Faction The People v. Lysander von Asacania

[Astra Sadow]

Edic Bar? Astra's expression didn't change, but neither did she blink. That was a hell of a thing to say the prosecutor could get to stick to him. Might be able to argue any fatalities were the doings of others unless there were holo feeds or eye witnesses. No doubt there was at least one, but would it get a conviction of murder? Obviously the gross destruction of property -- a floating city -- was no paltry thing on its own either. Still, property damage was easy to negotiate around. You could argue insurance had paid out and an even better future was underway. Murder, however, was not so easily swept under the rug. Not with these moralizing stooges.

Burnt golden eyes slid aside, away from the door and to the manifesting visage of Srina Talon herself. Suppose one was meant to be surprised at her appearance, but there'd been a tension in that court room that hadn't been born concerning the trial's outcome. She fooled people visually with her appearance, but few could be said to have the same... aura. There was only one Srina Talon in Astra's sense of the world. Her presence had always been a threat to these proceedings and now she'd made herself known.

An equal measure of acknowledgement mirrored Srina's own subtle introduction to Lysander's Attorney.

It then became an exchange between an Elder and their wayward Childe; of which Astra was not about to interject herself. One displayed the same courtesy one expected in turn should the circumstances be reversed.

At last, the Empress demanded her answer, and Lysander von Ascania provided it. One Astra expected would be pleasing to the woman.

"Me? You've made a mockery of the court, spat in the Prosecutor's face, plan to commit who knows what acts in order to escape, and now you add kidnapping to the charges?" Astra's brow furrowed and she leaned slightly back as if the mountain of outrage packaged in a single man were beyond comprehension.

Then a swarm of black tendrils erupted from the floor to snap shut like the Mouth of the Nether itself around the seat and end of the table where Aurelian Veruna had been sitting. It drug the material into the void as it vanished back from whence it came.

Afterward, Astra relaxed in the seat with a smile for Srina and Lysander. "I could feel the outrage from here. Verity Stuyveris is too upright to violate his civil rights so brazenly." By virtue of elimination one party had been left. "If you're departing I certainly have nothing left to do here. I doubt they'd give me the pleasure of letting lose in anger in my presence. And I really would rather not listen to the Judge drone on about the betrayal and humor the idea of a trial in absentia -- all rather tedious." It'd be much more exciting for them to think Astra had been kidnapped. They might have a doubt, but no evidence. Good enough.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Verity Stuyveris

Calculated risks were the foundation of every move Aurelian made, but watching his hunch pay off so spectacularly brought a satisfying clarity to the chaos. Crossing the small room, he collapsed into a high-backed chair with exaggerated fatigue. He brought his hands up to rub his face, listening to Verity's endless stream of legalistic fury until a faint ping on his comm confirmed the transmission was cut and the bug had been lost.

When the last of her deputies scrambled out the door, Aurelian dropped his hands, letting out a heavy, dramatic sigh into the sudden silence.

"Do you ever bother to stop complaining?" he blurted out, leaning back and resting an ankle over his knee. "Shiraya, it is nauseating how much I have to hear you whine."

A smirk broke through his tired demeanor as his eyes locked onto her burning blue gaze. The rules she held so sacred were currently dissolving in the next room, just as he had anticipated.

"Can't you just say thank you?" Aurelian asked, tilting his head with insufferable arrogance. "I quite certainly just saved your life, Senator."

​

 

[Verity Stuyveris]

LOCATION

THE HIGH REPUBLIC HALL OF JUSTICE

DINKY LITTLE CONFERENCE ROOM

MORNING

♫ (FUCK A) SILVER LINING — PANIC! AT THE DISCO

x

x

"Now listen to me, you jumped-up little -- " Verity snapped before regaining her composure, pressing her cupped hands to cover her nose and mouth. She took an audible breath and tried hard not to roll her eyes so hard they fell out of her head. "You expect me to believe that you unraveled this conspiracy on your own and then came to my aid? Please. You couldn't investigate your way out of a wet paper sack. No, let's be honest, Veruna. You wanted to insinuate yourself into negotiations that did not concern you because the thought of power being exercised somewhere beyond your reach caused you physical pain. Then you bugged the room, and by some obscene stroke of luck, you tumbled ass-over-elbow into something real."

