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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 6899826" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 93, “Boom" September 11, 1882, 11:30PM.</strong> </p><p></p><p>George notes a magical outline of what appears to be either a large revolver or a sawed-off shotgun in the hand that the General is now extending directly towards the King. Alarmed, George quickly casts message again to the "general" "Put your hand down and use the other hand or you will be destroyed." George gestures Ruby to intercept the general "his hand is a gun stop him" Ruby reacts quickly to George's warning, pulling out her gun and moving as quickly as she can she tries to shoot the "General" in the hand to keep him from shooting the King. "Save the King!" she yells, stopping to shoot.</p><p></p><p>As occurred with the earlier message to him, the General appears alarmed at hearing this. Rather than complying, his reaction is to fire the gun, which then becomes visible to everybody in the room. It is a sawed-off version of a 55-calibur Elephant Gun, designed to bring down the largest land animal from a distance of 100 yards. It lets out a resounding "Boom". The impact at point blank range is that it has blown a large hole in the center of the King's chest. Lawrence had made his way for the nearest exit. When he is halfway there, the boom from the general's gun causes him to turn around. "Crap." He struggles to control the crowd trying to escape.</p><p></p><p>Ruby simultaneously fires her gun at the General and continues to run towards the Princess. As the shots ring out, George signals Lawrence and Abby to take the edges of the room as George breaks into a run towards the general. Abby ripped off the robe as she sprinted to the right. Her eyes scanned the room for other reactors, anyone she suspected of interfering on the side of the probably impersonated General. Or anyone looking to take advantage of the chaos to harm any of the Royal family.</p><p></p><p>Ruby's shot is perfect, hitting the General, however the bullet does not penetrate, instead deflecting off and striking against the pyramid wall. "Okay officially time for big guns," she mutters. Seeing Abby's move, Ruby thinks "That's a good idea", as she now copies Abby, also dropping the priestess robe of Bast to the ground as she continues to rush to the aid of the Princess. "Princess!" she calls out in the chaos, though it occurred to her just then that this also might be an imposter. Perhaps even one of her idols, Sandra Bernhardt. Wasn't her name mentioned among the French traitors?</p><p></p><p>The two Ogre bodyguards in front move immediately, one pushing the Queen back against the wall and shielding her. The other grabs Princess Neferka, pulling her away from General Orabi. Three separate lightning bolts fly across the room from the far corner where the elder Frenchmen were standing. Two strike the Grand Vizer, one bolt skewering his chest and the other through his neck. The bolts also continue on behind him, striking down two of his apprentices and another guard. The third bolt curves out from a side angle, striking the crown prince who earlier spoke to Orabi and another young man who was near him. Abby sees this but is too late to stop the lightning bolts, but she does note that the quartet of elder French appear to be preparing to cast more spells.</p><p></p><p>George is less than ten feet away from the General when Orabi sees him with his peripheral vision and swings the elephant gun up in George's direction. George knows that it appears to only a single-barreled weapon, so would now be empty of ammunition, however Orabi is wielding it as though it can be fired again. George charges forward trying to get close enough to get past the barrel of the gun. Ruby glances around in the chaos for George to get her Fire Rod and she immediately sees the danger he is in. "Crap." She runs full speed for the gun to jumps on it, hoping to tackle it to the floor and keep it from going off.</p><p></p><p>One Frenchman completes his spell and an iron wall immediately erupts over the large entrance to the pyramid, sealing all occupants inside and separating them from anybody outside. At this point there are approximately 65 people total trapped inside. The room is illuminated by magical light, although the smoke from the firearms is slightly obscuring the visibility. Lawrence stops short of the wall. "Well that just ain't right. If this is how things are going to be, so be it."</p><p></p><p>Abby decides that goal number one had to be to stop either of those men from casting another spell. She pulled the rifle out, but instead of pointing it she held it her side ready to be pulled up if she needed it. Then she charged the man on the left, fully intending to slam into him and knock him into his compatriot.</p><p></p><p>Ruby manages to throw herself in front of the gun pointing to George as it fires again. Inside the now sealed pyramid Orabi's Elephant Gun sounds even louder, almost deafening. The recoil from the hit flings Ruby's body back and George catches her. However, unlike the King, there is no hole in her chest. Instead there is a large round scorch mark on Aphrodite's magical dress that Ruby is wearing. George lays Ruby on the ground as he sees she in conscious, As he stands the fire rod slides out of his sleeve next to Ruby. George tries to grab the gun away from the ogre or at least cause it to fire away from Ruby or anyone else</p><p></p><p>Before Abby reaches the Frenchmen one tosses magic missiles from his Fingertips at her as well as a human guard and an orge guard who are also charging them. A total of seven bolts fire forward, two striking Abby, two striking the human guard, who falls, and three striking the ogre guard, who appears unfazed and continues his charge. The fact that this man had just sent seven missiles flying didn't escape her. But magic was his playing field, and she didn't plan to play fair. Aware now that she wasn't alone Abby continued her change and lifted the rifle. But instead of firing, she swung it like a club at his head.