Vincent inhaled deeply as the chains fell from his body and slithered back to their respective owners, then extended and contracted his long fingers several times to get the circulation going again. Straightening his coat and schooling his face to an expression of unassailable calm, he let the others make their speeches and simply walked idly over to a window overlooking the temple grounds, sorting and cataloging all the goings on behind him as he did so. Beneath him, the embers of the temple glowed brightly in the night, small flames danced upon its ashes, and the once glorious structure was now little more than a smoldering ruin. And yet... Where were the guards and panicked townsfolk running for water? Where was the spreading of the flame to the temple's outlying buildings? Why had none of the nobles or guards even made mention of the destruction wrought on the coven's most important religious structure? Surely the sole charge would not be kidnapping for a group that also defiled holy ground. All of these things he had failed to notice in the haste of the escape and subsequent capture, but now... There was no sense in it. Vincent was quickly becoming certain that himself and the six others that had been called to remain had become the victims of an exceedingly potent illusion. 

That, or the entirety of the coven save for the seven had been afflicted by an even greater spell, which would be an even larger cause for worry. Either way, this begat many more questions than it answered, chief among them being the role the viscountess played in the night's "festivities". If she had not seen the fire, what was the force that had driven her so hastily back to the gates of the temple? The nobles too, had been assembled and awaiting their arrival, and once again not one had mentioned the inferno that had engulfed the temple. There had been another catalyst for their assembly, that much was certain. Vincent had only to uncover what it was. 

Turning back to the assembled nobles and his six compatriots, Vincent walked purposely back to the empty head of the table. Once there, his icily cool gaze swept slowly up one side of the table then back down the other, studying each of the nobles in turn as his eyes passed over them. A smattering of the faces that returned his gaze were attached to bodies clad in garments made for slumber, yet a larger majority were still in the attire they had worn less than an hour ago at the ceremony. The discrepancies would make it impossible to tell which of them had been expecting the summons and which had been called away from their prior activities. All this, in turn, conspired to make the viscountess the target of his initial inquiries.

"Viscountess, you accuse us of being discovered in the act of absconding with the priestess, yet you yourself, the discoverer of this alleged misdeed, only did so while rushing from the castle in your nightclothes. If it is not too bold of me to ask, what is it that prompted such an excursion in the middle of the night? Do you make a habit of frantically dashing about the grounds in your bedclothes?"

The viscountess looks apalled, offended at such an accusation. When had this become about her?! She made no sound at first, seemingly rejecting to be helpful, but after what seemed to be some internal dialogue, she crossed her arms and responded.

"I do not have a habit of, as you say, frantically dashing about the grounds in my bedclothes, Vincent D'Cerf," her voice seemed bladed when she prononuced Vincent's name, "I was actually looking for you and Giovanni to join us for the meeting we were having just prior to this. Of course, as soon as I found myself back at the temple, I couldn't help but make the assumptions that I did. You all seemed very suspicious. Who carries around an unconscious priestess? No one other than what I suspect are criminals."

Viola made no mention of the guard she brought with her, when she had first found the seven.

"And your guards?" Vincent had not missed the omission of their presence from her rebuttal. "Why was it that you were accompanied by enough guards to restrain no less than seven of our coven's notable members? Were we to be wrapped in chains and carted here regardless? I do not know the original intent of this gathering, but it seems to be just as nefarious as its current intent."

"You've made an irrational judgement, Vincent. I had brought nine guards, if you recall. Two took the priestess away. I had no idea how many of you there'd be, but I did not bring the guards to capture anyone. I merely brought them as protection. The coven, at night, is not friendly to our kind of people, what with those evil beggars planning to poison our every move. One cannot be too safe."

The viscountess took a breath, her well-executed breaths, and changed to the topic of their prior meeting.

"Anyways, Vincent, the meeting before was to discuss urgent matters. In case you have forgotten, this morning brought to use the massacre of four hunters. The Vilicus seem to be increasing its actions against us. We were discussing our plans on what to do next. I took the liberty of tracking Giovanni and yourself down to meet with us," she began to play a victim in this moment, "But if you didn't want to come, I guess I shouldn't have been so thoughtful as to search for you two. I mean, we were all curious as to why you hadn't shown up. Did you not hear of the meeting?"

"I can have no opinion on whether or not I wish to attend a meeting to which I was never invited, Viscountess, and even given your popularity with the beggars, nine guards is an excessive number." 

"Wait a second!" rang a gruff voice. It was the Noble Herald, a stout man of older age, not blessed with the appearance of wealth and beauty as were some of the other nobles, other than his disguise of luxury given by his clothes.

"Don't think I'm not onto you, Vincent! Your keen wordplay does not affect me. I see what you're doing. You're attempting to get us off course! Only someone guilty would try to keep a verdict from being reached!"

Herald slammed his fists on the table, the remnants of his hair moving about in his fury. Sweat beads were apparent on his forehead. Why was the nobleman already so worked up? Was it his rage?

"Now answer the questions! What were you doing with the priestess?! Why had you stayed in the temple?! What did she tell you?! NOW!" His hand made motions to some of the guardsmen, in a showcase of power and intimidation.

Some of the other nobles reflected Herald's sudden outburst, and demanded the same from Vincent.

Vincent's gaze fell first on Herald, then on each of the nobles that had echoed his sentiments until the room was quiet once more. 

"Very well. You wish answers, and I will give them. We were carrying the priestess out of the temple, which to our senses had been engulfed in a raging inferno by a man with scarred hands and a cloak concealing the remainder of his features. She had fallen unconscious after delivering to us a message, the contents of which are already known to all of you. We may or may not be pivotal in the future of our coven, as we have always been, and she followed that with a warning of future woes. Woes that she did not specify. As always, prophecy fails to deliver anything that is not already known." 

Having finished, Vincent turned his gaze back on the viscountess.

"Which brings us to you, dear Viola, and your guards outside the temple. You were closest of any of those seated here. Can you honestly tell me you felt nothing of the magic that permeated the temple? Even now, I can feel the flows being crafted. It is not the raw power of the Occult that I feel, but the hand of a mortal weaving the threads."

Herald loudly sputtered, "Madness! Craziness! It's not to be believed!" 

It took a moment but he finally spewed out, "Inconceivable! You, Vincent D'Cerf, are a madman! Your time locked away in darkness has plagued your mind, made it weak! Your words are nothing more than empty! That temple was not on fire! Look out the window! Even now, it stands in its glory! How dare you speak of such ill fate for the Occult, for our temple! And here, you also declare yourself to be pivotal to the coven?!"

Herald laughed and barked as a madman himself.

"You think you are better than us?! You are young! Foolish! I have seen many fools in my lifetime, but you, Vincent, are to be the king of them! What makes you think this? Perhaps an experiment gone awry has tainted your intellect."

Vincent turned his eyes on Herald once again, his face betraying nothing but calm poise. "Jocasta has already related a tale that supports my own, and every one of the other five that stand behind me will tell the same tale we..." He cut off abruptly at a noise from the entrance, and just then, Tanis entered the room to declare her news and Viola looked troubled in response. For once, she seemed to lack the words to say, but quickly, she recomposed herself.

Viola opened her mouth to speak, but in that moment, Herald spoke out again. He seemed to be sweating a lot more now. Perhaps his aggravation was overworking his body.
"Quiet, guardswoman! Yo-you are not the physicians! You have no claim!" Herald seemed more disheveled by the second. What was troubling him so?

 [center][i]A Collab by Schradinger and Ichthys[/i][/center]