I missed some of the questionings between Leian and the Inspector, still trying to reconcile the legalities of murder and torture with a civilization that was as advanced as the Sidhe were.

The capricious and cruel nature of man were legion, and from mythologies and stories, I knew the same was true for Sidhe. But for some reason, I'd thought civilized equated a framework of rules and laws that I considered morally just.

[Sidhe are creatures of nature. Hard to tame. Hard to control. Does it really surprise you that they would have very few rules and laws? Especially laws that would constrain their nature?] Caraid asked reading my thoughts and responding to my confusion.

[The rules of the Unseelie, the Morrigu are battle-hardened, even on Earth, you have tales about their nature. The stories that boast of their prowess is one of war and bloodshed. They gained power and Rank because of their talents in killing others.]

[The court of light may put on a pretty face, but light is adept at illusion, illuminating the pretty while ignoring the ugly.]

[Knowing this. Why would you be surprised that murder and torture are allowed, even encouraged by the Sidhe?]

"Wait." I said, momentarily sidetracked from my moral quandary, "aren't the Morrigu considered Gods? Why aren't they in Sleep?"

[Demi-Gods at best,] Caraid answered. [It is unknown their exact Rank and level, leveling and skill progression is a private matter. Why they aren't considered Gods? That is something only the System can answer.]

[But they are powerful.]

[Something else you may have forgotten. We will need to contend with that power at some point in the future.]

[The rulers of both factions have been Kings and Queens for ages. They are all probably Demi-Gods, approaching Godhood itself. Attaining King Rank is just the first step for implementing your plans. Don't think that attaining that Rank is the end of the path.]

[To attain the Rank you need to succeed, you will kill. Perhaps much can be accomplished with dungeons, monsters, and beasts. But the other methods of leveling are simply not efficient for the speed you require.]

[Also, consider this.]

[In a civilization subject to the vagaries of System. Where experience is earned by killing. Wouldn't laws that forbade this practice simply repress the populace? Why would you set limits on gaining the experience you need to become more powerful? To keep you from leveling up?]

He was right. System actually rewarded killing. Hadn't I already experienced this? My entire increase in levels had come from quests or actions that dealt with killing in some manner. Thom's men. The Olympians in the Summerlands. And Lord Kel's banquet hall. All events that ended with someone's death.

The Sidhe, Olympians, and Asgardians were well suited for a universe with System established protocols. These cultures and Pantheons embraced the capricious nature of man and glorified it with cruelty, envy, and jealousy. If something was bright and shiny, they wanted it. And if it was something they couldn't have or control, they wished to destroy it.

"How can the Sidhe thrive, let alone survive?" I wondered.

[It's a constant balance. The System rewards killing, but It also rewards creation, exploration, building, healing, crafting. And it creates dungeons as spawn points for monsters and beasts to help offset the brutal and aggressive nature of Sidhe.]

[As for the reasoning? Why does System encourage death?]

[No one is really sure.]

[Even you, who have met with SYSTEM know that Universal Laws and Constructs are unfathomable.]

[Philosophers have pondered the meaning of life across all Universes, across all Times. And none have managed to solve those questions.]

[Why would Gods or System or S-Prime desire conflict?]

[S-Prime hinted that the reincarnation cycle was a method the Universe employed when tempering the soul. A way to funnel those who met some esoteric criteria to Universal sub-level one. Maybe conflict and pain are ways to test and temper those souls.]

[What is Karmic Balance if not a way to reward and punish an individual for how they respond to events and people around them? You earned such high Karma in your past life because of the good you did for others AND the evil that was done to you.]

"But System is encouraging and rewarding people to kill," I said. "Doesn't this generate negative Karma?"

[Of course. But System doesn't force a person to kill, it simply offers the chance. The System also rewards slower less violent means to level. In the end, the individual is responsible for the choices they make. Immortality changes the mindset, you live for the moment, very few people are capable of looking ahead. And if you can live forever, why worry about what might happen in the next life?]

[And be honest, aren't there some people that should be killed? Removing evil by killing those people may result in generating more positive Karma than negative.]

"Why do you think the System is generating quests that are leading me to create a kingdom? A kingdom that will lead to direct conflict with the Seelie and Unseelie? Do you think it wants Seelie and Unseelie deaths?"

[I'm not sure.]

[But if the Universal imperative is to funnel souls to higher sub-levels, how would System react to a Universe of peoples that can live forever? How can it temper the souls of people that are never reintroduced to the cycle of reincarnation? Wouldn't it reward and give experience to those that hastened the reincarnation process?]

"You think I am nothing more than a harbinger of death? A fulcrum created to restore balance to the reincarnation cycle for the Sidhe?"

[Not exactly. But, Seelie and Unseelie populations did become stagnant and did begin to decline after the last great war. Since, it has been the lesser fey, those considered lesser that have fueled innovation, technologies, and population. The Seelie and Unseelie have become hind-bound. Creatures of ennui and habit.]