She regarded him coolly for another moment, her irritation warring visibly with something considerably less comfortable for her.

"But..." The word hurt her teeth. "Tensions are running quite high and we've both said some things you're going to regret, so perhaps I have been... hasty in one respect. It would have been easier to keep me standing in that corridor." Her arms folded across her chest. "Probably it would have made your life easier in the long term, too. You thought I was in danger and so you came after me."

There, her mouth tightened as if she had discovered a stinging insect in her champagne. "So -- thank you. There. Treasure it. You are unlikely to hear it again, especially if you continue behaving like a jackass." She turned back toward the door, as if willing security reinforcements to arrive.

"Aurelian, don't mistake this for vindication of your methods. You are lucky, to be certain, and that seems to have served you well -- somehow. But it is more reliable to simply be ethical. Try it. You might like it." Verity turned back to him, and the plain fury on her face had given way to something like wry humor, though not untouched by the bitterness of the situation. "Can you believe those bastards? The audacity... the fucking temerity... the unmitigated cheek of it all. I could almost admire them if they weren't prepared to use the Republic Judiciary to for skeet-shooting."

Verity regarded him solemnly then. "We will have to get to the bottom of this mess. After all, I doubt you have any appetite for a cover-up, but we need to pay very close attention to anyone who does." Her features softened into thoughtfulness, though the sharp shrewdness in her gaze remained. "Do you know, our rather public antipathy might finally prove useful here."

A faint smile tugged one corner of her mouth up. "Verity Stuyveris, amazon hell on heels, goes tearing through the Judiciary demanding blood, breathing fire, and swearing vengeance. If somebody wants me stopped, who better to approach than you?" Her head tilted almost coquettishly. "You could finally put being an obstructive bastard to constructive use."

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WITH

Aurelian Veruna • Srina Talon • Lysander von Ascania

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Verity Stuyveris

Patience wore thin beneath the surface of his calm exterior. A tiny part of him genuinely wished he had left her in the corridor to fend for herself, if only to spare his head the pounding headache developing behind his eyes.

"I make no objection about inserting myself where I am not welcome," Aurelian started, uncrossing his legs to lean forward. "But let me remind you, you are in my house. The Republic is a guest here; I come and go as I please."

A smile touched his lips as he met her gaze head-on.

"You are not wrong. I sought a way to help a friend. But when I dug into the ways I could torment you in this trial, to which I found many. Your judiciary system is corrupt, to say the least," he continued smoothly. "Still, I accept your thank you. You might be dead if I had not intervened. Now, will you stop complaining?"

Resting his forearms on his knees, Aurelian locked eyes with the senator.

"Relax for once and let the right people do their jobs," he urged. "Save the full-on rage for the Senate once everyone is safe."

​

 

[Verity Stuyveris]

LOCATION

HIS MAJESTY'S JUDICIAL GUEST ROOM

KING AURELIAN'S PERSONAL CONFERENCE ROOM

TIME TO GET BENT

♫ MANCHILD — SABRINA CARPENTER

x

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"And, like any gracious host, you are so fond of reminding us," Us, because he surely couldn't even mean just her. Not when he spoke of the Republic Judiciary with such sneering contempt. Not when he treated the Senate and the Chancellor like accoutrements to his own overly-upholstered office. "Anyone would think that Naboo were chafing under the burden of hosting the Republic's entire legislative, executive, and judiciary infrastructure here." She finally turned back to him and then pointedly crossed to the opposite end of the table, where she drew a chair back and allowed herself to settle there.

"But -- perhaps you're right about complaining. What does it help now? There are problems to solve -- the one you yourself just raised, for instance. If Naboo considers the Republic merely an inconvenient, increasingly unwelcome guest here -- one whose institutions are expected to accommodate the Crown's prerogatives whenever the King decides they conflict -- perhaps this arrangement has outlived its usefulness."

