Legally speaking, I have seen the case often that humanity is lacking compared to our other talking neighbors. Perhaps our rule of the king and lordship might be harsh to some, but can it really be deemed worse than the anarchy of Korrem? Can it be heralded as tragic compared to the tribal councils of the Shek? A few of the lower class may have to suffer from this system, it is not perfect, but it is still the best we have.

“So that’s the real reason you brought us here then...” Gwindon said, slouched forward with his elbows on the table.

“Wait, that’s what she was here to do?!” Lilith asked in plain shock. “I mean, with the weapon and everything I kind of assumed she was here with a vengeance, but still! All I knew was that she wanted to get Gwindon away from the church just like me. I’m sure Gwindon was in the same situation, right?”

Even as she spoke, his eyes were locked onto the table in front of him. Icara started to eat her fruit as well, watching the others at the table cautiously. That tension Gwindon felt came back even stronger now, and drove him to slam a fist down into the table. He turned to look at Koshchei with a focused stare as he spoke.

“What evidence do you have against us, exactly? It doesn’t really matter to a king whether or not he can convince others of it, but I have a feeling you’ve got some major card against us you’d like to reveal.”

“Do I really come off as that dramatic?” Koshchei asked. “No, I’m afraid all I have to go on is the fact you were definitely there at the church with Icara. Not to mention you didn’t exactly look like you were all there just for prayer. That and the fact you and Icara caused that ruckus in town together when you got chased by that archpriest.”

“That still doesn’t—”

“I have to prove that I can be a good leader... that was what you said, right Icara?” Koshchei suddenly asked her, turning his focus from Gwindon.

Her dull eyes flashed a little but she meekly nodded her head. Gwindon couldn’t help but stare in confusion. There was almost a feeling of loyalty or closeness between her and Koshchei now. He remembered the fearful look in her eyes right before he had slight her throat with the dagger. It was possible the poison from then was the source of this, but he couldn’t imagine any kind of toxin that could mute that kind of raw hatred.

“You had already admitted as well to making a promise with her, right? If you’ll indulge my fantasy a moment, but I believe what happened was she confided in you that she wished to kill me. Even if you had disagreed initially, she pushed the matter that she needed your help or acceptance, so you told her that you would serve her needs were she someone you thought was worthy of usurping my role. How accurate am I?”

Gwindon managed to maintain a determined look despite the thoughts racing through his mind. “That’s... does it even really matter how accurate it is?”

“Your life is riding on the line here you know. Aren’t you even going to try and lie to me? It must be a rather obvious solution to this issue, right? Unless you’re thinking that whatever lie you come up with I’ll have some counter to it?” Koshchei asked with a hint of excitement in his tone.

A silence fell between them with Gwindon struggling to maintain a stare down against him. His eyes, though they were relaxed and happy, felt like bows cranked back and notched with arrows. His heart moved up to his throat from the suspense and he found himself at a loss for a proper retort. Rather than fearful, he knew the urge to spring into combat rose within him. It took all his concentration not to make a threatening gesture, lest he draw Lilith into a suicide attack.

“H-Hey, Icara!” Lilith’’s voice broke the tension suddenly. “I just remembered something! As we were headed up here from the castle gate, we managed to pass somebody that knew Gwindon! He said he wanted to do a test or something on you a blood trial thing!”

Lilith wrapped an arm around the younger woman and pulled her tight to her side, looking at the men at the table with a plastered smile. Gwindon couldn’t help but relax somewhat with the easy out, but he was worried to find Koshchei still smiling.

“Oh? I didn’t think Gwindon had any friends here in the capital. Was it a visiting alchemist he had blabbed to about Icara’s unfortunate state? Hard to believe, considering he was in chains for most of last night. You wouldn’t be lying to cover for your husband’s treason would you, Lilith?”

“No! This guy, he met Gwindon before the whole church thing, he said that! He lived here, and had already met Icara in the past or something. Said his name was Cherno.”

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Gwindon had been watching Koshchei carefully, transfixed by the placid smile on his face. He noticed the instant that Cherno’s name was mention, it vanished off of his face and was replaced with a darker expression than he had ever seen the king wear.

“Cherno, huh...?” Koshchei said. “I suppose I can postpone my questioning of Gwindon then. Now tell me exactly what Cherno wanted and why. I’d also like to know how he contacted you and if you did it first or not.”

Everyone, even Icara, shifted in their seat from the massive personality changed that had happened. Koshchei was cool and collected now, eyes piercingly focused on Lilith exactly and with a posture like he was going to jump from the table any second. Icara finished the last bites of her apple and looked up at Lilith, her appearance growing imperceptibly healthier when she did.

“Oh, well... he said he’d wanted to visit Icara again and run a trial on her. It was to test something about all the demon hybrid stuff. Maybe he was just trying to get some money out of you or something, but he did say it would prove what you’re saying to be accurate!” Lilith said with a fake smile.

Gwindon raised an eyebrow, equally as impressed and worried about his wife’s ability to lie on the spot. Koshchei nodded slowly on hearing the explanation and offered out a hand.

