Year 783 Octavus, day 21 of the seventh month of Domorus
“We apologize for the pain it has cause you,” the Keiser said.
Sidastir rubbed his temples, trying not to throw anything at him. His body still ached, his mana is slowly coming back but it would take days for it to go back to normal. Akana just peered at the Keiser, his expression neutral but Sidastir could see the twitch on his face showcasing his inner battle with Sen who has been raging the last couple of days, wanting to burn the city down.
“That is all fine and well, but I care little for your apologies. I want the culprit. First, someone tries to frame my husband, and then someone tries to kill him. With one of the official Stagniergias nonetheless. I would hope that you had inspected all of the orbs before you handed them out. “
“We are not sure that he was the target. It would be impossible for someone to make sure that he got the tampered Stagniergia,” the Keiser said in a soothing voice, but the Mayin snorted.
“Not that impossible. The culprit just has to hide among the judges who handed out the Stagniergia and ensure that Sidastir got the tampered one before he got a normal Stagniergia. Something that could have been done easily, considered the large crowd in the arena. No one would notice one extra judge.”
Sidastir tried to lean over the kline, trying to take a drink, but his body ached too much. Akana took the wine vessel and filled his cup before giving it to him. His watchful eyes seeing all in the room. Their mansion had been rather quiet for the last two days, a deed most likely done by Akana who would not have accepted a rowdy crowd when his husband was sleeping.
“Have you even tried to find the culprit?” asked Sidastir, having a suspicion that the answer was no.
“Of course, but our recourses are limited because of the Trine tournament,” the Keiser ensured, his golden eyes met Sidastir’s. “We have handed it to the head of the guards, Atrox Falcis.”
“The same head of the guards who couldn’t distinguish between ice magic and an ice potion,” Sidastir cocked an eyebrow. “That is reassuring.”
The Keiser’s eyes twitched, the first sign of his perfect mask breaking, but it was gone a second later as he collected himself. “I assure you, we are doing everything we can to solve this matter.”
“And considering how well you have been able to solve problems in the past, I am very reassured,” Sidastir said sweetly. The room growing colder. The Keiser leaned back, his eyes growing callous while the Mayin seemed amused. Ceva who had been hiding while listening in rushed forward, as Akana didn’t seem to notice the impending danger.
“Whether the council is able to handle this situation or not doesn’t matter. We have started our own investigation and has come up with some interesting results.”
All eyes turned to Ceva, who had cleared her throat. The Keiser had grown stiff, “what investigation? Is that-“
“Nothing you need to know of, honored Keiser. As you said, you are very busy with the Trine tournament so we wouldn’t want you to be bothered by such a trifle thing,” Akana said. His face neutral, but with a sharpness in his voice that made it known that Akana had ended this meeting.
The Keiser got up on his feet, brushing off his clothes. “If you want us to review the state of the conflict between Auone and Huzhidi then I would suggest-“
“Should I encourage you to do your job? I have little patience to do what you are supposed to do on your own, but for what it is worth. Auons are a logical people. We review how you have solved similar problems in the past and decided that you will not be of any help. I never counted on the council doing their job in the first place. Now get out, you have insulted me and my household enough for one day,” Akana said and without further discussion, the Keiser left the room. The Mayin, who had been quiet throughout the discussion.
“Seems that you have plans to solve the conflict of Auone on your own,” the Mayin’s eyes sparkled with interest, but he didn’t inquire further.
“Get me an audience with Helder Oe, and you will know of my plans,” Akana said before he signaled for the others to enter the room.
Attilus just walked over to the wall, leaning back with his arms across his chest. His usual place the last couple of meetings. The perfect place to stop a fight if it gets too rowdy, and he could see the entrance in case someone sneaks in. Mar walked, in looking a bit out of place for a while before he sat down with a drink in hand. Alacer walked past Ceva, winking, which earned him a glare from Magnus who went up beside her. Ceva just ignored them both. Cessare and Ceren just sat down, drinking and eating themselves merry not really caring what the others were doing.
“So what have you found out?” asked Sidastir, now curious about Akana’s grim expression.
“The name of the potion and a possible suspect.”
Ceva snorted,” A very possible culprit. “
Frowning at the girl, Sidastir turned back his gaze toward his husband. “So?”
“The potion's name is Wintry Draught. A common potion that can with special instructions act as a poison. Not a very effective one but I would guess it was the signs left by the potion that was the desired effect,” Akana muttered, seemingly avoiding the topic of the suspect.
“Why aren’t you saying who you found as a suspect?”
“Because it might just be a coincidence, but saying the name will seal the matter for you, “Akana sighed. “There was one who had bought and asked for instructions on how to use it as a poison.”
“Who?”
“Atra Serpentis.”
The room fell into silence, Alacer tilted his head. “Wasn’t she one of those who was expelled last year for the incident of trying to kill the Mayin?”
“Yes, though the incident was not really what it seemed,” Akana admitted.
“Yes… Since the princess spies claim the Mayin was in another place than the Lieren, I would assume it was complicated. You on the other hand was spotted being kidnapped by them,” Alacer said, his eyes gleaming mischievously.
