Enlightened Empire

Chapter 70 One Down, One to Go

In clear contrast with the earlier noise, the Ancestral Hall had been taken over by a quiet murmur. No one had expected this strange turn of events. The first prince had proven unusually persistent, even when pressured. Corco himself didn’t care about anyone’s opinion. His confidence as high as ever, he could bask in the sound of their confusion until Chaupic returned and handed him the utensils he had asked for.

"Okay, lets get-"

As all the elders around the table schemed a response to help Prince Amautu, they continued their whispering to find out just what the strange first prince had planned. Unhappy with the lack of attention, Corco looked around the room.

"You really want me to take the megaphone out again? Let’s calm down, okay?"

A false smile and a few seconds later, the conversations had calmed down enough for Corco to start his explanation.

"...good. Now then. Here’s how this works."

Corco took a seat on the ground in the center of the room and began to prepare his supplies. He took the ink stone and knife and began to shave flecks of black pigment onto a piece of paper.

"First off, anyone who leaves this room from now on will be complicit in a crime. If you leave now the only reason to do so would be to tamper with the evidence in the grand court up above. Let’s be careful about that, shall we?"

Fadelio had taken position at the door to guarantee no one would sneak out, but you could never be too certain. Corco decided to put an additional stigma on any of Amautu’s allies before they could take action. Meanwhile, he had finished amassing a mound of black dust and proceeded to clean his fingers of any residual ink with a soft cloth.

"Now then, onto the meat of the issue. I’ll press my fingers onto this piece of paper. The paper is completely clean, as are my fingers, what with me cleaning them and all."

He did just as he said and then took great care to move the paper with the invisible finger prints, the mound of coal dust and brush over to the table of the ancestors, right in between his grandfather and the frowning Elder Ichilia.

"Now I’ll smudge my fingers and then make an imprint of their skin pattern on the same piece of paper."

"Prince Corco, the ancestors have no time for magic tricks. Prince should find a conclusion soon or the elders should rescind prince’s right to speak," Amautu said from the back.

Corco barely managed to suppress a grin. The master of ceremonies, the man to lead today’s assembly, was an Ichilia. With how obvious the man’s agenda had been so far, Corco wouldn’t even have to answer for himself.

"The ancestors will continue to hear the prince’s plea, as is tradition. No interruptions shall be permitted during this time," the still frowning Elder said.

Even though he didn’t like Corco showing off, the first prince knew that the man still relished the chance to deal with Amautu. Rid of his brother’s disturbance, Corco could continue his demonstration.

"Right. So here’s the rub: All people, that means everyone in the world, have an individual, unique set of fingerprints. When we touch something, even with cleaned hands we leave an imperceptible imprint of dirt and sweat wherever we’ve touched. With the right tools, those imprints can be made visible."

"So if Prince Amautu’s fingerprints were to be found on the throne, it would prove his actions."

A helpful voice came from the side. Of course Caelestis would support Corco. It was something the prince had bet on. After the events of the last few days, the old man must have felt guilty. He would show leniency as long as Corco only aimed at Amautu. The support of the former emperor and the tolerance from the master of ceremonies would be enough to get his voice heard.

"Exactly. That’s the plan," Corco replied while he pressed his smudged fingers onto the paper to produce prints, "You’ve all seen me press my fingers onto the paper before and it didn’t produce any results, right? Now look again."

The prince took great care to cover the fine writing brush with ink dust and brushed it over the paper to uncover his own fingerprints from before. After, he showed the paper to the elders within the room, especially the two in his front.

"As you can see, the prints revealed are identical to the prints I made myself."

He knew that the rebuttal would follow right on his heels, but Ichilia would only try to make him look incompetent, rather than try to disrupt the argument, so he let the slander from his right wash over himself.

"To the point, Prince. Wasting the precious time of the ancestors is unsuited of one deserving the crown."

"Right. You’re asking: Why believe that finger prints are gonna be different for everyone? I could have just made up the entire story. Let’s just prove this for now: I can guarantee you that even the fingers of close family members will have a pattern of grooves and lines nothing like my own. To our good fortune, there is a good few of my relatives right here. Grandfather, if you would be so kind?"

"Of course."

The old man on the left was eager to stand up and help out, while the one on the right just sat and watched, unhappy but not willing to interrupt. Since House Ichilia tolerated his actions, he wouldn’t have to go thorough the long and slow process of proving the usefulness his new forensic methods. Despite his doubts, the master of ceremonies would accept his theories as long as they would hurt Amautu’s chances for the throne.

After Caelestis had taken his fingerprints and compared them to Corco’s, all the prince had to do was collect samples from a few separate people to compare. A bit of back and forth and the ancestors looked convinced.

"Good. Now that we have established that this is a viable method to prove what someone might have touched, all we need to do is get Prince Amautu’s fingerprints and compare them to the prints he left on the silver throne this very day."

Corco’s face remained emotionless as his eyes zeroed in on the tensed body of his brother.

"This prince refuses to accept! This is nothing but charlatanry! Tricks of traveling folk!"

"It’s not your turn to talk, good brother! The ancestors have decided to accept my evidence as just. Does Prince Amautu mean to defy the ancestors?"

"No! This prince will not be forced into submission!"

Amautu attempted a protest, but the orders of the ancestors were absolute. The master of ceremonies was determined to wipe out a competitor for the third prince. As Amautu continued to resist the order, warrior guards moved in to subdue the unruly prince.

