( No Title )
Chains of the Dragon (29283 words) by thesavagesabretooth
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October 3, 2028– 5:50 pm
It had been a long flight. A really long flight. Klavier had been on some long flights before, but this one might have taken the cake.
He felt like his skin was made of bees and his stomach was made of sandpaper. He had his sunglasses pushed up on his nose to protect himself from the evening sun, and he walked close to Ema as they made their way through the marketplace.
Still, despite it all, despite the nerves and the tension and the lack of sleep, he kept the smile painted on his face.
“Some place, huh, fraulein!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty neat, huh?” Ema chuckled, though he could tell it was forced. She was shuffling along, her eyes dark even over her lazy smile as she hugged her bag to her side. “I have to admit, part of me really loved being here for a while. The tea’s fantastic, the food’s great, and you can’t say it ain’t interesting.”
“You must have been having a good time, ja? While we’re here, you’ll have to show me the sights.” He moved to slip his arm around her waist as they walked.
Ema flushed, and for a moment she seemed about to protest before she leaned into him with a sharp laugh. “I’ll give you the grand tour. Knowing you, if I left you alone you’d get grifted by Ahlbi or something.”
“Me? Grifted? Never! I am simply a generous soul who likes to let his assistance flow freely.” he laughed and tossed his hair, but she could probably tell how glad he was that she didn’t push him off her. The crowd was overwhelming to his sleepless mind. “So where are we going exactly? You said something about a palace, but I might have been mistaken.”
“I’m taking you to the palace.” she pointed to a large and ornate structure in beautiful pinks and blues on a rise just outside of the main town. “Specifically we’re going to go see if Yuta…Lord Regent Nahyuta…can set us up with some temporary lodgings that aren’t just on the temple floor again.”
“Lord Regent Nahyuta, hmm?” He cocked his head. “Sounds like the two of you are close. I had no idea that you were dating a prosecutor prince, fraulein– no wonder a humble rockstar doesn’t impress.”
Ema flushed brightly.
“…why the heck did you jump right to ‘dating’, Klavier? And get outta here with that sadboy over-humility. ‘Doesn’t impress’, my ass.”
He laughed and brushed his hair out of his face again. “Sorry, fraulein, perhaps I’m just intimidated. I’m a little out of my element, but it seems you’re right at home here. Probably Apollo is too, ja?”
Ema huffed, and tucked her hair over her ear with a little pout.
“It’s not like LA, I was shell shocked too when I first got here. But it kinda grows on you. Maybe it’s the air.” She walked a little closer to him “…anyway, yeah. I guess I am dating the prosecutor prince– so maybe that’ll score us some good beds.”
“I would hope so! Sounds like it will for you at least.” He gave her a sly look. “So you are dating, ja? And here you were trying to imply like I was reaching in my deduction,”
“All I said is it was kinda desperate to assume, Klav.” She huffed up at him with a sly smile “…but yeah. He took a liking to me, and I took a liking to him. We’ve had a thing going for a little while now, since I got assigned to him. Took him out to his first American cheeseburger.”
“Oh that sounds like a fun time, fraulein! You should take me out for an American cheeseburger as well!” He teased lightly, his fingers playing a guitar riff on her hip as they walked arm in arm. He hoped that the needy loneliness didn’t seep into his voice.
It must have, as he caught her looking at him with a funny look. “How about I take you out for a Khura’in dinner instead? You know, for the novelty.”
He flushed and ducked his head. “Ach, well, if you insist, liebchen, I certainly won’t say no! So, you are dating the prosecutor prince– how about Apollo? Does he have anyone here?”
He hurried the conversation away from himself, but in his haste accidentally stumbled on another topic that might be construed as insecurity. Of course Klavier was not at all insecure… even though Apollo had ditched him.
Ema rubbed her neck.
“Uh…kind of also Nahyuta, Klaiver. And me, honestly. We’ve been getting closer, you know?”
