[b]Northeastern Amaryth, mid-day second day of the Royal festival[/b]

Stevan Vlahovic could not help but smile to himself as he made his way towards the royal castle near the Northeastern corner of Amaryth. He knew for a fact that the king would grant his demand to force those blaspheming Kalesians to give up his target, the strange evoker girl that had sought refuge in their so-called 'embassy'. It was bad enough that she was an evoker. The fact that she was a girl too just made her sins even worse. He already looked forward to the day when he could bring the full strength of the inquisition to bear upon the kingdom of Othea to purge it of sinners.

He passed through the outer gates unchallenged, nodding to the two guards stationed there. Like so many others, they were loyal to the Order, not to the foolish pushover of a 'king' of these parts. It should not take much more effort to finish the takeover, provided there were no significant setbacks.

 What met him when he got past the second set of walls rather shocked him. He'd heard that the king was organizing some sort of festival, but had not really paid attention to it, deeming it fairly irrelevant. He should've known better. The entire inner courtyard was filled with people. Mostly the richer merchants and lesser nobles, but also a good portion of the common rabble. Rising momentarily onto his toes, Stevan looked over the crowd and saw that there were no empty spaces ahead at all. Even worse, people did not move from his path, despite the fact that he wore is robes of office. Back home, even the most loyal citizens would have given him wide berth. Here they ignored him.

He was just in time to see the king and the crown prince step out a far-above balcony. As his focus had been on the King, he did not really know much about the crown prince, other than that he'd been educated in private. He had, of course, tried to get the king to assign a priest as his teacher, but did not really know how well that had worked. He halted to listen as the king started his speech. There would be no reaching him in private until afterwards in any case.

“People of Amaryth! People of Othea! My dear, beloved subjects!” The king shouted. Stevan was actually surprised at the volume, for he knew the King had been in quite poor health recently, often citing that as a reason to cut short many meetings, both with him, others of the Order, countless courtiers and various nobles of greatly varying rank. “Today is an auspicious day. I know the rumor mills have been running wild for months. They have spoken of my failing health. Of how old I have become. How I am no longer the king I once was. These rumors are true. I can feel my body failing slowly. Only the presence of my beloved son, Aral Otharion the fifth, has kept me from giving in! However you need not fear, for even as my body fails me, my love of you the people, has never been stronger!”

Stevan could not help but smile, even if he did not understand where the king was taking the speech. That particular skill at oratory had been one of several things that had endeared the king to him over past decade. He stopped his thoughts to listen once more when the king spoke on. “My beloved subjects... It is with heavy heart that I do this. Effective immediately, I transfer all rule of the Kingdom of Othea to my son, Aral Otharion the fifth. Henceforth and until he dies, he shall be known as king Aral Otharion, the fifth of his name, lord of Othea!” Stevan stood there and watched in shock as the king lifted the crown from his own head, placing it on the head of his heir, symbolizing the complete transfer of power. Nothing had prepared him for this. Nothing.

He had been outmaneuvered. Just when he thought victory had been in his grasp, the king had pulled the rug out from underneath his feet. It simply wasn't fair. Of course, by this time the speech had sunk into the minds of the people crowding the massive courtyard. The applause started as a faint drone, quickly ascending to a thundering roar. King Hrodlaf had been well respected by the people. Everyone knew that. But he'd heard that the Crown Prince, or King as he'd just become, was beloved of the people. That could either be good, or very bad. He decided to continue moving towards the castle in the hopes of getting an audience.

~| Elsewhere |~

This city was far too loud for Thora. Even exhausted as she was, there was no way she'd be able to sleep through all that noise. Judging from the direction of the shadows, it was barely mid-day when she realized there would be no way to get any further sleep. The last night she'd gone through the city searching for the right sort of places to visit to potentially learn about her relic. They'd been closed then of course, but at least it would mean less time spent out under the sun today.

She made her way downstairs, hoping to get herself some food before heading out. Even inside, she chose to wear her thick cloak. She wanted neither attention nor sunlight. She suspected some might find it a bit odd, but privacy was more important than the opinions of nobodies. She ate the provided food in silence, her ears perked to take in any possibilities of threats. When she was done eating, she decided to make her way outside, fully intent upon finding that unique librarian. If anyone paid attention to her as she left, she did not care for none gave her any feeling of danger, of someone wishing her harm.

~|~

The noviate of Idris followed the robed woman out of the inn. He did not know for sure if she was one of the hated evokers, but some gut feeling told him she was. He was careful to stay well behind her, to never even give the hint of danger. He personally was not trained to handle such evil creatures, but it was easy enough to follow them about the city, to tip off the inquisitors about such. One day he hoped to be promoted to join their illustrious ranks. He could imagine no greater honor.