She laid a slender hand on the table, fingertips drumming lightly. "I'm sure there are other member worlds of the Republic that could better tolerate the crushing weight of the responsibility that comes with being the capital. And since you've done me such a solid today -- you know, saving my life and all -- I could see my way to championing that reform on your behalf."

She drew out her datapad and made a note to herself as she went on, her voice conversational. "There are trade-offs, I'm sure, but respect for your royal prerogatives is no doubt a fair tradeoff for the billions of credits in economic activity the Republic's presence brings to Naboo. I wonder how that would play out during the next monarchy election. But you're so silver-tongued I'm certain you could explain it in a way that frames the natural consequences of your own arrogant, self-aggrandizing ego-trip as being in the best interests of Naboo."

A pause as she tucked her datapad back into her case.

"Right?" Verity drew a compact from her briefcase and checked her appearance. Despite the kerfuffle, she had not a single golden hair out of place, which was just as it should be. When she spoke, her voice was easy, conversational -- friendly, even. "How about Denon? Can you imagine? Corvalis would have a coronary."

That might almost have made it worth the attempt.

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WITH

Aurelian Veruna • CC: Dominique Vexx

 

[Srina Talon]

LOCATION: THE HIGH REPUBLIC HALL OF JUSTICE [Courtroom]
TAG: Verity Stuyveris - Astra Sadow - Lysander von Ascania - Corazona von Ascania

"I've made my choice. Take me home, Lady Talon."

"As you wish."

Her head inclined at the request made of her, and she exhaled, perhaps for the first time since arriving on this world. Her eyes shifted to Astra Sadow when Lysander insisted that she come with them to search for her agreement. The dark-haired woman was not without merit, having destroyed the device that was recording them. It was ironic that the Republic was breaking laws to enforce their warped Justice System—But that was neither here nor there.

Regardless…She would not leave her behind to suffer in Lysander's place.

"Stay close…", she murmured, reaching out to lay a hand on either of their arms. Physical contact wasn't necessary, but carrying two passengers made it easier. Time was suddenly running short, though she couldn't precisely pinpoint exactly when everything changed from a common trial to arms being raised. Perhaps she hadn't been subtle enough.

People in the courthouse moved differently now, hurried and fast, where before they had not. She sensed sudden urgency in her mind's eye as the Force whispered warning and heightened awareness. The Republic…Knew. She could not say to what degree, but there was a reason the prosecutor and varying parties hadn't simply burst in.

It was the intelligent choice. Self-preservation at its finest…To wait and send Jedi that she would ultimately slaughter if they forced her hand.

The silver threads along her clothing darkened while the rune work burned out. Her artistry had held up beautifully, but they were unable to withstand the truth of her when she stopped forcing everything inward. Warmth leeched from the air, and the lights dimmed while hairline fractures started to run through the windows. The pristine floor beneath them darkened while energy slipped beneath the polished stone like rot beneath flesh.

All that had been bottled up and corked let go, with her presence unfolding through the Hall of Justice. It was like the sudden coming of nightfall, a vast wave, and the conference room took the brunt of it. Shadows stretched where they shouldn't, and fine black tendrils threaded through the walls while dark motes started to drift lazily through the air.

Distant eyes of yellow-gold drifted toward the binders that kept Lysander a prisoner in his own body, and unnatural might poured into her hand. It was a tricky thing to remove something that inherently suppressed the Force just by being on the body. Thus, the Dread Queen used something else. Brute strength, Mercy, would be proud. Metal twisted while she wrenched it off of the young man, and the parts fell away, the suppression broken. "Come to me…This will not be pleasant.", she warned as she pulled them both of them into her side.

The windows splintered from corner to corner, and the walls seemed to decay by decades before shadow rose and swallowed them whole. All that remained would be a strangely empty room, broken restraints on the floor, and creeping black corruption.

A sign that something truly awful had been there…But was no longer.

Promise kept, they went home.