“Oh.” Klavier turned it over in his mind. Apollo and Ema. And this prosecutor prince. He could start to see why Apollo wasn’t bothering to call home. He pushed the thought aside. “Well! That sounds like we’re likely to get decent accommodations then, ja?”
“Either that or a three hour sermon.” Ema snickered like it was some private joke as she bumped his shoulder .“I’ll give it 50/50.”
“A sermon, fraulein?” he chuckled with her despite not quite understanding the joke. “Oh! Is he the monk that Trucy was talking about?”
“If Trucy was talking about him, I uh…imagine you’ve got a pretty skewed impression of him, don’t you? I think she’s still pissed about the Gramarye trial. Not that I can blame her of course…but yeah, he’s a monk of the Holy Mother and an international prosecutor.”
“I’m afraid I didn’t actually get much of an impression of him at all through her babbling. She was very upset,” Klavier said.
As they walked he glanced a little at the strange buildings and the bright colored clothes and strange, almost festival atmosphere that was so different than a typical street in LA..
The two of them passed a small group of Khurainese men and women talking excitedly near what seemed to be a weathered old electronics stall, as the words ‘plumed punisher’ rose clearly out of what was otherwise a foreign language to Klavier.
The sky was bright and blue, and the air was crisp and sharp to the lungs with none of the familiar LA smog.
“Poor thing.” Ema sighed as she gave the people a wave– at least one of them waved back as if he recognized her. “He’s a pretty good guy, honestly. He could be a little…cold…during trials, sure. But he had his reasons. Things weren’t great for him.”
“Oh no?” he cocked his head. “Well he’s a prosecutor, and not all of us are so warm and cuddly as I am, ja? But what do you mean things weren’t great for him?”
Ema looped her arm around him in a sign of shocking public affection for her, and started scrounging in her coat pocket thoughtfully.
Before them the great temple loomed and caught the light in a glistening starburst, and off to its side, the gilded palace and its high walls.
Hanging from flags and banners, Klavier saw the somewhat familiar shape of a reversed magatama– or was it something else?
Ema sighed as she pulled her snackoos from her pocket and offered him some.
“Oof, she didn’t even talk about that? Nahyuta was the son of a defense attorney. A defense attorney who became a rebel after being accused of murdering his wife.” Her smile grew grim “and the doctrine at the time said the sins of the father will be visited upon the child’.”
Klavier took the offered snack and put it in his mouth thoughtfully, surprised both by the gesture and show of public affection. Ema must feel very comfortable here– or she was worried about him. He wasn’t sure which it was. Either way he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“I am starting to feel like I didn’t ask enough questions when I rushed out here,” Klavier drawled. “If I’d asked them– I would have come even faster. The sins of the father visited on the child– what an evil doctrine.”
He shuddered, trying not to think of his own father. Of course, there was a shield between him and his own father’s sins…
“Yeah, I hated it when I first heard it…hate it still.” Ema grimaced as she munched miserably at a snackoo.
A small child bustled past Klavier, chasing after a bird with a laugh, which lightened Ema’s expression before she sighed and continued.
“Nahyuta’s father was an exile, accused of killing a queen, and he grew up in the mountains with Apollo as a child of revolutionary guerillas. Only, Nahyuta wanted to change the system, so he became a prosecutor with the intention of subverting and changing things from the inside.”
She put a snackoo in her mouth, pausing to let a yak walk past with its owner, then she continued.
“but his aunt caught him in a trap. She’d recaptured his recently born little sister, and threatened him with her future. ‘Do everything I ask, or I get her labeled the daughter of a murderer and let her suffer’. He didn’t wanna let Princess Rayfa suffer…and he was already treated like dirt because of the sins of the father rule, so he wound up becoming Ga’ran’s pet prosecutor until Mr. Wright and company managed to get her deposed.”
The story of abuse pulled Klavier’s attention away from the exotic and adorable yak, and he grimaced.
“Mein gott… that’s terrible! Tell me that something changed, fraulein? It sounds like you are leading up to something better?”
A older sibling shielding the younger by sacrificing their own honor. No wonder Ema found herself falling for this prosecutor prince. How much like the sister she looked up to he sounded.
