Tommuel stood in front of the congregation. His hand placed over the palm of Nuriel Calpo. Without any sound coming out from his lips, the elder chanted. Sparkling lilac-colored strings crawled from their palms then up to Tommuel's arms and chest and the strings unpainfully pierced through his shirt and skin.
Seeing that the Bound to Speak was completed, Nuriel began the interrogation.
"Is Merryl Sullivan your daughter?"
"Yes, Merryl is my daughter with Rachel before I married Kaya."
Assuring that the Bound was working perfectly, Nuriel continued, "Did you send Merryl Sullivan to assassinate Emerald Kandas?"
"No, I did not. I was not aware of her existence until the assassination attempt."
Satisfied, Nuriel let go of Tommuel's palm. Ezebel stood next and did the same Bound to Speak enchantment and asked the same questions and received the same answers. Azriel did the same. The three Calpo's interrogated Tommuel Pas-ang and the three indeed found him not guilty.
The Bound to Truth was a gift that the Clan of Calpo inherently has. Linking their own mind with the person they laid their hands upon, they would 'see' whether that person is whether telling the truth or lying. No one can ever put a mind barrier powerful enough to block a Calpo's Bound to Truth. That is why whatever the results of an interrogation from a Calpo are, it is most trustworthy.
Ziron stood up with the usual arrogant face of his and spoke, " I request that Arman Pakjawan be interrogated as well."
Whispers came from their audiences and loud verbalization of dislikes came from the minor houses of the Pakjawan.
Ziron paying no heed to the dislikes continued, "It is not hidden to your knowledge that there is bad blood between the Kandas and Pakjawan. If the clan of Pakjawan is innocent, then there is no reason for them to refuse the interrogation."
Arman smirked. With pride he stood up and gestured for his clan members and the other audience to quiet down. "Elder Ziron has a point. Although I hate the idea of submitting to your will and defending myself even though I am innocent, I shall comply with you. I am willing to be interrogated."
Arman, with head held up high, walked towards the three Calpo's. Nuriel, as usual, went first.
"Did you order Merryl Sullivan to assassinate Emerald Kandas?"
"No, I did not order Merryl Sulivan to assassinate her."
"Did you know Merryl Sullivan before the assassination attempt?"
"No. I only heard of her from the news of the assassination attempt."
Those two questions were enough to either acquit or find Arman guilty. After Azriel and Ezebel's turn, the three Calpo decided that Arman Pakjawan was also innocent of the crime.
Laughter can be heard among the houses of Pakjawan and the minor houses of Kandas felt the embarrassment. Ziron Kandas on the other hand, stayed silent.
Arman walked back to his chair, but before sitting down he commented, "Now that both me, and Tommuel are found not guilty of Ziron Kandas' accusations, I think we better state the obvious."
Nuriel knitted his brows, "That is?"
" What do we know about this Merryl Sullivan? Why did she attack a Kandas?"
"She was under orders from a master." Ziron answered.
"Who was this girl's master? It is not me nor is it Tommuel. Interrogate every person here and you will find no one guilty. Why? Who will dare to fight against a Kandas. Even I can tell that a subclan or house underneath the Kandas would be a fool to do so. "
Impatient Ezebel interrupted, "Then who do you suppose is the woman's master?"
"If I put myself in the shoes of that woman, I might plot revenge to a father who has ignored me and my mother's existence. I have no proof; however it is likely that this Merryl has discovered herself as a summoner. Her master must have met the woman and have offered her to harness her gift. Maybe this "assassination" attempt is a part of her training."
The audience were silent. What Arman Pakjawan claimed was possible.
Muriel Kantes cleared his throat, "You seem to be positive about this claim for someone who is innocent. However I may hate it, we must admit it, but what Arman is saying is probably true. Then who do you suppose is the instigator?"
Arman smirked. He took few moments before replying. " The woman had a Kowadja, a gift specific for the children of Taray. But the woman was able to summon a Kaleshing that we all know belong to that clan. Forgive me for mentioning that word, but for the sake of clarity, permit me to do so. The Afey's"
At the mention of the word, the crowd gave a dreaded reaction and silent whispers became rattled, annoying sounds.
Nuriel struck the wooden table forcefully and exclaimed, "Silence!!!"
His angry voice echoed and fearful silence ruled among the people, "There is no proof!!! That cursed of a clan perished in the fire of their own making!!!"
Arman knitted his brow, "How do we know that all of them perished? Were we able to count their ashes?"
Arman looked at Nuriel, directly in his eyes. One by one, Arman laid his eyes to the elders seated around the table, Tommuel, Ziron, Muriel and Nuriel.
"Arman!" Ziron shouted, "Remember your place."
Arman laughed mockingly while raising both of his hands, surrendering.
This time Muriel spoke, " If it is true that an Afey survived that fire, then it is possible that he or she would target the future heir of the ruling clan."
The fearful silence not only ruled among the audience, but it crawled to those people seated around the table the most.
