
"And that is the difference between a real memory and an imagined one, the amount of detail?"
"Yes Empress, if you will permit?" He raised his hand. Tris and Daja picked up the boxes at their feet and stood.
The Slayer went to bring the boxes back to the Duke.
As the Duke opened the box with the letters FS carved into the top he said, "Empress, at the time Frantson's attack I was holding two of the spheres, both a single memory one, and a moving memory one. This is the single memory sphere."
The Slayer carried the box to the Empress. Taking the sphere the Empress examined it closely. The image in the rememball displayed the ballroom as seen from the dais, a crowd in front of the dais, most of them with heads turned to the window where Daja was standing over a black clad body on the floor, a few faces were turned to the front and displayed shock, Frantson, face twisted in rage in full attack, knife in hand.
The Empress replaced the sphere in the box while the Slayer brought the last box to her. She lifted the sphere from the box and examined it. It contained a moving image of the ballroom, the crowd, the attack, Briars response, the death, Briars walk to the dais, the Baroness's attack, Tris tripping her and her death. Playing over and over and over.
"Thank you Duke Vedris please take your seat."
"Briar Moss, Daja Kisubo, Trisana Chandler approach."
The three young mages approached the dais and dropped to their knees.
"Daja Kisubo, you saved the life of Countess Sandrilene fa Toren when you rendered the mage Evilst Rawberry unconscious at the ball"
"Yes Empress."
"Trisana Chandler you saved the life of Briar Moss when you stopped the Baroness Frantson's attack on him at the ball."
"Yes Empress."
The Empress watched the sequence in the rememball play through a couple times.
The Empress replaced the sphere back in the box, stood and stepped down from the dais, standing in front of the kneeling Briar.
"Slayer, your sword."
As the Slayer approached the sinister sound of metal sliding on metal could be heard as she drew her sword. Stopping beside Briar she waited, the light from the windows glinted on the supernaturally sharp blade.
The Duke grabbed Sandry by the shoulder as she started to rise in protest, "Silence," he hissed.
The Empress raised her hand.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, (Theme from Jaws) Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum