The General took his place at the table and looked at his fellow Council members. He had spoken privately with the Treasurer, who he trusted most among his fellow officials. He had debated addressing the Judge and Peacekeeper directly on the subject before the meeting.
To be assured of their votes ahead of time would be gratifying, but if they were under the Provider's control or influence, he would risk tipping his hand and opening himself up to being thwarted by the traitor's schemes.
The process of impeachment had not happened in well over a hundred years. He didn't even see in the histories the last time one occurred. The Treasurer likely knew, but that didn't matter now. In the end, he had met with both the Judge and Peacekeeper, but did not directly tell them the Provider was a traitor.
As far as he could tell, the Peacekeeper was irritated at what he perceived as the Provider's overzealous accidental obstruction with peacekeeping matters, including some of his own men "helping" with the missing emergency store investigation and winding up contaminating evidence.
He also did not care for the Provider's keen interest in a simple harassment case. The Peacekeeper would have it be a quick trial and a small fine if the charges were true, but the Provider kept insisting he needed more time before the trial could be brought. Still, the man thought the best of the Provider, stating there was an admirable concern for justice that he wished his own men shared.
The General wanted to be cautious and not reveal too much ahead of time. The Provider was crafty, and it was likely that anyone working for or with him would be equally so. In the end, he decided that it would be best to bring the charges publicly to minimize the chances that any vote could be manipulated in the Provider's favor.
If he could make it exceedingly obvious to every citizen of Klain that the Provider was a traitor, the people would also want to throw out anyone who sided with him.
At least, that's what The General was counting on. Politics was a dangerous game, and he was far from the most skilled at navigating its nuances.
The crowd was let in, and he spotted Riley amongst the crowd, Roland at the corner with Ashley guarding, and Dr. Sherman within the crowd as well. Roland's appearance had been heavily altered, and he walked with a slight limp, to disguise his identity.
He closed his eyes for a moment as the meeting was called to order. With a deep breath he steeled himself against the outrage and uproar the accusation might cause.
First, the petitions and reports were heard. Since Riley was there at the General's request, he would speak during the main part of the meeting. The time went quickly, and soon the Judge deferred to the General for whatever his business at the meeting could be.
"I am here for a grave reason," The General announced. The crowd murmured in response, but quickly quieted so they would not miss anything as he continued. "I have received a report of a traitor, a spy, within our city."
The crowd's murmurs grew in volume, and the main guard struck his staff against the floor. Roland stepped closer to the crowd, and no one noticed his counterpart slip out of the meeting.
"Come forward, please." The General spoke, and Riley moved forward in the crowd. He bowed to the Council. "Report." The General raised his eyebrows.
"I have in my possession an intercepted communication between a spy within Klain and the Crown Prince of the Rhone, the enemy force which continually plagues the outlying villages and moves closer to the city every day," Riley bowed again and held out the missive. "These missives have been exchanged using the carrier pigeons stolen from the Klain army."
"Who?" The Judge demanded. It was out of character for him to be impatient, but betrayal and injustice were things he absolutely could not stand.
Riley paled slightly, as one does when confronted by a man like the Judge.
"Your Honor, my source from within Rhone is unequivocally clear that this spy has been working with the Rhone for a number of years, gaining influence and power with the goals of destroying the emergency supplies, weakening the political unity of Klain, and ultimately being complicit in the city's destruction."
"But WHO?" The Judge was barely maintaining his seat. Riley bowed deeply before answering.
"The Provider, your Honor."
The collective gasp from the crowd was followed by an ominous silence. No one could absorb the accusation enough to even gossip about it.
The Provider's face was unreadable. He made no defense, only stared darkly. To demand proof would be to admit guilt. To deny it outright before knowing all the evidence Riley could present would be a poor move strategically. His stare was penetrating and unnerving, and unfortunately closely imitated the stare of a man being falsely accused of a crime who was too magnanimous to interrupt the process.
"Present your evidence," Now that the full accusation was made and the defendant identified, the Judge shifted into the courtroom-eqsue persona he assumed when deciding disputes amongst the citizenry.
Riley brought forward the papers, handing them to the Judge. As he read, his eyes narrowed.
"There are two different handwritings here, one on the front in a letter form, and one on the back in crude note-like markings. Would you please explain this?"
Riley nodded. "The letter is from the Provider to Prince Duncan of Rhone. The markings on the back are from my source within Rhone, who stole the missive. They are matters of strategic importance. The Rhone do not use much paper as a society, so this was the least conspicuous way for him or her to pass information to me for use against our attackers."
"Given that the accusation is that a spy is among us," The Judge said, "I will not question you further on the identity of your 'source', for the moment. If we can independently verify the authenticity of this document, I see no need to publicly delve into that," He looked around to his fellow Council members for disagreement. Finding none, he continued.
"Guard, would you please bring me the Provider's oath?" The Judge asked.
Each of the Council members of Klain took an oath of office when they were elected. The document was copied out in their own handwriting and hung in a wooden frame behind each of their places at the Council table as a display of the contract between them and the citizens of Klain. It was the most convenient and doubtlessly authentic sample of the Provider's handwriting.
Roland's brow knitted. The oath was copied out by the real provider years ago. He had no idea if Titania's deception extended to having the fake imitate the Provider's handwriting, but he had a sinking feeling it did not.
The guard took down the oath from the wall and handed it to the Judge, who examined both documents.
He turned a serious gaze on Riley. "You are sure this traitorous letter was written by the Provider? In his own hand?"
"I think a very recent example of the Provider's handwriting would yield the most definitive comparison," Riley hedged, "but my source is certain that the Provider is, in fact, the traitor behind this missive."
The Judge cut his eyes back down to the letter, then passed it to the Peacekeeper for perusal.
"Provider, may we see the notes you have been taking during this meeting?" The Judge asked with deference. There was really no choice in the matter; the growing audience, for news was spreading of these events, would be outraged if he refused to demonstrate his innocence.
The Provider smiled blandly and offered the papers in front of him to the guard. The Judge perused the handwriting and passed it around to the other members of the Council.
The murmurs of the crowd grew steadily as the silence extended. The Peacekeeper, Treasurer, and General each took their turns studying the documents.
The Provider maintained his stony, unnervingly confident silence.
"Your source, you believe they are trustworthy?" The Judge asked of Riley.
"I have no doubt," Riley replied loudly. Roland swallowed. He sincerely hoped that the Provider would be arrested and no one would convey to the Rhone that there was a spy amongst them passing information to Klain.
It would not be terribly hard for anyone to guess who it was. He could be executed easily as a clever fake-prince sent by Klain to infiltrate the Rhone. Depending on how today went, he might not be able to go back to rejoin them, thus losing his last opportunity to broker peace between the nations. He wondered if this risk was worth it.
"Based on this handwriting alone, I still question whether this is some clever ruse by Rhone to tear apart our unity and weaken our nation. To frame one of our Council members for treason would be a clever ploy indeed. Have you any other witnesses or evidence to put forward?"
"There is another witness here!" called a voice from the back of the room.
The crowd parted as Dierdre stepped forward, Ashley standing behind her.