After two hours of travelling, the guards reach the royal capital, Tunicster, and report about their failure to arrest the mobster. The news circulates in the capital city and spreads fear and anxiety among the subjects.
But suddenly, a commotion erupted outside the royal palace in Tunicster. The royal guards dragged a struggling figure towards the palace walls, some of the people who saw the scene questioned, "Is that the mobster who caused the arson in Bakerheim?"
"No. But a suspect."
It was Barrett, the charioteer who helped Kanito escape that night. He had a fierce scowl on his face but was not trying to resist the guards' grip.
Outside the palace was a sprawling orchard with a concrete path that led to the palace. After crossing the palace walls, they entered a smaller, cloistered garden which led to several rooms and chambers.
At the center, there was a majestic pavillion with an ornate roof, it stood on a raised platform which was connected to the ground by a concrete staircase having terminal figures on its both ends. It was the royal court of Ashfelt where the king was waiting to punish the charioteer.
Soon, the guards escorted Barrett up the staircase and threw him inside the court. "This is the wicked charioteer who helped the arsonist escape."
Several gazes were cast upon the lying charioteer from all directions. The court room was a large chamber with the king sitting on throne which was placed on a dais on one end of the royal court. Below the dais, sat six royal courtiers on two opposite sides. On one side were seated the Grand Marshal, the Ambassador and the Royal Priest, while on the other end were the Treasurer, the Court Poet and finally the person who was responsible for giving Kanito the criminal tag, the Chamberlain, Marcus Nephnis.
The Court Poet dressed in a glimmering green tunic, twirled his curvy moustache and said mockingly, "Now that his chariot's wheels are clogged with the indelible effluents of treachery, to which recess of Tartarus should we exile this auriga?"
The Royal Priest who wore a purple cassock and a lightning-shaped pendant, added, "To the deepest recesses! Which lay unknown to Hades himself."
The Treasurer in a silver peplos and black bracelets, added to the condemnation, "I will make sure his punishment doesn't cost our coffer even a quasar. He is not worthy of it!" To which the Court Poet added again, "A quasar stored is a quasar adored, but a wrongdoer punished is a lesson explored."
Marcus was disappointed by the unnecessary verbal sparring, he said with his vision lowered, "Shall we proceed with the formalities of justice, rather than indulging in meaningless confrontations?"
Barrett slowly picked himself from the ground and stood with a supposed strong posture, he raised his eyes slightly and gazed at the Chamberlain, "Please proceed, my lord." he gave a dubious smile.
Although taken aback, he asked Barrett, "So, the accusation against you.." without waiting for the sentence to finish, he replied, "Yes. It was me. I helped the arsonist escape."
The room fell silent at the striking honesty of Barrett's words. The King who was quiet till now asked him, "Who or what motivated you to do it? I don't see you doing it on your own conscience."
Barrett hesitated, he wanted to shout at the court, "The prince told me!" But he couldn't, he had pledged his loyalty to the prince and was not the type to betray those who help him. He replied with an unwavering expression, "I acted alone, my Majesty. The arsonist was my friend and hence I helped him escape the prison. No one influenced me."
The sincerity in his tone created a sense of increduility in the room. Marcus said, "So what are we waiting for? Let's consult with the Chief Justice then?"
Before anyone can reply to him, a deep voice resonated from the gates of the court, "Tarry there."
After a few footsteps, a figure emerged at the court's threshold. It was a tall, robust man seemingly in his early twenties. He had well-styled flaxen hair, deep brown eyes and a strikingly chiseled, handsome face, his complexion was pale but had a slight touch of redness. He wore a sleeveless, red tunic that reached all the way to his ankles, a golden-trimmed, red himation draped from his shoulders like lava and a golden circlet with red gems was resting on his head. This was the second prince of Ashfelt, Kuruth Eurashio.
"Why the haste, noble folks? Let us ratiocinate a little longer before we send a life to death's gates." Kuruth said in a calm and measured voice.
Prince Kuruth gave a threatning, somewhat sardonic gaze to the chamberlain. Barrett's eyes glimmered in hope as he heard the prince's voice behind him, as if the prince has come to save him from the punishment.
Prince Kuruth furrowed his brows and said in a disappointed tone, "How vexing it is to be indulged in such parochial trifles of a local mobster when greater threats terrorize our nation."
