Ch 17: Audacity

Section 1: Crimes Against Nobility

1.1. Assault of a Noble

(a) Any individual who is found guilty of assaulting a noble of the Drakthiss Empire shall be subject to capital punishment.

(b) The method of execution shall be determined by the Imperial Court, based on the severity of the assault.

1.2. Kidnapping of a Noble

(a) Kidnapping of a noble, whether through coercion, deception, or force, is considered a heinous crime against the Drakthiss Empire.

(b) The punishment for such a crime shall be death by starvation.

1.3. Murder of a Noble

(a) Any individual found guilty of murdering a noble of the Drakthiss Empire shall be subject to execution.

(b) The punishment for the murder of a noble shall be death by torture, carried out in accordance with the laws and customs of the Empire.

• Drakthiss Imperial Code of Law

Solomon didn’t increase his pace. Instead he steadied it, and raised his walking stick so that it wouldn’t make noise as he moved. He moved quietly through the halls, just as he had through his family’s estate when he was younger. He heard more screaming and some cries, but he kept himself calm, bracing himself against the hallway wall as he reached the sitting room, the source of the sounds.

He slowly peaked out from around the corner. He saw a dozen men in the uniforms of guards dragging his servants to the sitting room and throwing them into a group in the center of it. Barnabus was badly beaten, and his brother Bart was backhanded across the face after biting one of the guards. He didn’t see Duncan, Melissa, or Poth. Two of the guards were lying on the ground, one of them with a terrible wound across his head as if it had been bashed against something and another crying in pain as he held the handle to a kitchen knife that was embedded in his gut.

Barking orders at the men was Marcus. His broad frame was unmistakable and his First Watchman’s uniform immaculate.

Solomon found himself absolutely astounded at the man’s audacity. He presumed that somehow he or his brother had found out that he meant to bring evidence against them to Etling. Perhaps the Third Watchman had lost his nerve, or perhaps they had a man with the Message office that was monitoring outgoing postage. Whatever the case, the punishments for attacking a noble and his servants like this were severe. To do so in full uniform showed baffling confidence that nothing would be done. Unless there was a piece of things that Solomon was missing.

He took a moment to worry over Melissa, but she was resourceful. There was a chance she was okay. He was more worried for those that were with him at that moment.

Once all the servants were gathered, Marcus looked them over.

“Where’s your master?” he asked simply. “My men have looked across the manor and found no sign of him. Where is he hiding?”

He must’ve not heard them sweeping the house while he was working.

“We don’t know, he disappears sometimes,” said Nelda.

He gestured to one of his men that stepped forward and struck the girl across the face.