[I don't think you are so much a harbinger of death as an agent of change,] Caraid explained.

[In your previous world, wasn't Henry the Second able, with a simple question, to condemn a man to death and change the course of history? His question, 'Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?' demonstrated that the whims and foibles of those in power have consequences, and those who aspire to power can motivate others easily.]

[His words were like a stone cast within a pond of calm water. Ripples that spread and disturbed that calm. And those simple words led to a death that changed the political landscape for a nation.]

[If a mere King could affect so much, simply by speaking, then imagine the consequence of System's actions.]

[S-Prime has tossed its pebble into the currents of life, and is willing to reward with experience, lands, and a kingdom those that would be that ripple.]

His words may be poetic, but they did make sense. I'd never really thought about that fact. In all those games and books, I read with Systems, killing was the most expedient way to level up.

Because they were just games, I'd never questioned the reasoning or justification behind the experience requirements. Most often quests generated simply required players to kill, and the games seemed to place little value on morality or ethics. Other intelligent characters and races could often be farmed for experience, items, and gold.

Perhaps I had glossed over this fact by subconsciously rationalizing the events. Who would put much stock in the value of computer code? And since they were NPC's generated by game mechanics, they were not real. If a quest required me to kill ten of them, what was the harm? Even if it was PVP combat and death, players wouldn't stay dead.

Respawns and no death penalties may have warped my perspective and my morality. It also may have been the reason I hadn't been bothered by the killing I'd taken part in since I'd reincarnated.

Certainly, there had been immediate reactions. Responding to the killing, the smells, and blood by vomiting and a bad dream or two. But I seemed to get over these events easily. If I was still treating this life as a game, didn't it make sense that I was treating those people I'd killed as NPCs? Trivializing their worth and questioning their reality?

If that were the case, in the real world, governed by Game-like rules, right and wrong may be more fluid for me. The concepts of right and wrong would still matter. But the application may be situational and easily rationalized.

I couldn't and wouldn't vow to never kill again. Not if I really wanted to impact social injustices like slavery and inequalities between species. But I could work towards and hope the path I was taking was honorable and righteous. I would have to stay vigilant; it is often easy to fool oneself and allow morality and ethics to devolve. I was afraid it was already becoming too easy to rely on the sword and spell to solve my problems.

Maybe someday, someone would get a quest to change that.

"Your Highness?" Cedric said shaking my arm to get my attention and interrupting my musing and conversation with Caraid.

"Yes?" I said. "Forgive me, I was lost in thought. Did you ask something?"

"The Inspector wanted to know if you were still willing to escort Squire Leian to Duke A'Daoine's estate?"

"Do you trust her word that she didn't commit this murder, Inspector?" I wondered getting directly to the crux of the situation.

"Belief and trust? I believe and trust in facts," he replied.

"And her inability to lie without risking the Wild Hunt?" I asked.

"You know as well as I do that Seelie use words as weapons. They can shade the truth until you believe up is down and do so by never telling an outright lie," the Inspector answered.

"Squire Leian has attested to the fact that she did not commit the ritual slaying of Alys Rice. But did she hire someone? Influence someone? Did she commit torture before Alys was killed? There are nuances involved here," he opined. "things we don't understand. And until we do, I will reserve judgment as to guilt or innocence."

"This may present a problem," I said thoughtfully. "Although, I'm not sure of Leian's guilt or innocence, or her involvement in this matter, it seems suspiciously convenient. This was ill-done. Motive and opportunity were obvious. It leads me to believe that the obvious in this case, is a feint.

"With that said, I may be wrong. Squire Leian may be insightful and canny enough to make it look like she was being framed as a way to throw off suspicion. Intelligent enough to realize that we would assume and believe this to be staged to implicate her.

"I'll need a few moments to discuss this with my Vassals, I'd like to gauge how my people will react if she were to continue to accompany us and if she might be unsafe and be at risk of retaliation from those people who believe her guilty."

"Something to consider, Inspector, what I think may have been forgotten in the investigation into Alys' death is how she came to be here? She was sent ahead in a Skimmer, with a driver, and a guard. Where are they? That Skimmer and those that were tasked with escorting her why have they not been found?" Uron reminded us.

Asking Caraid, Uron, Jennie, Basil, and Lohne to follow, we moved away from the others to allow ourselves some privacy as we discussed the situation. We'd barely distanced ourselves when Jennie exploded. "Don't be fooled by a pretty face. There is something wrong with the Kel bloodline!"

Concepts like innocent until proven guilty were not universal, and definitely wouldn't be practiced on Talahm. At least as far as the Sidhe were concerned. Perception was everything, and the perception of guilt was all that was needed for some of these people. Leian had been deemed guilty in the minds of many. Circumstance and history had painted her with the same swath, and most of those gathered were unable to separate their emotions to use intellect and logic.

