“Leave,” Solomon Flame said, and the pathetic wretches rushed out, almost running.
“What do you think about their story?” the head of the Flame family asked the room after the massive, soundproof door closed.
“It’s very convenient the other witness had died.” A pleasant, female alto sounded in the dark a moment before lighters illuminated the chamber.
Solomon shifted his gaze left and focused on Gellia Healer as the woman continued voicing her opinion. “It’s both fortunate and suspicious that the Searing girl had caused his accidental death. It would have saved us the trouble had she broken her neck as well.”
“Did you just curse my daughter? Nothing can happen to her until the Suns arrive. She is the only witness to what happened to their Young Master—”
“Ash, your connection with the Suns is gone after this fiasco, your treasured daughter a wasted effort,” Gellia smiled victoriously as she spoke. Solomon shared her schadenfreude, but kept it out of his face, voice, and words. The Searings and the Flames were allies since antiquity, standing united against the test of centuries, protected rebellions, and invasions from topiary horrors and humans alike.
That’s what they were on the outside. Internally, plots, assassinations, and struggle over business and property happened if not monthly, then at least once every year as they vied for supremacy.
The engagement between the Suns and the Searings forced Solomon into multiple unfavorable concessions in the last six months. But with the sudden twist of fate there would be a reckoning, assuming the two families escaped their calamity unscathed.
“We should offer her head to placate the Suns,” Gellia said, and Solomon choked on spit.
“Are you insane?” Solomon spoke before Ash attacked her in a fit of rage. “We have yet to compose a report for the Suns, and you’re suggesting we kill the sole witness to what had happened?”
“The girl is useless. She remembers nothing. She’s lost her mind, screaming at the mere sight of blood,” Gellia quoted the hunters they had interrogated, her voice and bearing calm as she sought to tear down her political rivals.
“The Suns don’t know that—” Solomon started, but Ash interrupted him.
“Are you behind this? Are you afraid they will somehow find a connection between you, Healers, and this incident if Jasmine recovers her memory?”
“Nonsense!” Gellia screamed, but Ash kept spinning his theory.
“You are dabbling and researching new herbs every day. Who’s to say you have not developed some powder or oil which attracts topiary horrors? All you needed to do was find an oblivious pawn—”
“That’s rubbish! We—” Gellia kept shouting, but another elder stopped their yelling contest.
“Can we have some order? Solomon, calling for order is your job as the council head,” Niccolaus said in a sharp voice, looking at Solomon with his piercing yellow eyes.
“Order,” Solomon smashed a gavel against the desk. “We are not donkeys braying to see who’s the loudest. This incident is beyond us. We will make a report for the Suns immediately. An impartial report, stating nothing but facts, based on eyewitness testimony, no conclusions, nor speculations. Everyone, please, if you have any personal opinion, pursue it in your own time, with your own resources. Also, if you ruin anything for the inquisitors the Suns are bound to send, you will bear full responsibility for your actions.”
“What do we do with the girl, then?” Gellia asked, the furious act gone from her face and eyes.
“Nothing. She’s a victim, and we cannot imprison her. We certainly can’t harm her, nor can we give her any excessive gifts or healing, lest the Suns accuse us of tampering with the witness or allying with their enemies.”
“She’s eighteen, and we have received their betrothal gift!” Ash protested, but Solomon waved him silent.
“You keep guarding her graft for the time being, we may need to return it to the Suns. Now, since she has come of age, and she has lost her other privileges because of these unfortunate circumstances, she will have to join the public hunter school,” Solomon stared at Gellia while making the last remark.
“She will attend my school?” the woman asked, genuine shock in her voice, but Solomon did not care, and kept talking.
“First, the school belongs to the clan. Second, she is of age, and we must remain fully transparent for the sake of any spies the Suns have in our clan. If we keep her locked up with a private tutor and something goes wrong, we might face dire consequences.”
“What could possibly—”
“Gellia Healing, shut up. I’m the clan’s chancellor. Stop interrupting me until I’m done speaking. Now. Fatal mana deviations have happened before, even in our families. All it takes is a moment of inattention, especially during the first two months. It’s highly unlikely this would happen to someone as talented as Jasmine, assuming she was in the right state of mind. However, she is not. Are you willing to stake your entire family and wealth on her ability to focus after she had suffered such trauma, Gellia? Will you vouch for her success with your life and your family’s assets?”
Gellia shook her head without saying a word, and Solomon turned to face Ash.
“Old friend,” he said without a hint of mockery, despite reveling in his rival’s misery. “If I were you, I would distance myself from Jasmine. She was the gods’ gift to you, however, she has become a calamity. Everything might turn out fine in the end, but for now the fact is the Sun clan’s Young Master has perished while sharing her company. I cannot tell you how to run your household, but given my position, I must issue orders. You are free to ignore them, risking the same dangers as Madam Healing.”
Solomon paused, and Ash nodded, the firm gaze in his eyes not that of a father, but of a seasoned politician. “You will ensure your daughter’s safety within the city. You will protect her from any human interference outside the hunter school, and you will do nothing which the Sun clan’s inquisitors might consider bribery or tampering with your daughter’s mind. Should you ignore my order, you will bear the consequences.”