“Well…he’s been made regent, and Rayfa the princess, so there’s at least that. The DC act…which ah, made it so defense attorneys would be executed with their clients, was overturned. And I know he’s wanted to try to change perception on the ‘sins of the father’ belief…but it takes time.”
Ema’s fingers flexed against his before she tugged him past the yak. “Things are looking up, we’re trying to fix it, but it ain’t going fast because nobody’s wanted to risk becoming an attorney again and people are stuck in their ways.”
“I’m sorry, fraulein,” he began as they entered the shadow of the looming palace, “Did you say that they were executing attorneys?”
“Uh huh.” Ema grimaced. “Holding them to the same punishments their clients got. ‘As representing and attempting to save an unclean soul spoke to the uncleanliness of your own.’ It made you just as guilty in the Queen’s eyes. Of course…it was a terror tactic to keep control of her people at the end of the day.”
She looked at Klavier, as he noticed a knot of people by the doorway. A young woman and a number of what seemed to be attendants were heading off towards the temple to the distant sound of soft bells. She didn’t seem happy, the young woman, but at this distance he couldn’t see much of why.
“The accused didn’t even get a trial. They just did a dance to witness the last moments of the victim and went off the assumptions because ‘the dead never lie’ .”
Klavier’s gaze lingered on the unhappy young woman for a moment before they were drawn back to Ema. He shook his head.
“Ema… fraulein that… that’s monstrous…” He found he could hardly wrap his mind around it. “Our own court system is hardly perfect. Flawed. Ripe for abuse. But that…”
“Was evil, right? Yeah. It was. But Mr. Wright tried to stand up against it and basically strong-armed them into giving a proper trial to save Miss Maya and Ahlbi…a kid…from execution. Now Apollo and Nahyuta are trying to fix it in the long term, that’s..”
She nibbled at a snackoo with a frown. “That’s why they’re working themselves so hard here, Klavier. It’s that or let things like the old justice system slide back into power.”
“Okay…. I can sort of start to see why Apollo might be having difficulty coming home,” he murmured. He glanced up at the palace, pausing in front of the long pool of water that stood before it.
Ema looked down into the water “yeah. That’s kind of why I’m not keen on forcing him back. Something’s gotta be done, you know?”
Their reflections were perfect in the clear water…it was almost divine, in it’s way. A perfect mirror to the soul without even a ripple from the gentle breeze.
“Come on. I think you’ll like Yuta. Just…don’t take anything weird he says to heart. I think it’s his way of teasing.”
October 3, 2028– 6:20 pm
Ema had been able to get them past the guards at the door without an issue– one look at the forensic scientist and they seemed to recognize her instantly and wave her inside.
However, they’d been told that Nahyuta was currently out for the moment on an errand and would be back relatively shortly. After a bit of reassurance and Ema’s demand to be let known the moment he returned, she wound up giving Klavier a bit of a tour around the place’s first floor to kill time.
He’d gotten history lessons, clearly relayed from things she’d been told recently, and a number of anecdotes about the happenings in these very halls from ‘that’s where Mr. Wright basically told the Justice Minister to go fuck himself’ and ‘this was used as a prop in the plumed punisher’.
Klavier didn’t know exactly how much time had passed when the sound of footsteps and bells rang through the air from the doorway of the hall.
“…such disrespectful…evil….cruel…nasty…” the voice was high, feminine and youthful, and it seemed every syllable was punctuated by another ringing of bells “when they find th–”
The voice abruptly stopped with a gasp “Miss Skye?”
Klavier turned with curiosity at the sound of the voice. He knew the sound of young ladies’ voices– whoever it was sounded about the age of a typical Gavinners fan.
He saw a young woman, a girl really, standing in the center of the hall with her hand over her mouth in surprise.
Her dark hair was wound in intricate braids that looped behind her head and held it out of her wide and piercing eyes. She had tattoos over her face, marking underneath the eyes and in the center of her forehead, and wore a long white and green trimmed shawl over a pink dress. When she moved, Klavier saw that her arms were connected by a long ribbon that trailed from one bell-clad cuff to the other.
