02.25: Untangling the Mess – 2

“You would have peasants decide the fate of our baronies?” Grunric said out loud, his deep voice echoing in the chamber.

The others didn’t speak, but their narrowed eyes and lips curling in disdain said they were just as outraged. All except for Dowager Nebelhain. She kept her face neutral, but I knew she wanted to smile.

“Are most of your peasants educated?” I asked him, keeping my voice calm.

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“Are they educated?” I repeated slowly, as if he was dim.

“No.”

“Then obviously not,” I let the answer stand. “Only people equipped to make important decisions will have a say in who sits on the council. Knights sworn to service and burghers who manage trade and law. They already shape the county’s fate. I am merely acknowledging reality.”

“What about the clergy?” the old crone asked.

“There will be one priest present in each council, to act as a witness and oath recorder,” I forced myself to say out loud. “But no voting rights.”

I wanted them kept far away from power, but both Jack’s mother and Reshma had fought me on it until I folded. The priests wielded too much influence to be sidelined. It would have to be remedied.

Grunric pushed back his chair and got up. His lackey followed.

“Where are you going, my lord?” I asked.

“There is no point in participating in this farce. I can see I will find no justice here. Not only do you refuse to recognize my regency, you intend to abolish it, just to appease this woman!” he pointed at Eirica. “I know of your relationship with her, my lord,” he growled low. “Oh yes, I do. Who knows whether that child is even my dear late cousin’s son or not?”

He whirled on Eirica, and thrust a finger at me. “It’s his, isn’t it?”

The chamber went still.

Her mouth opened slightly.

For a heartbeat, I thought she would say something that would ruin everything.

“No,” she said calmly.

“You are not going anywhere,” I said out loud to him.

The guards moved to stand in front of the door, blocking his path.

He stopped in his tracks, turned, then narrowed his eyes at me. “I have already written to Duke Stormhaven explaining my doubts. Detaining me would only make things worse for you.”

“Ah, our dear Duke Stormhaven,” I said lazily, as if it was an already solved matter. “The man whose corruption I unearthed back in the capital? The one who hasn’t been responding to the Queen’s letters? Do not worry, my lord. I will give him a visit as well, soon.”

His face drained of all color.

“Sit down,” I repeated.

He stood still for a few heartbeats, then finally shuffled back to his seat.

I looked the man in the eyes. “Dowager Mondgrove claims that a woman visited her the very night she fled from Wolfwatch. The woman claimed to be the Baron’s mistress, and told her that not only did you personally kill her child, you then forced yourself upon her.”

“She lies.”

I raised a hand to stop his yapping.

“She gave the Dowager a dagger coated in her child’s blood. It seems you forgot it there after you had your fun. I have it with me,” I said, bringing out a leather packet from my pocket.

I unrolled it, revealing the dagger. It was a fine piece; not something a commoner could afford. High quality steel with a brass guard and leather grip. Still coated in brown, oxidized blood. Turning it in the sunlight, I could clearly see multiple fingerprints embossed in the blood, almost like a wax seal.

His chest heaved, but he kept his voice calm. “Lies spouted by a woman who wants the regency for herself.”

I looked at one of the guards, who placed a wooden box in front of me. I brought out a piece of parchment and a small brass box from it. Flipping its lid open, it revealed a felt pad soaked in ink.

“Are you right handed or left handed,” I asked Grunric.

“Right.”

I pushed the pad towards him. “Would you be kind enough to press your fingers on this pad?”

“Why?”

“To show us you have nothing to hide.”

He looked at me, then the pad, then hesitantly pressed his fingers on it.

I slid the parchment towards him. “Now please press them on this.”

He hesitated again, but complied.

The ink smeared.

I pushed another piece of parchment forward.

“This is a waste of time,” Wulf said.

“On the contrary,” I said, as Grunric pressed his fingers on the second piece, jaw tight, “this is truth revealing itself.”

I took the parchment and placed it under a shaft of sunlight. The four fingerprints of blue ink glistened under the light. They were imperfect, but distinct enough, with clear separation between the lines. “Excellent.”

The trap was set.

