Zileska says in response to Sara, "I'm keeping track, dear - let my touch soothe you." She reaches out to caress the back of Sara's neck ever so briefly in the midst of the melee.
"Do you not appreciate what you've done?" Melodie asks, her tone sad. "The lives you've wasted, for vanity and pain?"
Even Pythareus is struck by the emotion of her tone.
Pythareus stops then, grief wracking his features. "You're right! Oh, I am fortune's fool!" He stops resisting and instead turns his attentions towards harming himself. Unable to overcome the enchantment, it is a simple matter to finish beating him into submission.
Zhi looks down at the General's unconscious form with conflicting emotions on her face. She steps towards him and then steps back more than once, keeping her weapons at the ready. A decision finally made, she slams her weapons into their scabbards.
"Let's get him out of here."
Zileska turns to Pythareus' soldiers and says, "It's over. This part of the civil war is done. If you wish to remain in the employ of the Taldan military, arrangements will be made for you to continue your service to the country uninterrupted. If you wish to resign from duty, the current circumstances will be taken into consideration. You will receive further updates through the military chain of command."
She nudges Mel and whispers, "We need to remember to make sure to take care of that later."
The soldiers nod at Zileska, holstering their weapons and offering no further resistance.
A few moments after Pythareus falls, the air ripples as an invisibility spell ends. Floating in the air above the courtyard is a dark-skinned woman dressed in scholarly robes. "My divinations were right. They warned me you would be Maxillar's downfall, and I was wise not to fall alongside him. I am Dame Avenna. I served the High Strategos, but I have no loyalty to him or his politics. I am an academic, and I only want to pursue my own research. By your leave, I would ask you allow me to take my things and relocate peacefully. In exchange, I will tell you all of Maxillar's greatest secrets."
Zhi nudges her wife.
"Perhaps you would like a different patron, Avenna?" she says to the floating woman. "Lending your talents to the actual heir to the throne could have numerous academic benefits."
Avenna rubs her chin. "Perhaps, if your patron is willing to pay the bill for luxurious lifestyle I have grown accustomed to."
"Let me ask her." Melodie responds with a smile to Dame Avenna. She removes the wand of sending and speaks clearly so that Avenna can hear.
"Pythareus captured. Zimar secured for Eutropia. Will Princess hire powerful diviner needing new job? Will expect generous expenses."
The magic goes flitting away to Martella as Melodie takes advantage of the magic still affecting her to climb into the air to the height of the walls where she speaks loudly so that the rest of the castle's soldiers can hear her.
"By the authority of the Primogen Throne, it's rightful holder, Princess Eutropia Stalian, and the Lion Blades of Taldor, General Pythareus has been arrested on crimes of high treason and murder. We have claimed this city in the name of Princess Eutropia, rightful heir to the throne. Zimar has always been Taldor's shield to the south and we do not ask you to forsake your duty now! Be strong and resolute as Taldor always has been - if you feel you can no-longer serve then you should resign when your new commander arrives, there will be no penalties for this."
"Long Live the Empress!"
Returning to the ground Melodie approaches Avenna once again. "We are doing our best for you, I hope you can see that. You said you had information for us?"
Martella responds to Melodie: "Excellent news! Eutropia will likely have a place for diviner if she is worth the money. See you at the Palace of Birdsong for debriefing!"
Some of the soldiers cheer for Melodie's speech, but a few remain reserved. Just because they have withdrawn their support from Pythareus doesn't mean they are immediately ready to side with the princess.
Avenna inclines her head. "Yes, a great secret. But it will be much more impactful if you see for yourself. Show, don't tell, yes? Follow me."
The diviner leads you into the tower northwest of the main keep building. On the third floor, she selects a key taken from Pythareus and unlocks the door. This large suite reeks of human body odor and
alcohol, and once‑fine clothes lie scattered about.
A gaunt, disheveled man in a simple homespun outfit paces about the room. It takes you a moment to recognize him without the trappings of finery--this is none other than Grand Prince Stavian III! He squints in your direction with an angry scowl.
"There you are! You have some nerve making me wait so long. I demand you clean up my room at once! This place is a pigsty! And bring me more wine! I'm parched!" He waves an empty goblet in the air.
"Where am I, anyway? Where are my children? I will have answers, damn it!"
"This explains a lot."
"We have been sent by your children." Melodie says calmly, reaching without compunction into Stavian's mind to meddle him into complaisance. "We'll take you to her as soon as we can."
"Our thanks Dame Avenna, this is indeed momentous." She says, "Please journey with us to the Palace of Birdsong - you deserve the credit for this meeting."
