Chapter 223

  The Challenge

  A few days after a formal letter concerning the demands of the Duchess of Arlaine had been lodged, an official meeting to that effect was scheduled in the morning. An hour after breakfast.

  The Temple had a meeting room located at the very back, with a view of the majestic ravine behind the temple. The room, decorated with paintings of past Maidens of Water, was witness to many decisions made in the name of the Faith.

  And it was in here that the meeting was held.

  Each of the people involved were allowed two people to accompany them. Connie took Lihua and Akula with her. Across them sat Archdeacon Lowen, Deacon Oslo, and a face unfamiliar to the her. This man, with a haughty face and grimy hair, had gaudy gold rings on each of his fingers. He was introduced by the Archdeacon as Commander Hastings. An Unrestrained Candidate who the Archdeacon brought as witness on his side.

  Allenca, who took it upon herself to be the arbitrator of the conflict resolution, sat at the head of the table. Behind her, Millicent stood in her official uniform of blue and white, with the symbol of the Faith emblazoned on the stole that hung loosely on her right shoulder. A sword with a pommel made out of Mana Stone hung on her right waist. In her position as protector of the Maiden, she was the only one allowed a weapon.

  “May…the grace…Ooof Junnaveil…allow us peaceful…resolution,” Allenca began with a short praise. “Now…leeet…us begin. Duchess Steelheart. Please…puut forward your side’s…demand.”

  “Before we begin, might I ask why they are here?” Archdeacon Lowen said, cringing his nose.

  “I am allowed to have two people be with me. Naturally, I brought in the people affected by Captain Morris’s words.”

  Archdeacon cursed inwardly upon seeing the mature beauty with black hair sitting next to the female Centaur. No wonder that nephew of mine acted so foolishly. Truly, beautiful woman is the downfall of man. However, it had no effect on Lowen; as in his eyes, a beautiful beast was still nothing more than a beast.

  Lihua made a show of shuffling the documents in her hand before she began. “I am Sui Lihua. Head Maid and Secretary to the Duchess Cornelia Asterium Steelheart. Speaking on behalf of my Mistress. Our side demands a public apology from the perpetrators of the insult against her companions. And reparations for the damage incurred against the men who were hurt during the incident that happened on the evening of the Twenty Third of The Third Month of 1398.”

  Once she was finished, Lihua bowed lightly to Allenca.

  “The deeemands are noted. Yooour side, Archdeacon Lowen?”

  A scoff escaped from the man’s lips. “This is ridiculous! A waste of time! Surely, we have more important things to do than bickering about this mundane matter?”

  “There is nothing more important to me than the honor of my companions, Archdeacon Lowen,” Connie said, back lounging against the chair, her finger tapping the table slowly.

  “It’s just words, spoken in drunkenness. I have punished them and docked their pay for three months. Is that not enough?”

  “Hardly. Forgiveness can only be given when the affected did so willingly. You see, Archdeacon Lowen, Captain Morris had insulted the honour my companions. One of whom had been commended by the King himself. And by insulting them, it means you have insulted me. Drunkenness is no excuse for harassment.”

  “Your men attacked first. This had been corroborated by the witness in the tavern.”

  “Because, again, Captain Morris had verbally attacked my friend here. Do you remember what he did?”

  Akula nodded. “Yeah. He tried to touch Madame Sui’s face with his hand, I warned him, and then he said. “How dare you speak that way to me you lowly whore!”.”

  “Getting drunk and harassing women, you sure know how to choose your men, Archdeacon Lowen. If we are going by your words, shall I get drunk here and slap you silly? I am sure you will forgive me, right?”

  “Is that a threat, Duchess?”

  “Duchess…please…cooontrol your…words…”

  Connie smiled. “A hypothetical question. Nothing more. And I must bring this to attention, that though my men had to suffer a night in jail, Captain Morris and his men had already been released without investigation when I arrived. Makes one question what’s happening in Grottenstadt, isn’t it?”