Ema turned with a grin and a sudden bow–one where she put her hand against his back and tried to push him down into one as well.
“Good morning, Your Benevolence.”
Klavier was quick on the uptake– and while he wasn’t one to bow and scrape to royalty, he wasn’t above doing so for a young girl, especially one Ema was willing to do so for. He took the encouragement and more so, sweeping into a court bow.
“Good evening, meine Prinzessin,” he said– teasingly correcting Ema’s jet lagged estimate of the time, and giving the greeting his own personal flourish.
The girl relaxed somewhat, before she slowly walked towards them with the ringing of the bells around her ankles.
“Main Princess Sin? What is this silliness your friend spouts, Miss Skye?” the girl asked with a pout that seemed more curious than upset.
Ema snickered,
“It’s German, your benevolence. The glimmerous fop here’s always been fond of it.” She bumped his shoulder. “Klavier…meet Princess Rayfa Padma Khura’in. Future Queen of the country and a friend of mine.”
The girl dipped into a curtsy with a gentle smile “Good evening, Mr. Glimmerous.”
Klavier straightened up when Rayfa did, and flipped his hair with a bright and charming rock star smile. “Please, Prinzessin, my friends call me Klavier. Of course– you may call me anything you like.”
If there was one thing that made him feel more comfortable after no sleep and in a foreign country– it was putting on a show. That much at least was practically normal.
The princess put her finger to her chin, looking deep in thought for a long moment with a soft ‘hmmm’.
After a moment she smiled.
“Alright, Shaved Head.” She tapped her chin again– Klavier admittedly felt a little sensitive at the name. Only part of his hair was shaved after all… maybe he never should have… “or is Gold Head more appropriate?”
Gold head he liked better.
Ema had started to snicker into her hand. “Here we go…lucky man, you’re gettin’ one of Princess Rayfa’s famous nicknames.”
Rayfa kept her triumphant grin, before she tilted her head “are you another forensic scientist, Mr. Klavier?”
“Who, me?” He beamed brightly at her. “No, unfortunately I have no such luck to be among those esteemed ranks. I’m merely a prosecutor and a former rockstar, I’m afraid, prinzessin.”
“Rock star…?” Rayfa paced a little closer with a curious glint in her serious eyes. “You don’t look like a rock to me. I’m not stupid. You DO look like the sorts of prosecutors that Braid Head spoke of back in the states, though.”
“Forgive me, prinzessin, my guitar is with the rest of our luggage for now, ja?” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Admittedly, for the moment I am more prosecutor than rockstar. Who’s braid head?”
“……” Rayfa stared at him for a long moment, before she turned to Ema in exasperation. “why does he keep calling himself a star of rocks?” “Remember Pees’lubn Andistan’dhin?” Ema murmured to her with a look of amusement. “…and his music that he broke out during the trial? That’s rock music. Klavier’s just as loud as the guy but like, a hundred times nicer.”
Rayfa sniffed, and tossed a lock of her hair over her shoulder.
“So you’re a rockstar…or were. Yes. That makes sense. I knew that.” She pointed with a smile “If you’re a prosecutor then I’m glad to have you here, gold head! Braid Head could use some help!”
“Braid head?”
She paused a moment before she waved her hand “Miss Skye. Explain.”
“…that’s her nickname for her big brother, Klavier. Nahyuta.”
"Ahhh, of course, I should have known,” Klavier nodded graciously and filed the information away for later. “I have heard he is also a prosecutor. In fact, it’s him we’ve come to meet today.”
Rayfa seemed to suddenly become excited, leaning forward with a palpable air of excitement “are you here to help him prosecute the retrials faster?”
“Ehhhh…” Ema waved her hand from side to side. “Sorta, kinda. We’re actually looking for a place to sleep first.”
Prosecute trials faster– it wasn’t what he’d intended but if that was what was keeping Apollo from LA it wasn’t the worst idea he’d heard either.
