9th of August, 1202; 1:24am
A Parlor
The Domain of Narses
Prince of Venice
It had been hours since they’d been brought to their ‘cell’ which was just as comfortably appointed as any other within the Prince’s chambers. Joseph had yet to finish railing, showing more wrath and animation than Anton had seen ever seen in the monk. He would not be jailed, he was an innocent man and would tear apart anyone who would dare call him murderer. Anton practiced his swordsmanship and spent some time doing pushups and even some time reading what little he could find that wasn’t blasphemy.
All of their weapons, regents and such have been confiscated. Steeple in particular is upset due to the lost of his blade, Eternal Thirst - and all of his ritual components. Heldric and Saladin are similarly distressed, having been deprived of any tool they have to contact their sires or enact ritual magic. Worse, the necromancer Vendramino, appears to have chased off Sicilan and Octavius both, for Heldric has received no word from either of his ghostly companions since being locked in the cell - indeed, the place feels barren to him, devoid of any spiritual presence.
Soon afterwards there were footsteps outside the door to the "cell". Then the lock turned.
The door opened and two ghouls entered, taking point to the left and right of the door.
“Lords, please forgive the length of the wait.” – Guilelmo
“We didn’t do it.” – Joseph
“I have little doubt, Master Joseph and Good news, too. Lord von Sachsen has charged you with breaking the Traditions of Caine and demands your blood be burned by the light of the sun, however his case is extremely weak and I doubt that you should worry as it’s likely to fail, but he has the backing of many powerful delegates and you are outsiders here, from the hoary realm beyond the mountains, which makes you truly exceptional scapegoats. Nevertheless, Prince Narses cannot let such charges, even charges that are patently false, go unheard.” – Guilelmo
Under guard Guilelmo led them through the now empty corridors to the doors that had been blocked by his chair before. With a swift jerk they opened into Narses' Audience chamber.
If anything the audience chamber was more beautiful and extravagant. The mosaics were inlayed with gold and porphyry statues stood in alcoves all around the chamber. The chamber itself was large enough to seat all of the cainites who attended the deliberations up to this point and still have a great deal of room.
Not far from where they stood sat the prince on a throne of walnut that was ornately decorated with gold, mother of pearl, ivory, colored wood and precious stones. The prince was well into his nineties when he was embraced and his crooked form was draped in crimson robes that immediately reminded Heldric and Anton of the robes of the Patriarch of Constantinople (at least, those he wore in the few depictions of the self-titled archangel). At his side was a golden crosier.
The Prince’s hand rose and the room grew silent, as if sound had become something alien to the assembly.
“Bring the accused forward.” – Narses, his voice high and lilted.
The group stepped forward, almost as if compelled.
Guilelmo stepped forward too, now dressed in the uniform of a magistrate.
“Those who accuse these men, step forward.” – Guilelmo
Von Sachsen stepped forward, Tommaso at his side. Immediately the audience began to whisper again; it was odd that the two rivals had found common ground - especially given two of the accused were Basilio's childer, and staunch supporters of the war.
“What is your evidence?” – Guilelmo
“They were in possession of the Blood Root that killed Roland du Rocher.” – Tommaso
"They were in the company of a kindred found with a bloodroot-poisonned blade at the scene of the crime." - Von Saschen
"They are in the company of an assassin." Tommaso
“Did either of you see these flowers?” – Narses
Tommaso looked to von Sachsen.
“No, my lord, we did not.” – von Sachsen
“Then on what grounds have these charges been brought forward?” – Narses
“We have witnesses.” – Lanzo, who turns to Anna Sgorina
The Byzantine stepped forward.
“Well?” – Narses
“Yes, my lord, I did see them with the flowers, but they were ignorant of their nature when I found them. When they learned of their nature they destroyed most of them. I believe them to be innocent of these charges, my lord.” – Anna Sgorina
“I demand her opinion be stricken from the record, the low blood is obviously ignorant of the murderer’s motivation.” – von Sachsen.
“You saw nothing wrong with her testimony when this started, Patrician.” – Narses.
"The kindred found at the scene was who?" - Narses
"John the Butcher, another of the transylvanian princes. He was found savagely injured, presumably by Roland, at the scene. He carried with him a bloodroot-poisonned blade."
The necromancer Vendramino then steps forward, "There were no signs of combat on Roland's body. He was struck from behind and killed almost instantly. While the blade John possesses is indeed the murder weapon, his injuries and his disoriented state, as well as his lack of memory regarding the event, would suggest he was either compelled or framed."
"This is utter idiocy!" Lanzo shouts out, indignant, "The fool was found with the murder weapon at the scene of the crime, he clearly murdered Roland! He was seen with the flowers! He was with the assassin! They all were! They must die!"
"Hmm, yes, about that, what evidence do you have to implicate the Assamite Saladin in these matters?" - Narses
It's then that Heldric hears Sicilan's voice from behind him. His eyes immediately dart towards Vendramino, who looks at him carefully but says nothing.
"It's not good lad. They know you're all innocent, even Tommaso, but everyone wants you, the Butcher and the Assassin dead, the Prince wants Anton, Steeple and Kiril dead, Lanzo wants blood - any blood, and he'll take it any way he can. Aliprando, Anna, Lucita and that necromancer are all in your corner but there's nothing they can do more than they've already done - you're going to be scapegoated, left out in the sun unless you can find whoever really did this.
"The assassin arrived the same day as the death of my childe! His clan invented this poison, he was the agent who provided the poison necessary for the killing! He was even seen near the warehouse district with John before the murder of my childe." - Lanzo.
"Do you have witnesses to this?" - Narses
"Yes. Your own ghouls, my lord." - Tommaso
Two men dressed in the apparel of the city guard step forward and utter their agreement with Lanzo's statement - they had indeed seen a man matching Saladin's appearance and a man matching John's appearance near the warehouse district last night, when Roland was killed.
This was starting to look bad. Really bad.
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Topic: Chapter 2: Venetian Nights (Read 297982 times)