David wanted to name us 'Kairine's Angels.' That was ridiculous, and I wasn't particularly enthused about my name being used. Zoe came up with 'Kairine's Dragons.' I thought she just had dragons on the brain, with her Dragron refusing to listen to her. At this point, I could see why.
The name that I liked the most was Fleur's. Tarda agreed, especially when he heard her explanation. She had said, "Back in ancient times, there was an organization whose job it was to be a check on the Maji Guard. This was before the Guard became the global police force. . . But they would investigate everything the Maji Guard did, so they were following the laws and enforcing justice fairly."
This organization's name, she explained, was the Tribunal. I liked that, and I especially liked the idea of it acting as a check and balance on the Guard. That sounded much like what needed to happen.
It was obvious by this point that the real problem with the Guard was the lack of oversight. There had been no one to check what they were doing and how they conducted themselves, allowing them to run free over the years. I also knew I could get the authority directly from the Fae'roh through Seth. If he'd ever come around to my perspective, that was. After all, this was precisely why the Fae'roh wanted my input on the Maji Guard's cases last year.
So now we had a name. But when David was making the sign, he'd gone and added my name to it, calling it 'Kairine's Tribunal,' despite my objections. Was he going to insist on having my name on everything? He was driving me insane, but the situation had Fleur laughing.
Despite all of that, now we could get to work on the case at hand.
David and Tarda wheeled in a corkboard they had somehow found in the back room. I wasn't going to question that or complain—I had learned long ago to just go with it. Going through the case files, the two began pinning things to the board. "Let's start with the basics," I announced. "The murder itself."
The victim was a Dusgelvan female by the name of Aneta Bronson, most likely an alias, as Dusgelvish names weren't like that. So, operating under that thought, we put it in quotations.
The cause of death was a darkness or Black Mystia spell—this meant that the killer was a Mystia Caster. Not exactly narrowing things down, though.
The crime scene was an old, run-down house in the poorest part of the district, and we knew there was a struggle when she was killed. I felt the house should be condemned, but setting that aside. . .
On the other side was the Maji Guard's involvement in the case. My sister was labeled a suspect, despite several issues with that thought.
There was possibly a conspiracy within the Guard. Their goal, allegedly: to hurt me. The motive was most likely revenge for humiliating them last year. So I damaged their egos. I was certainly off to a great start in political relations.
On the outside, it would appear that these two things were connected. Were the Maji Guard just using this case to hurt me? Or was there something in the case that was connected somehow?
There was also a third angle, and this was where we turned to Fleur. She had been, over the last week or so, going back and forth with her contacts in Olympus.
"For the Dusgelvan, Necro Spirit summoning rituals are a core part of their traditions," she began as she stood before us next to the board. "My real question was whether they had summoned the entity that was haunting Kairine and Zoe's home. And if so, why?"
Then she flipped the large pinboard over and pinned something new on that side. ". . . The Sechi Legion. . ." she announced as she stared back at me. I was in utter disbelief. "I have been able to confirm that the Dusgelvan Empire does,in fact, have ties to the Sechi Legion. An organization that Kairine was instrumental in dismantling last year. This would give them the motive to come after her. And we now know the Maji Guard also have the motive. Therefore. . ."
". . . It stands to reason that it's all connected," I finished for her. A million possibilities were circling in my head as the implications all hit me at that moment. I had created the very ignition source that sparked this entire conspiracy. Fleur had also shown that the corruption was likely even more widespread.
"So. . . Once again we have Kairine to blame for all of our woes?" said Zoe, clenching her jaw, her face reddening. I had to admit, she had a point. I caused all of this, and it was hard not to feel some remorse for it.
Fleur glared at her. "Hun, your sister did the world a service in dismantling the Sechi Legion. If you knew the history, you would know that their return does not bode well for any of us. . . And it's also not her fault the Maji Guard apparently have fragile egos," she responded, shooting a look at Tarda, who was chuckling at her comment.
"No offence taken. . . Some in the Guard certainly exemplify that, so you hit the nail on the head," Tarda replied, laughing along with her. In all candor, my views on the Maji Guard were beginning to shift. I knew he was one of the good ones, for him to come to us with all of this. But now I was beginning to see that this corruption had spread further than I thought.
And it was our job to root it out.
Now that we had a better understanding of the facts, as I saw it, there were multiple avenues of investigation to pursue.
First, we needed to canvas the Housing District to determine if there was anyone who knew this 'Aneta Bronson' at all. The top priority was to find out who this woman was. Who might have targeted her and why was she killed?
Tarda brought up a good point as well. "Could the murder have been set up from the beginning, rather than an opportunity the Maji Guard exploited?"
None of us could argue with that point.
Second, we would need to figure out how to deal with the Necro Spirit that haunted our home before it was too late. What Fleur added next made that even more imperative.
"From what I gather from my contacts, Necro Spirits are bad news, immensely so. . ." she began, staring at me with long, weary eyes, her mouth turned downward in a frown. "Is there anyone in your home that you feel has been acting strangely at all?"
I could tell she was looking mainly in Zoe's direction, though I didn't think she had been acting any differently. If anything, she had been a lot more open and nicer to me lately, but I saw that as a positive. I thought of Seth, but I hadn't really noticed anything different about him either.
I shook my head. "Not at the moment, no," I replied.
"Have you seen any Stirge Flies, or Ravishes, or anything like that in your home recently?" she questioned. Immediately, I shot a look at David, who was staring right back.
I nodded. "There's a Stirge Fly swarm in our kitchen."
"This isn't good," she replied, her forehead creasing as her mouth tightened. "That means the infestation is becoming more entrenched in the home. You will need to be careful. As a psion, I assume you know how to bless?"
"Yeah. . . I'll bless the home when we get back, including Zoe's room," I replied, and Zoe groaned. "Whether you like it or not, Zoe, it's necessary."
"Meanwhile, I'll keep looking for some kind of solution, some way to fight this thing."
Nodding, I turned to David. "How about you and I go canvas for anyone who might have known the victim?" I asked him. Then I turned to Tarda. "And can you go to the Maji Guard station and see what else you can find out? Try to remain inconspicuous."
"Sounds like a plan," Tarda responded, already on his way out the door.
"Zoe, meanwhile, you can remain here with your girlfriend and assist her with the research," I stated, turning to my sister. She groaned and rolled her eyes at me.
"Why do you always get the fun job!" she whined.
"Because I'm nice and polite, and don't insult people's beards. . ." I joked, as we were already heading toward the door.
"Are you ever going to let that go?"
"Nope!"
She kept whining after that. By then, we were already out the door and didn't hear any of it, thankfully, as I smiled at David. He was laughing so hard that I thought he would rupture his side. If there was one thing Sapphire Port taught me, it was that we should never let Zoe do any of the talking.
It was best to leave that part to me.
