The Duke said, “Ambassador Muraty. The accused is now present. Also present is High Priest Dailyn from the Church of Death and Priest Taziva from the Church of Knowledge. Priest Taziva is here to verify the truth of the words spoken. You may present your case.”
“Your Lordship,” Muraty started. “The Kekie Kingdom has become aware of a grievous crime committed by Theodore Narelli, for which he must be held to account.” The Ambassador stepped forward and placed a recording crystal on the table. “This crystal contains a recording of Narelli confessing he slaughtered an entire village of Leonids, including his father and sister and all the children. None of these people were iron-rank or greater. We demand Narelli be taken to Keike to stand trial for this. The Priest of Knowledge can verify the contents, or your lordship can watch it.”
“Priest Taziva?” The Duke asked.
“The crystal does contain Narelli talking about the crimes.”
“Narelli, what do you have to say?”
I stood up. “I have quite a lot to say, actually, but first, I wish to clarify something. Ambassador Muraty, which part of the Kekie government are you from? I have been in Kekie recently, and I have been getting confused.”
“I am from the Temple of the Moon, but this is not relevant.”
“Are you authorised to speak on behalf of the government?”
“Not in this matter.”
“Which Temple of the Moon are you representing, or do you speak for all of them?
His eyes flicked to the Priest of Knowledge before he said, “I speak for the Temple of the Full Moon.”
“Then you actually have no authority from the Kekie government to demand anything from the Duke. If this was a temple matter, this should be an Ecumenical Council, not a civil Duke, and it would require you to speak for the entire temple.”
“You slaughtered civilians. This concerns everybody.”
“Did this slaughter happen in Kekie's legal territory?” I was watching and caught the quick flick of his eyes over to the priest of Knowledge. He would be caught out in any lies.
“No.”
“So why are you not suggesting I be sent to the place where the atrocity occurred? Why to Kekie?”
“You slaughtered Leonids. Kekie is the protector of Leonids.’
“Not in my experience nor in the experience of my village. This also means you are unaware that this matter has already been dealt with to the complete satisfaction of the local authorities and the gods. Priest Taziva, would you confirm that?”
He paused, listening to his goddess. That never happens to me. I don’t ever seem to hear my goddess.
Then I heard a chuckle in my head, “That is because you have no need. Some priests need more specific guidance than others. With you, I am well pleased.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
Taziva said, “The events that his discussion concerns are indeed dealt with to the entire satisfaction of the Goddess of Knowlege and the Goddess of Death.”
“What I am more concerned about, Ambassador, is where that Crystal came from,” I said. “I was recently abducted from Vitesse and drugged and transported to the outskirts of Kekie. If I am correct, then this “interrogation” happened when I was drugged and not in my right mind. This was, therefore, recorded by my captors. Where did you get it from?”
The Silver Ranker didn’t want to answer. “The drugs force out the truth. You killed hundreds of innocents.”
“I am an alchemist, and that drug does not force out the truth. It brings out the most important thing to the person, which is not the same thing. A skilled interrogator may get some truth, but to be quite frank, the three who abducted me were pathetic incompetents. Where did the crystal come from?”
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“Speak up, ambassador,” the Duke said, “We are here to investigate a crime, and I am happy to send this all to Vitesse for settlement.”
“It came by regular temple courier.”
“From whom, ambassador,” I pressed.
“I am not here to answer your questions. You slaughtered innocents, and you have the gall to try and accuse my temple of misconduct? That is not happening. My temple and the Kekie government will be hearing about this.”
He marched for the door. Nobody tried to stop him.
After they had left, the Duke stood up. “That was poorly done, but they will retaliate.” He looked at me. “It would be best if you did not remain in the city.”
“I have a portal scheduled this afternoon, my Lord.”
“Very well dismissed,” As he walked out, I heard him mutter, “Bloody waste of time.”
I walked out with Dailyn, and Danielle Geller caught up with us.
“I have a skimmer here if you would like to come and have lunch with me while we wait for the portal,” she said.
“That sounds wonderful, thank you,” I replied.
“Did you learn what you needed to?” Danielle asked.
“I learned all I was going to learn,” I replied. Danielle raised her eyebrow at me, “I learned that the Temple of the Full Moon seems to be acting against the Temple of the Dark Moon. I really am puzzled as to how they thought this could succeed, though.”
“I suspect it is cultural,” Danielle said. “In Kekie, the only priest in the room would be from the Moon Temple, and the accused would be shut down. Muraty does know better. I suspect he was not given a choice.”
“Do you know who his boss is?”
“I do not.”
“Did anybody recognise the bronze rank assistant?”
“That was Muraty’s normal assistant,” Danielle said.
I really need to consult a local. They won’t leave me alone, and I don’t understand why. I was so ready to be rid of it all, but I am not going to be, am I?
We drove out of the city gates and headed over the delta toward the Geller Estate.
“This really was a pathetic attempt to get me to Kekie,” I said.
“Unless the attempt was not the reason for it,” Danielle said.
I looked at Dailyn at the same time he looked at me.
“This was set up before we got rid of the tracking,” Dailyn said.
“But maybe the low magic affects it?” I said.
“Not if it is powered by a skill,” Dailyn said.
“But possibly if it is powered by a ritual,” I said. “Range might be reduced. That could be the same if it is a skill.”
“We should get you rechecked,” Dailyn said.
“I am pretty sure it requires blood, but no harm in checking.”
“Why don’t you ask them?” said Danielle, “Incoming on the left. This will be fun,” and suddenly she was not operating the skimmer any more. It slowed to a stop.
Dailyn and I also left the skimmer, and I used Hunter Step to stay on top of the boggy soil. I saw Danielle engaging Moon Girl, and they were both moving faster than I could clearly see.
Dailyn was also silver rank, and while he used monster cores to level, he wasn’t untrained. He engaged the mage, although the mage was already wounded. I suspect Danielle did that on the way past. Dailyn had a staff, and sand was whipping around him.
I cast Hunter Tether to complicate the environment and threw a couple of javelins. The Mage disengaged pretty quickly and made a run for it. Dailyn chased for a bit, but as soon as the Mage got out of range of my tether, he opened a portal and disappeared.
I looked for Moon Girl. She was grounded and also trying to disengage, but Danielle was faster than she was. I couldn’t see how she did it, but Danielle seemed to be everywhere. Moon Girl pulled out some big-ticket skills, including going Incorporeal, to try to escape, but Danielle was faster and more skilled and had something to damage the incorporeal.
She fought to the death, and she died.
Danielle did have some wounds, but the silver rank recovery was already at work. She may have other healing skills.
“Sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t keep that one alive. She was very slippery. Did the other one get away?”
“Yeah,” Dailyn said.
Danielle pulled out a bloody knife, “Do you want some blood for tracking him?”
“You know, we might be able to do a bit more than that,” Dailyn said. “I know a lady who can do death magic.” He smiled at me.
“I will leave it up to you,” I said. “I am tired, and I just want to rest for a bit.”
“I will let you know the results,” Dailyn said and stored the bloody knife.
“Come on,” said Danielle. “We still have time for lunch before the portal.”
Moon Girl had a lot of coins on her. I got a lot of silver rank quintessence, Moon, and Wind. I also got a silver-ranked vest made out of chainmail from a very light but strong metal. That has to be worth a lot.