Afternoon of the 2nd Kinsday of Petals - The Great Hall
Anastaz The Salt Knight
Anastaz looks down and
begins to massage his temples when the guilty verdict is announced.
When the King says his name, he slowly looks up at the expectant
crowd and stands. "Forgive me if I lack Sir Heldris' eloquence."
He searches the crowd for the Iron Knight.
Referee
The Iron Knight stands
up from Kranach's table and straightens her white uniform. She smiles
confidently at you.
Anastaz The Salt Knight
"Lady Bianca of
Altenburg, Sheriff of Kranach, you stand accused of blackmailing Lady
Dagmar, Marshal of Karpat, a fellow Knight, servant of the King, and
defender of the Realm. Do you deny these charges?
Referee
The Iron Knight takes a
step closer to the guards that stand between the throne and the
attending nobles. She is very beautiful. "The Snare Knight
has paid me for keeping a secret that should have been revealed
earlier." She has faced the nobles but turns now and addresses
Lady Dagmar directly who is still shielded by the Karpat Envoy
Adalgunde. "Keeping it a secret is a mistake I regret deeply.
You call it blackmail. I call it an oversight that I am willing to
rectify by sharing her despicable betrayal with her fellow Knights."
 |
| Lady Bianca, The Iron Knight |
Anastaz The Salt Knight
"A secret that
should have been revealed earlier'... If Lady Dagmar betrayed His
Grace, concealing that fact would be treason. If she did not, you
have merely forsaken your vows. Which is it?"
Referee
"We all remember
the war." She looks down with a pained expression. There are
subdued murmurs of approval from the crowd. "Much has happened
since. Back then I was a young Kranach soldier fighting invaders from
Svenrik. Karpat were our allies. The betrayal of Lady Dagmar was that
of her allies not of the King." The murmurs grow louder. "I
have not forsaken my vows and the traitor sits over there."
Anastaz The Salt Knight
"It was war, my
Lady. Allegiances change. We have many lords and ladies of Szalai in
this chamber, did they betray you when they took up His Grace's
standard? And what of Kranach, who ultimately bent the knee as well?
And if you had fought until the bitter end, you would not be standing
here today."
Referee
"If we had fought
freely without being stabbed in the back by this snake we might have
won." She hisses angrily taking a step closer to Lady Dagmar.
Anastaz The Salt Knight
"No one is forcing
you to swear allegiance to His Grace, Lady Bianca, nor to stay in His
realm. You could always forswear your titles and flee to Masuria."
Referee
"Flee?" She
spits. "Why leave? There was a time when all of this ..."
She bites her lips but the damage is done. There are angry shouts
from the Knights and you see her trembling from anger. Sir Dragan
approaches her and lays a hand on her shoulder but she angrily shrugs
him off. "Who do you think you are?", she screams at you.
"A stranger who doesn't know our history. An era when we lived
in peace before the invaders came. A Realm prosperous and ruled
justly by … " Dragan has now gotten hold of her and drags her
back. More shouts from the crowd. Sir Vladimir tries to call for
order but no end. Lady Bianca slums on her chair while Lady Zdenka is
trying to talk sense into her. Sir Dragan is approaching the King to
limit the damage that is done.
Anastaz The Salt Knight
"At last we see
the real betrayal, a treason hiding in the Iron Knight's heart,
fomenting disloyalty against His Grace. Yet even as she resents
Masur's loss, she uses it for her own gain. How would your fallen
comrades feel, knowing you profit from their demise?"
Referee
You need to shout your
words over the commotion that Lady Bianca's words have caused.
"Unworthy to be a Knight!" somebody calls and "Take
her title away" another. Finally the clamour dies down and the
King declares: "As the advisor of the accused, Sir Dragan is
allowed to speak on the Iron Knight's behalf." Sir Dragan
positions himself next to you, wipes his face with a silken
handkerchief and waits until it is completely silent. "Lady
Bianca has fought at the Battle of the Red Reeds where hundreds were
slain. She was among the few who survived. I pray nobody among the
young Knights ..." he glances around before looking straight at
the Salt Knight " … has to suffer her fate and I beg for
forgiveness in her name." He turns around and points at the
Snare Knight. “I summon the Marshall of the Fortress, Lady Dagmar
of Karpat before the King to give witness."
The Snare Knight gets
up with great difficulty and grips the back of her chair to steady
herself. She is very pale and sways slightly. "I have only one
question.” Dragan says gently."Do you admit betraying the
position of Karpat's troops that caused the death of so many fine
soldiers?” And in the shocked silence she answers in a trembling
voice. "Yes and I regret it every day.” Dragan turns to you with a smile. “Your witness, Salt Knight!”