"Unhand me you peasants! Barbarians, the lot of you!"

With his arms fixed into position, the wooden-faced guards forced Amautu’s smudged fingers onto the paper, to Corco’s silent amusement. Maybe a lesson in hubris would do some good for his brother’s character.

With all the pieces of the puzzle collected, Corco made his way back up into the great council hall to put the picture together. He was followed by Elder Caelestis to represent the council as well as observers from the three prince factions and the officials. Those representatives were Spuria Ichilia for Pachacutec, Ichtaka for Amautu and Prime Minister Chaupic for the officials and the late emperor.

As soon as the throne had come into his sight, the first prince walked straight ahead to avoid accidents, but someone tried to be even faster. Great scholar Ichtaka rushed past the prince and towards the incriminating evidence. Corco’s eyes went large as saucers. He hadn’t expected to see the refined scholar be shameless enough to break into a sprint. He took the only thing he had at his disposal and threw as hard as he could.

The heavy and clearly-not-a-weapon bronze megaphone collided with the back of Ichtaka’s head, who fell over like a sack of rice. Seconds later, Caelestis had rammed his knee into the back of the scholar and pinned his arms. The old man who had always seemed so quiet and refined struggled hard under the weight and power of the elder Pluritac. Ichtaka might have looked like a kung-fu master from the mountains, but If he was a cultivator he certainly wasn’t a good one. Still, the scholar wouldn’t let matters lie like this.

"Barbarians, how dare you touch this scholar! Heathens! Lightless pirate scum! How dare mere beasts attack a great scholar of the way! We will-"

A second hit on the back of his head shut the great scholar’s mouth. Caelestis wasn’t used to being insulted to his face, not by someone of such low status.

"Do you understand that you tread on hallowed ground, outsider? Within the great Empire of Medala, you are nothing more than but a simple warrior. In here more than anywhere, this insult alone could be enough to cost you your head."

The old scholar heard the anger in his subduer’s voice and began to sweat. Any more provocations and he might truly die here, in this strange, murky stone temple on foreign soil, surrounded by barbarians. Still, Ichtaka managed to fight his own fears and gnarled at Corco, who looked like the easier target.

"Barbarian, you best take care in your next move! The wrath of the scholars will descend upon you!"

"Because my life will go much smoother if I do exactly as you say, right?"

The kung-fu master didn’t matter. He didn’t spare a look for the scholar as he walked over to the throne to take the fingerprints. Easy enough. At first, Corco had planned to provoke Amautu. Get him to take a seat or at least touch somewhere around the throne. After all, that had been the reason for Corco to arrange their informal meeting before the assembly. However, with Amautu’s boundless arrogance he had done all of Corco’s work by himself. Soon after he had begun brushing, his brother’s fingers reappeared all over the armrests, clear as day.

"You best stop now you heathen! Offend the Scholars and offend all of the great Chutwaaargh!"

A shout transformed into a scream as Caelestis increased the pressure on the old man’s back. Meanwhile, Corco waved Chaupic and the furia over to observe the evidence. For once, he wasn’t worried the empress mother would try anything crazy. Considering her personality, she would only care about the child of her love. Anyone else was only a nuisance on the path of her happiness, even if that nuisance was her firstborn. Just as Corco had expected, the woman didn’t waste much time. She took a look at the fingerprints on the throne and the ones on the paper Corco had brought before she nodded in contemplation.

"It is true. Such a transgression shall not go unpunished. This Empress shall return and inform the ancestors posthaste!"

Chaupic gave Corco another encouraging nod before he turned as well. Corco was puzzled. The Prime Minister’s attitude throughout the day had been far too friendly and accommodating. This wasn’t the sort of behavior he expected from a remorseless politician, not when it could harm his standing within the court. However, the prince wasn’t interested in the politician’s stance right now. Someone else was far more important.

"Grandfather, you will stay for a while. There are still things we need to discuss." Corco’s stern voice made Caelestis halt in his tracks. He had already begun to push Ichtaka out of the room, but turned to look over his shoulder, as did the other witnesses.

"Laqhis, maybe the matter can wait until after the pronouncement of the Ancestral Hall."

"It can’t. Everyone else can go ahead."

"Prince Corco, this is highly unusual. This empress believes that no matter would be so important as to delay the ancestral assembly."

"It is. It’s just that important. It’s also a family matter, so you can leave too."

"As the head of House Pluritac, this empress is duty-bound to stay and listen to any matter related to the house. This empress will make sure Prince will stay respectful towards Elder Caelestis."

After the revelations of the past days, Corco understood why the woman was so adamant in protecting Caelestis. It made him even more irritable towards Spuria than usual. While his face was still unmoving, he spoke in a sharp tone that verged on threat.

"It’s about my father and the investigation into his murder. As one of the main suspects, you can’t stay here, concubine."

"How dare-"

"Spuria!"

Her angry words were interrupted by the firm shout of Caelestis.

"This is a matter between the men of Pluritac. Please go ahead and tell the elders about the fingerprints. Minister Chaupic, please see to it the empress mother won’t get lost on the way."

Stunned at her man’s firm words, Spuria failed to answer as Chaupic pushed both her and Ichtaka out of the room. Caelestis didn’t look back even once. His eyes darkened as he stared ahead towards his grandson. Corco on the other hand still held onto the stoic face he had carried for most of the day. The first half of his competition had been cleaned up already. It was time to take out the rest.