Jason Drake- Royal Blood

Xavier then turns to the two women as they bombard questions of all kinds, trying to hit every base at the same time it seemed. He takes a deep breath, and then attempts to summarize each answer As Jason noticed a look of mild irritation was on his face. "Cause of death was two arrows though the bodies were severely charred from fire. Foreign or internal enemies?... More than could possible be counted though most prominently your kingdom." Jason raised an eyebrow It was extremely unlikely that Queen Kouri or Alexandra would call for any assassinations. And it seemed he wasn’t being very ‘diplomatic’ with pointing fingers at their kingdom... Xavier then grimaces. "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." He considers her last question for a moment. "Aside from the guards whom have no further knowledge of the situation and don't have the proper education to reach any sort of proper deduction... There was a merchant of death. An Ex-King's Ranger,”, At this Jason sat up slightly, Surprised an Ex Ranger would live Here in Liveria, he wondered who it was…He knew many of the Rangers due to his mentor, who was In charge of them. Xavier continued, “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." He grew confused, Normally Rangers have very Keen eyes, able to determine the type of wood used… how skilled the archer is, the type of bow used depending how deep the wound was at the farthest distance possible in the room, many other details that would give light to the archer that others normally couldn’t find out. There must be something he was not telling Xavier. Xavier pulls a paper off the table, "He Has a shop a few streets away named The Rat Skull Charmé. You could try asking him questions, maybe he will be more cooperative with others working for Renalta instead of my own guards." Most defiantly that was what Jason was going to do 

After that Xavier turns and glares at him icily at his question "Watch your words. The guards have all sworn oaths of loyalty to Liveria. They would die in a heart beat for Liveria. You will not question their honesty to their king again, as any who would hide information pertinent to this case would be hung in the gallows." His face remained as stone towards Xavier, clearly not intimidated by the mans glare He straightens himself out, going back to his rather standoffish and distrusting manner that he was known for. "As for you searching the area, I believe my guards, and the merchant of death, were competent at finding clues. Besides, we know all the entrances, and all the hiding places that you wouldn't know to check... We built them." Jason thought Xavier to be a fool, to blindly trust everyone because of an Oath. If something like this were to happen in Renaltia, EVERYONE would be questioned; even the head of the Rangers would fall under question. For almost every man has his price for treason.

He took a breath before saying. “Forgive me my lord, it was not my intention to insult your loyal Guards honor. I was merely trying to do my job in investigating this horrible murder sire. You said so your self, They’ don't have the proper education to reach any sort of proper deduction...’ perhaps they missed to say something because they felt it was unimportant. As for this merchant of death, I am certain he is more than capable of performing an investigation, but his mind most probably works slightly different from mine… perhaps I may notice something that he wouldn’t as he would something I might not. “He lowered his head to show that he was only clarifying what his purpose was. “And again my lord I am not trying to say they didn’t do a good job, but you asked for our help when your men and this merchant of death came up with nothing, and doing these things would help in the investigation more so than just relying on second hand information, I am only trying to do my job to help you Sire.

It was at this point that Penelope looked between Ceann and Rayne. It seemed she finally remembered something after Rayne warmed her up. "The assassin was a woman... I remember that. Her tone, she said something about...Ghosts... Fulfilling a contract." Her face pales. "...Something about visiting another royal family... The only one anywhere near here would be..." Mikan's eyes open widely as she finishes the thought. "... Renalta." She looks at the rest of the party. "... This just became personal."
He agreed, this did become personal, despite him being here and having to take care of this, his first and foremost duty was to protect the queens. After this meeting he would send a messenger to inform Queen Kouri and his mentor at once of the potential threat.
"Wait, Penelope... How did you hear the assassin speak of this other planned attack? Who was she talking to?" Jason knew where he was going with this… 

"I don't know..." She said. "If there was someone else in the room, I... I didn't see..."

Allowing a moment in between questions, he continued with another question, "Penelope, where were you during the attack? Did the assassin see you? Why would she say these things in your presence?"

"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..." it seemed queer that she would be in the center of the room and survive while the others were targeted. Something was off about her story, but they couldn’t inquire more, as it would place the sights on her and he was sure Xavier would not appreciate that.

"I'm sorry if this is upsetting you," He then looked to his fellow Blades. He then began to state the obvious if there were those who were not following "From what I can gather, this means that the assassin was aware of Penelope's presence, likely knew exactly who she was, and fed her the information she has told us of a contract, ghosts and our Queen being in danger. We must warn the queen of impending attack despite the fact that she is likely not truly a target of this assassin. I suggest we stay in the city and investigate further, find out how the assassin was so able to walk through these halls unseen, and question the former ranger on what he knows."

Turning to the Crown-Prince, he continued. "You and your daughter are the likely targets of this assassin, who I assume is still in town, waiting for your bolstered defenses to return to normal in the wake of the forged discovery of her intention kill Queen Kouri. If you can manage to somehow put even more defenses between your family and harm, do so as soon as you can. Keep watch over your daughter, “ he concluded "I intend to go to the Rat Skull Charmé shop. If you've nothing to add to all to this, we should send that message to Kouri and go there immediately."
Auric put down the documents on the desk and glared at Rayne. Which Jason did as well "Slow down Rayne." Auric said in a stern tone, "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." Auric cooled down to a more gentle tone, "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." 

Then Auric turned his attention to Xavier "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."

Jason spoke again, Leaning on the arm of the chair with his left elbow closer to Auric as he looked at him. “ I Would point out being in the center of the room would make it Very unlikely the assassin did not know she was there… why would the assassin speak to herself in such a cryptic way? Despite being insane if that be the case… she was sending a message. Be it real or false, we will inform the Queen right away… It’s possible for the princess and crown prince to be in danger still. I don’t think it to be a ruse to just make it seem she was moving on.. she could have EASILY killed the princess then and there…then moved on to the Crown prince soon after. You all see how fortified this castle is… The assassin is already in, it wouldn’t matter for her to move around with ease seeing how she made it to the throne room and killed the king. I think this threat is real to both families. As soon as we are done here I have a few words for this Merchant of Death, and I agree with Miss Ceann, we should split up, with the three of us going to the Merchant of Death should be enough.