Halls of Ivory
Chapter 4 - Disappearance
When Salma, the first Krytan queen since the White Mantle's defeat, founded the kingdom anew, humans were still far and few between. A single ministry of representatives drawn from old nobility was all it took to settle legal matters between them. But as the Krytans grew in number and more Orrians and Ascalonians moved to join them, separate courts were needed to not clutter the ministry's legislative work with the concerns of commoners.
The instantaneous journey via waypoint system left Captain Logan right outside the ministry, the legislative arm of the kingdom, drawing from the oldest or wealthiest noble families available to fill its seats. He ran through the corridor into the royal garden. A large public park filled with various exotic plants and bridges connecting elevated platforms with each other. Up two steep paths from here was the chamber of the ministry. A lowered stage for people to address everyone from, as well as a tribune arranged in a half-circle around the stage at varying heights. Here said nobles were already deep into a heated debate on how to proceed with that treaty.
They must have been for a while now. And from the palace with several Shining Blade men, Countess Anise came his way. And with the infamous treaty in hand. "Good to see you made it here." She tried smiling but from what she looked like, she must have been bawling her eyes out. Her face was usually caked in powders and creams to touch up her age but it was all smeared and running down her cheeks now.
"I got lucky and cut it short. Things are looking grim. The Charr are probably on their way to Kryta."
"Then we had better wrap things up before they do."
Logan stopped and watched her walk further up the path to the chamber. "What do you mean?"
"No more delays." She stepped in front of the circular center. She cleared her throat hoping that would get the ministers' attention.
It didn't. The ministers on both sides, some seated above, some on the stage below had formed two camps as usual. One side argued to enforce the treaty and just live on as a city state as Jennah had imagined, the other wanted to fight this treaty and have it dismissed on its merits instead. Some argued over the livelihoods of the inhabitants, others over the estates the nobility stood to lose, others over the implications on what future demands the Charr might make if this were to proceed.
Eventually one of the ministers on the side opposing the treaty raised his voice to shout down the others' voices on both sides. "We MUST. NOT. RATIFY! This was done without consulting us, no announcements, no mention. It was done without the consent of the people and without the consent of the ministry!"
Before he could begin another sentence, the countess seized the opportunity to draw their attention. "She didn't need the consent of the ministry. And neither that of the people. Her majesty has always been our ruler not because we 'allow' her to, but because she was better than most of us. Her judgment was sound and her reason was infallible. What kind of fool would be so entitled, that they would assume to second-guess our queen's decisions? Queen Jennah had the full authority to draft and sign this treaty and she did. And we must respect her decisionmaking."
Logan tried to cut her off. "You can't be serious…" But before he could take another step, the Shining Blade guards, whom he trusted with his life and with whom he had worked hand in hand for years, drew their swords and pointed them at him.
Anise continued unabated. "For these reasons, I have taken it upon myself to fast-track the litigation. Judge Efram has already ratified it and issued a judgment imploring and obliging other courts to dismiss any further litigation of this treaty out of hand."
"You did what?" Logan was nervous before but this was cause for serious distress. What Anise just said, in plain words, was that the treaty was now set in stone, even internally for the Krytans. There was no way to undo it now short of burning every copy and convincing everyone it had never existed.
Understandably, this caused a major outrage from the ministers. Judges were appointed by the ministry guard and their role was to apply the law as set by the queen and the ministry. They were supposed to be an intermediary enforcing arm of the ministry, not an autonomous branch that legislated in its stead.
One of the ministers even shouted back at her. "You think we will indulge this just because your personal hand-puppet put his name under it?" It was an open secret that Efram was a pawn of the Shining Blade. Prior to his appointment, a surfacing rumour gave reason to suspect his predecessor of sympathising with the Separatist movement. They had one Shining Blade member take a long walk with the old judge and only the former of the two came back. No-one even knew to this day if the rumour had been true.
Ever since that happened, whenever there was a bill Anise had to sneak past the ministry, she could just take it to Efram and he would sign it, no questions asked. The courts had a right given to them for rare emergencies, to declare any matter an urgency and thus give themselves the right to process any documents relating to them without consulting the ministry or other courts. And Efram simply made use of this every single time. It was an obvious abuse of a clause not intended to be used this way, but judges were held in such high regard that they were considered beyond criticism.
Of course, while everyone knew about all this, it was bad tone to bring it up in public. Bringing that up by itself was bad enough, but to do it in the countess' face had her fuming. "I will have you know that the HONOURABLE Judge Efram is the most respectable judge out there. None of the others holds any water against him. You will not drag his name through the mud like this! Your actions will have consequences!"
The minister that had called the judge a hand puppet would survive for the foreseeable future, but only thanks to a group of low-ranking Seraph intervening in a plot to assassinate him. Seeing her lose her composure like this face to face, with a wake-up call like the recent days, made Logan start to see Anise in a different light. He hadn't seen her encounter actual opposition before and now that he did, she cracked immediately.
She was already so out of it that whatever instructions she gave the guards were so cold or angry, that they were threatening to physically attack him for going against her. Reasoning with her wouldn't work. He had to look for a different option. See what resources and assets were at his disposal. He left the ministry and headed in the opposite direction. To the Seraph headquarters, right next to the royal palace.