Sidhe were creatures of nature. And although nature could be peaceful and comforting, it could also be furious and destructive. A pissed off Sidhe was like those destructive acts of nature that could destroy vast areas before calm was restored.

As I glanced at the others, I was quick to notice that people were avoiding eye contact with me. They were like a bunch of unruly school children who hadn't completed their homework, they were almost vibrating with tension, hoping not to be forced to speak in support of Leian or to gain Jennie's wrath if they pointed out that for Leian to act so stupidly made no sense. She was already in danger of losing her lands and inheritance. This insult to me and my staff would be all that was needed for me to demand Duke A'Daoine provide recompense.

They had all heard me say I thought the circumstance was suspicious. None seemed willing to directly contradict my earlier statement or agree with me. It made me think that I would need to be more careful in selecting advisors in the future. I didn't need yes men or people afraid to voice their opinions.

"Does everyone think that it would be safer and less stressful for our people if we decide not to escort her at this point?" I asked deciding to bypass guilt or innocence and instead discuss the realities Leian's continued presence would have on our group and people. I wasn't sure we would be able to protect her anymore. Not with the grievances that had obviously exploded into view.

"I think we could keep our people from harming her," Uron supplied, "what worries me is the ramifications and events that would transpire if this isn't an isolated murder.

"Assume, you are correct, and this is a murder of opportunity and Leian has been set up. If she continues to travel with us, doesn't that give the real murderer continued opportunity to target and kill our people?"

"Especially since we don't really know what motivated this killing," Cedric agreed. "If this was a vendetta between Leian and Alys that's one thing, but what if you are the real target? What if it is a way to destroy the trust you are working to build with your people? Or a way to demonstrate to others that might join how inept you are?"

"A Prince unable to protect those that serve?" Lohne asked. "The rumors would spread. The stain on your reputation and honor would be problematic.

"It would make finding and recruiting additional followers and Vassals precarious at best," Cedric agreed.

That insight worried me. It worried me that political maneuvering might take this form and complexity. Mostly it worried me because it demonstrated that my ability to see behind and identify the multiple ramifications of disparate seemingly random and isolated events was sub-par. There were layers of understanding, bifurcation of actions that I still wasn't perceptive enough to include in my calculations.

The one positive of this conversation was that I was coming to realize that the people that were working with and for me were capable of seeing the larger picture. My epiphany that there was strength in numbers, and that council would make for better decision making seemed well-founded. If only I could get them to grow a spine and not worry about the consequences and give honest and insightful comments in every discussion.

"I would have to agree," I said. "I think the smart move would be to send Leian ahead to Duke A'Daoine's estate in a Skimmer, damn the protocols and prerogatives her station allows. She may suffer from wounded pride, but the alternative could be deadly," I concluded.

"If we redistribute people, can we free up a Skimmer to send ahead?" I asked.

"If we send a few non-essential people along, those that we can spare, then yes," Basil replied.

"You should consider having one of the Aziza concealed among those sent ahead with her. Maybe more than one, one to keep a watch on Leian's actions and report back to us what transpired, and a few to gather information about conditions and gauge how receptive local Ranked will be upon your arrival," Cedric suggested.

"It's agreed then," I decided, allowing them to put the plan into action.

Things moved smoothly once the decision was made, and the Inspector was informed.

Jennie and Basil quickly selected a group of five people to be sent ahead. Uron detailed two guards led by Gil to escort them, along with a half dozen Aziza. And everyone else resumed their journey. I admit to almost interfering with Uron's orders.

I'd come to rely on Gil and Ril as a team. Splitting them up seemed inefficient. But I decided to trust that Uron had a method behind his reason and left him to marshal our forces as he deemed appropriate. They wouldn't learn to give me their honest opinion if I was forever second-guessing and changing orders once they had been made. I had to demonstrate trust in order to earn it.

The most interesting moment happened when the Inspector and his team were finished with the crime scene and preparing to leave. I'd thought a clean-up crew and body bag team might be deployed at this point, but that wasn't the case.

A crystal was tossed in the air. Hovering in the center of the scene, it began to emit oscillating bands of light until Alys' body, the runes, and the ground for a yard outside the decagon were encased in a crystal lattice. The Inspector and his team then took up a position surrounding this construct. A loud humming accompanied by a strange vibration increased in frequency until they vanished. Body, runes, grass. Everything simply was gone along with the people that had surrounded the crime scene.

It seemed an efficient way to preserve evidence. Take everything. That way you don't take the chance of leaving behind some vital clue. A clue that might solve the case.

The uses of magic in everyday situations was genius. Any ideas I'd had of importing tech from Earth for easy money gains was rapidly fading. The more I understood the accomplishments of this world's inventors and tinkerers the more impressed and astonished I became.

These were not backward, uneducated plebeians needing my technological advances to save them from misery.