The garbs led the procession from the all-seeing tower. They headed towards the palatial receiving room in an arrow shaped formation. 5 triple striped acolytes formed the tip, followed by Obscure, who was flanked by Calf and Goto on the left and right respectively. Behind the trio were the Rites evaluators, with the masters walking side-by-side in a single row while the junior archivist walked a few paces behind them. The rest of the garbs completed the arrow formation, with 6 double-striped garbs on either side, and a single row of 5 single-striped acolytes to bring up the rear.

They took a path adjacent to the Walk of Reverence and arrived at a flight of stairs that led up to the first floor, where the doors to the receiving room awaited. The red doors were already wide-open and two massive minotaurs were stationed there. Calf did not recognize them, and this was strange for he knew all who served in the palace. Already weary of the unknown elements, he didn't miss the glint in the eyes of the centenary on the left.

He traced the centenary's stare to Goto, who looked agitated by the centenary's attention. Calf coughed and the ram started, turning to meet Calf's eyes. Calf smiled reassuringly and Goto relaxed, turning to look forward again, ignoring the minotaur. The centenary moved to block the procession. When they stopped, he bowed his head before addressing the procession.

"May I be so bold as to ask what business a deserter has traveling with you?" he asked, pointing his spear towards Goto.

From the centenary's knowledge of Goto, Calf surmised this was one of the guards in Red the Fierce's employ. Calf looked around him and was happy to see none of the other members of the procession reacting to the question. When no one made to answer, the centenary grew agitated, stepping closer to garbs in front. The garbs closed ranks, denying the centenary passage through. The garbs pushed their left palms forward and a thick barrier film coalesced in front of them, pushing outward to meet the hostile minotaur’s advance. The second centenary made to intercept, but a commanding boom from inside the hall froze in him in place.

"That's enough! All in the company of the evaluators may enter!" the King commanded.

Both minotaurs resumed their positions and saluted the procession. Although they seemed subdued, the anger the bold minotaur held could still be seen reflected in its eyes, and it seemed the King's reproach had only served to fan those flames. The procession continued into the hall unhindered, and Calf faced the floor as was tradition. He only looked up when the garbs adjusted their formation to form a horseshoe around the masters, Goto and himself.

Obscure moved to stand in front of the King, nodding his head once before looking to all who were present. The council members all wore distant expressions for a brief moment, which he'd come to associate with mental communications. When the moment passed, Obscure turned to the junior archivist, who came forward, bowed deeply, and gave a brief summary of events from the time Calf began the extended rites, to the appearance of the garbs. He closed the retelling at the point he had resigned the rites' scroll to Obscure, lowering his head for further instructions. The King excused him, and the junior gave another bow before retreating behind the masters.

A staff materialized in Obscure's hands at that moment. Although it was wooden and seemingly plain, it shimmered when Obscure wielded it. He raised it up slightly before thumbing it once onto the ground. It flashed at the time of impact, appearing gilded and ornate. That image was short-lived however as its radiance melted into the floor, becoming a golden halo that expanded upwards and outwards into a golden globe.

Obscure twisted the staff on its pivot and the images from the rites that had occurred within the bounds of the capital were replayed on the globe. The dialogue and sounds were heard directly in each of the viewer's minds. Though all images flashed for but the same brief moment, somehow, some carried more weight in the display than others. There was emphasis on Calf's ambush upon his return, Remwa's evaluation of the silver spear and last and most surprising, the deserter business with the guard stationed at the door.

Obscure lowered his staff and this point and when it made contact with the floor once more, it dematerialized as fast as it had appeared. He gave one nod to the King before standing to the side, affording the rest of the rites’ delegation direct line of site with the King.

The King considered them for a second before asking each of the evaluators to verbally confirm their ruling. These were given in the order the evaluators had assessed Calf in the all-seeing tower. Once this part was finished, the King asked the prince if he had anything he wanted addressed before the floor was opened to the council members present, and he nodded in the affirmative. The King then urged Calf forward with a beckoning palm and instructed him to speak freely once he’d stopped in front of the King.

⯁⯁⯁

Calf took a moment to arrange his thoughts on how he would broach the topics on his agenda. Even though he felt he had the truth and some favor on his side, that might not be enough to win him the day in front of the vultures in the council.

The King’s presence would discourage any who would use force to claim what was his, but even he couldn’t ignore history and culture. This left Calf with no choice but to try fight fire with fire in the matter of his new companion. Seeing as that would likely be the easiest target in combatting his ascension, he began by addressing that.

“I have 4 major issues I would like to address, and central in 3 of them is my new companion and first retainer, Goto the Scaled,” Calf began. This triggered whispers in the council terraces, accompanied by bolder voices who didn’t mind voicing their opinions out loud.

‘Presumptuous,’ came one voice, and ‘bold,’ came another, the former seeming to voice the general sentiment amongst the council members. It had indeed been bold of him to assume he would be promoted to heir-apparent today, and thus be in need of retainers.

This would seem like a foregone conclusion given the masters had already confirmed as much, but as this hadn’t been officialized by the King and council yet, only the boldest of individuals would dare act as if it was. Bold was the right of it, but the fact he was a half-being made such an act unacceptable in the Taurs eyes, thus a presumption. Before any of the voices could rise high enough, he plowed ahead.

“Goto has been tasked with delivering a message to the Elders in the council, and if you will allow it, he might be able to shed some light on the issue of desertion, among other things related to his former position.”

The stands began chittering anew before Red the Fierce cleared his throat. He got up and threw Calf a menacing glare before directing a second one to Goto. Goto stood up to his full height and defiantly stared back. Undaunted by the failed attempt to intimidate the pair, Red began his response to Calf’s statement.

“And what, pray-tell, would lead you to believe we would consider anything that deserter has to say?” he asked, making the question rhetorical by continuing, “If you can tell all who are gathered here where the message came from, we might consider listening.”

What a crafty bastard, thought Calf. He had brought up the River King’s message as a way of providing the council with two choices. Either they would allow the message to be voiced right now, or have it voiced later with a limited audience. The former would guarantee a swift change in tides in his favor, which he doubted would happen. The latter on the other hand would plant the seed of doubt in whatever warranted having fewer ears, moving the attention from Goto to whatever the council was hiding. He would bet on the council eventually buying his silence through accepting Goto as his retainer, for even after hearing what Goto had to say, they would rather sweep it under the rug to avoid public dissention once it got out.

He had considered other paths as well, for instance, a challenge to the messenger’s character. He had deemed this not worth any further consideration given the garbs presence. With the garbs in attendance, any questions on Goto’s character and the veracity of his words would be quickly put to rest, leaving the council with the same two choices. What he hadn’t anticipated were questions to the integrity of the source. With the source miles away, there would be no way for the garbs to publicly inspect them under a truth-tell, and though Calf knew the garbs already knew where the message had come from, they wouldn’t voice this in the presence of uninitiated council members. Red the Fierce had to have known this and had used that as a way to stifle the message’s delivery.