“Indeed, prinzessin. We came to the country to visit my good friend, Apollo Justice. Perhaps you know him too?”
“HORN HEAD!” Rayfa’s smile spread across her face. “Yes! Apollo Justice is one of my gr–” she seemed to catch herself, and composed herself into a far less excited affect, her voice dropping and her smile growing muted as she nodded after glancing nervously over her shoulder.
“Apollo Justice is a good friend of the crown.”
Ema must have known what was happening from the way she quietly grimaced and glanced off to the side “Yeah, she’s taken quite the shine to me and Justice. I’d call us great friends.”
“That’s wonderful to hear,” Klavier nodded. He chuckled at the epithet. Horn head suited him. Maybe even better than ‘forehead’. “I’ve always thought that herr horn head needed more great friends, ja? Perhaps you’re a good influence on him, meine prinzessin.”
She covered her mouth with her hand, perhaps hiding the fact that the big grin had returned.
“I’m simply the best influence on everyone I meet…and I was such a good influence that horn head helped me save a few flowers from my garden just the other day!”
Ema turned towards her with a frown. “…wait, what happened to your garden?”
Klavier felt something in the back of his brain light up at the exchange and he put his arm around Ema with a big, affected smile. “Didn’t you hear her, fraulein? Apollo helped her save them, ja? Wonderful.”
Ema’s expression didn’t brighten.
“…that’s good to hear, ” she murmured as she half fell against Klavier, who put his arm around her. “I’ll see if I can take some time to keep an eye on them while I’m here, your benevolence.”
Rayfa’s fingers hid her mouth again as she nodded.
“Of course. If it makes you comfortable you are more than welcome, Investigator Skye…but yes. Horn Head is a wonderful man, and I am certain I’ve only ever been a good influence upon him.” She checked over her shoulder again before she whispered. “By the way, Investigator…can you teach me more about luminol later?”
Klavier watched the interaction with interest. He wondered if the princess was interested in detective work– or just interested in spending more time with Ema. Lady Justice knew that talking about forensics was the best way to get her attention.
Ema’s expression finally lit up, her muted anger evaporating into a big grin “well. If you have time, your benevolence…I’ll bring my kit and I’ll give you another lesson, okay?”
Rayfa squeezed her hands together with a look of genuine excitement in her clear green eyes.
“Thank you, Emma. I’ll request that mother give me some time to prepare.” She tilted her head at Klavier “….you, gold head.”
Actually interested in investigation then. Now wasn’t that interesting…
He performed a little bow for her. “Ja, prinzessin? How may I be of service?”
She peered at him with her arms crossing over her chest. “You and Miss Skye are close, are you not? You’ve got your arm about her. Are you her paramour?”
Klavier laughed and flushed, pressing his hands to his chest over his heart. “Ah well, who truly knows the heart of another? Fraulein, am I your paramour?”
Ema turned a bright red, and she started to sputter like a teakettle “YOUR BENEVOLENCE!”
She whipped to look at Klavier “don’t encourage her!” she spit.
“It is a simple question.” Rayfa huffed with a note of petulance in her tone. “I simply wished to know if I should invite him to the lesson. He could tell me of prosecution in the United States…and perhaps more about rock music.”
Ema pressed both hands to her face , making a keening sound.
“Paramour….what the fu—frick kind of…I…hhh….” She looked up with a voice that came out nearly a growl “I suppose yes. In his way.”
Klavier smiled broadly– and naturally this time– rather delighted by her response. “In my way, ja. And prinzessin, I would be most happy to teach you of prosecution, and rock music too.”
Rayfa looked satisfied, and dipped into a low curtsy.
“Then I shall look forward to both your company, barring unfortunate incident or my duties.”
Ema was rubbing her face as she nodded “yeah, should be fun…”
“Perhaps we can do that after we catch up with this lord regent Nahyuta? Unless you could be so kind as to extend us accommodations, prinzessin?”
