(In the Chambers of the Pontifex)

  Not long after the attack, Ilphas had practically crashed into the clearing when he saw the smoke. Now, standing in a spacious room made of stark white marble, as bare and unhidden as the heart of the matter that was being explored. Despite the severity of what had occurred, the number of people present was rather sparse. Sitting on a dais was the Pontifex. Those golden eyes of his gave nothing away. Despite his remarkable aging, Edwin could only detect a damn near perfect aura of power and control. Nothing like the kings that supposedly ruled these lands. It was something more subtle and less tangible, but equally potent. Next to him was a much younger Luca Amata, watching the proceedings with barely contained energy, if the slightly twitching quill in his hand was any indication. There were of course a few customary guards. Also present were the Head Priests of the three temples associated with the attack. There was Priest Henrique of the Ingenia, Priest Martin of the Barathrumites and Priest Terrence of the Cassidians.

  Edwin had carefully tread his way through the verbal waters. He was perfectly aware of his innocence just as he was perfectly aware that if he wasn’t careful, it wouldn’t matter.“Unknown Hero Thatch, I pray you realize the graveness of spilling the blood of my priests”, the aged elf said in an inscrutable voice.

  Edwin tightened his clasped hands, “I’d think that when someone tries to kill you, you don’t stand by and wait for them to do what they want.”

  “What about these men made you feel you were in danger?”

  The redheaded man was doing his best not to grind his teeth, “As I said, Ilphas is the only person who’s ever come to get me and he always does it at the same time of day. So you’ll excuse me for being suspicious when I see three people who have never come to the place I’m staying and I see that they’re armed to kill.”

  “And they made their intent to kill you clear?”

  “They talked about exposing and then taking care of me.”

  “But they did not say they intended to kill you.”

  “Yes because barging into someone’s house, and talking about searching for me and cornering me means that they only have pure intentions,” Edwin practically spat out.

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  The air in the room grew noticeably still at Thatch’s comment. The Pontifex’s face remained stoic. While the Pontifex typically took an appearance of piety and benevolence, he was still unused to blatant disrespect.

  “How dare you”, a guard exclaimed before the Pontifex sharply raised a hand to halt the man. The guard was surprised at being told to stand down, but grudgingly obeyed.

  “What I wish to know is how you managed to survive”, the question managed to cool one tension, only to inflame another, “After all, it was confirmed by several witnesses that the house that the Unknown Hero resided in was completely destroyed”, the Pontifex’s calculated mask slipped away to one of curiosity and perhaps, hope, “To not only emerge victorious from this battle, but to do it in such a way that you were barely injured and managed to bring your attackers low…”

  The Pontifex let the statement hang in the air. For as calm as Edwin tried to remain, he couldn’t keep his eyes from darting to the various people in the room. Nobody made any obvious moves, but the weight of everyone’s attention became many times heavier. Even Ilphas, who while their relationship hadn’t gotten off to the best start, had an eager look that didn’t look natural on his face. The instincts that Edwin had told him claiming ignorance on the subject wasn’t an option. He was tempted to tell them what happened. If anything, what happened was probably something they had experience with. But as he opened his mouth, just like all those other times, he found himself unable to move. Everything was completely frozen and still.

  “Not yet.”, the Voice commanded in a tone that offered no argument. It didn’t sound threatening, but it definitely gave the impression that Edwin had no choice but to obey.

  After those two words, everything returned to its natural state. Edwin’s previously unreadable face was noticeably shaken and sweaty. White the rest of the occupants of the room continued to stare at the shaken man, the Pontifex suddenly took on a meditative stance. Snapping his eyes at Edwin, “The Unknown Hero is innocent in this matter! His attackers will thus be excommunicated. His remaining attacker will also henceforth be imprisoned and executed!”

  Every eye was now on the Pontifex, as the tension finally boiled over. Henrique and Martin both started shouting in protest and while Terrence didn’t say anything, he still didn’t look pleased. They had all lost people to the Unknown One, and while an argument could be made, they still felt they deserved an explanation from the mouth of their killer.

  “Guards, please escort Mr. Thatch to one of the rooms here in the mansion and do not let anyone without my personal approval anywhere near him”, he turned to the rest of the people who were still demanding answers, “The rest of you are dismissed. Ilphas, walk with me.”

  Confused by such whiplash in what was meant to be court proceedings, the younger elven priest could only hurriedly follow his senior who despite his advanced age had long strides. Waving his hand, the Pontifex made a section of wall in his private study slide open, leading into a secret hallway, which promptly shut as Ilphas practically stumbled in.