Marcus replied with arched brows and retorted, "A local mobster you say, prince? That local mobster is an arsonist who caused the death of hundreds of people in one day. The guards who tried to catch him either ended up dead, injured or burnt. Even your father, our king's life was threatened that day!"
Kuruth crossed his arms and said, "The unfortunate attack could have been easily averted had our Majesty designed to unleash a more stringent ire upon the perfidious Diluvians."
Marcus tried to respond to it, but Kuruth continued his scathing indictment, "Despite the pressure of foreign entreaties, our Majesty refused to consign the Diluvians to blacklist. That subjected us to international ignominy."
Kuruth continued, "And what a shame! Again, it is the intransigent Ashfelt under the rein of the redoubtable Sarstin Eurashio, that stymied the passing of the 'Anti Sea-Terrorism Bill' last year, thereby granting the sea-faring scourge free rein to desecrate Ashfeltian shores."
The Court Poet twirled his moustache again and smiled, "My oh my! Lord of Critique, only Aphrodite's girdle can bind your tongue."
"And only Apollo can make you poetic." The prince replied.
Marcus silently listened to the prince's words. He was well aware of the prince's merits. He knew that he would be outwitted by the prince in a verbal confrontation. He knew that the prince was a type of a persom who would go as far as it takes to safeguard his allies and subordinates.
Following the onset of the demon invasions, Prince Kuruth has begun to assume a more active role in Ashfelt's politics, and in just a few years, he has gained stable political control over several key zones in West Island and Capital Island, including the military capital of Teverpilam and the trade capital, Reignhorn. This rapid expansion of power posed a great threat to the Chamberlain Marcus, who now views the prince as a formidable obstacle to his own ambitions.
Marcus is well aware of the connections the prince was building with the common people. He once called the charioteers the "arteries of the nation" and if punishing even one of the charioteers means that it will undermine the prince's power to an extent, he would be more than pleased to do so.
Marcus tried to reveal Kuruth's secret connections with Barret, "I don't know why you are advocating for the charioteer, prince. He has confessed his crime that too without any argument."
To counter that, Prince Kuruth assumed a softer expression, he said poignantly, abandoning the eloquence for a moment, "Those who live close by penury, like this ordinary charioteer, consider themselves insignificant. They fear confrontation and choose to succumb to authority without any resistance, why? Because they simply lack the self-esteem to care for themselves. But, as long as the Eurashio family remains, justice would prevail. When a life hangs in the balance, complacency is a luxury we cannot afford. I'm appalled and heartbroken. Look at all you, you all are worshippers, you call yourselves people of faith. So tell me devotees, is it so improper for us to expect from you, an iota of kindness? An iota of divine thoughtfulness? An iota of reason and not bias? Even I as an 'infidel' fear judgement more than you. If the divine beings are truly existing and all-watching, how do you think they are feeling right now? Are they Pleased? I don't think that's even remotely true."
The Royal Priest immediately answered, "You didn't go to a temple since last five years, prince. What do you know of the divine?"
Marcus avoided the priest's question and asked, "The guards claimed that this charioteer was driving a carriage that night and we all know it well that carriages are not allowed to run at midnight. What charioteer in his right mind would put himself in trouble by going against the law, if he doesn't have an ulterior motive?"
The prince replied calmly, "It was the third day of Blissful Shadows, Lord Chamberlain. The sky was dusky and dreary. How can you assure with utmost certainity that amidst the procession of nearly five hundred chariots that run in the economic capital of Bakerheim, this charioteer is the singular focus of our most ardent inquiry?"
Marcus frowned at Kuruth's question. He turned to Barrett and asked him, "You said the arsonist is your friend, didn't you?"
Barrett was not prepared for the question, he didn't expect the prince to show up and make an attempt to save him, so he made some reckless lies. But lies which were hard to dodge now. He looked helplessly at Kuruth, "I-I mean I did say it but.."
"That's it!" Marcus turned to the king and said, "Even if you didn't help the arsonist escape, you are still his friend. We can kill you and create a national rhetoric that a charioteer who was found guily of aiding the arsonist's escape was brutally executed. That arsonist is at the end of the day, a child. He would be demoralized beyond words."
