She fully expected a plan of action that would involve the call-out of each responsible culprit during the council meeting. She also fully expected that somehow the royal family would be involved with this.
However, she did not expect her to be the crucial point to all of this. No one in her family did. It seemed so obvious in hindsight, yet the sudden call-out of this particular quality of hers, which was by no means mundane, was still perplexing. It was not her as a person, but her—
“My…trait, the Blessing of Discernment?”
The manifested ability of Princess Tegan Lenore, aptly named ‘Discernment’. An ability that was all based around Tegan’s particular quality of being quite the judge of character when it came down to it. To be more blunt, it was her Origin Factor.
Not many people knew of the truth of how divine blessings work, or how they came to be. It was a topic that would be considered highly specialised for the most studious. But the term ‘Origin Factor’ was simply just used by these scholars as a more ‘scientific’ term for these blessings. It would surely be an obscure term, but it was not an obscure topic altogether.
Blessings, or perhaps Origin Factors more accurately, were the manifestations of a person's very concept, and they were rare in this world. Not every person could awaken a tangible ability of their particular trait, let alone have any trait, unawakened or not, that's remotely useful other than in niche circumstances. So Tegan's own blessing was quite literally a miracle, a one in ten million, or even hundred million.
The belief of the people that blessings came from the gods deciding their unique quality upon birth wasn't that far off already, so there would be no need in elaborating upon this any further. Therefore, for this conversation, Alden intended to not use that term despite knowing about it.
“Indeed, Your Highness. Your ability to discern lies from truth just from a glance, that we shall exploit to trap them all. We’ve fully identified twelve names and their actions, people who are responsible for the killing of your father, as well as the attempted assassination of your younger sister.” The headmaster said, his calm tone very much apparent. “There could certainly be more than just them, but one year of investigations have led us to this moment, quite the start.”
“Honestly, I’m super uncomfortable with using my sister here as a tool, but…” Cecilia attempted to comment, “I can't exactly think of anything to object.”
The Second Princess, Cecilia Lenore, felt quite a bit uncomfortable throughout this whole briefing. She knew she wanted justice, but to use it in a more or less what was supposed to be a public setting, filled with potentially non-affiliated and innocent individuals. It was…
“It feels unorthodox, unethical even. Are we really doing this? Forcing an arrest upon the council so suddenly…” Cecilia grimaced, her disapproval showing clearly.
“If it means we can get this over with and put them all on trial, stripping them of their assets, even if it means bending the rules, I’m here for it. Justice must be served.” Cassian retorted, “What shall be your opinion on this, dear mother?”
The Queen was silent, she looked upon the people that had given her this information. From Alden, to Hilde, to even the elf Selena. She smiled, “Very well, I’ll take part in this. No more hesitations. Give me the names and I’ll call them out publicly.”
Hilde tapped her foot in minor stress about this, crossing her arms. She didn't exactly agree with the way Alden had talked her into supporting him, prior to this meeting with the royal family. But she does sympathise with them, so there was no point in objecting.
Selena didn't say anything about this, but she did indeed hope things would get better from here. She needed to atone. Even with the stereotypical arrogance of an elf, she understood that need.
The headmaster smiled, chuckling even, “We are glad that we can aid you all in ending this, once and for all.”
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“Alistair Draven, Seraphine Duvont, Lysander Vaelora, Thalina Arcturus, Caelum Dravenmoor, Evelisse Windemere, Orion Vanthelm, Mirelle Corvis, Talon Ashbourne, Selene Alistair, Cedric Thorneveil, Elowen Ravenshade”
These twelve names were called out, personally by the Queen of Albion, Marigold Lenore. She had already stood up with a paper scroll as she did so. It was to invoke that certain thought of fear and anxiety, and to form the basis of arrest by the kingdom's knights.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
They were all already ordered to guard the doors to the council hall by Cassian, so they couldn't leave or resist.
“Before our session could finally begin, those twelve names, I request you to stand at attention.” She said again.
And quickly enough, with some mild commotion and panic, they stood up. Some of them swallowed their own saliva, some of them had cold sweat. Some of them were fully indifferent, like the first name that was uttered by Her Majesty.