“I …can.” she admitted with a thoughtful rub of her chin again. “in a fashion. But perhaps you’d best speak with Nahyuta. I’m still going through my lessons, after all.”
“Ja, no problem there, prinzessin,” Klavier said with a smile. “We’re just waiting for him now– no trouble in waiting a little longer.”
“If you would like, you can wait in the garden.” Rayfa said as one of the guards approached her and whispered in her ear. She nodded seriously before smiling “that’s where his lodgings and palace office are, after all..”
Klavier chuckled. “Only if Ema declares the grand tour to be over. I haven’t seen the garden yet, in any case.”
Rayfa pouted again, her hands on her hips. “It’s the most beautiful part of the palace! Ema, you simply must! By royal decree!”
Ema held her hands up with a tired smile. “Of course, your benevolence. Come on, glimmerous fop. Let’s go look at Rayfa’s flowers. They really are pretty.”
October 3, 2028– 6:45 pm
Klavier happily trailed after Rayfa and Ema to the gardens. He had always expected that if he was in a palace it would be to play a rock show, but somehow the truth was far stranger and in some ways more magical, in its way. If tragic, too. What would Apollo say when he saw him?
Still he kept the thoughts in the back of his mind, and kept his tongue and the room happy talking about his old band to the princess, who seemed quite curious about it.
But as they headed out into the palatial gardens out of the dimly lit halls, Klavier heard another voice speaking.
“I can move a guard detachment here on a permanent basis if you command it, your grace,” a gruff voice offered.
“As loath as I am to allow it, given the calm and sanctity of our garden– I’ll give it due consideration, captain.” The voice answering was anything but gruff. It was rich and soft spoken, elegant yet surprisingly deep. “Either way, I’ll ensure such a display does not happen again.”
Rayfa’s eyes widened at the sound of the voice, and she vanished running past the verdant foliage towards it.
“What in the blazes…?” Ema murmured “something’s happened?”
Klavier cocked his head too, curious. “Some kind of incident it sounds like, fraulein. Shall we investigate?”
He grabbed her hand and tugged her forward after Rayfa– though at a bit less of an urgent pace.
Ema nodded, as the two of them hurried past the lattice and under the overhang that lead into the garden, and out into the sprawling green expanse….
The garden was beautiful, certainly…with green swaying grass and sparkling ponds surrounding cobblestone paths and walls leading to royal residences and two tall pagodas at it’s far ends…Klavier could see where brightly colored pink flowers mingled with others…though…far less than expected for a palace garden.
It looked like large sections had recently been torn out.
It was by one of those recently uprooted sections that a figure stood with Rayfa and a sharply uniformed palace guard near a section of wall.
The figure beside Rayfa put his hand on her head as she seemed to grow increasingly angry at whatever was on the wall before them. She had begun to physically shake as they whispered something down to her.
They were striking. A beautiful and androgynous figure with long and flowing white hair tied in a braid that reached their legs, clad in a stiff white coat with a high collar and pants that were lined with gold that caught the sun, and clasped at the elbows with golden bangles. Long eyelashes lay half lidded over brilliant green eyes, and painted lips murmured comfort down at the furious Rayfa.
Caught in the wind, a scarf of filmy fabric framed them like a halo as they looked over their shoulder at the two of them.
“Ah, visitors…I’m afr–”
They paused before smiling with what Klavier could only imagine was recognition and even subtle affection “Ah, Investigator Skye. I was hoping you might return soon.”
Klavier could immediately see what Ema– and apparently Apollo– saw in him. Looking at him felt less like looking on a man and more like looking at some beautiful godling descended from one of the enchanting heavens. A strange mixture of jealousy and desire welled up in Klavier’s heart and he felt a familiar urge.
He swept into another bow. “Ah, mein engle, you must be the prosecutor prince that I have not heard enough about, ja?”
The guard standing behind Nahyuta, armed with an AK-47 gave Klavier a hairy eyeball, but Klavier didn’t pay attention to that.