She then turns to the rest of the group. "I suggest we acquire carriages as quickly as possible. We need to get these gentlemen back to the Palace of Birdsong without delay."
Zileska's eyes smolder and she says in a low tone with clenched teeth, "This man... might simply be deranged. Perhaps he could even be cured."
"But for what he did there's no coming back. As I recall Sara has a mortgage on his manhood, followed by a gruesome death."
"He took something innocent and beautiful out of the world and he precipitated the possible fall of the glorious Empire that I love. He doesn't belong in this world any more."
Stavian's brow furrows as he resists the spell. "My children? What are you talking about? Where's the wine I asked for?"
"You're not with Pythareus, are you? You've come for me!" He turns to the rest of you. "Serve your prince! Execute this ingrate! But clean my room first! It's disgusting!"
Stavian throws his goblet on the floor. "Why aren't you listening to me? I am your prince!" He starts to cry, tears leaving streaks in his grimy cheeks. Then he brandishes his cane. "Stay back, assassin! I'll thrash you good!"
Stavian blinks and lowers his cane. He smiles at Melodie. "Ah, glad we sorted that out. Did you bring me wine?"
Avenna shakes her head. "Sad, isn't it? There's also the matter of Pythareus's vault upstairs. The guardian construct will attack anybody who enters that isn't the High Strategos."
"Not yet, I'm afraid." Melodie says, smiling gently at Stavian. "We'll take you downstairs first, then we can find some wine."
"He's going insane." Melodie says quietly, looking at Zileska. "This isn't the grand prince, this is a wreck of a man who once was someone important. You don't need to kill him Zil - the world has broken him already."
At the revelation that the construct will attack someone who isn't Pythareus Melodie actually grins.
"I can deal with that." She says confidently. "Can the High Strategos bring other people in with him?"
Avenna shakes her head. "No. Only Pythareus can get past that golem."
"Still not a problem." Melodie seems very happy about that particular piece of news, although she keeps shooting wary glances at the angry half-elf next to her.
Zhi turns to frown at her wife.
"It is Eutropia's decision to make." Melodie responds, choosing to answer her wife aloud. "If we truly believe that she is the rightful Empress, then we must trust her judgement and let her decide what is to be done with the man that committed treason against the empire. If we kill him we're no better than Pythareus."
While you continue to debate Stavian's fate, Melodie heads up to the vault. She uses her spell to transform into a duplicate of Pythareus and raids the shelves, unhindered by the hulking brass golem.
The treasure vault contains 699 pp, 13,812 gp, and 45,827 sp. A small, iron case contains a dozen parchments with various legal documents, letters, and historical records.
Melodie returns with a large, and very heavy bag of coins and a bundle of papers which she offers Maria. "These looked important, but I'm not much good at legalese." She offers with a smile. "Shall we go? We should head back with the prisoners as soon as we can."
"Yes," Zhi says as her eyes move over all the armed men gathered around. "I'm ready to go home."
She gives her wife a beseeching look.
Sara leaves the room quickly and discreetly. Stavian was alive?
She'd been there at the massacre. They all had. He deserved death, and she had thought it had been granted him.
That night had been the end of her, too. The last vestiges of Sara Burke, simpering, sycophantic, apolitical street rat had washed away under the blood of that evening. She saw the hypocrisy and corruption of the nobility up close, and it lost its sheen.
She wanders the halls, poking her head into empty rooms and rummaging about for small grabbables, trying to distract herself with acts of petty thievery.
Admittedly, her cause, the uplifting of the lower classes, was only possible because of the death of so much of the nobility, so didn't she owe the Grand Prince thanks in that regard? She had thought his death a convenient way around that particular moral conundrum, but here he was, alive.
She should kill him. He is nothing. A waste of a man, a wretch. Lucretzia would applaud her for it, and it would be huge propaganda for her movement. After all, if you want to tear down the class divide, where better than to start than by killing an Emperor? What a singular and rare opportunity.
But she believes in the Princess and her cause, and to kill Stavian would complicate things unnecessarily. And more than that, Eutropia was her friend; how could she face the Princess having killed her father?
She ends her sojourn in the kitchen, looking for liquor to dull her senses and make this revelation less of an issue.
Stavian being alive was quite a shock but, when Maria realised his condition, she realised that there wasn't anything they could do to him that he'd recognise as punishment. What good was punishing someone if they couldn't recognise it for what it was?
"We should take him back to Eutropia - this should be her call. I'm gonna sort through these papers in the meantime."
Deciding against Stavian's immediate execution, you march the former Grand Prince along with Maxillar Pythareus out of Abadar's Pillar. Dame Avenna accompanies you as you load your prisoners into your carriage and make your way out of Zimar.
