Rania looked at Gixanna with shock in her eyes. "You did not just mean that did you your honor?"
Gixanna made a lopsided smile and then after a careful point of showing that she was thinking she nodded her head yes. "Why yes. I think it would be fabulous to find Councilor Sur's body amongst the wreckage of the Consulate. It's not every day that I get to see what is going on with my own eyes." She made a slight laugh that made Rania wince inside. This was going entirely too fast. Rania was sure that everything that was happening was not being thought about at all, but she dared not raise her own voice to be the voice of reason. She did not want to get into trouble for it. Luckily for her, she did not have to. The voice of reason as it turned out was Maria.
"This is foolishness. Don't you see what you are doing here? If we go to Mangaria, chances are we will be caught and then we will be tortured, and then we will be killed to appease the crown. First off, there is no way that you can get me out of this prison without the Kings consent. Secondly, even if I was able to get out, if we are captured then when we are ransomed, the King will find out and all hell will break loose again!"
Drake looked at her calmly and then nodded his head. "She's right. Even with the quorum that we have here, we cannot allow her to be caught."
Balthendis nodded his head and then said, "Then don't let her be caught. Keep someone down here as a double. Those of us Judges who are here will be able to constantly keep watch over her and monitor the double while the real Dam'menda VonBrunis is out gallivanting with her honor Gixanna and the Clerk Major."
Maledi nodded his head. "This is all well and good; however, what is it that they are actually going over to Consulate to determine?"
"Quite simple - They want to know how this case and the dead Judge fit together." Maria's voice rang out amongst everyone who was present and as she spoke Rania felt a surge to speak her own mind on the matter.
"What if we do find Councilor Sur; what then? What do we do with him if he really is a part of a Consulate plan to depose the ministry? What are we going to do then?"
Gixanna smiled and raised her hand to help make her point. "We crush them. Once they are crushed properly and thoroughly, we make sure that they can never do it again!" Gixanna had the look of a maniac on her face, and her chest heaved in anticipation. Rania was sure that she most assuredly didn't want to travel with this woman.
Maria snorted. "I see that would be your answer to everything then your honor?"
Gixanna place a hand on one of her hips and jutted the other one out. "So what if it is? I think that the Ministry has become a little soft lately. We need more battle to harden the Judges that we have been making lately."
"You're worried about the Judges then," mused Maria. "I thought you would be more concerned as to who needs to die to make you a Judge Magister."
Gixanna's mouth dropped open and her eyes looked haunted. "How dare you even think of such a thing!"
Maria put a hand up in the air. "There is no use denying it your honor. I see you in the garb of a Judge and with a helmet to boot. I can see it now even, but I won't make too much of it. You have no reason to worry."
Rania walked over to Maria and looked her dead in the eyes. "If you don't want to come with us that is fine. I can see why they call you the Seer and why that power would be invaluable to us on our journey. I know you think that this is something silly and we shouldn't even be thinking about doing this, but I do have a question for you. If you had this power the whole time, then you saw what was going to happen, you saw it coming. Did you kill your brother?"
At this Maria raised her hand and slapped the Clerk Major across the face. "How dare you," she said with a venomous tongue.
Rania's face jerked back as the slap turned her cheek red with the force of the woman's strike. She paused for a moment and then looked back at the woman. "If this power of yours is so special, then how come you didn't see it coming? How come you didn't see what was going to happen? How come you didn't use it to prevent yourself from being caught?" At the end Rania's voice was louder than she could ever have imagined it being. The passion in her voice was so strong that it echoed off the walls. As soon as she was finished however, she suddenly realized what it was that she was doing and clapped both of her hands over her mouth. Her eyes grew wide and she took a few steps back and tried to profusely apologize for what she had just done.
Maria stared at the Clerk Major with intent eyes. "You are a pain in the ass."
The words poured out of Rania's mouth at a rapid fire pace. "I am so sorry your highness, I didn't mean to say any of those things, and I..."
Maria cut her off. "No, you have a point Clerk Major. I have the power, if somewhat limited, to see the future. Why didn't I run all those years ago? I'll tell you why I never ran. It is what I have been saying all along my dear. I didn't do it."
Drake cut in. "That is an utter lie," he growled. "We found you with the murder weapon and blood all over you. You had the weapon clutched in your hand and the only person who was nearby was you."
Maria turned and looked at Drake with cold eyes. "Did you ever think that perhaps it was because I had gone to go save him and was in the process of running to get help when I was knocked out?"
