"You see, I haven't had much contact with family in some time. The most I get are the odd visitor in the shrine here and there and the shrine familiars can only provide so much company. Needless to say, it gets a bit lonely." Koteru ran his hands over the painting. " So I painted this child thinking I would be able to bring it to life."
"You can do that?" asked Yiran in awe.
"...Amasu is quite far but we do still hear news from other places. You met that Gabriel fellow right? I was the one who gave him his tattoos...I did warn him not to overdo it..." Koteru trailed off.
Ea flinched at the mention of Gabriel. "...He was too far gone to heed any warnings..."
Koteru sighed. "I thought I could simply animate the ink like I did with his tattoos but as it turns out, bringing an actual being to life is much different from animating ink. I've tried all kinds of things but as it turns out, I'm lacking a strong enough catalyst. My magic is only enough to fuel half of the homunculus' life form and I haven't been able to find a strong enough magical source to fuel the other half."
A light bulb went off in Ea's head, realizing what Koteru was getting at. "I can give you a scale. Dragons are prime sources of magic after all. It should be more than enough to fully animate the homunculus."
Koteru's eyes lit up. "Are you sure?"
Ea pulled his sleeve up. "Of course!" His scales appeared on his exposed arm and he used his claws to pick one of them off. "You probably won't need the whole scale so you can keep the rest for other things."
Koteru carefully took hold of Ea's scale. "Thank you! I'll take good care of it!"
Yiran and Ea said their goodbyes to Koteru, wishing him luck with the painting before heading back towards the village to find someone to fix up the glasses for them.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
December • 11 • xxxx
After the commotion yesterday in the town square, it wasn't hard to imagine why Li had called for another public hearing. Citizens looked on nervously as soldiers walked the council up on stage. Favian had been talking their ears off in an attempt to get them to pardon the council. Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears time and time again. The more he was ignored, the more desperate he became until eventually, even his frantic pleas for mercy were nothing more than incoherent ramblings. Even Anduran, who always held a stoic expression was trembling.
Gwynevere was surprisingly calm. Perhaps realizing that they wouldn't be able to escape their fate, she had resigned herself to the situation at hand. Instead of a fearful look of hopelessness, her eyes were full of fury and resentment. The soldiers forced them to their knees. With their wrists and ankles bound in chain, there was little else they could do but await Li's arrival. Sure enough, Li came walking down the path followed by a procession of her magicians and priests. Li stepped onto the stage behind them and looked out at the crowd.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We are gathered here today to witness the punishment of false supporters. These three individuals have previously pledged to aid us in our time of need, to help us obtain justice for what happened to our beloved King. Yet here they kneel, not as loyal supporters, but as treacherous criminals. They have allowed for our treasured allies to be slaughtered and for Solaria to mock them with such vile sculptures."
Whispers erupted from the crowd as Li spoke. "As harsh as it is, we must remain steadfast. We must show those that would take us for fools that we do not take betrayal lightly!" The crowd raised their fists in support.
"Kill them!
"Kill these traitorous devils!"
"How dare they make a fool out of us!"
Seeming content with the response she was receiving, Li turned her attention to the High Council. "The High Council was founded many years ago as a force that would step in to prevent wars like the great Continental War of Targaera from ever happening again. Yet they have not only failed in carrying out their duty by allowing the disgraced Empress to murder King Sana, but have made a mockery of our efforts to rebuild and our grief. Today we do away with their empty promises of justice, today we do away with all those that would deny us our right to vengeance!"
The crowd burst into cheers once more eagerly looking on at the scene in front of them. "Do you have any last words?" Asked Li, looking down at the council members.
Favian had long since fallen silent, staring blankly at the wooden planks beneath him, almost as if he was already dead. Anduran remained silent as well. Gwynevere was the only one who lifted her head to speak.
"I suppose it's only natural that someone like you would be so familiar with the concept of betrayal...Your Majesty."
Most people only had a surface-level understanding of Li's past. They knew she came from Aruma An, they knew she worked with Illya's parents for some time and that when Aruma An fell, she became King Sana's most trusted advisor. However, Gwynevere wasn't satisfied with that. She has spent quite a bit of time digging up whatever she could on Li when she had thought to expose her plan to Emperor Sin. Being that she was part of the High Council, she had access to records the public would have never been privy to. As such, she was able to learn all about Li's betrayal towards Illya's parents. Perhaps it was because her ego was bruised, but against her better judgement, Li allowed Gwynevere to continue speaking.
"Baseless insults is what you have chosen to use your last words on? That's a shame. Here I was holding out hope you would have said something meaningful."
Gwynevere laughed bitterly. "Oh, I have something meaningful to say alright." She turned her head towards the crowd. "Something your people will find very meaningful."
Li rolled her eyes, even if Gwyenevere exposed her, there was no proof. Her reputation as King Sana's advisor spoke for itself.
"When your beloved Queen took control of Sindaria do you know what she did? She made a deal with us to dispose of any and everyone who posed a threat to her reign. Including your sons and daughters, brothers and sisters that saw her kill King Sana and take his root shi for herself all those years ago when she framed Empress Illya!"
For a moment the crowd fell silent, but it wasn't long until they exploded with insults and threats toward Gwynevere. Some even began to pelt her with stones.
"HOW DARE YOU MAKE SUCH ACCUSATIONS ABOUT THE QUEEN!"
"CUT HER BLASPHEMOUS TONGUE OUT!"
"STONE HER TO DEATH!"
Gwynevere closed her eyes. Part of her expected this reaction, but there was still a little part of her that hoped that her words at least began to sew doubt in their minds and that eventually the truth would be proven, even if she was not there to see it. As blood trickled down her forehead, she cursed herself for not disposing of Illya before she took power in Solaria. Perhaps if she never became Empress, none of this would have happened.
Those were Gwynevere's last thoughts as Li did as she had done many times before and absorbed the shi of the High Council, executing them before the many onlookers that cheered for their deaths. When the victorious cheering quieted down, a voice piped up from the midst of the crowd, one that made Li's blood boil with rage.
"Well I have to say, that was quite the show."86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VzVv40eSi