  The Archdeacon’s eyes bulged, his hand trembling with rage. Hastings slapped a hand on his shoulder, reminding him to control his anger. “He could have de-escalated things instead of resorting to violence.”

  “And your man could have not picked a fight with my men,” Connie shot back. “Look, we can go back and forth all day long, and we will never see eye to eye,” she continued. “Commander Hastings and Archdeacon Lowen, I had heard about your views on other Races. So maybe you cannot comprehend this fact,” Connie leaned forward and spoke with slow, deliberate tone. “My men respected the two of them, regardless of their Race, so they defended them. Plain and simple.”

  Lihua and Akula looked at Connie and nodded to show their agreement. Millicent, who had been listening to them, sighed inwardly. If only everyone in the Church is as open-minded as they are.

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  “Now, the question is simple, will you or will you not fulfill our demand?”

  The hooked-nose Archdeacon fixed his collar and spoke. “No. To acquiesce to that demand is going to lower the dignity of the Church.”

  “This has nothing to do with the Church. It only has to do with Captain Morris and his men,” Connie said.

  Lowen knew this. But he could not fathom the thought of having any member of his bloodline bow down to a Beastfolk. “They are part of the Church. And the Church will not bow down to threats!”

  “I see,” Connie frowned as he so deftly hid behind the Church. “So, you refuse our side’s demand?”

  Lowen smiled with a triumphant look on his face.

  “You are sure about this?” she asked again.

  “Yes. I am sure.”

  “Good. Very good,” Connie’s finger tapped once against the table, like putting a dot at the end of her patience. “Let’s do the other option then.”

  The night before.

  Sitting in a small room at the second floor of an inn, a figure wearing regular pilgrim clothes were drinking a cup of mediocre wine when a cloaked figure joined her.

  “Duchess.”

  “No one's following you?” Connie, in her disguise asked. It was answered with a swift no.

  “Sit. Take a load off.”

  The cloaked figure took off her hood, revealing the face of Millicent.

  “The Maiden cannot be here as there is another important matter that she needs to handle.”

  “Very well. But do you have the power to decide things for her for this meeting?”

  “She has granted me that power.”

  “Good. I want to talk to you about tomorrow.”

  “Yes…the Maiden is quite surprised at what you did. She understands your plight, but this seems rather ill-timed.”

  Connie nodded at her words. “Ill-timed it might be, but it is something that must be done. See, I invited you and the Maiden to meet because I want to propose something to you.”

  “Can you elaborate on that?”

  “Tomorrow, if things go well and Archdeacon Lowen agreed to my demands, then things would be square between us. My companions will get their apologies, and my men got a just compensation enough for a few drinks.”

  “However, in case that the first scenario doesn’t happen, I will move on to the second one. And this plan is the one that will interest you and Allenca the most.”

  Connie told her of her plan, and immediately Millicent’s beautiful face scrunched up in shock. “That’s…are you sure about that?!”

  “If push comes to shove, this option is the most devastating blow I can inflict to that absolute bastard of a man. The Maiden too, will have a chance to put him in his place. However, it will sour her relationship with the other faction,” Connie explained, not mincing words. “The question is,” she leaned forward, pressing the question with urgency. “Is Her Eminence willing to yield her flesh to claim the bones of her opponent?”

  “What do you mean…other option?”

  “We are challenging your men to a duel.”

  Hastings burst out laughing. “A duel? Hahaha! You must be joking, Duchess.”

  “Oh, I am very serious, Commander Hastings. My men might be rowdier than most, but they are all proper Knights. We’ve got the documents and everything,” Connie gestured at Lihua, who produced a few parchments that proved that her words were true. “As you know, I am a Duchess, and I have the right to appoint Knights of my own. And it so happens that some of those men that your men had a scuffle with, including Captain Nick, are proper ones.”

  “What?” The earlier smile of triumph quickly turned into a slack jaw of flabbergast. “You can’t do that!”

  “As a matter of fact, they can, Archdeacon. Church Knights are still Knights who fall under the Law of the Kingdom, so they are duty bound to accept the challenge.”