Which turned out to be mostly empty. There were only three people here and they were all at the main desk in the entrance hall. Logan's sturdy and bearded Lieutenant Groban held office, clad fully in his custom-forged armor as he usually did and in Logan's absence. He took on the task of coordinating the Seraph. But now his stance was uneasy and he stood between two Shining Blade guards like a cornered animal. The guards were both women with limbs so frail, it was a wonder they could move them about in those armours.
With a noticeable impatience in every step, the captain marched up to the table and asked: "What's going on, where is everyone?"
One of the two Shining Blade soldiers answered in Groban's stead. "All Seraphs are out right now. We've deployed them to ensure the transfer of Krytan land goes over smoothly."
Logan gave Groban a questioning look, but he didn't have a satisfying answer. "I'm sorry, Captain. Direct orders from Countess Anise. Ask them."
The woman to his right said: "Anise has stationed us here to ensure the Seraph follow orders. We know the circumstances may seem puzzling, but that's why we're here to keep you filled in. Going forward, our laws apply to humans, not Charr, so when Charr are seen doing something that would be a crime if committed by a human, we've ordered the Seraph not to interfere."
"Are you saying whenever a crime is committed against a Krytan, we're supposed to just turn a blind eye to it? Abandoning and turning on Krytans like this flies in the face of everything the Seraph stand for!"
"The Seraph stand for their loyalty to the queen. And the countess has made it her mission to enforce the queen's will. The authority of her personal guard supersedes that of the Seraph. You are out of your depth."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you can either leave command to us like you're supposed to or we have to report to the countess that the Seraph are breaking from the Shining Blade."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of a struggle and one man screaming for help: "Please, you can't be serious! This is not right! My girl, I need to get back to my girl Dellieh!"
Two Seraphs came in, dragging along a cuffed peasant who struggled more in protest than in a genuine attempt to get free. One of the two shining blade soldiers picked up a teacup on the desk in front of her and took a sip while pointing at the spectacle. "Ah, here comes our first arrest."
"Arrest?", Logan mumbled to himself. He stepped in front of the Seraphs and gestured for them to stop. "What seems to be the problem here?"
The man they were bringing in was a young farmer of some sort, with a dirty white shirt and the trousers to match it. "Thank the gods, Captain Thackeray! Everyone has gone insane! Two Charr broke into my house! They stabbed my wife! I scared them off before they got to my daughter. But when the Seraphs came, they put me in handcuffs! Please, someone has to end this madness, I did nothing wrong!"
"So a fight broke out between him and the Charr. Erren." He looked at one of the soldiers. "Is his story correct?"
"Yes, sir. The Charr he assaulted confirmed it."
"Even the death of his wife?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why did you arrest him and not the Charr who attacked him?"
"We have express instructions to enforce Krytan law only on humans. Never against non-humans outside of Divinity's Reach." Logan acknowledged his answer and flashed a glare at the two Shining Blade soldiers.
They were unimpressed. The Seraph continued dragging the commoner down into the prison drawing little to no reaction by the people at the main desk.
And with that, Logan stepped back and stared at the Shining Blade. Silently. Dumbstruck. Dumbstruck not because of some profound wisdom in what they had told him - there was none. It was much more the complete absence of camaraderie, gratefulness or mutual consideration he had believed to have built up in the course of the many years that the Seraph and the Shining Blade fought side by side.
These Shining blade guards really stood here, caked in makeup, drinking tea and reapplying lipstick, while men under their orders dragged an innocent man right past them. And they were completely unfazed by his screams for a chance to save what family he had left. A terrifying display of self-indulgence and neglect of one's duty. And they were playing it off as if it were completely normal. "Did Anise really put you up to all this? This was her idea?"
"Yes, and I do not appreciate the questioning tone you bring to this. I will have you know that - just like her majesty before - Countess Anise makes her decisions with the best consultation that can be found in all of Tyria. Your - 'suggestions' - are at odds with people far more qualified than you."
"Going by the decisions she's making, this 'consultation' can't be that good."
"Enough. Now either take your complaints to the countess or simply get out of the way and let your men do their work."
He gave up. If they were this divorced from their obligations to the people, then he couldn't reason with them even if he kept trying. Seeing as how distrustful and downright hostile the Shining blade had become, pressing them on this risked turning them against the Seraph. And the Shining Blade were Jennah's personal guard. Unlike with Logan, they enjoyed this rank in an official capacity. And the public's loyalty in the queen was as unfaltering as Logan's own. The Seraph were the men on the ground ensuring that Kryta was safe and intact but if it came down to siding between the Shining Blade and the Seraph, the people would side against him.
Logan left the headquarters again and sat down on one of the platforms of the garden outside to think about his options. What was happening here wasn't right. The urge to do something about it was overwhelming. If the Commander brought enough people to safety and more Krytans saw what had happened at the Ascalon settlement, maybe they could… "Thackeray?" He was shaken out of his thoughts by a couple that had walked up to him. "Captain Thackeray, I apologize, do you have a moment?"
"Sure, how can I help?"
