Rania looked at what was held in the room and almost threw up. Her head spun for a moment at the image that she was seeing and she knew that someone had walked into the Cloisters and had thrown a spell so vicious at a Judge, that they had killed her on the spot. The spell had not been haphazard at all. Judge Osters went to inspect the walls. He scrutinized them very carefully before he said, "It appears that the spell was centered on our late Judge Auralith."
Gixanna made a face. "What it really appears is that we won't be getting a confession out of the late Judge Auralith from her own lips. She had to have been
Judge Gixanna frowned as she looked around the room. Rania was sure that the woman could peel paint off of the walls if she stared at it too long. At that moment, there was nothing else that Rania was worried about more than Judge Gixanna would explode over everything that was going on. Judge Osters continued to look around the whole of the room, inspecting all of the walls very carefully, giving each icicle and each bit of what appeared to be hoarfrost all over the room. Rania was sure that the Judge was looking for something that made the whole room appear as if it was a rather large crime scene. Although from Rania's quick estimation of the situation, it really was a crime scene. One of the Judges had been murdered.
"This is totally a truly large and complex spell. The spell itself seems to have started from right in front of the Judge." Osters has stopped in front of the frozen Judge to make this estimation. As he did so, he frowned and then poked at the rather large Ice covered statue that now took center stage of the room. There was something about that, and Rania felt as if Osters was a little uncaring about seeing one of his own. Balthendis stepped forwards and took a rather long look at the statue that was in the middle of the room. He frowned at it.
Placing a single finger up to his mouth almost as if to cover it, he said, "I think that this spell is entirely too complex. It was made specifically to catch whatever Judge was down here. I think it was just unfortunate that Judge Auralith happened to be down here when the spell was tripped." He paused and then looked at Judge Drake. "Only one place could have allowed something like this to happen. The only people who could have been behind this are the Consulate of Magic. They are the only ones who are capable of doing something like this."
Drake frowned and then shook his head. "This is not going to be very good. We have to inform the Council, and then on top of that, we are going to have to inform the King."
The resultant silence was enough to make Rania rather nervous. There was a moment where Rania was sure that one of the Judges would explode in sheer frustration. She made a mental note that she was not going to be responsible for what ever actually happened in the room next and was very surprised when Judge Maledi spoke.
"We have to inform all of them, but we also have to inform the High Judge Magister General. When we do inform him however, we should have something that we want to tell him; a bit of information that we want to share to show that we are on top of this situation that we now find ourselves in."
Rania clutched her clipboard even tighter, using both hands now, rather than pressing it against her body. As she did so, she saw both Judge Drake and Judge Osters nod their head in agreement, even if it was rather reluctant. Rania was surprised that all three of them were agreeing with this, but how Maledi was planning on how to go about it, she was not sure. She didn't want to end up caught up in the crossfire of something that she knew could not be fixed.There was a moment of silence again and Judge Balthendis spoke again.
"We should send our own coterie to the Consulate in Mangaria. Once there, they should be able to tell us if what we saw actually happened or if something didn't. If we do, then we can determine who the guilty party is. Though in a side note, I think we should also find a new Judge Captain for poor Judge Auralith's airship as well."
Gixanna raised an eyebrow and then tentatively walked over to the statue of her once former colleague. "Are you telling us that you think we should send an ambassador to them?" She idly tapped the ice with one of her long manicured nails.
Balthendis shook his head. "We should send an ambassadorial party. We can't send just one person. Sending only one person would make this far too easy to give them the run around. We need to send several people so that they can see that we are concerned about what happened here."
Osters shook his his head. "This seems too simple. It seems almost as if this was planned to happen. Did this spell go off because it was Judge Auralith, or was this set off because it could have been any Judge?"
Drake looked back at Osters with a concerned look. "What do you mean?"
Osters motioned to the dead Judge. "Could this actually have something to do with the missing councilor?"
Gixanna actually had the temerity to giggle at that point. "Oh yes Osters, the only reason that Auralith was encased in ice for eternity and died because of it was because she failed to apprehend Councilor Sur."As soon as she had said it however, she actually tapered off into silence. A worried look crossed her face. "That can't be the case at all, it's madness," she then finished.
Maledi frowned. "Indeed. Could it even have been retaliation for the councilor's attempted arrest then?"
The rest for the Judges were silent. Rania was sure that all of them were contemplating this newest revelation. As they did so, there was a huff from Balthendis. "If that is the case, then we have to assume that during most, or even during his entire time in office, Councilor Sur was in the pocket of the Consulate then."
Gixanna shrugged her shoulders. "It could be the reason why he voted the way he did on so many occasions..."
Drake snarled. "It could also mean that many of our laws were circumnavigated by the Consulate as well. They could have had a hand in the law making of Tarsis for so long that they could have easily rewritten laws in such a way that they get off easier."