Nahyuta smiled, a small and subtle thing, and huffed a quiet breath as his fingers formed a position of prayer, middle and ring fingers forming a circle with his thumb and his pinkie and forefinger extended…one hand pointing up and the other down.
“Prosecutor Prince…is that how you’ve been describing me, Miss Skye?” He turned his eyes to Klavier after they opened again. He seemed to scrutinize him for an instant before he pointed his extended fingers towards him.
“…Klavier Gavin. Of the Gaviners. Am I correct?”
Ema had gone rigid and flushed “no! The prosecutor prince thing is Klav—” she paused “…wait you KNOW him???”
“I’m honored to be recognized in such a far off land, mein prinz,” he purred, his smile widening especially at Ema’s flustered reaction. He rose slowly from his bow, looking Nahyuta over one more time– but subtly. “I am afraid the Gavinners are no more, but I remain. A humble prosecutor– humbler still in such magnificent company, ja?”
Nahyuta chuckled quietly under his breath, and as he shifted position Klavier could see the source of Rayfa’s fury…someone had painted something over the wall’s surface. She was still shaking over the guard when Nahyuta seemed to look over Klavier for a moment himself, with a subtle flick of the eyes. He was a tall, lithe figure..with delicate fingers and the tattoo of a coiled dragon against his palm. He tilted his head, and his hair shifted against his cheek.
“I’d listened to a fair bit of your discography while I was studying the culture of LA in preparation for my trials.”
“My condolences to your ears, Nahyuta.” Ema snickered, though like all of her barbs about his music it lacked any real venom.
Nahyuta chuckled at that.
“I found it…interesting, dear. If I recall, I’d gotten some of the recordings from your office” He took a step forward and offered his delicate hand “there is no need to humble yourself, Mr. Gavin– really it’s I who should be humbled that you’ve come to visit our country, though I wish the circumstances weren’t so…”
“HEINOUS! EVIL!” Rayfa stomped her foot behind him “How DARE THEY!”
“That.” He gestured towards her with a soft sigh.
Klavier tossed his hair out of his face as he straightened up, and peered over at the offending wall. Graffiti had been sprayed across it– very dire looking piece of graffiti indeed, even at first glance. It depicted what seemed to be dead and wilted flowers, over which was written a broad slogan in letters that Klavier couldn’t read.
“Ah,” Klavier nodded. “What a shame— there’s been a crime committed, ja? What does the slogan say?”
Nahyuta pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose.
“Indeed. …it says ‘Khura’in belongs to the people’. “ He glanced up at him “…you’re close with Investigator Skye, no? If so I can trust you with this. There’s been some…unrest, as of late. Unrest we hadn’t expected after the deposing of Queen Ga’ran.”
Rayfa had started to sniffle, but pressed her hands to her face to stifle them “…it’s my fault.”
“Unrest, I see,” Klavier nodded and stroked his chin. “Of course, mein prinz, you may trust me implicitly. As for fault, I hardly see how it could be yours, prinzessin?”
Nahyuta shifted to put his hand on Rayfa’s shoulder with a concerned furrow of his brow.
“it couldn’t possibly be the case. Even Mr. Gavin agrees.” he sighed “…it seems some of our Defiant Dragons, the group my father organized, have decided that the whole monarchy must go rather than simply the singular bad ruler.”
Ema walked quietly up to the graffiti and began to examine it with a frown.
“Huh…wonder if we can get a handwriting analysis…track down who made it…or maybe there’s some traces left…hair stuck in the paint, or something.”
Rayfa stomped her foot again, and turned. Her face was red and tears glistened in the corners of her eyes as her fists shook in front of her.
“It’s …it’s…it’s my fault because they hate me for my father an…for Inga and Ga’ran! They must see me as a …a spoiled little imitation of them!” The way she spat the words, they sounded like someone else’s.
Klavier raised his eyebrow, and glanced from Rayfa to Nahyuta, to Ema. He was starting to get a sense that he didn’t like.
