Chapter 2: CONSEQUENCES
Blood soaked the pristine white marble of the Summoning Hall. The scent of iron clung to the air, thick and choking. Screams had long faded into stunned silence, save for the squelch of Shia’s boots as she stepped away from the twitching corpse of Lord Taren.
Reed stood unmoving in the center of the chaos, eyes calm, hands steady. Around him, nobles cowered behind their Heroes, expressions caught between horror and outrage. The ceremonial elegance of the gathering had shattered, replaced with a tension so taut it hummed.
"You... you fool!" someone finally shouted. Lord Alrich, a paunchy man with too many rings on his fingers, pointed a trembling hand. "You just committed treason!"
Reed tilted his head, watching him like a hawk. "Treason? Against who?"
Alrich’s mouth opened, but no sound came. Others murmured. Eyes turned to the Royal Scribe, an old, hunched man who hadn’t looked up once since blood hit his parchment. He cleared his throat.
"Technically... no law forbids a newly appointed lord from challenging another."
A collective gasp. Reed raised an eyebrow.
"So I broke no law."
"You murdered a peer in a sacred ceremony!" snapped Lady Vessara, a sharp-featured woman whose Hero, a radiant knight, glared at Shia.
"I gave a command. My Hero obeyed. Isn’t that the point?" Reed’s voice was flat. "Obedience. Loyalty. Strength."
The Royal Scribe shuffled forward, his sandals slick with blood. He adjusted his spectacles. "The domain has seen such incidents before. Rare, but not unprecedented. Duel by proxy... though not during Summoning."