Emerald was silent. It will be the first time that the Clan of Afey was ever mentioned in a Council.
The Clan of Afey. Emerald can only know so little of this mysterious clan From what can be gathered from tales, legends and gossips. Taray has green eyes, Sagubo has blue and Afey had crimson ones. A clan that had closer ties with the unseen than the Calpo who are descendants of the powerful Vanished Ones. Taray has a Kowadja, Sagubo has his Almas, while an Afey uses a soul, Kaleshing. For her people, this is a disrespect to their deceased loved ones. But the Clan of Afey have no reservations in making use of their ancestors' souls as their weapons.
Breaking the silence, Ziron stood up and took his turn to speak, "There is no evidence that an Afey might have survived ten years ago nor now can we assure than all of them perished. There is one thing that ties Merry Sullivan to that wretched clan. She was able to summon a Kaleshing even if she has no blood relation to that clan and is instead, is more of a Pas-ang, a Taray. There is only two possible suspects of being her master. An Afey or a person who acquired the dead clan's gift. No matter who the master is, one thing is for sure.."
"And that is?" Ezebel queried with an irritated tone.
"There is a threat not only to my clan but to the harmony within us. It is not farfetched to say that perhaps one of the goals of the enemy is to produce discord between us. If that happens, then the enemy wins."
Arman let out a mocking laughter, "Was it not just moments ago, that you were sure that Tommuel and I were the mastermind of the assassination of your precious granddaughter? Why the change of heart?"
Ziron knitted his brows, "You know why." Ziron directed a meaningful glare only at Arman but all the Elders that sat around the table clearly understood what the glare meant.
In silence, all of them agreed: They should put their guard up. It was meaningless to hunt for an unknown enemy. It was more practical to be always ready to defend.
"Now then, to the next agenda," Azriel teasingly said, "Elder Ziron, I believe you want the council to discuss the current practice of inheritance."
The old man nodded, "As you all know, our current practice is the title of head of a house or subclan or clan is passed down to the first-born male….however,"
Even before Ziron could finish his statement, Arman interrupted, " and that has always been that way for many generations and there was no problem with it. If you intend to change it, you yourself had created the discord in the clan that you mentioned previously."
Commotion between the minor houses began. Nuriel cleared his throat, "Arman does have a point, however let Ziron finish his defense."
Ziron nodded and continued, "With the consent of the members of my family, I decided to pass my current title, Head of the Subclan of Kandas, to my granddaughter, Emerald."
Azriel raised his eyebrow, "Only the title as Head of your Subclan? I see no problem if it is agreed by members within the clan. But how about the Heir of Taray that you currently hold?"
The crowd was interested to hear Ziron's answer. All ears were on him.
Ziron grinned, "Together with the advent of an enemy lurking around, don't you think a display of power is needed as well to instill fear in him that is trying to destroy us? In the past, members of the clan died trying to claim a Main Clan's Heir title. That made members of the clan ambitious, competitive, powerful, and resilient. Resilience that made it possible for us to exist until to this day."
Myrus who was silent all throughout time broke his own silence with a stammering voice, "A---are you suggesting tha—that the heirs fi—fight Uncle?"
Ziron nodded, "Fight in a friendly battle that the Clan of Calpo will precede. Let us just admit that it is not only me who agrees on this suggestion. Do we not have the daughters of the House of Vicoz Tohey and of the House of Casius Pakjawan vying for the position of Head of their Subclans? In this day and age, I submit to the idea that worthiness does not belong to the male population alone."
Arman mockingly laughed, Nuriel knitted his brows, Azriel and Muriel silently grinned. They all knew what Ziron's true intention were. It was not to fight for the feministic views. Ziron intends to keep the title within his grasp through Emerald.
Ziron seemed confident that Emerald would win against the other candidates. This idea ticked both Arman and his son Brian. Arman raised his hand, " I am willing to have my son take part of this 'duel'"
Andrei tapped his grandfather's arm. Muriel sighed and commented, "We have no objections as well."
Although there was no declaration of voting, Nuriel sighed and accepted as it is. Ambition and pride are laid on the table, so no one will dare to object.
Nuriel raised a finger, and everyone settled down, "First of all, the current practice of inheritance is not written in stone nor in paper, therefore it is not absolute. Seeing that everyone consents to what Elder Ziron Kandas has suggested, then the Clan of Calpo will take the responsibility on presiding this duel."
Azriel, with that usual sly grin of his, suggested, "The Amesla Highway is still being rebuilt. It will take not more than two weeks for all of you to return to your abodes. Why not hold the duel within those weeks?"
There was no objection from the crowd. Nuriel and the two other Calpo's whispered among themselves. Ezebel spoke for them, " Then it is final. We will hold the duel within these 2 weeks. The Clan of Calpo is willing to hold the duel in Daposhaga."
The mention of duel had made the crowd go wild. It will be the first time in their history that such an event will happen.