Solomon stopped talking and looked around the room, facing the other fourteen elders, four Flames, four Searings, three Healers, old Niccolaus Thatcher, Mairiam Glassblower, and Hassman Hunter, representing hunters without special backgrounds, but with talent and devotion strong enough for them to attain the third level, and their luck good enough to find appropriate grafts during their excursions in the weald.
“Does anyone have anything else to add?” Solomon asked, after letting the heavy silence sit for ten-odd seconds.
Mairiam, a woman in her forties, raised her hand, and Solomon nodded for her to speak.
“You specifically said we must keep her safe from human threats?”
Solomon was glad people caught his meaning, yet irked he would have to explain his troublesome statement.
Is she in Ash’s pocket? he wondered for a moment, then answered. “That is correct. Without depriving her of her freedom, we can only protect her from humans. An accident, and I mean a genuine accident, which we and the Suns will thoroughly investigate might befall her. She could catch an illness we cannot cure, or she could face an attack of topiary horrors while on her school outing. Those are all circumstances outside our ability to predict and possibly outside our ability to prevent. As such, nobody will be at fault, unless an investigation proves otherwise.”
Ash glared at Solomon for cursing his daughter, hoping she would die a sudden death, but Solomon did not take that gaze to heart. The person who wants her dead the most right now is you, old Ash. I can bet you already isolated her from everyone, at least until you get back home from this session.
I know how your tiny mercantile mind works, but no matter what you try and whom you bribe, there’s no way you’re worming your way out of this one without the gods’ help.
Solomon was still bitter about the clever maneuver Ash had pulled when he took Jasmine to the Sun clanhold where she accidentally met their second Young Master and captured his attention.
Yet now, all your scheming will cost you dearly.
“How do you justify taking her to the weald?” Niccolaus asked.
“How do you justify stifling her growth and not letting her experience real dangers?” Solomon retorted.
Niccolaus opened his mouth, then closed it and nodded, seemingly deep in thought.
“Any other questions?” Solomon asked, but there were none. “Now we will draft the report we have for the Suns. Once we agree on the details and ensure we have not missed anything, we will form a final version and send ten copies with messenger eagles to ensure at least one survives the ten-day flight.”
The council of Searing Flames’ fifteen third level hunters and florists took over two hours to compose two thousand words they all agreed represented an unbiased account of the known events and the circumstances of Sun clan’s Young Master’s death.
Finally, an hour after midnight, they adjourned until sunrise, when they would send their long-distance messengers.
“Leave,” Solomon Flame said, and the pathetic wretches rushed out, almost running.
“What do you think about their story?” the head of the Flame family asked the room after the massive, soundproof door closed.
“It’s very convenient the other witness had died.” A pleasant, female alto sounded in the dark a moment before lighters illuminated the chamber.
Solomon shifted his gaze left and focused on Gellia Healer as the woman continued voicing her opinion. “It’s both fortunate and suspicious that the Searing girl had caused his accidental death. It would have saved us the trouble had she broken her neck as well.”
“Did you just curse my daughter? Nothing can happen to her until the Suns arrive. She is the only witness to what happened to their Young Master—”
“Ash, your connection with the Suns is gone after this fiasco, your treasured daughter a wasted effort,” Gellia smiled victoriously as she spoke. Solomon shared her schadenfreude, but kept it out of his face, voice, and words. The Searings and the Flames were allies since antiquity, standing united against the test of centuries, protected rebellions, and invasions from topiary horrors and humans alike.
That’s what they were on the outside. Internally, plots, assassinations, and struggle over business and property happened if not monthly, then at least once every year as they vied for supremacy.
The engagement between the Suns and the Searings forced Solomon into multiple unfavorable concessions in the last six months. But with the sudden twist of fate there would be a reckoning, assuming the two families escaped their calamity unscathed.
“We should offer her head to placate the Suns,” Gellia said, and Solomon choked on spit.
“Are you insane?” Solomon spoke before Ash attacked her in a fit of rage. “We have yet to compose a report for the Suns, and you’re suggesting we kill the sole witness to what had happened?”
“The girl is useless. She remembers nothing. She’s lost her mind, screaming at the mere sight of blood,” Gellia quoted the hunters they had interrogated, her voice and bearing calm as she sought to tear down her political rivals.
“The Suns don’t know that—” Solomon started, but Ash interrupted him.
“Are you behind this? Are you afraid they will somehow find a connection between you, Healers, and this incident if Jasmine recovers her memory?”
“Nonsense!” Gellia screamed, but Ash kept spinning his theory.
“You are dabbling and researching new herbs every day. Who’s to say you have not developed some powder or oil which attracts topiary horrors? All you needed to do was find an oblivious pawn—”
“That’s rubbish! We—” Gellia kept shouting, but another elder stopped their yelling contest.
“Can we have some order? Solomon, calling for order is your job as the council head,” Niccolaus said in a sharp voice, looking at Solomon with his piercing yellow eyes.