[Exit Thread]​

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Verity Stuyveris

Astonishment gave way to raw frustration as Aurelian took in the sheer audacity of her threat. Standing up abruptly, he pointed a sharp finger in her direction.

"First of all, I wouldn't have to lift a finger to win re-election," Aurelian snapped, his voice tight with disdain. "That does not scare me."

Rounding the long table, he closed the distance between them with deliberate steps. The political posturing in the room was rapidly burning through what little restraint he had left.

"This haven of a planet stood in prosperity well before the Republic arrived to lean on us," he continued, stepping directly into her space. "Naboo blossomed on its own and had the generosity to extend its protection to your system. We will survive long after you are gone."

Heightened anger flared in his eyes as he leaned over her, looking down with his finger hovering inches from her face.

"Be my guest," he urged. "Uproot the Republic and leave us in peace. I will gladly never step foot in that Senate hall again, except to make your life an absolute nightmare. You would have died today if it were not for me. Go find yourself another planet and survive without my mercy. See how that goes for you."

​

 

[Loren Ardemark]

There was a young man screaming in the hallways.

Three security guards held him as he thrashed wildly, his robes in disarray, hair a tangled mess.

His voice was raw and ragged as he screamed. Tear tracks streaked his cheeks and his blue eyes swam with pain.

“This is your fault!”

The words came from vocal cords constricted by emotion.

“Do you hear me Von Ascania? You should have stopped him! He’s your brother. You should have stopped him!”

Loren Ardermark sunk to his knees amidst the three guards holding him back, sobbing uncontrollably as he remembered every person he lost in Tapani thanks to Lysander.

The young man rocked back and forth, inconsolable.

“You should have stopped him,” he repeated, the words broken and quiet and said over and over again. “You should have stopped him.”

 

[Verity Stuyveris]

LOCATION

THE HIGH REPUBLIC HALL OF JUSTICE

CONFERENCE ROOM

TIME TO GO

♫ GUNPOWDER — MARTIN PHIPPS

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Pale blue eyes went from finger to face, her chin elevating slightly to do it. Verity didn't answer for some moments. In fact, she remained entirely passive until she allowed herself a sardonic half-smirk. "Yes," she agreed, her voice edged in subtle, condescending amusement, as if she were validating a child's fantasies and not speaking to an elected monarch and representative to the High Republic Senate. She was visibly unimpressed by his little display. "The quintessential posture of a man with utter confidence in his electoral prospects. I'd know it anywhere."

She shifted the seat back and rose to her feet, smoothing her skirt as she looked down upon the King of Naboo. It wasn't that he was shorter, really, but he was smaller, in all the ways that mattered to a life of public service. Self-absorbed, self-obsessed, and unable or unwilling to see the greater good. She had seen potential in him, and potential there still was, but she rather doubted he would ever be able to get out of his own way. "As for this business about your mercy: I thanked you, and I meant it. You thought I was in danger and you came to get me, and it was decent of you. Minimally decent, actually, but decent. But you didn't spare me. There's a difference there. You've now mentioned it twice in as many minutes, but I promise you, crossing fifteen feet of corridor doesn't become more heroic with repetition."

She took a breath and rolled her neck, considering whether she ought to say more. She decided she really ought.

"You know, Aur -- forgive me, Your Majesty," Verity began again, her voice still that conversational, pleasant tone, though the warmth had completely left her eyes. "I often find our banter invigorating. It feeds into something predatory in me that I don't often want to indulge." She smiled faintly and picked up her briefcase, slinging it over one forearm and letting it settle into the crook of her arm. "But the truth is -- the honest truth? -- that I don't want a nemesis. Not in you. Not in anyone. I would much rather have come to some kind of accommodation with you. Some arrangement where we could put our considerable and different strengths to best use in service of something bigger than personal animus or ambition. Or even if we were constantly at cross-purposes, if we were both making the best arguments for our ideological positions, to show the Republic a clear choice, that would be something. More and more you prove yourself incapable of it, because you have no arguments. Your only ideology is what do I want? You'd rather set fire to the Republic than work together to reinforce it, if it means that you get top billing."

