Tale of Four

The court filtered out the throne room until all that remained was the members of the council, Mabel, Vincent, Karina and Tristan. Karina stepped forward and looked at her son on the throne, staring deep into his eyes. A flurry of emotion ran through her gaze. Pride, fear, worry, joy and sadness. Despite everything, she suppressed it and took another step closer, stopping just before the steps up to the throne and placing a hand on her chest, bowing towards her son.

”If you would excuse me, Your Highness.” Karina made sure to be respectful towards Elias with the council still nearby. Although Tristan could see Elias hated the attitude Karina was taking towards him, he said nothing about it, understanding Karina was doing it for his sake.

”Of course, mother. I’m sure you wish to rest with Father’s departure.” Karina smiled and bowed again, quickly leaving the throne room, escorted by Ser Caleb Hunt. Leaning back on the throne, Elias fiddled with the crown for a moment that sat atop the armrest of the chair, letting the thin metal crown dance between his fingers before finally fitting it to his head. ”Now then.” Elias turned to the sole man in clerical robes, Lucas Brown, who held the position of the Seat of the Creator. ”His Grace has warned me of a certain heretical teaching arising with Everlight. Now that he has departed, tell me what is being done about this?”

Lucas stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest. ”The faith of Lady Death is a small issue, Your Highness. Before the untimely death of Priceling Cillian.” Cardinal Browns words caused Elias to narrow his gaze, yet the cardinal pretended not to notice and carried on, ”His Grace had already begun suppressing it. We have been searching for the origin of this heretical teaching and discovered it originates within Oros.”

William, seeing a chance to worm his way in, stepped forward. With his usual sly but friendly smile, he looked at Brown, smirked and bowed towards Elias, ”Your Highness, the Cardinal has yet to paint the full picture. The Cult of Lady Death stems from Verat. As for the faith’s presence within the city, I can assure you the matter isn’t so small as he would like you to believe.”

”Do you truly believe that the actions his grace and the church have been taking won’t crush this heretical faith, Lord Fox?” Brown snapped, making William smile. Lifting his hand to wipe his face and hide his smile, William stepped forward, closing the distance between him and Brown.

”I never said that. What I said was you are making a grave issue rather irrelevant.” Placing his hands behind his back, William looked up, above Elias and stared at the Cosmaton banner. ”It makes me wonder where true loyalties lie.”

”What are you implying?” Cardinal Brown said with a cold voice. William let his question hang in the air for a while, staring back at the priest. Tristan watched everything. Atop the throne, he could see Elias, his fingers bouncing on the armrest as he watched the two with an annoyed look. William finally spun on his heels and looked at Elias. Tristan noticed him peek towards Elder Maxwell, a Magi in a hood who held the Seat of the Arcane, the Magi representative on the council.

”Your Highness. The cult of Lady Death can only spread becuase of two things. One, a message that the people can rally behind. During a time of war, when prices rise, and food dwindles, a teaching such as Lady Death’s becomes a beacon of hope for people who believe death is inevitable. But secondly.” William nodded to the Magi. With a wave of the hand, arcane power flew from his hand, condensing into a sheet of paper. Climbing the steps, Elder Maxwell handed it to Lord Deacon for the old man to read. ”Religious acceptance.”

Tristan looked to Lord Deacon and saw the old chancellor’s face darken. With a shaking hand, he reached up and rubbed his eyes, the other tightening around the piece of paper. Pulling his hand away, he looked at Cardinal Brown with distrust. William pounced on the moment, seeing Lord Deacon hooked, ”My foxes have spread throughout the city, and there is not a part where I do not have eyes or ears now. And becuase of this, I have learnt that wherever a preacher of Lady Death appears, the clergy are oddly quiet.”

”Lord Fox.” Elias raised his hand, whilst the other stopped dancing on the armrest. Leaning against his fist, he took a deep breath and stared deep into William’s eyes, finally unable to stand his word games any longer. ”Get to the point already.”

”The document Lord Deacon has received is proof of the clergy accepting bribes from a known preacher of Lady Death. Now there is more in my hands. These include proof of bribes from numerous other clergy, letters exchanged between clergy and heretical preachers and finally, bribes towards the city guard on behalf of the clergy and these preachers, so the faith can spread.”

