Thom"s reaction to the announcement seemed strange.He didn"t react. He didn"t seem to care that he had been stripped of Rank and Power. Or that he was barred from contacting or seeing his family in the future. Perhaps he was resigned to the situation and had factored this possibility into his schemes.
I doubted it. He didn"t seem that intelligent. More likely, he was simply a sociopath, and he didn"t have the emotional capacity to process what this abandonment might mean for him. Either that, or he didn"t believe his banishment would last. Maybe he felt that once I left, his father would reinstate him.
Lord Kel sighed before turning to face those behind him. Resigned to his son"s behavior he began to examine those gathered in the hall. His scrutiny was thorough, searching for something. Since I had no idea who the people these people were, I couldn"t be sure what he was searching for. That is until Lord Kel gestured for one of the men to step forward.
"Were you involved in this lunacy, Goylen?" Lord Kel demanded.
I wasn"t surprised to see the man glancing at me. His expression stark, a hint of fear and acceptance quickly suppressed. He seemed to be waiting to see my response to Lord Kel"s question, but since I didn"t know who he was, I simply quirked an eyebrow. A satisfied smirk might have even crossed my face, but with Lord Kel"s back to me, only Goylen would have noticed.
"Who is he?" I asked Caraid.
[One of Thom"s most trusted Va.s.sals.]
[He was often the muscle behind Thom"s schemes. Using fists and weapons to inspire fear and subjugation. He and another man, Dillon, were Thom"s enforcers.]
Extending my perception, I examined him, and Lord Kel.
[Rank: Knight – Name: Goylen – Level: 2 – Va.s.sal: Thom]
[Rank: Lord – Name: Kel – Level: 8 – House: Kel – Fief: Kel – Va.s.sal: A"Daoine]
The information I got from using perception was enlightening. Knowing a person"s level, house, and Va.s.sal status would make understanding who and what faction I was dealing with much easier.
Unless there was a way to hide that information or allow false information to be perceived.
There had to be a way. Otherwise, spies and thieves would have their affiliations easily detected.
Ignoring, for now, the possible shortcomings and advantages of perception, I watched the drama unfolding. Sighing in defeat, Goylen was resigned to admitting his partic.i.p.ation as a co-conspirator. I doubted he would admit their part as they partic.i.p.ated with Thom, but now that they had been caught, the option to lie was moot.
"Yes, Milord," Goylen admitted.
"Dillon and I were tasked with getting Odharc to enter this room. Thom and his friends would be waiting for him and would compel him to attempt Ascension. We were supposed to leave and spread rumors that we had seen him sneaking around down here. Suggesting that he must be doing something he shouldn"t have been, even something dangerous or criminal if he was sneaking about.
"Meanwhile, Knight Thom would use command voice and his Right of Rule to open the Ascension chamber and have the others use force, if he wouldn"t enter when ordered," Goylen explained.
"Those who die in the chamber never come out, so there would be no corpse to dispose of. He would have just disappeared, with no one the wiser. The last anyone would know would be the strange behavior and the sneaking about he was rumored to have been involved in," he concluded.
"Why?" Lord Kel asked in frustration. "What possible reason could any of you have for abusing guest privileges?"
"Thom was always reminding us that Duke A"Daoine forced you to elevate Odharc, if not for his interference, he would still be in the kitchen amongst servants and slaves where he belonged.
"He is a hybrid, the product of ****, he deserves no standing among those pure of blood!" Goylen finished fervently, the fanatical beliefs that had encouraged them to hound Caraid his entire life exposed and explained finally.
"His blood isn"t pure enough?" Lord Kel wondered.
"Strange then, how the Ascension chamber has elevated him to a Prince and revealed him to be descended from the G.o.d Belenos. His lineage and heritage are confirmed for the World to see.
"Not pure enough? And who gave you the right to determine worth?
"He is descended from the G.o.d of the Sun and Healing himself!
"Not pure enough?
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"And you imbeciles with your pitiful understanding of obligations and consequences had the audacity to use Right of Rule to murder a guest and acknowledged family member.
"What hubris.
"What audacity.
"What stupidity.
"As a reward, I strip you and Dillon of your t.i.tles, lands, and possessions. If I would, I would strip your Rank and levels.
"I award Prince Mac De Belenos all monies, equipment, and possessions you and those he defeated in honorable combat owned.
"I banish you from my lands with the same equipment the outcast Thom was gifted.
"You have a single day, 30 hours to leave me demesnes or find yourselves hunted.
"Guards, confiscate their bags of holding, strip them of armor and weapons, and make sure they take only the clothing they are wearing and the 100 golds I have allowed.
"Take them from my sight before I kill them myself!" Lord Kel demanded.
"BEGONE, you have brought such shame to our house that we may never recover or be healed!" Lord Kel ordered furiously.
[Experience Gained – 10,000]
[Gold 2,000]
[a.s.sorted Gear, Armor, and Equipment]
[5 Kelpie]
"Take them away!
"Prince Mac, gather your possessions from your room and meet me in Thom"s former room, we will itemize what possessions exist, and move you to the Amba.s.sador Palace," Lord Kel said as he turned to me uncertainty gone, only conviction and decisiveness left.
He refused to even spare his former son a glance as the guards forcefully escorted Thom and Goylen from the room and quickly vanished down the hallway.
"Lord Kel," I spoke up deciding to remind him subtly that I was no longer his to command, "I have been given a quest to report to the capital and present myself to King Lugh and Queen Mab. Perhaps we should postpone moving until we discover if our Monarchs have plans for me?"
Lord Kel looked at me for the first time with an expression other than fury or anger. He was honestly started that I had questioned his orders, or that I had already obtained a quest to visit the capital.
I a.s.sumed the quest was standard for anyone elevated to the royal level. On Earth, things like Knighthoods and elevation to a peer were done with ceremonies that required monarch partic.i.p.ation and acceptance.
I really hadn"t considered how rank advances worked in this world, I guess I was expecting that as people earned the ranks for Knight, Lord, Duke, and Prince they were given quests to present themselves. Lord Kel"s expression suggested that was not the case.
Honestly, I shouldn"t be surprised. Why would any rules of protocol and etiquette that might exist on Earth be the same here?
"Interesting," Lord Kel mused. "No matter, it will keep. We will discuss the implications of this quest after you sort through Thom"s gear."
"In the meantime, please excuse me, Prince Mac. I need to discuss recent events with my lady wife and our daughter." Bowing his head, he turned and swept from the room without sparing the room, the damage that I"d done with my aura, or the signs of damage and death another glance.
Heading for the door, I realized I had no idea where I was going, "Caraid? Care to give me a hint on how to find your room?" I asked, realizing not having Caraid"s knowledge of this place or people might make traveling to the capital a bonus. No one would know me there, and my unfamiliarity with people and places would be expected.
Following Caraid"s directions, I headed left down the corridor, stopping when I realized that two men began following me as soon as I started walking. I turned and looked at them, deciding to be blunt, I asked them directly, "Why are you following me?"