Once you are clear of the city, Maria takes a closer look at the papers in the coffer. With a few helpful observations from Melodie and Zhi, and her own inspired knowledge of Taldan nobility, she is able to understand the scope of the implications contained therein.
The documents are records of the now‑extinct Adella noble family, who dominated Taldan politics for centuries until their internal squabbles lead to bitter civil war and violence. The bloodshed they engendered and their wanton indulgence alienated even their fellow Taldan nobles. Rumors persist of corruption, graft, murder, and devil‑worship. Grand Prince Beldam II declared the family be stricken of their noble titles and erased from the nation’s history, and by the dawn of the 46th century, those few Adellas who had not killed each other off were hunted down by rival nobles and put to the sword.
Except, it would seem, one.
Lucretia Adella gave birth to the last Adella in 4497 AR—the illegitimate son of nobleman and soon‑to‑be Grand Prince Micheaux I. Micheaux I reluctantly adopted the boy in secret and named him Stavian I, and in the process initiated the modern Stavian line, including Grand Prince Stavian III and Princess Eutropia. What this revelation means for the legitimacy of the current imperial line is vague at best—Micheaux was the adopted heir to Beldam II, rather than a blood heir, and while his illegitimate child still technically carries the mantle of rulership, the taint of Adella blood remains strong in the public zeitgeist. With most official records of them gone, the Adellas have become urban legends and cautionary tales, despised and not understood. While this revelation doesn’t prove Stavian III or Eutropia unfit to rule by default—to say nothing of Stavian’s adopted heir, Pythareus—it throws enormous suspicion and scandal on a family already under massive scrutiny.
Maria notices that these papers are more recent copies, suggesting that the originals may yet exist somewhere else.
"Oh Gods!" Melodie says once Maria explains, as she grasps the full implications of these documents. "This could ruin everything. Everyone who has pledged support is suddenly going to think their claims are better - Eutropia's coalition is going to collapse! Perhaps this hasn't got out yet?" She adds hopefully, but with no real expectation. "If she could be crowned then scrutiny would be a lot easier to bear afterwards!"
Zhi nods as the documents are explained to her. "You said these were copies, right?" she asks Maria. "Then we need to find the originals. We all know lots of people, we'll have to direct them to find the origin of these papers."
Sara remains inebriated for the carriage ride, though she does her best to hide it, staring out the window and keeping silent. The three cats from the teahouse mewl from a cage beneath her seat.
She doesn't show much of a reaction to the news, the day already being full with startling discoveries.
When Zhi starts talking, she directs her attention back to the group. "We're keeping Pythareus alive for a reason, right?" she slurs, kicking the Strategos' leg as emphasis. "Why don't we just ask him where the originals might be found?"
"He's alive because the Lionblades asked us to arrest him. Not assassinate him," Zhi responds. She smiles at the man. "One certainly would have been easier than the other."
She moves closer to rest against her wife. "We could ask him. And we have ways to determine the truth of what he says." She looks up at Melodie. "What do you think, Mel? Feel up to picking secrets out of his brain before we pass him off to the lawful authorities?"
She produces the evidential dagger. "Or we could get our information the old-fashioned way," she says, eyeing the blade. "I'm sure Tae Amalon would have her preferences."
Rousing Pythareus to interrogate him, the High Strategos favors you with a sneer. "So, you found the documents. It was a group of adventurers, of all things, who discovered them seven years ago when they plundered the Adella Necropolis. I dispatched assassins to eliminate the adventurers as soon as I caught rumor of their discovery, but the very fact that rumors reached my ear meant some of the information they uncovered had already been disseminated. Ever since, I've dispatched only my most trusted personal aides to execute anyone carrying such documents to preserve the Grand Prince's legacy. Stavian was fickle, of course, so I kept the documentation as leverage rather than destroy them in case he ever turned on me. The originals are spread out throughout the nation--even I don't know where they are. But now that I have fallen, my men have orders to reveal the truth. I will not be the next emperor of Taldor--but neither will your precious princess!"
Sara punches him in the face.
Pythareus reels back from the punch. His nose is bloodied, but his cold fury is unquenched.
Zhi's hand moves up to cover the snort of laughter that Sara's 'reasoned argument' produces. She then reaches out and puts a hand on the woman's knee.
"Now, now. Let's not damage the humiliated Ex-General too much," she says, still trying to hide her laughter.
She looks back at the man with blood running down his face.
"Be thankful. She could have kicked you in the balls. And with her heels, that would probably end any future potential 'Happy Times'." She shrugs. "Not that you'll probably get any chance at that again."
