[Center][b]Royal Blood[/b][/Center]

When the documents related to the investigation were laid on the table, Auric picked up some of them and started reading them, trying to make some sense of the crime. [b]He quickly glanced over as many documents as he could, and got out a small notebook to jot down some quick notes about each of the suspects, witnesses, and the details of the crime in particular.[/b] He spent most of his time reading the documents while the party discussed the murder with the Crown-Prince.

Auric had a few thoughts himself concerning the murder and their investigation. The first was the matter of the carpet, no doubt the king had been killed before he had the opportunity to torch the carpet, so it was possible that he was meeting with someone when the conversation went south. He thought about asking for the carpet to go over, as he could potentially use his scent to identify the perpetrator if there was a struggle. However, he was worried that doing so would send a red flag to everyone around that he was, in fact, a lycanthrope. Given that this was the "Capital of the Witch Hunters", revealing his true nature would likely have disastrous results. Auric decided to dismiss the carpet entirely when he learned that the king had been killed by arrows. In such a case it was likely that there was no struggle and that the rug would be of little consequence. Still, he thought it might do to keep it in the back of his mind in case there was some magic involved that could be detected (magic dust or the like).

His next thought turned to Penelope. As the questions were asked, her story seemed more and more suspicious to him. While he sincerely doubted that Penelope would willingly kill the king, several other aspects of her story indicated that she was not out of the woods. Auric suspected that it was quite possible that she had been possessed, most likely by ghosts or some other spectral entity, but possibly by demons. It would certainly explain why Penelope was in the room and not targeted. Until further notice, he figured, Penelope being possessed by something was his main suspect. Still, he did not voice these suspicions out loud, lest he earn the swift ire of Xavier. Suffice it to say, if Penelope was involved somehow, this was going to be really difficult, as they would need very concrete evidence for Xavier to even consider his own daughter to be the criminal, even indirectly.

It was then that he started making some mental notes of what had been said of the murder.

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[b]"Cause of death was two arrows"[/b]
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More than likely, the assailant was an archer of quite some skill. This was the primary reason he thought most inquiries into the rug would be fruitless, as the only blood likely there was the king's.

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[b]"though the bodies were severely charred from fire."[/b]
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Rather unlikely to have been the cause of death. More likely it was an attempt to cover any tracks that might have been left behind otherwise, though he did think it odd that the carpet did not also catch fire. Of course, there was always the off chance that the king had tried to burn the rug away, but had accidentally burned himself when he fell to the arrows. He shivered a bit at that thought.

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[b]"Foreign or internal enemies?... More than could possible be counted though most prominently your kingdom."[/b]
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Not surprising, Liveria wasn't exactly the picture of peace. He doubted Renalta was behind it, particularly since Xavier had recruited Renaltan agents to help him.

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[b]"Most likely it was an assassin for hire. Easier to cover one's tracks that way and we don't exactly lack those around here."[/b]
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In all likelyhood, if it wasn't Penelope as he suspected, it was one of these.

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[b]"There was a merchant of death. An Ex-King's Ranger, if I recall correctly, who showed up to help determine if the arrows were poisoned or empowered with magic to burst their victims into flames... He found nothing."[/b]
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Strange...the only real way that could happen is if the culprit used some kind of torch or similar to set him on fire, but that would've also taken the carpet out with it and set the gargoyles loose. It had to be some kind of mage magic, so this merchant of death's synopsis was rather suspicious. Definitely warrants further info.

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 "The assassin was a woman... I remember that. Her tone, she said something about...Ghosts... Fulfilling a contract." 
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Well, I can at least strike out all of the male suspects from my list. It's certainly possible that the culprit used some kind of disguise, but rather unlikely, since such a thing would likely draw attention without helping all that much. As for the ghosts...that could mean a number of things. Again, it could've been the ghosts talking to a possessed Penelope, but it could've also been some kind of blood contract or similar to where the assassin didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

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[b]"I was... I was in the middle of the room. I'm not sure why I wasn't killed... The assassin must have seen me. I'm not sure why... This is all too much..."[/b]
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The middle of the room? If the assassin really wanted to cover her tracks she would've killed Penelope too more than likely.

It was then that Auric heard Rayne Walker speak. He had noticed Rayne getting extraordinarily angry, but couldn't find the cause. Auric dismissed it as concern for the Queen's safety. However when Rayne started speaking several of his own theories in front of the king, it struck him as particularly arrogant. It seemed like he thought he had everything figured out in the first few minutes in the investigation, even without looking at the evidence. It was almost as if he thought himself above everyone else somehow.

Auric put down the documents on the desk and made a glare at Rayne. [b]"Slow down Rayne."[/b] he said in a stern tone, [b]"I think you are jumping to conclusions far too quickly. Put simply, we just don't know enough about the assassination to think it is a ruse, and until we get some evidence otherwise we should treat the assassination threat as serious. We also don't know whether the assassin even knew Penelope was there or cared about her presence."[/b] Auric cooled down to a more gentle tone, [b]"Still, I don't think it would be remiss to keep the security strong here and send a message to Renalta in case the assassin gets any ideas. I also think it would be a good idea to check out this shop and see what he knows. I believe I will accompany you when the time arises."[/b] 

Then Auric turned his attention to Xavier [b]"If I may ask, what exactly was the procedure to activate the gargoyles in the case of an attack? Was a torch to be used, some kind of magic? I find it odd that the body was charred and yet the rug was still intact."[/b]