William turned to Cardinal Brown, who stood with a dark expression. ”The reason His Grace did not realise these problems is that, firstly, the Silent Chamber has recently undergone a change, and therefore cracks formed.” William chuckled at his own joke that no one found funny, ”Secondly.” His gaze turned to Brown. Although he tried to hide it, Tristan could see the smug look in his eyes. ”Cardinal Brown has allowed this to all transpire under his watch. Whilst all requests to crack down on this teaching have been accepted, Cardinal Brown did so by working with these preachers to create an illusion. After all, why has there been a lack of arrests regarding it?”

Elias took a deep breath and looked to Lord Deacon. Seeing the old chancellor’s expression when looking at the document William provided was enough to confirm that what William said wasn’t baseless. Looking at the cardinal, Elias half smiled, ”Cardinal?”

”Your Grace. Surely you cannot be listening to the words of this man. He is a snake who wormed his way into power via blood, not ability. He needs to prove himself worthwhile to be kept around, and framing me is a clear way to do so.” Looking to Elder Maxwell, Cardinal Browns face turned hateful. Tristan followed that gaze and saw underneath the Magi’s hood his happy smile at having bested the clergy. ”Isn’t it suspicious that he works with the witches of the Mad House? It is known we have no love for each other, but how this document was produced. Can we honestly say that it is not a fabrication made with Arcane power? A chance for the Mad House to sink their fangs into the throne and remove their oldest rival.”

Elias looked to William, whose friendly smile didn’t drop. Meeting Elias’s gaze, he chuckled but said nothing. Next, Elias looked at Elder Maxwell, peeking under his hood, seeing the old magi staring at the cardinal. Taking the document, Elias looked it over, unsure who to believe.

”Your Highness.” It was Mabel who broke the silence. Looking around, she met Tristan’s gaze and smiled, ”There is a way to see if this is fake, one that does not require outside help, but our family’s own.” Mabel nodded to Tristan, and Elias looked at him. The displeasure at seeing Tristan was enough to make Elias grumble, but he understood where Mabel was going and quickly smiled.

”The bird. Let it look at the document. Tell me if it is made with Arcnae power or not.” Tristan took a deep breath and petted Annabell, who sat on his shoulder. Making his intent clear to do as Elias said, Annabell flew from his shoulder and hovered over Elias for a moment, not wishing to get close. After looking at Tristan from across the room, he gave a small reassuring nod, finally making the dove cave in.

Landing on the armrest, she quickly jumped off, repelled by the throne and instead landed on Lord Deacon’s head, peeking at it to have him lift the paper for her to see. Lord Deacon chuckled, his previous dignity collapsing with it, finding the actions endearing and took back the document, letting Annabell see it. The room was silent. Tension filled the air as Cardinal Brown stared at Annabell, holding his breath. William seemed unfazed, but Elder Maxwell looked at the bird with a hint of worry.

After two minutes, Annabell looked at Tristan. ”It was not made with Arcane power.”

”YOUR HIGHNESS!” Cardinal Brown cried, ”This bird is surely working with them. How can we be sure that it even speaks the truth? Maybe it lies.”

”I DON’T LIE!” Annabell screamed at Cardinal Brown, her childish echoing voice carrying every bit of hate at being accused of such a thing. ”I never lie. This is not made with arcane power. If what is written is true, I don’t know, but the paper is real.” Annabell scolded before flying off, Lord Deacon landing atop Tristan’s head.

Elias stared at Annabell before looking at Mabel. With a nod from his sister, he turned to Lord Deacon, who indicated that he would follow whatever order was given. ”Apprehend, Cardinal Brown. William, clean house.”

”YOU CAN’T! YOUR HIGHNESS! IT’S A TRICK!” Cardinal Brown screamed, but when Lord Bundy grabbed him, he ground his teeth. ”DO YOU THINK THE CHURCH WILL STAY SILENT?”

”They will be told of your crimes, Cardinal.” Nodding to Lord Bundy, the man nodded and pulled Brown away as he screamed and kicked, eventually giving in and letting himself be pulled away under the threat of having someone else take him.