“All of you, those twelve names that have been uttered, have been found with direct evidence of involvement in the assassination plot of my late husband, King William Lenore, as well as the foiled plot to assassinate my youngest daughter, Cecilia Lenore.” She stated, her voice loud and clear, like a sergeant announcing her orders.
One of the nobles attempted to speak up, it was one of the more indifferent ones. “Your Majesty, pardon my intrusion over your speech, but you have no physical evidence nor a witness to these crimes we have allegedly committed. This is a baseless accusation!”
“That is a lie.”
“Hrk-!”
The golden eyes of the First Princess glowed with a divine providence, glaring at the man in question as she sat upon her smaller throne. Her quality of Discernment was in full force.
“Y-you have no grounds to-”
“So you would go against the words of the divine? It's well known by you elite individuals that I have this kind of ability, to tell lies and judge character.” Tegan said, “Going against that information is fine, but considering that you knew of its divine quality, that's going against the ideals that the western churches have presented, is it not? Our nation was founded upon said ideals, and despite their separation from politics they still influenced our moral code.”
The man was silent, he was frustrated, his fists shaking from the sheer force of its clenching. Such it was that Tegan’s words, in spite of the lack of direct evidence, were strong enough to influence how the rest of them thought of this so-called charade. All of them felt a hint of fear.
And from above, upon one of the balconies, Alden simply smiled, legs crossed as he sat and watched. He turned to Hilde, “Quite the show we’ve put, haven't we?”
“This was your idea, I have no comment on this, Alden.”
He scoffed, turning around again, “Strict as always…I like that part of you.”
The crowd of representatives and politicians, of the House of Lords and of the House of Commons, were all in shock at this whole scene playing out before them. But knowing the underlying context permeating throughout this whole exchange, they did not want to interfere. The observers didn't interfere also, as they only watched from above as it went on.
The man of blonde hair and blue eyes looked at the royal family with a small frown as he stood up. Alistair Draven, the first name that was said, felt a hint of hesitation upon being called out like this. He didn't expect that it would be this way, despite knowing that he was found out.
But nonetheless, he had to make do.
“Your Majesty, my apologies for this transgression.”
And bringing out his cane, which he had on his person attached to his side, he manifested a glyph and casted a one-time spell. It was a piece of fanciful magical technology, essentially the equivalent of a magical scroll anyone could use, interwoven into this particular accessory.
The Queen knew of his next action, a silent glare casted unto him.
He shall utter those final words to her, “Lancea Lucis.”
And a blast of light, too fast for most to perceive its movement, was ushered out from its point of manifestation. Most.
For the beam, before it could reach a palm’s length of distance towards the Queen’s head, was intercepted and cut by a golden spear.
“-!?”
The weapon had struck true, and before it could hit anything valuable upon this hall, it unnaturally returned to the one that threw it. The man bore himself an eye-patch, black hair and an appearance younger than his actual age thanks to his quality of magical affinity.
“Quite the last show of defiance, Lord Draven.”
The Headmaster of the Royal Academy Alden Wednesday had jumped out of his balcony, threw his spear, and cut the searing light of the casted spell that Alistair just fired. Said spear returned to his hand afterwards as he landed in front of Her Majesty. All in the same fraction of a second.
“Just with that action alone, you're under a life sentence at best.”
Alistair gritted his teeth, and attempted to back away, perhaps even run, but—
“Not so fast…”
A blade had been presented towards his neck, a mithril elven assassin sword. The voice was familiar, her presence was familiar. Her looks, despite the obstruction of his body, were familiar. She had an enchanting unnatural beauty, like all elves, yet all the man felt was fear.
Selena Blackthorn was the one to do this, the ‘missing’ tool of Alistair's machinations, having kept herself in Alistair's tail all this time, fully unnoticed by all except those who knew her presence. “You're trying to run away, and it's my job to prevent that.”
“You-!”
“Traitor? Is that what you're trying to say? Ironic.” And Cecilia interjected, standing up from one of the four thrones that the royal family had all previously sat upon. All of them had stood up.
Tegan sighed, “Worse than a mutt, at least they're loyal.”
Cassian had decided to fully intervene afterwards, not as a prince, but as a knight. Some of his peers had practically surrounded the Queen after that failed assassination attempt, all in order to protect her. And as their commander, he took it upon himself to speak his words out towards the rest on stand-by.
“Arrest these twelve people! This session shall be postponed until further notice!”