“Well, prinzessin, I think fraulein Ema is right– we must track down this criminal and see what they have to say for themselves, ja? Somehow I doubt that you are the source of their complaints, but if you are, then they can see for themselves how wrong they are– don’t you think?”
Nahyuta nodded slowly.
“…that perhaps would be for the best. I’ll increase the guard and set up a perimeter…we’ll investigate and see if we can Holy Mother willing, find and bring the culprit to justice and understanding. Will you assist us in this, Mr. Gavin?”
He glanced at Ema with that subtle smile again “Investigator Skye is already on the job, of course. And I’ll have to send word to Apollo and Datz to have them visit the Defiant Dragons sooner than we’d hoped.”
Rayfa sniffed, and wiped at her eyes. “how wrong they are, indeed…”
Klavier reached out to put his hand on Rayfa’s back– then he looked at the guard with the gun again, and stopped. He had no idea if it was acceptable here to put a hand on royalty. He’d heard stories about people getting their hands cut off.
He knelt, instead.
“Your majesty, in all the stories I know, a princess is a symbol of hope and strength for her people. A shining star to be cherished and admired– much like a rock star for Americans, ja? I am sure that for your people, it is no different.”
Rayfa blinked at him in surprise, her eyes going wide under her fringe of hair.
“…oh..oh my, mr. Gold Head…a shining star to be cherished and admired, like a rock star…”
Nahyuta put his hand to his chin with a subtle smile “interesting analogy, but I can concede to the logic. He is, as expected of a prosecutor, correct. For our people it is no different…save for in the hearts of those who wish to stir trouble in their ignorance.”
“Criminals with troubled hearts,” Klavier said, shaking his head. “A princess should pity someone like that, not take their words to heart, ja?”
He stood up again and brushed his hair out of his face and looked to Ema. “Fraulein, would it be appropriate for me to take a photograph of this graffiti? I have a friend in America who might be able to tell us something useful about its dubious artist if she sees it.”
Rayfa nodded as she wiped at her eyes. “…of course. I won’t take their words to heart, Mr. Gavin…I’ll endeavor to find pity for them.”
Nahyuta placed his hand on her back for a moment before he hummed. “a friend who can speak to the nature of graffiti?”
Somehow Ema snapped out of her scientific haze enough to whip around and point to Klavier “snap away. If you’ve got an expert, then you’d better get them on the line asap.”
Klavier pulled his phone out of his pocket, and centered a photograph of the graffiti. It might take a while before it got enough of a signal to get to its recipient, but he’d do his best.
“Ja, I think Ema maybe knows her. She is in the police academy right now, training to become a forensic scientist. But she’s already a master of art analysis and detecting forgeries.Fraulein, you remember Vera Misham?”
Ema stepped out of frame, before she snapped her fingers with a smile.
“ah! Of course I remember Vera.” She chuckled “…actually, I’d been really happy to hear she’d gone to the academy. And you aren’t wrong, if anyone can analyze this , it’s her.”
“Obviously we’ll want to compare it to any other graffiti that might be seen around here, ja? But my assumption is we don’t have a lot of examples to compare it to.”
Klavier had switched from one type of performance to another. Honestly, he loved to perform as a rock star– but prosecution– investigation– was even more compelling sometimes. A mystery was so wonderfully distracting.
“Not terribly many, no.” Nahyuta hummed with his fingers once more in prayer “but there’s some in some of the old Defiant Dragons safehouses and bases.”
Ema brushed her hair out of her face, and bent down low over the ground with one hand in her pockets. “Let’s get some photographic proof of that…in the meantime, I’m going to see if I can find any traces…Yuta, is my ad-hoc lab still up and running here?”
“But of course.” he closed his eyes “it’s an earthly attachment I couldn’t bring myself to remove. Not with the threat of one of your own sermons hanging in the air.”
“Tch.” Ema smirked, “good. I’ll run some tests if I find anything.”
“Sounds like the game is on, ja, Fraulein? Finding our accommodations can wait.”
Ema looked up with a broad smile. “the game’s afoot, Klavier. Who needs rest when we’ve got a mystery?!”
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