"I apologize deeply for this insult, Princess," the elder Lendril bowed in supplication. "Is there anything we can do to apologize? Anything at all?"

Celeste kept a hand on Ada's shoulder; she had recovered from the physical harm of rejecting the poison, but Celeste knew well that scars ran deeper than mere flesh. "I will need to do a thorough investigation. I hope you'll cooperate."

The younger Lendril almost stepped forward, before he remembered himself. "Certainly, you can't be implying we had something to do with these events?"

"Of course not." As amusing as this distraction was, Arakash decided it was to his advantage to get involved, if only as a means to edge out the daeva out as an adviser. "No sane being would attempt this sort of an assassination in front of a daeva, which proves the guilty party didn't know there was a daeva involved. You'd know you'd get caught, which would ruin your house and end with your executions."

"You have an excellent grasp of our situation," elder Lendril said. In spite, or perhaps because, of his experience as a businessman, his relief and fear was clear in his expression. "Even if we had a motive, which we don't, we wouldn't have done it this way. And for that matter, we didn't even known who our guest would be."

"Be that as it may," Celeste said. "I would like to interrogate you and your staff all the same." As much as she hated to admit it, there were ways to defeat a daeva's truthsense. While there was no means natural or magical to intentionally deceive a daeva's senses, there were illnesses of the mind, as well as simple inaccurate beliefs, which could allow obvious falsehoods to get by a daeva's senses.

"You do, of course, have the right to refuse." Those people who write the laws included plenty of loopholes to protect themselves from said laws, while making those protections seem like attempts at fairness. "As I am not here in my role as an officer of the law, I have no power to compel your cooperation. But the evidence of a crime is not in dispute. If you refuse to cooperate, then I will contact the authorities and a full investigation will take place under the auspices of the courts."

Which meant a public embarrassment at the least, and at worst the possibility of other legally dubious activities coming to light. Like all merchant families, the Ort-Selucid had rivals and enemies who would take any advantage that came to light. As such, it was no surprised when the leader of the house nodded and said "We would be more than happy to cooperate, Lady Celeste."

"Very well." Celeste nodded back. "Did you poison Princess Adageyudi, or instruct another to do so?"

"No." "Of course not." The pair answered.

Their voices rang true to Celeste's ears, which was no surprise. "Do you know or have any suspicions as to who might be responsible?"

"I'm afraid not," the elder said. It wasn't quite a lie, but Celeste could tell it wasn't quite the truth, either.

"Dozens," the younger said at the same time. His words were true, in so far as he believed them to be truth. Celeste knew better than to trust suspicion as being the same as fact.

"I'm afraid my son has some... apprehensions, about his mothers." True. "I assure you, they are all upstanding young women" lie "who would never do anything to harm anyone," false "let alone a guest in our home." Uncertain.

Sick of his father making a joke of himself in front of Commander Celeste, the younger sighed. "Father, we must have discussed this a thousand times." Exaggeration. "I know you know better," lie "and I cannot continue ignoring that is this harem of yours is anything but a complete disaster." True. He then looked at Celeste. "Over the last year,-"

"Shut your mouth, you-" His father shouted, interrupting him.

Celeste interrupted him right after, with a bust of flame between the pair. Celeste wasn't much of a fire mage; in fact, the most she could do with a single spell was cause some small amount of pain, but it was her most visible magic. The fire vanished, and Celeste made eye contact with the head of the house. "I will remind you that interfering with an investigation is a crime, Lendril Ort-Selucid. I will overlook this one time. Now be silent unless asked a question."

"As you command." The man backed down, plotting in his mind how to take revenge on his traitor son. Perhaps Celeste as well, but he wasn't brave enough to try for fear of the full force of the law destroying him and his legacy to the last fleck of gold dust.

"A wise decision," Celeste said, before turning her attention back to the young man. "You were saying something about the last year?"

"Yes," he said. "There have been a total of four murders, as well as a number of accidents I doubt were accidents. It's so hard to keep track of everyone that I don't even know all of my mothers' names."

"I see." It seemed to her that she had reached the limits of direct inquiry for the time being. "See to it that the women are isolated, and I'll begin the process of interrogating them until I find the ones who are responsible."

.....

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

The next couple hours were enlightening.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything." Lie. "I've never killed or tried to kill anyone." True. "Lendril treats us well, we want for nothing." Lie. "We wouldn't do anything to hurt each other." Such a lie. Still, she moved on from each interrogation, knowing that it was a matter of time until she found her culprits.

It was to Celeste's frustration that Arakash cut through the deception better than she could accomplish.

"Ah, but we know that's not true," Arakash said when they were interrogating the fourth. "You're here because of the money, and so are the others. There's a motive strong enough that some of you are willing to kill to eliminate competition. That said, you could tell us where to look, and when we find what we're looking for, we'll eliminate the competition for you. And you won't have to worry about being pushed over a balcony. I promise, we won't tell anyone you talked."

She took a moment to think, then relented. "There's lots of reasons, but I think the worst of them is the pregnancy clause." True.

