Wolves of War

k********g and Breaking Taboo

A wolf man seated on the right stood up. He wore a ton of jewelry and a turban on his head.

“The first issue that we will address is the k********g of a royal consort by Prince Ramune”, he announced to the court.

Oh…. That’s why Ramune is here. The Queen aims to kill two birds with one stone.

“Did Prince Ramune abduct you?” The king asked me.

I folded my arms and pretended to think for a few minutes. I needed to form my words and sentences carefully but stick to as close to the truth as possible. Ramune was under the influence of one of the Queen’s potions, but there is no proof of foul play from the Queen.

“Yes, Prince Ramune abducted me” I said.

The Queen nearly chocked on her water at my words. She was probably expecting me to deny it. I can’t deny something that was done in front of many witnesses. What I can do is twist the truth a little.

Before I could say another word, the Queen spoke up.

“She admits to the k********g!” The Queen exclaims “The witnesses all say that she was screaming at the top of her lungs when Ramune took her from the compound.”

I rose my hand. Loud conversation erupted from the stand at the Queens outburst. I am not going to try to talk over everyone because it's just going to make me look desperate.

“k********g is a serious crime and shouldn’t be tolerated by anyone, not even a prince of the court. Ramune should be punished to the fullest extent of the law by stripping him of his title and banishing him from the country for 10 years.” The Queen declared

Holy s**t! That type of punishment for a prince exists?

“Let the girl finish her statement.” The king said, holding up a hand to silence everyone.

I nodded my thanks and continued where I left off. “We received word that the Ursa was about to attack South Akkadia. The notice came late in the night. If we delayed too long, the Ursa would have taken over South Akkadia.”

“Your saying that this was planned?” The king asked

I nodded my head. “Ramune could probably explain the details to you better.”

I pointed to Ramune, handing the torch off to him.

“Yes, father, we didn’t want to mobilize an army and risk the Ursa’s attacking South Akkadia earlier than planned. We needed a distraction to keep them from knowing our true motives. Not only that, we needed them to keep their guard down so that our armies would have a better advantage. What better way to lower the guard of the Ursa than to start up a drama between Akkadia’s Princes? The k********g of a desirable Royal Consort was a perfect distraction.” Ramune stated.

“Oh! That would explain why Asai was able to respond so quickly to the threat”. A council member blurted out

“But the witnesses…” The Queen started speaking above the noise.

“Yes, the witnesses saw what they were supposed to see. A plan thought up by my sons in order to be successful in their battle with the Ursa.” The king said, cutting her off.

“And their victory proves that they were aware of Ursa’s plans. How else was Asai able to muster an army and be victorious? The bat clan and New Lumina would only mobilize if their princess officially commands. If she was kidn*pped how would they have known to mobilize?” Asked a supporting spectator

“I will side with my sons, Princess Talia was not kidn*pped and it was a tactical plan in order to fool and distract the Ursa into thinking that the empire was weak and unaware of their movements. My sons and Princess Talia will be formally recognized for their accomplishments and rewarded.” The king said, raising a hand.

“All those in favor”

Out of 20 senators, 15 raised their hand, a majority vote .

Asia sighed next to me.

The Queen gritted her teeth.

“Ramune, you can step down now. The next part of the trial doesn’t concern you,” The King said.

“Yes, father”. Ramune got up from his stool and walked out of the hall.

“The second issue to be addressed is of Princess Talia Noor breaking the taboo to perform a forbidden spell from the Book of the Dead: Resurrection of Life.” The King said

“Not Guilty!” I immediately said “I performed a large scale healing using the purification seal.”

“Impossible!” the Queen yelled “We have witnesses that say Asai was killed in combat with the Fire Deity.”

“Did anyone call time of death?” I asked.

“What?” The King asked, confused.

“The issue here as I see it is if Third Prince Asai Zeeve was actually dead or not. So I am asking for verification. Did anyone present it called Time of Death on Prince Asai Zeeve? Meaning, when the prince fell on top of Mount Davikneeya did any one check to see if the Prince was dead or alive? If so, bring that witness forward”, I stated boldly,

The Queen was taken aback. None could actually verify if the prince was dead or not. Witnesses were too afraid to approach the battle zone between the deity and myself and instead observed at a safe distance.

“So everyone just assumed I was dead? No one bothered to check?” Asai asked after a moment of silence.

“Why bother checking? The Deity pierced your throat and you bleed out. There is no doubt that you died on that mountain,” The Queen answered.

“You check because Asai is a prince of this nation and is a part of the royal line of succession. To not check his vital status could lead to a missed chance of saving a prince of this nation.” The crown prince spoke up. By the tone of his voice, he was clearly upset with the Queen for making such a statement.

“Since you are not a wolf yourself nor a healer of wolf shifters my Queen, I don’t blame you for not knowing that a wolf Asai’s size can lose up to 60 percent of blood volume and survive. Even though Asai was pierced through the throat, it is still likely for him to have survived that. As wolf shifters are very very hard to kill”, I said.

“That is true”. A council man stood up to verify that fact. “We are the only known shifter race who can lose that much blood and walk home like nothing happened. Even the Ursa can’t say that and they are considerably larger than we are.”

“Thank you, Dr. Vox” The King said

“How are we to know how much blood he lost?” The queen tried to argue to save her case.

“You check for a pulse or a heartbeat.” I answered her.

“If no one checked to see if I was dead, then who can truly say that I was? There are two witnesses who were close enough to me to say that they heard the continued beating of my heart despite my injuries.” Asai said.

“Well my Queen, do you have a witness who was in close enough proximity to Prince Asai to call Time of Death on the prince?” The king asked, turning to Minthe.

“No,” the Queen gritted through her teeth in defeat.

“I hereby officially recognize the accomplishments of Talia Noor Asai Zeeve and company for their efforts during the battle for Davikneeya.”

I bowed low to the King and smirked at the Queen.