Verity reached up, her fingers carefully adjusting the lay of her lapels, ensuring she would be picture perfect no matter the turmoil of the last quarter hour. "So if you want to stop me because of whatever sad little grudge you need to bear, by all means: try. I will do what I must."

She adjusted the briefcase at her elbow and fixed the King with a cold look.

"Not because I'll enjoy it -- though I will -- or because you are a petulant, puffed-up little prick -- though you are -- but because I wouldn't trust you to run a bath, let alone a galactic government. You don't have what it takes. And all this," she gestured at him, from top to toe, "simply confirms that you never, ever will. But allow me to give you fair warning. I'm going to be Chancellor of the High Republic one day, and if you try to stand in my way I'll go through you like a door."

Verity stepped around the King and crossed back to the door. Better to face Srina Talon herself than spend one more second observing the very least that Naboo had to offer the galaxy.

x

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WITH

Aurelian Veruna

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Corazona von Ascania Srina Talon Astra Sadow​

Watching remained the only option as inexorable black tendrils coiled around the chair's frame and hauled it down through nothingness. Attention chased the last wisp until there was nothing left, then resettled upon Astra. For him, silence pooled in the aftermath while words were gathered up and taken apart thread by thread by a mind frayed thin.

"I take it His Majesty was feeling curious." To an outside ear, it might've sounded like a dry little observation tossed into the air, but no real mirth lived there. Thought shifted to the Prosecutor momentarily, then dismissed just as quickly. Ultimately, there wasn't much time if departure was to even remain an option.

Under different circumstances, Astra's litany might've made for laughter; bloodless lips quirked before retreating. "Call it a strategic evacuation of counsel." Because her guidance was not limited to legalities. Besides, it was a more graceful term than running away, though the outcome was identical. And because leaving Astra behind had never been on the table.

Attention sank to the binders. Metal twisted with a sound that made shoulders hunch; wrists throbbed with returning life, sensation rushed back. Hands lifted, turning over, flexing trembling fingers, and examining the grooves left behind. Without warning, the Force crashed in, bright and savage and too much. At first there had been that blue-black hush, the snowfall of quiet before a storm.

Then the storm collapsed inward and everything roared back at once. A flood of colors snapped into focus around him. Through them, the corruption finally bared itself, pressure swelling inside his skull, an eclipse spreading behind the eyes. Darkness did not fall so much as it rose, up from the floor, up through bone. Nausea rolled; his temples thundered, and despite the warning to come closer, every muscle locked.

Through the turmoil, his sister's presence burned like a lone candle, familiar beyond reason. Blood knew blood, even in this place. Within, something hollowed out, grief ripping his heart open from the inside. For years there'd been a careful dance along the brink, believing one foot could stay on solid ground while another tested the drop.

Today that pretense finally shattered in a burst of molten hues, smothering the green of his gaze entirely, suns choked behind smoke, visible without the violence that always forced them out.

Telepathy brushed outward. <<You always wanted me to choose for myself. I finally did. I love you, Corazona. But the brother you've been trying to save is already gone.>> Movement found his boots again, dragging them across the dark floor. <<Tell Fatine I'm sorry.>>

Then Srina pulled him close, and Lysander von Ascania was no more.

-Exit thread-

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Verity Stuyveris

Never in his twenty-odd years had he encountered a woman quite so insufferable. She stood there like an ugly guarlara preening over itself, desperate to bend the entire room to her uncompromising will. Layering backhanded compliments over sharp insults, she treated a sitting king as if he were a petulant child. Perhaps she still carried a bitter grudge from when he dismantled her subpar bill on the Senate floor. The tragedy of it was that he had once recognized her genuine talent. Now that she had openly declared her bid for the Chancellorship, he vowed to spend every resource to ensure she never reached it.

Raging heat flared behind his eyes, a blinding wave of red anger taking complete control of his senses. In one swift, fluid motion, Aurelian drew the pistol concealed at his hip. He brought the barrel up and pulled the trigger, driving a single bolt directly into the back of her head as she stepped past him.