“Order,” Solomon smashed a gavel against the desk. “We are not donkeys braying to see who’s the loudest. This incident is beyond us. We will make a report for the Suns immediately. An impartial report, stating nothing but facts, based on eyewitness testimony, no conclusions, nor speculations. Everyone, please, if you have any personal opinion, pursue it in your own time, with your own resources. Also, if you ruin anything for the inquisitors the Suns are bound to send, you will bear full responsibility for your actions.”
“What do we do with the girl, then?” Gellia asked, the furious act gone from her face and eyes.
“Nothing. She’s a victim, and we cannot imprison her. We certainly can’t harm her, nor can we give her any excessive gifts or healing, lest the Suns accuse us of tampering with the witness or allying with their enemies.”
“She’s eighteen, and we have received their betrothal gift!” Ash protested, but Solomon waved him silent.
“You keep guarding her graft for the time being, we may need to return it to the Suns. Now, since she has come of age, and she has lost her other privileges because of these unfortunate circumstances, she will have to join the public hunter school,” Solomon stared at Gellia while making the last remark.
“She will attend my school?” the woman asked, genuine shock in her voice, but Solomon did not care, and kept talking.
“First, the school belongs to the clan. Second, she is of age, and we must remain fully transparent for the sake of any spies the Suns have in our clan. If we keep her locked up with a private tutor and something goes wrong, we might face dire consequences.”
“What could possibly—”
“Gellia Healing, shut up. I’m the clan’s chancellor. Stop interrupting me until I’m done speaking. Now. Fatal mana deviations have happened before, even in our families. All it takes is a moment of inattention, especially during the first two months. It’s highly unlikely this would happen to someone as talented as Jasmine, assuming she was in the right state of mind. However, she is not. Are you willing to stake your entire family and wealth on her ability to focus after she had suffered such trauma, Gellia? Will you vouch for her success with your life and your family’s assets?”
Gellia shook her head without saying a word, and Solomon turned to face Ash.
“Old friend,” he said without a hint of mockery, despite reveling in his rival’s misery. “If I were you, I would distance myself from Jasmine. She was the gods’ gift to you, however, she has become a calamity. Everything might turn out fine in the end, but for now the fact is the Sun clan’s Young Master has perished while sharing her company. I cannot tell you how to run your household, but given my position, I must issue orders. You are free to ignore them, risking the same dangers as Madam Healing.”
Solomon paused, and Ash nodded, the firm gaze in his eyes not that of a father, but of a seasoned politician. “You will ensure your daughter’s safety within the city. You will protect her from any human interference outside the hunter school, and you will do nothing which the Sun clan’s inquisitors might consider bribery or tampering with your daughter’s mind. Should you ignore my order, you will bear the consequences.”
Solomon stopped talking and looked around the room, facing the other fourteen elders, four Flames, four Searings, three Healers, old Niccolaus Thatcher, Mairiam Glassblower, and Hassman Hunter, representing hunters without special backgrounds, but with talent and devotion strong enough for them to attain the third level, and their luck good enough to find appropriate grafts during their excursions in the weald.
“Does anyone have anything else to add?” Solomon asked, after letting the heavy silence sit for ten-odd seconds.
Mairiam, a woman in her forties, raised her hand, and Solomon nodded for her to speak.
“You specifically said we must keep her safe from human threats?”
Solomon was glad people caught his meaning, yet irked he would have to explain his troublesome statement.
Is she in Ash’s pocket? he wondered for a moment, then answered. “That is correct. Without depriving her of her freedom, we can only protect her from humans. An accident, and I mean a genuine accident, which we and the Suns will thoroughly investigate might befall her. She could catch an illness we cannot cure, or she could face an attack of topiary horrors while on her school outing. Those are all circumstances outside our ability to predict and possibly outside our ability to prevent. As such, nobody will be at fault, unless an investigation proves otherwise.”
Ash glared at Solomon for cursing his daughter, hoping she would die a sudden death, but Solomon did not take that gaze to heart. The person who wants her dead the most right now is you, old Ash. I can bet you already isolated her from everyone, at least until you get back home from this session.
I know how your tiny mercantile mind works, but no matter what you try and whom you bribe, there’s no way you’re worming your way out of this one without the gods’ help.
Solomon was still bitter about the clever maneuver Ash had pulled when he took Jasmine to the Sun clanhold where she accidentally met their second Young Master and captured his attention.
Yet now, all your scheming will cost you dearly.
“How do you justify taking her to the weald?” Niccolaus asked.
“How do you justify stifling her growth and not letting her experience real dangers?” Solomon retorted.
Niccolaus opened his mouth, then closed it and nodded, seemingly deep in thought.
“Any other questions?” Solomon asked, but there were none. “Now we will draft the report we have for the Suns. Once we agree on the details and ensure we have not missed anything, we will form a final version and send ten copies with messenger eagles to ensure at least one survives the ten-day flight.”
The council of Searing Flames’ fifteen third level hunters and florists took over two hours to compose two thousand words they all agreed represented an unbiased account of the known events and the circumstances of Sun clan’s Young Master’s death.
Finally, an hour after midnight, they adjourned until sunrise, when they would send their long-distance messengers.
