"Unfortunately, they've all taken vows not to convert," says Vanire, with a wry grin. "But yes. He said that..." Vanire frowns in recollection "...that Martel was involved in the poisoning of the Queen, using a rare and virulent Rendorish poison called Darestim. He also said that there is no antidote. But the demon didn't burst out of him until he mentioned Martel and Rendor in the same sentence. I wonder..."

Arkady looks puzzled. "He said the mercenary captain poisoned the Queen? Not his employer or some other agent?"

Felix shrugs.

"If we can get our hands on some of that poison it's possible we can make an antidote, though if it's really so rare just getting some could prove to be a major trial."

"He wouldn't have applied it himself, but I know a bit about how Martel thinks," says Vanire. "If he was involved, then he was involved at command level; he won't follow a plan that he hasn't had some hand in crafting."

He frowns. "I'd speculate that Martel may have been hired to have the Queen killed, with at least some pretense at subtlety. A rare poison with no known antidote - that's Martel all over. He probably planned the poisoning, obtained and delivered the poison, arranged for it to be given to Queen Cehlana... and probably without ever visiting the Palace himself."

Arkady looks a bit nonplussed. "Yes, but did you ask him who hired this Martel? Did this Primate of yours do it, or was it someone else?"

Nate plays back the recorded video for Arkady.

"Seems to me that while we don't have any direct evidence yet, we can reliably assume the Primate poisoned the Queen."

"He certainly has reason," opines Vanire. "The Queen was cutting him off from access to the treasury, the Regent is pretty much just a figurehead. Politically, he's -"

There's a clatter as half a dozen Pandions, following the directions of a frightened castle guard, all turn up at once ready to fight.

--------------

An hour or so later, the Terrans, Vanire, Sir Ulath, Count Radun, and a few of the Pandions all meet up in a rather more comfortable upstairs room to continue their interrupted discussion. Piper moves from person to person, sitting in laps and dispensing hugs and kisses as she goes. Sir Parasim's and Adus' bodies have been suitably dealt with (Adus thrown on the fire with the rest of the mercenaries (after his pockets were searched and found empty of anything useful), Sir Parasim put aside for a military funeral with all honours and a lot of ceremony... later).

"And that's where things stand," says Vanire, who's just finished brining everyone in the room up to speed. "No Elene court will accept these Terran artifacts and recordings as proof, unfortunately, and the Primate has enough political connections that he'll shrug off anything short of ironclad, rock-solid proof and might even be able to get away with that. The best - and perhaps the only - way to remove him from power is to find a cure for the Queen. We have the name of a poison, and if we can get a sample, the Terrans may be able to find some sort of cure. Failing that, the doctors at the university of Borrata may know how to cure it; Sir Sparhawk's party went there to consult with them, but he did not have the name of the poison, and it might be worth while to send someone to track him down and try to pass on the message. Unfortunately, I'm not sure which way Sir Sparhawk would have gone from Borrata, which might make it difficult for a messenger to find him."

"Our vehicles give us the advantage, so we could possibly put a driver with any messenger Knight you want to send after Sir Sparhawk, assuming our Captain thinks we can spare the men given that we currently have so few..."

Felix coughs.

"In the mean time, we'll do our best to find a cure on our end. Provided we're able to obtain a poison that is said to be so expensive and rare."

Felix thinks for a moment.

"How long do you think it will take for the Primate to learn of the defeat, here, and what do you think he might try next?"

Arkady shrugs. "If he summoned that demon, he probably already knows. If not, the actual summoner might tell him at any time." Then he looks at Sir Vanire. "Did anyone find Sir Parasim's sword?"

"If we have any proof at all that the Primate has been summoning demons, his political power will not help him. But no, he's not going to do that himself. I imagine that was - not Martel, but someone in Martel's employ. Probably a renegade Styric. The way it appeared - it was a triggered summoning, set to appear when certain conditions were met, and I imagine those conditions had to do with Adus spilling certain secrets. That sort of last-ditch anti-interrogation gambit feels very much like a Martel plan to me. And - even if we had proof that the courts would accept that the Primate had hired Martel - the Primate would simply claim that he had no idea Martel was having anything to do with demons."

He nods at Arkady. "Sir Parasim's sword will no longer be anywhere in or near the Castle. That is... unrelated to anything Martel might have done."

"What is it related to, then?" asks Count Radun.

Vanire hesitates slightly before answering the question. "It's a minor side effect of the spell keeping the Queen alive," he says. "I'll need to have a word with the Lady Sephrenia about it the next time I see her, but it's not immediately urgent."

He takes a deep breath.

"According to the information the Terrans uncovered earlier, the Primate is expecting to hear about the success of this venture by means of the Count's signet ring being delivered to him." Vanire nods at the Count, who glances down at the signet ring currently on his hand. "But the target of this attack was never the Count. The Count was merely a way to tarnish the reputation of the Pandions. Unless we can find some way to turn this around on him, I expect that the Primate will try to attack the Pandion order in some other way - probably somewhere far from Castle Radun, where we're not expecting him."

Nate taps his chin. He needs to shave, he's starting to get some stubble, and stubble and gasmasks don't work well together.

"It seems to me that the longer the Primate thinks his little plot was successful, the less trouble he's likely to get up to, and the more time we'll have to think of ways to discredit him, foil any further plans, and eventually expose him. I say we give him the ring."

Arkady looks thoughtful, then says "People use signet rings to sign documents, right? If the Primate is getting his hands on the Count's ring, a letter from the Count which says that he and the Pandions are guilty of dealing with demons, unnatural acts of various kinds, and cheating at dice would soon be found in the capitol. Even without accusations of murdering the Count, this is trouble."

"A clever forgery then? Good enough to fool the primate, but with the real one in our possession, we could rightly claim that all documents signed by it are utterly false, and perhapse cause trouble for whomever happens to be holding it? Maybe put a micro-trancever in it so we can track it down later?"

"I should inform you that forging a signet ring is illegal, and will have to be dealt with under law," says Vanire, firmly. "Besides, it can't possibly be done in -"

He pauses, and thinks about that sentence again.

"If it could be done in the time available," he says, "the presence of a fake good enough to fool the Primate is likely to cause as much trouble as him having the genuine ring. He knows the Count's arms well - he could use the fake to sign letters just as well as the real one, and if it will fool him, it will fool most. Even with the real ring, though, he couldn't have the Pandions disbanded with nothing more than a letter - in fact, a letter with no backing is more likely to backfire on him than hurt us."

Vanire smiles slightly. "We do have some very good lawyers. The Primate would need some pretty solid proof to take us out of the picture."

"Doubtless you are right." Arkady says to Sir Vanire, then adds "But if another demon or two were to appear just before the letter, in a way that looks bad for your chapter, it might not be a matter for lawyers." He shrugs. "Just as well that there is no one left to deliver it to him."

"I am thinking if whoever summoned the demon knows that it appeared, then Martel and the Primate will know soon enough. If not...did anyone find a cage for an animal who delivers messages? Whatever sort that would be here?"