They were a pair of nobles. The man bore the simple look of a vest and shirt with the trousers sold as a set by one of the more popular tailors. His wife wore a matching beige-white dress. But the looks on their faces didn't shine nearly as much as their clothing. In fact they seemed very concerned. "Jin Halden, and this is my wife Avah."
"A pleasure to meet you."
"It's about our younger son, Evias. We were at Judge Meldan's courthouse. Two Shining Blade talked to us saying they wanted to ask him some questions about a case. He was always an orderly boy so we were sure he wasn't in trouble. But it's been an hour now and they haven't come back."
That was indeed strange. "All right, can you describe them? The two soldiers I mean."
"They were a man and a woman. The man had long, blond hair and we know the woman personally. Her name is Parah. Short, black hair, green eyes. We're out with friends on the regular and she joins us most times. That's why we trusted them, she knows our boy personally, too." That was convenient. He knew Parah personally, too. She stood guard in the throne room.
"And what of Evias, what does he look like?"
"He's just a fifteen year-old boy. Short black hair, green eyes, dressed like any ordinary student his age."
"All right. That'll be all for now. I'll look into this immediately. I'll find your son, I promise." They thanked him and gave him their address. The first thing Logan did was to head back into the headquarters to grab some paper and write down all the details they gave him. This story they told him set off every alarm he had developed in his time as a Seraph.
Yes, soldiers questioning or even interrogating possible witnesses to crimes wasn't out of the ordinary. But that took a few minutes, not an hour. And the Shining Blade didn't do that at all unless it related to important intel. A fifteen-year-old city boy could hardly have any information crucial to the kingdom as a whole.
His first and most obvious point of order was to ask Parah what had happened. The palace guards held positions as if the queen had never left. Just as Logan entered the throne room, two guards left it, although he could tell that they had replacements. Parah stood where she usually stood, along the left-hand wall. When Logan first entered, the guards acknowledged his entry. When he spotted Parah, she remained at ease. She showed no unusual reaction to his approach either. "Hey there, how are you holding up?"
She sighed. "Fine, as I can I guess. What brings you here?"
The moment Logan raised the subject at hand though, a sudden nervousness faintly twitched its way into her face before he was even half-way done talking. "Two very concerned citizens came to me asking where their son is. Apparently you know them personally, their names are Jin and Avah."
"Yeah I know them - they lost Evias? By the gods, they must be worried sick. What happened to him?" Logan didn't have his position without reason. He could spot a liar from a mile away. And even in as few words as these, he could sense the suppressed smugness of someone lying through their teeth seeping through a thin layer of feigned concern.
"I was hoping you could shed some light into this. They said you intercepted them at Judge Meldan's court and took him in to ask some questions. That was almost an hour ago and they haven't seen him since. Or even heard of him."
The feigned concern quickly made way for feigned offense as she scoffed at what he said. "What - I would never - what are you saying?"
"I'm not saying anything, I'm asking if you could tell me anything about this."
Immediately two other Shining Blade soldiers left their positions to march up and surround Logan. One of them broke into their conversation, practically shouting on impulse as he did. "Why are you pestering her with inane accusations? If there is someone missing, finding them is YOUR job, not hers."
"All right. So should I file your statement as 'I do not recall anything'?"
"Please do, and now stop bothering her." The other soldiers backed away and so did Logan. He left the throne room. He had all the information they were going to give him. Which was more than what they thought they gave.
During this whole conversation, Logan had been careful not to make any statement or inference that wasn't taken directly from what Evias' parents had told him. He simply repeated their statement. He was testing out how they would react. An innocent person in Parah's shoes would have reacted with confusion or shock. She would have needed a few moments to process where exactly he was coming from and what she could have done to lead to this. Instead her response was as quick as a shot, almost like it was rehearsed, at least internally.
Some people in that situation even had enough curiosity to ask for more information in an attempt to understand what was going on. Instead - like someone who knew exactly what he was referring to - she turned hostile immediately. Taking offense like this - whether real or feigned - was a tell-tale sign of a guilty conscience. It was a tactic criminals would use to shake off someone investigating them. To shame them into not pursuing information crucial to the case.
So whether or not she intended to, she already showed to him that there definitely was something insidious afoot and that she was involved in it. And it had to be really bad. Since the Shining Blade had no problem telling Logan and all of the Seraph that they were to enforce Krytan law selectively and only at their own people's expense, whatever they were hiding was so much worse that they had to keep it under wraps.
And not only did she turn hostile but other guards abandoned their posts to intimidate Logan into no longer questioning her. If they had no idea what was going on, they would have treated her with much more scrutiny rather than to just rush to her defense. Maybe someone would have asked what this was about, a diligent official would have even arrested her so she couldn't flee in the event that there was something to uncover.
Maybe some of them would have even given statements of their own and offered help with Logan's investigation. Any selection of these would have happened if the others were innocent, but none of that happened and therefore the others weren't innocent either. Closing ranks like this was what people did when they knew there was something to hide.
Whatever was going on here, Parah wasn't alone in this, this wasn't a case of a lone wolf or a bad apple spoiling the bunch, the whole bunch was bad.