</p><p></p><p>Orabi releases the gun completely to George and grasps tightly onto him while casting a spell. George is only mildly bothered by a wave of electricity that moves from Orabi's hands and into him. However, by the time the gun is pointed to the wizards an orge guard and his ally Abigail are blocking his shot. Orabi is them lifted up the air by an oversized disembodied hand comprised of golden energy that grabs the General around the stomach. The hand stretches back to the older woman who had spoken to him and Ruby earlier.</p><p></p><p>The Frenchman who had thrown the missiles was Jacquard, who she successfully strikes with the rifle. Despite his use of magic to slow his aging, he is still the eldest of the wizards at 130 years of age and no longer capable of physical combat. The rifle strikes him the head for a large gash, which dazes him. Meanwhile, the Ogre charges and makes a dive towards Daguerre and Chevruel, but instead goes head-first into the pyramid wall as they teleport away. The remaining elder Frenchman throws five magical missiles into the now fallen Ogre, who now appears to be either unconscious or dead.</p><p></p><p>Abby didn't want to leave the first man at her back, but he seemed to be reeling from the blow of the rifle. Abby turned and launched herself over the downed Ogre toward the last of the elder Frenchman, shoving the butt of the rifle into her stomach, hoping to knock him over. Leaping the ogre causes her to lose her footing and stumble. The wizard turns towards her and prepares to cast a spell.</p><p></p><p>Lawrence draws his gun and fires at the wizard who struck down the ogre. "Hermes, aid your servant." His shot is true as the bullet strikes the elderly wizard in the side of his head and he falls. A gun shot then rings out and he then falls dead at her feet. She sees that Lawrence was her savior. Lawrence then finds himself covered over by a thick sticky web-like substance that pins him to the floor and nearest support column. Abby sees this and realizes that he will not be helping her again anytime soon due to the web spell.</p><p></p><p>George whirls back to Ruby, not letting go of the gun. Summoning the grace of Athena, he chants a quick healing spell over her rapidly bruising chest. Ruby feels immediately better. She blinks a couple of times as the room spins. Once it stops spinning she says to the elevated Orabi, "You've just pissed off a goddess. Probably not a good idea around these parts." She was woozy but not going to let on. "Are you willing to risk further wrath of the Gods by harming us?" George bends down for a quick kiss "Find the princess, make sure it's really her." before grabbing the gun he is up and running towards the king, hoping he has enough healing to stabilize him at least.</p><p></p><p>Once the immediate battle is over Ruby lets out a long breath. George's healing had made her feel much better but she couldn't help but think that had been a close call. "Thank you Aphrodite," she says out loud to no one in particular. She gathers the Fire Rod and holds it tightly. "Someone secure that traitor, just in case the spell wears off. He's better to us alive, obviously," she says, pointing to the fake Orabi.</p><p></p><p>However, the remaining five still-standing guards in the room ignore her comments and open fire on the held target that had just slain their King. They are joined by magic missiles thrown by the quartet of French diplomats, Duruy, de Guzman, Degas and Faure, who had remained out of the battle to this point. The barrage of missiles, both lead and magical, bring his life to a close. The magical hand lowers the body to the floor and the hand then fades away. Ruby nods to the "old woman." She wasn't sure she should give away her teacher's identity. Few here knew who he was and perhaps he wanted to keep it that way. George crawls over to the King and not surprisingly finds that king is very, very dead.</p><p></p><p>A blinding flash of light shoots forth from the very center of the room and about fifteen feet up, temporarily blinding all occupants. Simultaneous to that a voice loudly yells out "Stop" in Arabic, French, English and Nubian. As eyes re-adjust they see that an Egyptian man in fancy robes holding a scimitar has moved to the very center of the room. George and Ruby recognize his as the Oxford-educated attorney who accompanied the Grand Vizier Azam when he abducted them from Zakazik.</p><p></p><p>The man with the scimitar says, "Everybody except for the King's Guard, lower all weapon and magical items immediately. Guards, if anybody speaks without being addressed first by me you can assume they are casting an offensive spell and are ordered to shoot them. There has been enough killing. Both of the assassins of the Royal family appear to now be dead." He turns in the direction of the ogre shielding he Queen and says, "Release her." He then asks, "Queen Nikkathia, are you unhurt?" She turns and then sees her husband's body and screams. She then sees the bodies of her sons and rushes over to them, sobbing.</p><p></p><p>Ruby lowers her weapon and nods to her comrades to do the same, in case they had other plans in mind. She kept a very close eye on the Princess to see how she would react. George, had already placed the rifle on the ground, but he sits back on his heels and waits for more order to come to the room.