Chapter 7.6: House Arrest
You lash out with your mind with no warning. The shove catches Aodh entirely by surprise and he topples over the railing. Then, there is a thud as the body hits the floor. You peer over the parapet.
Aodh was lying on the grass, face up. Blood was pooling around him. You see him looking up at you, his expression utterly changed. Where his eyes were soft and warm before, they were now dead and lifeless, gazing vacantly into the air. His face now seemed to be nothing more than a mask, though that amused smirk still remained plastered on his lips. He was dead, you think.
Then the smirk widens into a grin, and those dead eyes fix right at you.
You have no time to wonder what was going on. He was still alive, and you can't let him get away. Resolving yourself to finish him off, you hurry down the stairs. Right as you step into the courtyard, you bump into a squad of five prefects. Two of them were already looking over Aodh's body.
You try to play it cool.
"Sir! Prefect! I saw someone fall from the floor above!" you cry. The leader of the squad, a burly man with a great big bushy beard, eyes you suspiciously. "Is the man alright?" you ask. He shakes his head, making a quick gesture across his throat with his finger - it looks like Aodh was dead. You heave a sigh of relief inwardly, but the prefect's next question kills that relief immediately.
"You are Diogenes Camna, are you not?"
You have a bad feeling about this, but you nod.
"Then you're coming with us. One of the servants saw you throw this man off the balcony after stabbing him. This is a case of murder and a serious violation under Imperial law."
You are struck speechless for a while. There had been no one around when you did the deed, and you hadn't even used your hands. There should've been no proof. "That's impossible, prefect. I saw him fall, yes, but I couldn't have killed him. Who's the one who accused me wrongly?"
"As I said, sir, a servant saw you do it. The justiciar will sort things out, so if you would just come to the courts with -"
"I am Diogenes Camna, head of House Camna and servant of the Prince!" If asking nicely wouldn't work, you would try to bully your way out. "I refuse to be treated like a common criminal when I am innocent of any crime!"
***
Unfortunately for you, it didn't work. You did manage to convince the justiciar to put you under house arrest while everything was sorted out, but you were not free. As you brooded in your chambers, wondering if Aodh did go as far as to frame you for his own murder somehow, an unfamiliar voice whispered in your ears. "Master Ean."
You draw back with a start, whipping out your dagger. It was the masked man... except taller, with a different voice. You suppose this is one of the masked man's accomplices, but without proof you couldn't be sure. It could be anyone under that mask.
"Who are you?"
"A friend of the one who first came in contact with you."
"Prove it."
"I do not need to prove anything, but if you require, I can tell a tale about the sins you have committed. The letter we helped send to your father, how his own dagger found its way into his breast, why your fiancee actually hung herself... and of course, the memories and powers you have been developing."
You lower the dagger, watching the man intently. "What happened to the last man? Is he busy tonight?"
"Ah, that is why I have come. He was captured, and is presumably dead by now. I was going to inform you of that, and to tell you that you should no longer use the method he gave you previously to contact us. It has been compromised, and we will give you a new code. Unfortunately, judging by the prefects posted around your house, it seems that I came too late to prevent you from being strung up in their trap. They act fast."
You grasp at your hair in frustration. "Just what is going on here? If there is something going on, you leave me in the dark until it is too late? I've been arrested, and my secret is known!"
"Calm, Master Ean. We have been in great danger on our part, and have had to act very carefully. We apologize for the delay, but we are finally ready to act."
"Act on what? Stop speaking in riddles."
The masked man bows. "Understood, Master Ean. You are, as you well know, the reincarnation of the First Emperor."
"I don't feel like it."
"The memories you possess and the powers you wield are proof of it. It is unmistakable."
"The memories I can do without. They irritate and distract me." You had no love for this supposed Emperor and his memories. They were irrelevant things that happened thousands of years ago.
"We are the Watchers, founded by the God-Emperor Ean himself as his eyes and ears. As his reincarnation, we serve you with everything we have. Our aim is to restore you to power. Unfortunately, some of our brethren do not agree with us, and it is they who are attempting to destroy you."
"They framed me."
"Yes, Master Ean. As expected of one with your intelligence. The man you thought you killed was one of them. Though they captured one of us - the one who you had met with - they were probably unable to extract evidence from him, only hearsay. Based on that they would not have been able to convict you, so instead they chose to lure you into committing yet another crime."
"I didn't commit any crime."
"Ah, in front of your loyal servants there is no need to hide your actions, Master Ean, though we fully appreciate your skill at deception. Now, all might seem lost, but it is within our expectations. You did not act fully within their expectations either, and they will have a hard time attempting to prove it was indeed you that killed the man, particularly since they cannot show the body in public, for the simple reason that there is no body to show. That does not mean time is on your side, Master Ean, as eventually they will be able to either track down evidence or fabricate it. By restricting your activities, they are on the verge of victory. But all is not lost. As I have said, we are finally ready to act."
"And as I have asked you before, act on what?"
"To eventually obtain you the throne, Master Ean. We have learnt that the rural madman is planning to assault the capital in five nights. Daring and mad, but that is not unexpected. In the confusion, we will have prepared ways to remove the obstacles in your path."
"I suppose all I have to do is sit here while you murder all of my rivals?"
"Unfortunately, that will not do, Master Ean. We do need you to lead us and show us your strength. You have a target for assassination too, and we will help you achieve it."
You sigh. "Who do I kill this time?"
"Prince Runikylos, who even now does not believe that you are responsible for the murder of his trusted man, and has ordered his men to investigate this case personally. Of course, his men will never tell him of your innocence. Nonetheless, he remains an obstacle to your rule, Master Ean, and you too know he must go. If he ever finds out of your true nature, he would be a deadly enemy. Two of us will be accompanying you on that night to silence the good prince for good."
You gaze at the masked man quietly. There were some things in his tale that didn't seem to add up, but you were in a desperate position. If what he said was true, you had been caught up in events beyond your knowledge, and you could not scheme until you know more. Unfortunately, being under house arrest, your only source of knowledge would be these mysterious masked people, and that could be unreliable.
***
A. You will murder the Prince, according to their plan. Power is at hand! Becoming the Emperor of the Empire is all you have ever dreamed of, and thought you would never accomplish. Now that the chance has fallen in your lap, there is nothing to do but take it. Should history regard you as a coward who dared not reach for his dreams?
B. You will lead the two assassins to the Prince, then kill them in front of him and pretend they had forced you to do everything that he knows you have done - whatever it is that he knows. You really aren't that interested in being top dog, you just want to be second. Besides, you don't trust these people.
C. You will have no part of this. No more plotting, no more scheming, no more risk-taking... at least for now. You refuse the masked man's plot.