Ser Perilake The Gilded
Knight
Perilake's eyes stray
back towards his squire. Will Zoltan hold his tongue, or will he
shame himself further? Somewhere inside, the gilded knight still
holds the faint hope that the boy may show wisdom, that if he speaks
then he will lend his voice to forgiveness and conciliation. But that
hope flickers but dimly now, lost in the shame of the attack. It is
kept alive only by the presence of Lady Inga.
Anastaz The Salt Knight
Anastaz sighs. "Lady
Dagmar, why did you betray the position of Karpat's troops?"
Referee
She is slurring her
words and her eyes are red and swollen. “It was the end of the war.
We had lost and everybody knew it. To send the men and women to their
death would have been .. But the rulers in their holding were proud
and didn't see what was obvious. I was promised that our soldiers and
the soldiers of Kranach would be surrounded and given the opportunity
to yield. The war would have ended without any more bloodshed!”
Anastaz The Salt Knight
Anastaz crosses to Lady
Dagmar and takes her hand in his to comfort her. "And then what
happened?"
Referee
"The mercenaries
from Svenrik attacked without warning. We were overrun. They killed
Sir Zigmunt. They spared no one." Tears are running down her
face. It is utterly silent in the Great Hall.
Anastaz The Salt Knight
"How did the Iron
Knight first approach you, my Lady?"
Referee
"A delegation from
Kranach visited us last year. As you may know Lady Zdenka is married
to the uncle of my liege. Bianca told me she would reveal what I have
done unless I would pay her from the Karpatian coffers. I was afraid
my family … “ Her voice breaks” I was afraid of the shame .. I
was weak … I should have stood up to her ...”
Anastaz The Salt Knight
Anastaz slowly shakes
his head. He looks up at the assembled masses. "Many secrets
have been revealed today. Lady Dagmar gave away secrets assured that
her sacrifice would protect the people of the realm, but the
mercenaries from Svenrik did not honor this deal. Lady Bianca
discovered the Snare Knight's secret and manipulated it to her own
profit: disturbing the peace of the realm, threatening the status of
house Karpat, and desecrating the memory of house Kranach's fallen
warriors. For her disloyalty to the King and her treachery towards a
fellow Knight, I declare Lady Bianca devoid of honor and ask that she
be stripped of her titles, as it please Your Grace. May the Seers
have mercy on all of us." Anastaz takes a seat, exhausted.
 |
| King Andrasz of Barow |
Referee
Zoltan is leaning
against the balustrade with his back to the trial. His head is buried
in his arms and his shoulders are twitching.
Down in the Great Hall
you could hear a needle drop. All eyes rest on the King who absent
mindedly massages his right hand. Next to him Sir Ulrich has put his
face in his hands in a reflection of his son's posture. Sir Dragan
has taken a seat next to Zdenka who has placed a hand on Bianca's
shoulder. After a while the King calls Dragan and Anastaz to him.
“Dragan, the Iron Knight is guilty of breaking her vow. She will be
stripped off her titles. If she finds a place in the sanctuary of a
Seer we might in time call her back into service.” Dragan harrumphs
and shakes his head. In an undertone he says:” My Grace, Lady
Zdenka has promised the rulers of Altenburg that she would not
abandon one of our own. There will be severe diplomatic consequences.
I urge you to rethink your verdict.” The King narrows his eyes at
Dragan's words and looks over to you.
Anastaz The Salt Knight
Anastaz speaks loudly.
"I am more than willing to put it to a trial by combat. Surely
Altenburg cannot dispute the verdict if even fate finds her guilty."
Referee
Sir Dragan inclines his
head with a smile as if he had expected your suggestion: “That
would be agreeable.” The King however hesitates and studies your
face with a worried look. “A trial by combat is not a tournament
fight, Salt Knight. It is fought to the death. Are you sure you want
to put your life on the line for Lady Dagmar?”
Anastaz The Salt Knight
Anastaz nods slightly.
"I know Lady Dagmar's cause to be just. And when I make a vow, I
keep it."
Referee
Andrasz walks past all
the Council members and the delegates from the house who had risen
and stand in line. He addresses the Great Hall. ” Tomorrow the
Realm comes together once again to renew the bond we share. It pains
me that the matters discussed throw a shadow over the unity of the
Realm. Lady Bianca of Altenburg has been accused of having broken her
vow and I have asked Sir Anastaz The Salt Knight who brought the case
to my attention to prosecute her. Due to the gravity of the
accusations it has been decided that a trial by combat will determine
who fate will favour. They will meet at dawn among the Hedge and the
blood of the one destined to die will consecrate the stones.” With
this the trial of the Iron Knight ends and Knights and Courtiers
slowly file out of the Great Hall lively discussing the events of the
day.
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