Sensing the woman wouldn't continue, Celeste asked the question. "Pregnancy clause?"

"Uh," she looked at the three. "Look, I don't have the options you have. I'm nothing, an ordinary human with just enough water magic to put out a candle. I have no prospects, no future. At least here, I have a chance that my children will have a better life. The selucid complain that their lives are terrible because of their lack of spellcasting, but they can heal from any injury, don't fear disease, and live five times longer than I could if I'm lucky."

"And you want your children to have those benefits?"

"Who wouldn't?" She looked away, uncertain and afraid. "Maybe you wouldn't. You're powerful, I bet you can knock over buildings or give sight to the blind with but a wave of your hand. How could you understand what it's like for us at the bottom? Women like me die trying to carry the offspring of people like you, because our bodies can't handle the magic energy."

"I... grew up without a bloodline, too." Princess Adageyudi said. "Stronger than yours, perhaps, but weak enough that I wasn't even fit to be a lay cleric. It's hard living in a world where others born luckier than you can do with ease things you can never accomplish. I can't blame you for doing everything in your power to save your children from growing up in that situation."

Celeste kept quiet; the inequities of Karana's society was a long standing thorn in the side of an otherwise beautiful society. Unfortunate circumstances of birth haunted the world, and there was no obvious solution to the cruelty of nature.

"Maybe you do understand." The woman gave a sad smile. "But that's only part of it. You see, there's a clause in our marriage contracts. If we don't get pregnant within one year, we're kicked out. There's over a hundred of us; even if he laid with one of us every night, there's a good chance we wouldn't conceive in time. And often he's too busy to bother, plus he has certain favorites. I've been here six months, and he hasn't so much as given me a lascivious look. Other girls have it worse than me; at least I have a family whose farm I can go back to."

"That's horrible!" Ada exclaimed. Polygamy was a simple fact of life, but treating spouses like chattel was unacceptable. "How is this legal?!"

"It's not," Celeste said. "And I'll do what I can to see the situation corrected." She didn't have the heart to say that doing so would ruin the sanctuary these women had found, however imperfect it might be.

"Thank you," Ada said.

"For now, let's focus on the assassination attempt, and the other murders."

.....

"Lendril Ort, of the Ort-Selucid, you are under arrest." It had been a long, tiring afternoon for Celeste, and she was going to enjoy seeing that justice was done after all that effort.

"What? On what charges!" The elder stood tall facing the daeva, as if to intimidate her into backing down.

Celeste considered the man's potential threat. Selucid were a nightmare in battle, with their inhuman endurance. She wasn't certain she could win in a fair fight, but the fight would never be fair. "The cover-up of a murder, and no less than one hundred counts of malicious violation of contract."

"Violation of contract?" Lendril was taken by that accusation. "I have never violated a contract in my life!" True.

"When a contract is entered into, the parties must put all due effort into ensuring that the other parties are capable of completing their role in the contract," Celeste said.

He hesitated, wondering what Celeste was getting at. "Of course, that's basic law. I assure you, I've never broken that law." True.

"Some of your girls have informed me that you haven't performed your husbandly duties even once, in spite of a contract requiring they get pregnant within the year. I have reason to believe some of the girls you sent away will be able to say the same. They didn't know the law, but I do."

"B-but!" Lendril sputtered. "That hardly applies! Marital law is not the same as contract law! You can't do this!" Lie.

"If I were you, I wouldn't make that argument," Arakash said. He wasn't one for 'justice', but if he got to see more men's wills being broken like this one, he could be persuaded to do it again. "A violation of contract gives you a chance. If this goes to marital court, you'll be so deep in debt that your great grandchildren would die of old age before you could pay it off."

"It's true." Celeste ignored the dissonance of the noctrel's statement, true though it may be, still feeling false to her senses. "A legal divorce means your former wives can press for restitution, and if they can prove you failed your duties as a husband, they'd be entitled to a significant percentage of your holdings. I think we both know the courts won't favor you. Not after my testimony."

"I'd suggest stepping down," Princess Adageyudi said. "It's the only way to save your legacy."

Lendril slumped back against the wall, his heart hammering in his chest. His life was ruined, his fortune stolen from him. Not thinking of consequence, he sprung forward, claws at the ready.

The room went lopsided, and it was only after a couple seconds that he realized that his head was now laying on the ground, separated from the rest of his body. His flesh began mending, starting with the growth of a new spine. But until then, he was so very tired, and cold. His visioned blurred, and then darkness claimed him.

"He'll survive, but he won't be moving for a while," Celeste said. "I'll take him into custody. Lady Ada, it's up to you if you want me to press charges on him attacking you, or if I should charge him with attacking me."

Ada considered her options, but there was only one logical decision. "It was you arresting him. None of his criminal actions involved me in any way. I believe he had no motive to go after me, and every motive to go after you." Between her current need for secrecy, and the state of hostilities between Tyras and Karana, it was best not to have her name attached to any legal proceedings if she could avoid it.

"I agree with your assessment," Celeste said.

Listening in from the other room, a young man heard the whole tale of his father's downfall.