This simple revelation was enough to make Rania gasp out loud. The Judges all looked at her as if they had noticed her for the very first time and she shook her head in apology. "Forgive me your honors, but if that is the case, then this murder is more serious than it appears to look in the first place. If it is proven that the Consulate has been meddling in Imperial Tarsis' law making; then a review board would have to be set up so as to review all the laws that Councilor Sur has ever been a part of making or breaking. That is almost all of the councilor's log life as a council member."
Gixanna snorted. "The clerk major is right. We have to get on top of this before we even think to inform anyone else. We can do it too, we have an informal gathering of five Judges. We should be able to pass a law that allows us to send out the small group before the High Judge makes a true ruling. We all know that when he does try to make a ruling that the Council will muddy it up as well as the King himself."
Drake frowned and began to walk towards the door and then he shook his head and said, "Gixanna is correct. There is nothing else that we should be concerned about more than this. We even have a clerk here to make it official, and on top of that, as an informal gathering, we should not have to have the deed motorized before it is actually accomplished." At this Rania perked up and looked a little startled. Drake was correct. With an informal gathering of five Judges, they would be able to get this idea moving before it even had to hit council.
Balthendis nodded his head sagely and then spoke. "Drake is correct. I am all for this happening. As long as Oster and Maledi are behind it, I am sure that we can get this moving. Being Judges of the Ministry of Law allows us to do this. Therefore, before anyone else is even informed. we should send a group immediately to the Consulate."
Gixanna smiled and said, "That is exactly what I am saying."
Balthendis nodded his head as Osters and Maledi nodded their heads in assent. He continued to speak. "In relation with this, we should make sure that the party that we send is well rounded. In that effect, we should figure that we are sending a clerk and a Judge. To this result, I nominate her honor Gixanna as the Judge that we send and the clerk major as the clerk that we are sending."
Gixanna had continued to nod her head until this moment and she rounded on the old man. "What?" Her voice was shrill as she all but yelled the word across the room.
Balthendis smiled. "Who better to send than the cold hearted Judge that is soon thought to be soon promoted to Judge Magister? What better clerk to send than the one who is most well versed in the case as well as versed in the people who might be the guilty parties?"
Gxanna's mouth worked for a moment and she looked like a fish gasping for air before she exploded out with, "Cold hearted? You think that I that I have a cold heart?"
Drake made a motion with one of his gauntlets and then shrugged his shoulders. "He does have a point you know."
Gixanna rounded on him and then said, "I don't think he has any sort of point!"
Rania broke into all of this. "I don't think that I can do this!"
Drake shook his head and then said, "You have no say in this at all. You will be going because your superiors are telling you to. You will accompany Judge Gixanna and perhaps one other person. If anyone else has an idea of whom we should be sending, by all means, speak up now."
Balthendis raised his gauntlet upwards and then said, "I think that I may have an idea for that one as well."
Gixanna snorted. "Of course you would at all of this. Who is the next person who you are thinking about?"
Balthendis frowned and then said, "The person who I am thinking of is actually kept in another part of the Cloister."
Osters raised an eyebrow. "Another person in the Cloister? Who the hell do you think would be down here that should go on this?"
Balthendis shrugged his shoulders and then said, "I think that we should send someone who knows the Consulate rather well and would be able to predict what they might be up to."
Drake looked at Balthendis with a cold stare. :I hope you are not talking about who I think you are. She was placed in the Cloister at the Kings own behest and she was tried by the High courts as well as by three of the Judge Magisters themselves. She was never to see the light of day ever again."
Balthendis looked calm and then said, "She's the only one who would know what is going on. She is the only one who would be able to predict what might be going on. That is after all why they call her the Seer, isn't it?"
Drake shook his head. I don't want to be the one who allowed her to be put back in the sunlight again."
Judge Balthendis smiled slightly. "Then you don't have to."
Rania was not sure who it was that they were talking about, but she knew that whatever the Judges were talking about was going to be dangerous. She didn't want to be a part of it, but she knew that she couldn't say anything that would make it otherwise. She was afraid of this Seer that the Judges were talking about, but she was also sure that whatever happened, she was not going to be able to say no to the adventure that was about to unfold in front of her. Her heart was beating fast, but she knew that she wanted this. Even if Judge Gixanna was sure that this was all madness and was more than happy telling everyone her thoughts on the whole situation, Rania knew that she wanted this. It was a way to get out of the Clerical Offices. She would never have admitted it to anyone until now, but she wanted to leave Tarsis. She wanted to leave so badly, but she never would have admitted it until now.
This was going to be the day that she started something new.
Author's Note:
So this is part one of what I plan on putting up later tonight. I am trying to reach my word goal of 15000, but it's rough. Hopefully, I will have more for you tonight. Thank you once again though for readign this!