The High Lords had gathered, or those that could be summoned at such short notice. After the accused had been sent to her 'chambers,' Davian had been called to recount his entire investigation into the matter. Tedosian and Alteima, as well as Corleon seemed particularly of interest to the tale, hoping their investment had paid off. Davian had a good memory, something in dire need for a thief-taker, and once he was done, he lowered his head to grant the High Lords time to speak in the elaborately furnished chamber.

High Lord Sunamon Haellin cleared his throat and shifted in his chair, the cushions beneath not quite thick enough to retain his weighty mass. "We can see why you suspected this woman, but most of this evidence is circumstantial, and there is no solid proof! Even still, I believe I would have had similar thoughts to you, Master Thief-Taker..." He did not appear to wish for an argument, hoping Davian would be able to contradict him, at least to the thief-taker's eyes. He did his best to quell his pride enough to not ask he be called by his name rather than his profession. He merely wished for the gold and then to be gone.

"That is why I was honest with her as to who I was, your eminence." Davian said, inclining his head, his eyes sweeping over the other lords that had gathered. They all looked in different states of duress. "But when I did so, rather than being allowed to be questioned..." 

"She fled, and the trollop had a meticulous plan laid out just for such an eventuality." Alteima said with a look of distaste on her pretty face, snapping her fan out and fluttering it back and forth like a humming bird's wings. It seems she had elected to let her innocent facade slip amongst this group. "She is not here for reasons above suspicion, regardless. My only question is where she has stashed what she stole?" 

Davian regarded the High Lady, his hands out, hiding a smile. "I have informants coordinating her places of residence now, my lady. If she put them in any place she was seen to frequent, we will have them." 

"We should have questioned her further, or put her under duress. I know that might be unbecoming, but these are pieces beyond value." High Lord Corleon argued, not even deigning to look Davian's way. If the rumors were true, he was Alteima's lover, for the simple fact they both despised her husband.

"Even if various things point to her, she does deserve a fair trial as all citizens do." Sunamon said, raising his head. It made his neck stand out like a turkey's. Davian applauded the large lord for his sense of fairness, but another part of him was unsure if this was an act or not.

Lord Tedosian snapped at him as if this were an old argument. "Might I remind you she is not a citizen? Light, she could be a spy for Mayene!" 

As they began to squabble like so many quacking ducks, a small side door opened. A man wearing a red surcoat embroidered with gold trim approached and knelt before Alteima. In the doorway at the back of a chamber, a man in what looked to be commoner clothing waited, his hat off. Davian eyed him thoughtfully, then looked at lady Alteima's way when she stifled a gasp. Her big, pretty eyes, always so lovely, snapped at Davian with a dangerous gaze.

"You, thief-taker!" She called. "What did you say the woman's name was?" 

Davian blinked, but spoke without hesitation. "Sakura, only, my lady. I did not know if that was a surname or not. Likely a lie." 

She shook her head, but then waved Davian away as if he were a fly and spoke to the other high lords present. "I believe she is incapable of lying." Alteima responded ominously. "And I say we must kill her, and do it quietly." 

"Kill her?" Tedosian asked. "Why?" 

Even Corleon looked surprised enough to question her, but he held his tongue. She fanned herself with more force as she spoke. "I have received word that there are reports of an Aes Sedai within the region, one who's name is Sakura." Davian saw the High Lord's look aghast, and Davian did not blame them. If he had truly walked in on an Aes Sedai in the bath, he felt lucky she did not fling him into the street with the swiftness of a loosed arrow. "Even if this rumor is false, we cannot take the chance." 

"But if she is Aes Sedai, then she is innocent...?" Lord Sunamon remarked, but Tedosian cut him off. 

"She did not directly say that she did not steal the items. You are not learned in such things. She spoke in a way that left us to make our own doubts. And if this is true, my dear wife is right. We must kill her, and quietly."