You link up with Kathann Zalar outside Panemona. The vishkanya has secured an armored wagon to transport Pythareus, along with a few other Lion Blade agents to prevent escape attempts. "You have done a great service to Taldor. We will take the High Strategos into our custody and hold him in Oppara while we continue to gather evidence of his actions. We will ensure he faces justice for his crimes."
Once the transfer is complete, you continue on your eight-day journey to Lotheedar and the Palace of Birdsong. Stavian alternates between episodes of friendly fawning over Melodie to imperious outbursts. He never seems to quite understand exactly what is happening around him.
Word of High Strategos Pythareus's defeat and arrest spreads like wildfire across Taldor. Each town you stop in is abuzz with gossip over the decisive blow struck in the War for the Crown. But even more rumors begin to circulate--that a hundred new claimants to the throne have emerged, that the princess is not of royal birth, or that Stavian III was only ever a pretender to the throne, invalidating both his daughter's and his adopted son's claims on the crown. Nobody seems to have details just yet.
Eventually, you reach the Palace. Having sent word ahead, Martella Lotheed quickly ushers you and your prisoner into an audience with Princess Eutropia. The princess gapes at her father. "I had to see it for myself... Father, alive!"
Stavian's eyes cloud with anger in a rare moment of clarity. "Eutropia. This is all your fault! Good men have died because you had to rock the boat. Damn you! Damn your mother for bearing you! You've brought nothing but shame and misery to the world!"
Eutropia scowls and turns away, trying to hide a few tears that have gathered in her eyes. She moves out of earshot of the former prince and beckons you close. "Despite how much of a monster my father has been, I am glad that he isn't dead. But I can't ignore his crimes. He murdered dozens of innocents. He tried to assasinate me. I don't know what I should do with him."
"He's collapsing." Melodie says quietly. "His mind has cracked and he's becoming senile, quite rapidly. If you want justice Your Higness I suggest that he be imprisoned so that he can be tried by the Senate as the law requires, but he will likely have forgotten who he is by that point. I would suggest giving him the care he needs here at the palace. Honestly, without major magical intervention, I don't think your father is going to be around much longer, even if this man is."
She looks sombrely at Stavian for a while, and then turns back to the Princess.
"I'm afraid there's more bad news." She then proceeds to explain the situation, pausing to let Maria show the appropriate documents.
"This is going to shake your claim to the core." She concludes.
"He deserves to be hung," says Sara, sober and impassive. "He's a monster, and should be shown no sympathy. I know he's your father, but you owe him nothing."
She blushes and steps back. "But I understand if you decide you want time with him first."
Zhi remains quiet during the exchange with Princess Eutropia.
Her feelings are that it would be better to put the man out of his misery, rather than let him rot in the prison of his own mind, but this isn't her father and she doesn't feel it's her place to suggest that.
When Sara suggests something similar, Zhi blushes and looks away.
"Aside from imprisonment or execution, exile might be an appropriate punishment. Though in such a state as his, I don't know if he would survive long on his own," Eutropia says sadly. "I would hear from Maria and Zileska before I render my decision."
The princess's frown deepens as she looks over the documents. "Yes. This is...not good," she says, the understatement of the century. "Martella had already begun looking into the rumors that are beginning to spread. I will give these to her so that she might investigate their validity, but if what Pythareus said is true, we still have a long road ahead of us. I hope I can count on you to continue to serve your country. I... I can't do this without you."
"You have our support, Your Highness," Zhi offers. "Once you've decided what to do with your father, what is our next step?"
"I'm honestly not sure. We have to find a way to reestablish the legitimacy of my claim, but it will likely take a while for Martella to come up with a solution. In the meantime, you've definitely earned a break. Get some rest, take care of yourselves. We'll contact you when we figure something out."
Phase 2
Melodie dives straight back in to her role as Tribune of Stachys, holding court and dealing with the various legal problems which have arisen in her absence. Her agents are also set to work, fixing town ills and preparing for a large feast to mark... something.
Zileska broods a great deal on the intervening journey. She seems cool and collected but she fingers her whip repeatedly and seems lost in thought - perhaps prayer? - quite often.
When Stavian is finally turned over, she says, "It's possible that divine magic could restore some semblance of lucidity to his mind. Enough to understand the position he's in and how he must be punished. Stavian can't skate out from his actions just because age has caught up with him. Vengeance, like justice, is both punitive and preventative. The punishment gives society a feeling that something has been done, that a criminal has suffered for their role in doing ill. It also serves as a warning to others who might try the same."
"Stavian hurt this country, he hurt Eutropia, he hurt me. Retribution is required."