  “Shut your mouth!” The Archdeacon slapped Deacon Oslo angrily. “This is the Temple of Lorena! How dare you invoke secular law in this temple!!”

  “Holy this temple might be, but as Knights of the Kingdom, they are still answerable to the Laws of Calendia. Or is it…you presume that you are above the law? Above the King’s own?" Connie raised a provocative eyebrow. “If you refuse, well...news that the Church Knights are too afraid to accept a challenge might turn up in taverns. Perhaps some bards might even find such anecdotes sing-worthy.”

  “My men are not cowards!” Commander Hastings growled.

  “Are they, though? They were harassing fragile women just a few days ago,” Akula said with a shrug, earning her a look of surprise from Connie. She is learning.

  “This is absurd! Maiden, I demand that this madness be quashed down this instant. I know that you are acquaintance of the Duchess. But there are limits to insolence to the Church! There is no need to humor this outrageous demands.”

  Millicent stepped forward, putting her body between Lowen and Allenca. “You forget yourself, Archdeacon. Step back.”

  “Yoooou…will not…presume…of my thoughts, Archdeacon Lowen,” Allenca said, cerulean blue eyes staring angrily at the old man. “Please…continue…Duchess…”

  “Thank you. Of course, to make sure that it’s fair, only those involved in the fracas that night will fight. No Unrestrained Candidate will join the duel. Of course, if you wish to have both Lady Altanghazar and my Head Maid here to join the fight, that can also be arranged,” Connie grinned.

  “This one would welcome the challenge,” Lihua commented.

  “What do you think, Akula?”

  “Yes!” The bronze-skinned Centaur punched her palm with a grin. “That’s how it should be! Give me the honour of bashing their heads in!”

  “How barbaric!” the old Archdeacon said while trying to compose himself. He was surprised by Allenca’s sudden daring authority. Usually, she always tried to keep the peace. “Is this how you solve things, Duchess? With violence?”

  “Archdeacon Lowen,” Connie said, leaning back into her chair with a smile. “I have given you a chance. A chance to choose the peaceful option with which all this can be settled. You have rejected that option. Thus, we are moving to the less preferable, but simpler option.”

  “Violence, yes. But it is a justified one,” Connie answered with a grim sneer. “By law, and by honour. Just as the Goddess intended.”

  She smirked as she meaningfully rolled her eyes dismissively at Hastings.

  Seeing this, Commander Hastings shouted with barely concealed fury. “We accept!”

  “Hastings!! Sit down!!”

  “Are you still hemming and hawing while we are being mocked by this…this woman?!” the Commander said angrily. “As a Knight there is no greater shame than rejecting a duel!”

  “It is not your decision to make!!” Archdeacon Lowen said, as he began regretting taking the man to the meeting.

  “Indeed. It is not. It is…mine,” Allenca said curtly. “As Arbitrator…I will nooow…make my…decision. Archdeacon Lowen. Yooou…have refused to solve…this problem peacefully, now…it is out of my hand. And need I remind…yooou again that…the loose tongue of the meen…under you does not…speak for the whole Church. You will…get your men to face the…Duchess’s men…in a duel.”

  “Your Eminence!!” the man shouted angrily as the discussion had spun out of his control. By right, it should have been an easy win by using his position as the highest after the Maiden of Water. But who could have guessed that the other side would use the Knight’s Chivalry as a weapon.

  “The duel…will be held…tomorrow afternoon…in the training ground area. The rules…shaaaall follow the regular…duelling rules of…a Knight,” Allenca stated. She then stood up and left the room. Millicent dutifully followed her out.

  After they were out of the room, Connie shot a look at the old Archdeacon. “That’s that then. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “You will rue the day you and your Beasts fight against me, Duchess,” Archdeacon Lowen said, chest heaving up and down in anger. “I have many friends that can make things hard for you...!”

  The blonde girl paused and spoke without turning back. “Archdeacon Lowen, I have many enemies. You are but another name to be added to the list..." she paused and gave him a serpent-like smile. "And who knows how long it will stay there.”