“You see, my lord, every person’s fingerprints are unique,” I said, wiggling my fingers. “Not even identical twins have the same prints. You wouldn’t mind if I match the ones on the blade with your own, right?”

“What nonsense!” he said, voice shaking with anger or fear. “Another farce to favor your lover!”

“I’m not the best artist, and you are not completely wrong. I might be biased; what man could remain unaffected by beauty like Lady Eirica’s. Lady Reshma, if you would?” I said, pushing the items and the box toward her.

“So you admit that her child is yours? A bastard!” Grunric asked.

“I never said that. As I told you before, I’ve lost most of my memory, so I cannot confirm or deny it.”

“But you have lain with her!” he thrust his finger at Eirica, which I didn’t like.

“Again, I do not remember. I could also have lain with,” I stopped myself from saying ‘your mother’ the very last moment. “It does not matter. You are making allegations without any proof.”

“My child is the legitimate son of my late husband,” Eirica said, glaring at him, hands shaking on her lap.

Meanwhile, Reshma took out more parchment, a quill and an ink pot from the box carefully and began drawing the fingerprints left on the dagger. The blade gleamed as she carefully examined it, rotating it, letting the light strike it at different angles.

Servants broke the silence by placing tea on the table, while Grunric stared daggers at me. The rest of the nobles furtively glanced at Reshma working while sipping the tea.

No one spoke, but everyone knew the world was changing. Truth did not care for rank or lineage.

Once she was done, she presented her work to me.

I looked at the patterns she had drawn and matched them against Grunric’s fingerprints.

“They match almost perfectly.”

“It proves nothing!” Grunric shouted again, slamming his hands down hard enough that his cup fell to its side, spilling the tea. “You present markings no one in this room has ever relied on before, and expect us to destroy a noble house for them.”

“There is a first time for everything, and this isn’t the only proof. A Dowager has accused you, and I’m sure we will find more testimonies in Mondgrove.” I looked to the others. “House Mondgrove is not being destroyed; only a culprit being found. If anyone here has an issue with the method, they are free to try it themselves. I invite you all to examine the proof. Whatever disagreements you might have with me, I don’t think anyone here would like someone like him in charge of a barony.”

“I would like to examine it,” Dowager Nebelhain said in an amused tone.

She took the parchments and examined them while Grunric gave her a dirty look.

“Interesting. They look almost the same,” she pronounced, a slight smile playing on her face.

“Are the rest of you going to just accept it?” he almost pleaded to Baron Wulf and Dowager Nordhaven.

“What do you think, my lady?” the old woman asked Reshma, while Wulf took the dagger.

“If God did not wish men to be known by their deeds, he would not have marked us so distinctively. Those marks his fingers left on the blood are as unique as an intricate seal.”

“They indeed are,” Wulf added, placing the dagger back on the table.

Before Grunric could hurt our ears with more shouting, I stood up.

“Does anyone here doubt his guilt?”

No one spoke.

“Based upon Dowager Mondgrove’s testimony, your clear motives and the supporting evidence, as your liege lord, I hereby put you under arrest for the murder of a child and abuse of office, Lord Grunric Mondgrove.”

He leapt to his feet, eyes blazing. The guards were just as fast and had weapons pointed at him before he could move.

“What about the other guy?” I asked Eirica.

“He’s complicit as well,” she said meekly.

“You all are making a big mistake in supporting this man!” Grunric almost shouted. “Today he has stripped me of my rightful position, tomorrow it might be you!”

The guards dragged him and his lackey out of the chamber.

Eirica silently stared at the table where the dagger had been. One the echoes of his shouts and curses had faded, she raised her head to look at me with glistening eyes. “Thank you, my lord.”

I nodded in acknowledgment. I could not comfort her in any way, lest it put a seed of doubt in the other nobles.

Dowager Nordhaven narrowed her eyes at me. “Does that method actually work?”

“Yes. Test it for yourself.”

A wicked smile came on her face. “If this method spreads, many will curse your name,” she chuckled lightly.

“I already have plenty of enemies. What is a few more?” Sighing, I looked to the others. “Let’s get back to the topic of this meeting; our county’s future.”