“So he did mention me then? He was the alchemist in charge of the blood trial when I was sworn in about ten years ago, you see. I always thought he was a strange man, always gave me strange looks, like he thought I was trying to trick him. Of course, they stopped the moment my tests came back as completely normal, however.” Koshchei said and relaxed his body and voice back to normal. “Well if he’d like to give my new guest a similar treatment, I’ve no strict objections to it.”

Lilith cocked an eyebrow and looked to Gwindon, where she immediately dropped it before the king noticed. Both of them had taken note by then, that Cherno had lied to Koshchei about his results, or that Koshchei had lied to them just now. The larger issue was how they’d explain this to Cherno, and how they’d get Koshchei tested as well.

“Considering he’s the one who supposedly knows him, Gwindon, you should be the one to go get him. I’d send a guard, but that might be a bit threatening to the poor man.”

At first they relaxed, but Lilith caught a flash of a smirk across Koshchei’s face as Gwindon rose to his feet. Once more thinking fast, she shot up first, pushing Icara aside for a second.

“W-Wait, I’ll go.”

“Any particular reason why? I did say that Gwindon was the one that knew him better, so it’d be more likely for them to understand each other, don’t you think? There’s not a single reason you should feel the need to go in his stead, Lilith.”

She swallowed hard and thought fast. A hand went to the back of her head and scratched, an old trick she learned to try and buy time in a conversation. The gears clicked in her mind as she pieced together why her instincts leapt out. He must not know the exact connection Icara and Gwindon, so he’s hoping to interrogate her on it when Gwindon isn’t here to defend or interrupt. He’d also already stated very clearly that Gwindon is turning traitor, so he might just try to have him arrested or killed while they’re outside.

“Well why not have both of us go then? You know, we’ve been apart from each other for so long, and I’d hate to be seperated from my husband now that we’re together again!”

“If I recall correctly, didn’t he try to murder you last night?” Koshchei asked with a bored look.

“That was a misunderstanding, but I’ll be honest anyway. I want to make sure Gwindon stays safe and out of trouble. All this talk of treason and demons is making me have bad memories back to the fall of the desert rose. Can’t we just take a break from this for now? You know we can’t leave the city or anything like that, I just want some time to talk with him and adjust to all of this.”

“Leaving the city isn’t really my concern, Lilith. Think of it like this, Gwindon has just realized he’s going to get a trial for treason, and here is an opportunity where someone has to leave and get Cherno.” Koshchei said, leaning back in his seat. “So why exactly did you first offer to replace him, and then change it to going with him?”

She froze, caught in her own desperate moves.

“If you had pressed one case, it would have been more believable, and even greater a case if you had focused on the suggestion of sending a guard to do it. Since you seem transfixed on the idea of one of you two doing it, you must have something you want to discuss with him.” Koshchei narrowed his eyes to daggers once more. “Care to tell me what you would need from him that’s so important, Lilith...?”

Her heart was stuck in her throat, blocking her from being able to speak. Before she could open her mouth again, the sound of wood scraping filled the room as Gwindon shot up as well. His eyes were fixed on the spot in front of him, and all eyes moved to his face. He took a deep breath in through his nose before turning to Koshchei.

“She wants... to test me or her. The same thing as Icara, a blood trial. Both of us are possibly still carrying trace amounts of the demon that caused the knights in our kingdom to go mad.” Gwindon turned to Lilith. “I’m sorry, but if you’re not going to admit it, I’ll do it for you. You know for a fact that trying to kill you was odd behavior, and your freak out isn’t explainable either. Both of us might just relapse into it, and we’ll never know unless we actually have a trial for it.”

“Gwindon...” Lilith muttered, her body nearly going limp from relief.

Koshchei relaxed his face once more and rubbed his cheek with a sigh. “Ah... here I was expecting something more villainous of you. Forgive me for my misconceptions, you both must have suffered similar to Icara here then. Well, go on and ask him about all of that if you’d like, we’re in no terrible rush to have her put on trial.”

“You mean we’re both free to go?” Lilith asked.

Koshchei nodded and gave a brief smile as he waved his hand away. Gwindon and Lilith moved to one of the doors together and opened it, exiting back into the hall they entered. Before he was completely gone, he looked back into the room. Icara stared at them as they left, and her eyes met with Gwindon’s as he watched.

“We’ll be back soon, Icara. Just wait for us.” He said with a nod.

She gave a faint smile and nodded back, another portion of color returning to her face. Once they had started further down the hall, Lilith looked around in a panic and clutched a hand to her chest, breathing out forcefully.

“Thank Helera we got out of there!” She said in a huff. “I choked so hard on that last part, Gwindon. You really saved us both there with that little lie you came up with. Now we just need to figure out how to—”

“It wasn’t a lie, Lilith.”

She hesitated and regained her breath again at his side. “So... you really do still doubt either of us could be like that? You can’t just take it on faith that I’m me, and you’re you?”

“No, because if I really did think I was myself, I would never have attacked you as fast as I did last night.” Gwindon turned towards her and took her hand in his. “I want to be sure, Lilith, and this is the only way I think I can be.”

Lilith squeezed his hand tight and moved for the door, with him pulled behind. “Well then, if that’s what it takes, we’ll do it!”