Time slowed down around the crack of energy, capturing the instant her icy composure shattered. He watched her body go limp, crumpling onto the hard floor. A wave of dark satisfaction washed through him, watching the quiet pool spread across the polished floor.

Good thing for her, that was just a daydream.

Verity was still intact, stepping around him toward the exit without a single scratch. Aurelian remained perfectly still, his hand hovering empty over his hip while she reached for the door handle. A faint smirk returned to his lips in the quiet room. Truly, he was a merciful king, or perhaps he had simply grown enough to recognize when a phantom impulse served no purpose. Shiraya might even grant him a blessing for such exceptional restraint, preferably by dragging this woman to the furthest corner of the galaxy.

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

“This is your fault!”

Haunted wails rose to meet the pair of sisters as they hurried down the hall. Cora’s hands were on Fatine's shoulders, having steered her younger sister out of the courtroom moments after a Dark surge of the Force hit her in the chest like a brick.

Cora reached for one of the guards, pulling him by Fatine. "Get her out of here," she pled over rough vocal cords.

“Do you hear me Von Ascania? You should have stopped him! He’s your brother. You should have stopped him!”

For a long moment, she lingered a few feet away from Loren, frozen. Absorbing his agony. She looked a mix of exhausted, terrified, and regretful.

"I…"

I'm sorry? That sounded so flimsy in the face of such a violent lament. The line she’d tried to toe so carefully with her brother had ultimately ended up hurting everyone. Thousands of innocents. Their family. Him.

Cora’s back molars ground together. "I should have," she rasped. Suddenly, she went stiff.

<<You always wanted me to choose for myself. I finally did. I love you, Corazona. But the brother you've been trying to save is already gone.>> Movement found his boots again, dragging them across the dark floor. <<Tell Fatine I'm sorry.>>

Familiarity did nothing to lessen the panic rising like bile in the back of her throat. There was no more air left to breathe in this hall.

Cora dashed past Loren and up the stairs, weaving around guards as they scrambled to evacuate courtroom personnel and spectators, following an invisible thread before it could vanish completely. Maybe, if he was still here she could-

The door opened with a rush, revealing an eerie decrepit room. Broken windows and yellowed, peeling walls that stank with the ichor of corruption.

The room was empty. A pair of loose shackles laid on the floor.

Cora knelt, wrapping quivering fingers around the metal restraints that once held her brother's wrists. Psychometry was never pleasant, and she wasn't particularly gifted in being able to glean entire histories. But a short, recent conversation would come to her in blinding snippets.

"And I would prefer it if I did not leave alone. I will take you home regardless of the cost…If it is what you wish."

"I spent too many cycles trying to contort myself into something my family could stomach. Something they could look at without asking what had become of me. I had it entirely backward. I tried to shrink myself to fit their mold, when I should have realized I was never meant to fit it."

"I've made my choice. Take me home, Lady Talon."

Home.

Cora ripped her hand from the shackle, chest heaving sharply. She wiped beneath her eyes with her sleeve, a cruel ache carving through her stomach and branching outward along every limb.

They'd spoken at length about his choice. Perhaps the Sith felt like home because they did not challenge him to be better, or hold him accountable for the lives he'd taken. And that woman, who'd lingered in the back of the court room was really…

Of course. The Sith always had some trick up their sleeve, some way to shirk the consequences of their actions - or place them on someone or something else entirely.

"You never had to join the Light," she muttered, heedless of whether or not the sentiment would carry over through telepathy. "It would've be enough if you didn’t stand with monsters."

But he had. He’d made the choice to stand with those who’d perpetuated wanton violence unto innocents. Genocide. Perhaps he held greater strength of character than her simply because he was the one who’d been able to stop waffling and making excuses.

Their bond couldn't be severed - it was too thick with ninteen years of memories to break in an instant. Instead, it would come apart gradually, thread by thread. An agonizing, slow death.