The King, the Court Poet, the treasurer and the priest all gave a nod to the chamberlain's plan. Barrett's face turned pale from fear. Kuruth immediately obstructed the plan, "Didn't you hear me, Lord Chamberlain? When a life hangs in the balance, complacency is a luxury we cannot afford. How can you kill a person just to craft a narrative?"
The Grand Marshal who was a heavily built man, he wore a white chiton and a red chlamys, he replied, "The Chamberlain's plan is assuming that the arsonist would be devastated by the news of his ally's death. It assumes that our enemy has low emotional intelligence. We should never underestimate our enemies like that. Also, I think the news would do nothing but alarm the arsonist even more. As we always say to our soldiers, do everything you can to decrease the enemy's chances of winning."
The prince nodded to the Marshal's words, "I agree, Lord Marshal. If we manage to keep the enemy reckless, we will be able to capitalize on their mistakes."
"You're quite right." Said the Treasurer.
Marcus saw his plan slowly slip away, he saw the prince give him a skeptical gaze, as if the prince was able to recognize his underlying motives behind demoralizing Kanito, "If we hesitate to take such a small risk, then I guess we have to silently accept the tragedies brought about by the mobster. Who knows what the diluvians are pursuing next? Maybe the royal palace itself?"
The king and his other courtiers were daunted, "Are you saying that the arsonist will go that far?"
Prince Kuruth annotated, "He certainly can, he is a member of the diluvians. Are we not aware of the Gold Plaza Massacre in Solwynn?"
Marcus was shocked, by restating the horrors of the diluvians, the prince supported Marcus' statement. This was a strange move.
"And hence, courtiers, instead of shifting our focus to a charioteer who we don't even have enough evidence against, we should now start to take stricter actions against terrorism."
After the chamberlain's plan was discarded, Kuruth gave out his final statement, "To summarize, Lord Chamberlain, until you provide us conclusive evidence implicating the charioteer, we cannot rightfully arrest him. I assure you father, I am resolute in ensuring that the perpetrator of this arson is brought to justice. However, unlike you or the chamberlain, I will not sacrifice the principles of justice by condemning an innocent individual, even if they are a mere charioteer."
The prince opened his red himation and wrapped it around Barrett's shoulders, "This is the most I can do to pay for your humiliation. You are free to go, auriga."
This gesture from the prince connoted several intimidating meanings to the courtiers. The Grand Marshal and the Ambassador applauded the prince's actions with a smile.
"The month of Apollo is about to commence, isn't it? Thousands of pilgrims will flock to this city from all corners of our nation.To commit an arson on such a day would be a heavenly achievement for the diluvians." The prince spoke what he was thinking.
"This year, we will tell the public that we are putting the Flaming Claymore up for display at the temple of the Apollo, however we will place an ordinary sword in its place. The diluvians will surely come to steal it and we will seize the opportunity to trap them." The prince expressed his plan.
"And for now, Court Poet Ronin, I need you to write a cohesive letter incorporating everything I said to the Temple of Apollo and get the letter signed by the royal priest and me. And Treasurer Mauricio, you will prepare for that proxy sword I talked about and hand it over to me by the end of the week. Until then, farewell, noble folks."
The prince gestured for Barrett to follow him to exit of the royal court. The Ambassador rose up from her seats and called him, "Prince Kuruth," She was a woman with short brown hair and green eyes and was wearing a soft blue peplos.
She stopped Kuruth and said, "I'd like to request a meeting with you to address a few international problems we are facing right now. Specifically, the developments involving Solwynn but also Emirage Confederation as a whole."
Kuruth turned and nodded at her words, "Do you mean the overthrowing of the Sonyl Dynasty, Sophianne? Princess Michelle has invited me to her father's coronation."
"Yes, prince. Let us convene in the council chambers? I'll have my subordinates summoned to brief us on the current state." The Ambassador suggested.
Kuruth gazed at his father sitting on the throne, "Fair enough, I will meet you there today evening."
The king who was patiently observing his son's actions, now smiled cleverly and said, "You have become... very experienced in all this, haven't you?"
The prince gazed at his father and smiled back, it was a witty, condescending smile. He turned and exited the royal court as Barrett followed him.
Marcus did not have the courage to stop him.