Sidastir grimaced, of course, the princess already had figured it out. “Well, it can’t be a coincidence that she is in Parcis and just happen to buy the potion that killed a man to frame me.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean-“
Akana was interrupted by Cessare who cleared his throat. “I know this is a bad time but… I have a confession to make. There is another person in the city that is connected to last year's incident.”
Sidastir narrowed his eyes,” Who?”
“My cousin Tenera Pectoris. She arrived with me under the orders of my parents,” Cessare scratched his head awkwardly.
“And you didn’t think to tell us this because?” Ceva said slowly.
“Because she is pretty much destroyed after shaming her family and getting expelled. My parents have taken custody of her and will try to find her a husband since she has little other worth for the family. Considering the hard supervision she is under, I highly doubt she is of any suspicion,” Cessare replied.
Sidastir noticing that Akana and the Mayin’s eyes lit up, meeting each other in a silent dialog none other than them in the room seemed to be able to understand. Feeling increasingly irritating he cleared his throat, feeling relieved when Akana broke the eye contact.
“Well, this is fortunate. Cessare, do you think you can talk to your cousin. Make her help us?” asked Akana.
“She is a Patricali. She will need some incentive to help us. How about offering her a chance to repent. I can easily talk to the principal of Virtus Scolaris, allowing her to continue her education if she helps us,” the Mayin added with a smirk.
“Help us with what?” asked Cessare in confusion. Sidastir was just as confused, Ceva on the other hand seemed to catch on.
“It would be perfect, she can go where we cannot.”
“Exactly, we can get information and with an extra set of eyes on the target-“ Akana said satisfied with his plan but Sidastir was even more confused for each word he uttered.
“Get information about what?”
“ Atra Serpentis. Tenera has worked with her before so if we can get her to work with us, then she can go to Serpentis and-“
“Act like a spy!” Sidastir finally got it.
“I’m not sure… What if she gets hurt?” Cessare muttered.
“First of all, it’s not even sure if Serpentis is the culprit. It might actually be a coincidence. Secondly, I don’t want Tenera to confront Serpentis. She is only going to go to her as an old friend who is disgruntled about being expelled. Just like Serpentis. If Serpentis tells her something that will give her away, she can tell you and you tell us,” Akana said, trying to soothe Cessare.
“I guess I can bring her here-“
“No, there are spies everywhere in Parcis,” Alacer suddenly interrupted. “Since Cessare still visits his parents, it’s better to let him ask her the next time he visits. The same can be said when she leaves information. Let them meet at home preferably not meeting at the same time. Let for example Cessare come home first and a day later, she can enter the home or vice versa. That way it won’t look coordinated.”
“Very observant of you. For a mercenary,” Ceva muttered but they all ignored her. Sidastir looked over at Alacer and Mar.
“Did you find anything out about Laus Julianus?”
Alacer shrugged,” The son of the consul of Autri Loci in Patricalum. The fifth if I remember correctly… Or was it the sixth? Aurora Julianus has been very busy, giving birth to many arrogant little pricks. Laus was one of them and he wasn’t quiet about his lineage either.”
“So, the target might be him?” asked Magnus, still hoping that this had nothing to do with the.
“No, the trap during the first phase pretty much proved that Sidastir was the target,” Ceva said, looking over at Alacer. “Haven’t you found anything worth noting?”
“Not much,” Alacer replied, giving her a wink. “And I tried very hard to impress.”
“From what I can tell-“ Mar sent Alacer a glare,” Laus Julianus just taunted the wrong guy, making him the perfect target to pin on Sidastir.”
“Did you investigate the murder itself? Such as the location?” asked Akana.
Alacer nodded,”Yes, whatever was left of it. The guards cleaned up the place well. There was little to note except one thing. The murder did not take place there. I noticed drag marks on the ground. He died somewhere else and was dragged there.”
“Or crawled,” Mar said grimly.”The poison might have acted slowly and he might have tried crawling to get help.”
“If that is the case, then what was he doing in the alley? Who summoned him?” Akana watched them all but none seemed to have an answer.
“Atra could,” Cessare suddenly said quietly.
“Excuse me?”
“Atra could. Her father is a prefect from Patricalum. In the Autri Loci Region. Atra most likely grew up with Julianus, though he is far above her in status. But it wouldn’t be that surprising if he would have answered if she called.”
“So, everything points at Atra Serpentis then,” Akana said rubbing his temples. Sidastir could tell that this irked his consort. It was too convenient that everything pointed at the scorned woman. All fell in place too neatly for Akana to accept it all. Sidastir thought himself that it would be nice if everything was so simple, but he also thought it felt like an excuse.
“Well, we have no other options than to continue to investigate and see what comes of it. There is no point in chasing shadows when there is no light to create them. Let us put our plans in emotions, maybe we can find some clue if we put out more bait,” Sidastir said, ending the conversation.
“True, but you need to rest. Dear husband, for soon you will face off against our honored guest here,” Akana nodded towards a grinning Mayin. “and I would rather you not make a fool out of yourself.”
“Oh? You won’t come and rescue me again?”
Akana cocked an eyebrow at him, “I would imagine all the work I suddenly have to do when you are gone. That isn’t very practical.”
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