~~~~~~~~~~
"This documentation can only hurt the Princess' claim if there are no other more legitimate claimants - actual blood descendants of Beldam or Micheau?" says Zileska about the revelations. She tosses her hair and says, "Assuming that one thinks that bloodlines are the most important part of the mantle of responsibility, anyway."
~~~~~~~~~~
"I have some good news amidst all of this," Zileska says to Sara one night during the travel. "My connection to Calistria has deepened... I could perform the magic to remove your mark any time now, without need of the incense. If you want it gone - if you want it to no longer be a reminder of who you were, but wipe that slate and reject that heritage in favor of who you've become - we can make that happen."
"Honestly, your highness, while I feel like punishment against a man whose mind is nearly gone may be too cruel, his actions are not something that the people will overlook. Especially as people may believe that the massacre was the last order he gave while his mind was still mostly his own. Personally; I think his mind had been deteriorating for some time before that, it would explain his paranoia about you and the Senate and would have left him in a perfect state for Pythareus to manipulate - lucid enough to still know the protocols and politics, but off-kilter enough to see assassins and traitors where none existed."
"I can't say what I would do in your position, but I cannot advocate for a man's death, even if it would perhaps be a mercy to someone in your father's state. All I can suggest is imprisoning him and trying to find a way to restore his mind, if it's even possible. He does need to be punished to placate the people, but if there's a way then I would feel far more comfortable were he to understand that he's being punished."
Zhi dreads the moment Eutropia's eyes turn to her. She'd hoped to avoid giving her opinion on this.
"I don't think there is a right answer here, Princess," she says finally. "And after the decision's made, we're ..." She gestures at the other ladies. "... going to go home and rest in our beds tonight free from any real burden of the decision. You're the one that will have to live with the consequences. He's your father after all."
She takes a deep breath.
"However, you have asked for my opinion, Your Highness, and I will not deny you that." She considers her words. "Perception is important. But whichever way you choose will be used by your detractors against you. If you execute him, they will say that you show no compassion for an enfeebled old man. If you spare him, they will say that you lack the strength required to rule. So I believe that the decision must be made based not on how others will perceive it, but on what you feel is the must just choice."
"Even if he was fully within his own mind, I don't believe that his actions at the gala would have been any different," she says finally. "The brutal murder of a newly elevated noble in front of a room full of witnesses alone should warrant a death sentence. The attempted overthrow of Taldor's very system of government by the assassination of a large number of the ruling body should guarantee it."
The small woman looks down and moves a hand over her belly. "That is my opinion, Your Highness." She doesn't seem happy about it.
Zhi plans on spending an evening speaking at the Wolf's Whisker on the real role nobility is meant to play.
~~~~~
Zhi spends the weeks at the Manor organizing changes. Carpenters and craftsters are brought in and a door is added between her old room and the master bedroom. A week later, furniture begins to arrive to fill in what is clearly becoming a nursery.
She spends time in the room most every day, arranging and rearranging the furnishings. The room becomes a canvas of warm woods and soft surfaces. Pink and lavander are the dominate colors in her chosen scheme.
Her morning stretching exercises continue, but it's clear that physical changes are happening. There's a slight bump beginning to show on her tummy and, to her excitement, she's starting to get breasts. They're nothing that would require support, but she seems to take great joy in the slight shape they're gaining.
"I want to talk about something," Zhi says after finishing her morning routine and returning to her wife who's still in bed. "Zil says that, based on the way things are going, she ... she might be able to do something for me in the near future."
She looks away nervously.
"Maybe it's vanity and you'll think it's silly, but ... I want ... I want to have curves, Mel." The longing in her voice is clear. "I want to look like a woman rather than some pre-adolescent boy." She reaches up to brush a hand across her nose and sniffles a little. "I want real breasts, and real hips, and real ... " she trails off and turns back to her wife. "Is that so horrible a thing?"
Zhi watches her wife's eyes and waits for her response, fearful and vulnerable.
"If you want them darling." Melodie replies, opening her arms for her wife to step into. "You know you don't have to do it for me? I fell in love with you just the way you are. If you want to change for yourself then I support you, 100%. But don't change if you think it's because I want you to. Anything you need, I'm here to help."
She simply holds her wife, there's nothing more to say and she doesn't want to mix her messages by saying anything else.
Eutropia nods gravely. "Very well. Based on everything you have said... And the feelings of my own heart... My father will face justice. I will make the necessary arrangements. You may go now. Martella will send for you when your services are needed again."
The princess turns away with a heavy sigh, having just signed her own father's death sentence.
"You might as well take advantage of them while you don't have to share," she says with a giggle.