Ten Arrows

Chapter 25

I watched as the five seated figures on the dais reacted to this latest development. The preceptors for North and East looked to one another again, their surprise quite apparent. Peyla looked first to Hartman, then to me, an expression of wary disbelief on her face. Prince Tenarreau immediately attempted to suppress and conceal his reaction, but for a split-second he managed to look both relieved and amused. Borshank's look of eye-bulging fury was easily the most expressive of those gathered on the dais, his face very much resembling that of a particularly irate toad just then.

"Just what in the name of Belial's blue balls are you trying to pull?!" he roared, the tiniest bit of spittle escaping his lips. "You think this is funny? You now wish to play games with the highest court in all of Harael, is that it? If you think I'll allow this august assembly to be made fools of by some mewling, half-faced little ditch-rat-"

"Say, isn't this whole trial sort of formal royal business, or something like that?" I asked, holding up my palms and pretending to look surprised by his explosive outburst. "Why, I don't think that sort of language is appropriate, or even tolerated during important get-togethers like these. Please do try to take this whole thing a little bit more seriously, would you?"

The last of my words appeared to enrage him even further, which was handy, since that was the whole reason I'd chosen them....

"You'd best guard your tongue if-" Borshank began.

"Preceptor Borshank," Tenarreau interrupted, his voice cutting the larger man off mid-sentence despite the relative gentleness of his tone. "Please shut up."

"But Highness, he-"

This time, all it took was a quick turn of the prince's head and a sharp look to turn the irate preceptor mute, along with just about everyone else in the room. Based on the complete and utter silence the prince's look had earned, I suspected that very few people present were even breathing right at that moment.

"Our conversation that I'd originally scheduled for this later today is still on, quite obviously," Tenarreau said, slowly and deliberately. "We've got all manner of things to discuss, it seems... like how someone calling themselves a preceptor could become deluded enough to bring an innocent lord – a man he hates, from all accounts – to a trial involving the executioner's table, all based on a charge of murder so clearly fictional that the purported victim was able to attend it." He looked away from Borshank and regarded the figure standing next to me. "Lord Hartman, the Crown wishes to thank you wholeheartedly, for without your presence here at this time we might have unknowingly been witness to a very great tragedy here today. We are in your debt."

Hartman gave a single, respectful nod in Tenarreau's direction while simultaneously managing to look very pleased.

"Your Highness, there was a great deal of evidence to support the charges brought against Lord Tucat!" Borshank said, still sounding irate despite how much he'd modified his volume and tone. "More than enough to file charges of murder against him. The alibi he'd provided for himself, for one, and the subsequent confession we got from his knight, who was his purported alibi! And then there's the testimony of Lord Hartman's knights, as well as the discovery of large quantities of blood in Hartman Keep!"

"Oh, I believe I can assist on that score, and provide something of an explanation for those last two," said Hartman, smoothing his robes a bit as he spoke. "You see, there have been more than a few break-ins at Hartman Keep this past while, the sheer quantity of which convinced me to upgrade my security and better protect myself against theft." He waved a gesture at me. "Having recently done so, I invited Lord Tucat to break into my keep, in exchange for a modest sum of gold, so that he might test some of my newest safeguards and let me know how effective they were. I dare say, if a thief of his reputation were to be confounded by my new security, I'd consider it gold well spent."