“I can’t… do this anymore,” she whispered, voice straining on years of grief. She had the rest of her family to look after. Ukatis. The Jedi in her care.

Cora rose slowly, carefully, pressing the shackle to her heart as she imparted one final message to Lysander:

<<"You should not return to Ukatis.">>

After all, he'd made it known where home truly was to him.

 

[Makko Vyres]

MAKKO

Corazona von Ascania

Makko had already turned off the holoscreen. Lula was on her back. Lucy was scrunching her fingers against the wobbly belly of fur that was within arms reach.

Makko was watching carefully, knowing that a warning nip would be quite the even for Luciana. As he watched, his thoughts stretched out through the Force.

Are you coming home or would you like us to come to you? I've got a travel bag packed.

 

[Verity Stuyveris]

LOCATION

THE HIGH REPUBLIC HALL OF JUSTICE

SECURITY OFFICE

TIME TO GO

♫ ADANTE ESPRESSIVO — NICHOLAS BRITELL

x

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By the time Verity Stuyveris left the courthouse, she had developed opinions on what had happened.

She was not especially eager to allow those opinions to substitute themselves for an investigation, but the facts were damning. The Judge had left chambers and was not answering her personal comlink, her home comlink, or her office comlink. Her staff didn't know where she was. Her speeder was missing. Her husband was missing from his office. Verity Stuyveris was in no position to demand the judge's presence -- not as prosecutor, anyway -- but she felt perfectly comfortable as a Senator to demand answers.

Answers were frustratingly slim.

The security camera feeds didn't help. There were no cameras in chambers, because what went on back there was supposed to be confidential. There were no cameras in the conference rooms for the same reason. But alone with the security chief and Chief of Staff Lucian Varencourt in the security room, Verity saw herself on a small monitor -- the picture of professional perfection in her chic dark suit and golden hair -- walking with Astra Sadow and Lysander von Ascania and her legal backup. Then nothing. Then Aurelian Veruna storming through.

Verity half-turned to Varencourt. "Get those frames out. I don't want to be able to turn on a holonet terminal without seeing that as B-roll footage."

"You or the King?"

Verity shut her eyes. She wished her staff would stop calling him that. Her eyes opened again. "Both. The contrast is... something, wouldn't you say?"

"And this bit?" Varencourt asked, nodding back to the camera feed where now Veruna was yanking her into a conference room.

"That bit, too," Verity answered grimly. "Credit where it's due -- he did act to preserve my safety. Both myself and my office will be extremely complimentary to the King. In fact, Luc, I want you to send him flowers. Something expensive. Something large. I want my gratitude to take up an astonishing portion of his field of vision. Sign it... With affection and gratitude, Verity." She paused, tapping her chin. "Meanwhile we'll leave it to some of the better press to wonder why he felt the need to almost rip my arm out of its socket and then sit calmly in a room for fifteen minutes. I'm sure someone will."

"Speaking of the press -- they're on the steps now that the security cordon has been lifted from the plaza. Waiting for you, I think."

Verity frowned and glanced over her shoulder at the chief of security for the courthouse for a moment. She had asked much of them in the absence of the presiding judge, and she knew they weren't sure whether she had been entitled to do so. She had only requested actions to preserve the evidence, to safeguard the courthouse, and to find the judge -- things they ought to have done anyway -- but they had needed someone to lead them. She had stepped into that gap until another senior judge arrived to take charge. It had been unusual but rewarding, she thought. "Give me a moment. I'll be out in a minute."

The next few moments were spent speaking to each of the security personnel who had served that day. She thanked them, shook their hands, and told them that she would be in touch. It had been a long day for all of them, but especially the security staff, with the confusion that reigned and the suspicion that would no doubt follow them. By the time she was approaching the doors out into the plaza, Verity felt suddenly quite tired. When she saw Varencourt by the door, she locked eyes with him, squared her shoulders, and nodded. He pushed the door open for her and she stepped out into the sun. There was a moment of peace, and then the shouting started.

[Thread Exit]
​

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WITH

Aurelian Veruna