Drake huffed. "Sorry princess, but no one believes that one."
Maria sneered at him with distaste and disgust. "Why? Is it because there was no evidence to blame anyone else?"
Drake leaned forwards and then slammed his mailed fist against the table. "That is exactly why princess!"
Maria jerked back from the table as it jumped and Gixanna made a small noise in her throat. The room quieted down for a moment and then Drake snarled. "That's enough. Let's get this over with. We don't have enough time to make all the details happen. Gixanna, go to your quarters and get ready to take the Ifferitus out to Mangaria. Clerk Major; I expect to see you there as well." He paused and began walking towards the door and as soon as he got there he turned around on his heel. He looked at Maria who was staring at him in hate, but fear was showing thorough her eyes. The defiant show was enough to make Rania's heart go out to her.
"As for the princess, I expect you to get her ready Judge Balthendis. After all, this was your idea." With that said he turned again and walked out of the small Cloister chamber.
Maledi soon followed after him nodding his head with tight lips. Gixanna chuckled to herself and then picked up another goblet. She took a sip from it before she looked at Balthendis and said, "Well, this is going to be fun isn't it?" She then walked out of the room humming to herself.
Rania watched as Judge Gixanna left, presumably to fetch her things. There was nothing that could be said after all the words that had been said here. The Judges had most assuredly put everything together. Rania was surprised that she was supposed to go on this trip. She had a rather crazy Judge that was blood thirsty and wanted to blow up an entire country to get her point across. On the other hand, she was also expected to travel with the most renowned criminal in all of the country. The very same criminal as a matter of fact, who was actually a princess, and not just any princess, but a royal of the country she had pledged to follow when she entered the Clerical Corps. On top of that, she was expected to travel with these people and on top of that, they were going into a country that was known for starting trouble. She looked at the princess and watched as the elder Judge walked forwards.
Balthendis frowned and walked towards the table and then stood next to the princess. "That was unwise, trying to rile up a Judge like that. There is only so far that you can push the power before he tries to call in a chip."
Maria smiled. "Balthen, it's all right. Drake was on the original council and he can't harm me."
Balthendis made a cautious smile that Rania was sure was more of a fatherly smile than anything else. "You haven't called me that name since you were little and you thought my name was too long."
Maria smiled back at him. "It still is too long."
"Even still your highness, you do remember that Drake was on your brother's guard when he was killed."
Maria snorted. "I recall quite well when he pointed an accusatory finger at me and called me murderer. Where was he when I was trying to prevent my brother from dying in my arms?"
Rania frowned and then pointed a finger at Balthendis. "Wait; did you just call her your highness? Her title was stripped from her when she was thrown down here. She never answered any of my questions either! Does this mean that she didn't kill the old king?"
Balthendis shook his head. "Even still, we needed to protect her. Drake might actually believe that she killed him, but we know that he is not actually murdered by Maria."
"So then do you know who did it then?"
Maria chuckled. "If we knew who killed him, then we would not have to keep me in this prison for my own safety."
Rania looked at the princess and a look of confusion crossed her face rapidly. The princess laughed. "Don't you know darling that the real reason I am down here is because the High Judge Magister General put me down here as his final act before he stepped down?"
Rania continued to look confused. "I don't think I have ever been privy to that particular secret. Since that is the case, I guess it would be safe to say that it should be alright for you to leave?"
At that moment, Osters walked in with another person. The person was dressed almost exactly like the princess. The only difference was that she was wearing a large headpiece with a beaded veil. The veil had a large geometrical pattern on it that Rania immediately recognized as the symbol for mourning royalty. Maria looked at the veil and then turned to Osters. "Are you serious? Is this supposed to be irony?"
Osters looked at the woman and then looked at the princess. "I was informed only by her honor Gixanna as to what was going on only a few moments ago. I cobbled this together with the guard on duty. Since she is only one of the few females within the Cloister itself, it should make it quite easy to allow the original princess to escape. Once that happens you all can be on your way. The Iferitus is in the air docks, and is ready to go. Your ship awaits you."
Maria snorted. "I would hardly call that a chariot."
Osters frowned and then pushed the newly changed Judge. "She is now you Dam'menda VonBrunis. You need to leave right now. I will have the clerk major and his Honor Balthendis direct you to the ship. Make sure that you cover yourself."
Balthendis nodded his own head and then plucked a long shawl off the side of a chair. "Then we had better be going now."