"A nun? Do you hear that boys? This whore thinks she's a nun!" cackled Carlos, as he carefully inserted a lead ball into the end of his pistol. 

"Please Sir, I beg you!" protested Sister Mary; tears streaked down her face, and it was obvious that her trembling stance was the result of more than frayed nerves. 

Carlos' entourage burst into uniform laughter. Each one of them a great businessman, each one of them a refined engineer. The River Admiral elected only the most successful into his inner circle. By now, most of them had learned to either laugh or look on passively during his 'entertainment' sessions. 

"A whore in a nun's robes, what's the going charge for that crime, Mr. Hepworth?" asked Carlos, struggling to put the question together over his sporadic giggles. 

"Death, my Lord," replied a tall and slender old man in a black tailored suit. 

"Death it is!" cheered Carlos, as he poked the arming rod down the pistol's ornate barrel. 

"Please," sobbed Sister Mary, falling to her knees out of exhaustion from the week's ordeals. 

The River Admiral, splendid in his sky-blue, medal laden military uniform, pulled back the pistol's firing hammer with a leather clad thumb and pointed the weapon at the pitiful creature before him. He would be sad, when it was all said and done, for she provided him with one Hell of a wild time - but that was nuns for you. Too much pent up frustration in those ones, he reasoned. In a way he was doing her a favor. No point in wasting your youthful womanly blessings in the depressing grey of a monastery; No! Much better to put those blessings to work and end it all with a bang, literally!

"Mary the Southern Whore," said the River Admiral, his face suddenly stern and his tone solid gravel, "we of Anthastiln's democratic council anno-"

"My lord!" 

Carlos spun on the spot and fired. Mary screamed. The blast echoed around the extravagantly decorated chamber, and a large cloud of smoke made its way towards the domed ceiling. At the northern end of the chamber, kneeling between the two giant oaken doors, was a man clutching ferociously at his own throat. A muffled coughing sound made its way towards Carlos and his peers.

"Well don't sit there choking, spit it out man!" called Carlos, already reloading his pistol. His jubilant expression had returned with a vengeance. 

The man fell forwards with a sigh and did not stir. A pool of thick blood soon emanated from his neck, and quickly formed a large puddle. Carlos' twisted grin grew more sinister with each passing second. The man was a Rockhelmian messenger, the River Admiral could tell by the ragged clothes he wore and the multiple tattoos that marked his skin. Oh well, another savage no one has to worry about. 

Moments later, four men carrying rifles entered the chamber from the same direction as the fallen messenger. Carlos made a mental note to have them all flayed alive for their delay in reacting to the gun shot. For now though, they would prove useful in retrieving the parchment from the blood soaked mess. 

"The message, read it!" 

One of the armed men reached down to the body and turned it onto its back. After a bit of rummaging around inside the man's bloodied rags, he pulled away with a rolled piece of paper. Opening it, the man cleared his throat and read aloud to his master:

"Tribals on the border. 10,000. General muster. Will not hold for long without help. Ganjar Greymeer the Wise."

Carlos rolled his eyes. This was the reason his justice administering was interrupted? 

"Oh very well," Carlos said at last, "assemble the war council. We may need to annex Independence."

Looking at Sister Mary, who had been shocked into traumatic silence, the River Admiral smiled. Perhaps his whore could stay around for another night; his war councils were renowned for generating a great deal of sin, and how better to cleanse his soul than through violating a nun? Made perfect sense in his mind. 

"Have her cleaned, fed and dressed. Bring her to me after the council," finished Carlos, dropping his pistol to the floor and walking off towards the War Room at the eastern side of the chamber.