2408 Tull 26, Reshpe

Advisor Nela slammed her hand on the table, making Ariden flinch from his seat. "How long has this been going on in Otralo?" she screamed. Her onyx-black eyes scanned the table of other members of the court as well as the Earth Potentate sitting on the head of the long, rectangular table. "Why do we need the city disturbed by toxic plumes and people rioting at our doors to deal with this?"

Ariden forced his face to remain passive. It had been quite a few hours before the council topic shifted to the recent chaos in the outskirts of Otralo. For once, he had elected to attend one of his father's court dealings to try and learn more about the people he needed to be wary of in his own turf and this was the talk that's going to greet him?

Granted, the earlier discussions were civil, all centering around issues in production, border safety, and merchant regulations. Ariden had spent his while looking at the hall's domed ceiling filled with awe-inspiring murals depicting the creation of the world according to the myths. Light streamed from the hall's wide, glass-paned windows, almost lulling him to sleep with its warmth and brightness.

The other Advisors belonging to the Potentate's Court must have felt the same way with how they shuffled sheafs of parchment in front of them just to keep busy. Those probably contained the reports made by their apprentices and hadn't tasted at least one gaze from an Advisor.

When the agenda moved to trade, an upstart apprentice to Advisor Lewere brought into motion the controversy regarding the whole Orange Cloud incident, as the army was referring to it now.

"Latest news about trade," the apprentice had said earlier. "A starting company called Karmer United is caught buying illegally-mined ores from a mining cartel called The Black Blades."

The army's version of what happened tumbled into view. Apparently, the sentries thought Karmer United had nothing to do with the Orange Cloud incident and was just unfortunately caught in the middle of a planned transaction.

"We have done the work of tracing who founded Karmer United in order to punish them according to the penal code. They weren't careful enough in hiding traces of their transactions," the apprentice read from a sheaf of parchment in his hands, his voice quavering a little. "But it appears that its owners are not Earth Sprites nor are they from Lanbridhr, Desara, or Falkirta. Our sources point to a certain merchant going by the name of Cardan Tohr. We looked through the records and he's a real merchant. Registered to the Folean Guild based in Lanteglos."

"And that brings us to a more pressing issue," the apprentice continued after clearing his throat. "It appears the rancid orange mist that wafted around the city came from the mines controlled by The Black Blades, under the leadership of Herven Fulmer, who was also captured on sight.

If we recall correctly, Herven Fulmer is known to be operating solely in Akaron. After the events in Year 2306, in the Great Fimrio Raid, we have concluded to have weeded out most of her operations," the apprentice glanced at his script and blinked. "But recent events and her appearance in the mines tell us that The Black Blades are still operational."

That's when Advisor Nela shot up from her seat and slammed her hands on the table. Ariden flinched, but as evidenced by the shoulders he had seen from his periphery, everyone did too. The Earth Potentate looked at the Advisor's outburst with a passive stare. It took a lot for Ariden to bite back the urge to ask his father how deep into this whole thing he knew about.

"Where is Herven Fulmer now?" the Earth Potentate asked in a calm, modulated voice.

Advisor Lewere elbowed his apprentice whose eyes started glazing over. The apprentice snapped to attention and nodded back and forth from the Earth Potentate and his parchment. His mentor, massaging his temples and sighing, decided to take over.

"She is in the sentries' stronghold," the Advisor said, scratching his graying bushy eyebrows. Ariden could bet his entire fortune the man was well away in his four-hundreds. "They are holding her until he has come to a decision."

The Earth Potentate scratched the beard growing on his chin. "What charges do we have against her?"

"Actually, Your Grace," Advisor Lewere's head vanished under the table in a pop of beige hair and olive robes as he crouched to retrieve something. Amusement ignited in Ariden's gut as the bound tomes Faw had stolen in Herven's office tumbled into view. "This is the full record of The Black Blades' activity for the last century. Just from the first page, we can conclude Herven's fate to be deserving of Brittlewood."

Ariden pursed his lips. Brittlewood wasn't the outcome he had in mind but if it's to pay for the heinous crimes she had done against nature and her own people, it was something she had coming. If not in this life, then in the next. And Pidmena's punishments paled in comparison to anything they could come up with in Umazure.

"Where did you even get that if it's from Herven's personal stash?" Advisor Nela said, having taken her seat again earlier. The other advisors nodded along to her suspicion.

Advisor Lewere clicked his tongue, his features shifting into a confused wince. "That's the strangest thing," he said. "These documents were dropped on my front gate this morning with a written note."

"What did the note say?" one of the Advisors asked.

Lewere knitted his eyebrows. " 'Use it wisely'," he said. "There was a symbol drawn below those words as well. It looked like a blade or...something."

"A cutlass," Ariden blurted. Dozens of eyes, including the Potentate's, landed on him. From the expressions of some, he gleaned they had even forgotten he was there. "It's a cutlass."

"What do you know of this, Crovalis?" the Potentate asked, referring to Ariden by the ancient name of his title.

Ariden rolled his shoulders. He was somehow grateful the tightness and stiffness of his formal coat masked the bulk of his bandaged arm and cradled the pain his movements brought. It was still healing and Tria had to redo the stitches and the gauze before he went back to the palace. He prayed to all the gods he knew that he was able to remove the stench of the smoke bomb from his hair.

"I just saw it elsewhere," Ariden answered, keeping his tone nonchalant and detached. "On my numerous walks in the city, I hear the locals whispering. That's their symbol and it appears they have started helping us keep our territory free of crime and injustice."

Lewere narrowed his eyes. "But what are they called?"

Ariden smiled, the name sticking up to him then and there. "The Cutlasses," he said. "They're called The Cutlasses."

The Advisors muttered among themselves as Lewere conceded the final decision about Herven Fulmer to the Earth Potentate. Then, the meeting moved on to another social issue and, this time, Ariden listened. Perhaps, The Cutlasses' next mission could aid it.

He almost let loose an amused snort. Look at him already looking for their next caper. It looked like he was set to do this for a long, long time.