</p><p></p><p>Ruby then heads over to the Princess. "Nerferka, are you alright?" Ruby carefully looks the woman in the eyes, checking to see if the girl is actually the real princess or if it is the actress Sandra Bernhardt (or another) is disguised as the Princess. Looking Neferka in the eyes, there does not seem to be anything amiss. However, the Princess has no reaction at all to Ruby, as though she has never met her before. She has spent enough time recently with Neferka to know the young woman well, and the woman before her looks slightly younger.</p><p></p><p>Ruby then recognizes that she has seen "this woman" before, specifically in the mirror the previous day after she used Neferka's ring to make herself into the Princess. The King had confiscated that ring from Ruby before sending her back down to the castle dungeon. This woman, however, is not wearing any rings. Stepping back and checking for a magical aura as she had been taught, Ruby detects one around the Princess, the highest magical concentration appearing to be coming from a toe on the woman's right foot, however the feet are both currently covered with silk shoes, although looking closer there appears to be a slight bump on that toe.</p><p></p><p>Ruby takes a step away from the Princess with her head bowed low in an nonthreatening manner. She stops, then looks at George and ever so subtly looks in his eyes and shakes her head back and forth in a manner that probably only two people who had been together for a long while would recognize the meaning. She shakes her head once towards the Princesses right foot and stops moving.</p><p></p><p>The lawyer orders all eleven bodies lying on the floor to be checked. The only one still alive is the Frenchman Jacquard. The lawyer turns to Duruy and says, "You said that you team had a physician with you?" Duruy replies, "We did, Napoleon Bonaparte's person physician Dominique Larrey." The Frenchman Baron Gouraud gestures to the body beside Jacquard Duruy and angrily states, "The Americans have murdered him."</p><p></p><p>Queen Nikkathia tooks up in anguish from beside her dead son and with venom in her voice says to Gouraud "You're a fine one to accuse somebody else of murder. You were the person who handed that invisible gun to Orabi to kill my husband!" The Egyptian lawyer says "What!" Nikkathia replies, "When he first stood beside Orabi I saw their hands touch. I did not realize at the time that anything was in it." Several others in the room are recognized and now acknowledge that they too saw that. The lawyer orders two of the guards to arrest the old Baron. The man makes no attempt to resist or deny the charges.</p><p></p><p>The French Empress Eugenia Maria de Montijo de Guzman moves forward and hugs her old friend the Queen saying, "We knew nothing of this plot Nikki, I swear. Gouraud has spent the last week in the company of Orabi, somehow the charismatic General must have persuaded him, just as he persuaded your daughter to enter into marriage."</p><p></p><p>The Egyptian attorney turns and faces George. He states in English "All right Eastman. Explain your presence here." George nods slowly towards Ruby. George stands slowly with hands out to his side, making no sudden moves. "We were asked to come by the princess. Do not bother asking her now, for she is not here. Just as Orabi was an imposter, so too is this 'princess'. Her fears were correct and she was in danger. My companions and I have uncovered a plot by a few of the French high wizards to destabilize Egypt to further their own fanatical politics of magic. They want to create a puppet state that will allow them to practice arcane magic without restriction. I fear the faction of the French wizards who schemed to kill the king have both the real Orabi and princess captive. My guess is they wished to kill all the other royal family and be in control of the new rulers of Egypt. We are also here under the guidance and protection of Bast and under her aegis seek to protect and save Egypt," answers George in his calm, earnest, baritone.</p><p></p><p>The lawyer mulls this over and nods. "Some of what you say is clearly true, however I believe that you may have overstated the involvement of the French. One thing that I have learned over time is to recognize when people are sincere. Other than Mr. Gouraud's involvement I sensed no duplicity from any of the French present here now. During the last week Mr. Duruy, Mrs. de Guzman and their party have been sincere in their seeking of peace. Similarly, Mr. Taine and Mr. Passy's negotiations during this past hour spoke of true passion, they believed and wanted a peaceful resolution."</p><p></p><p>He then gestures to the body of the apprentice lying dead behind that of the Grand Vizier Azam and says, "Prince Rajjid was clearly in on the plot, for it was he and not the French wizards who cast the bolt that struck down his two half-brothers. He was the eldest son of the King's second wife, and was in the line of succession to the throne if Queen Nikkathia's five children were to have perished. He did it in such a way as to try to incriminate the elder Frenchmen, but that was his own undoing, as the French wizards saw that and retaliated. Whether Azam was also part of that conspiracy we will never know."</p><p></p><p>Looking back to George he says, "What other evidence do you have? And which other French do you know were involved? Do not speculate, I am seeking hard facts Sir." George laughs at this last statement. "Hard facts? In the hot minute after a fight? I don't know whether to find fault more with your rhetoric or your logic. Hard facts? When we are dealing with magical concealment, duplicity, impersonations, royal intrigue, foreign intrigue, and assassinations? When has hard facts ever been used where these are involved. Shall we begin a lengthy, fact-finding investigation? Foremost though is the fact that I have no reason, evidence, or even inclination to value or trust your authority here to conduct your ad hoc investigation.</p><p></p><p>The lawyer briefly interrupts, "Sir, I do not know how they did it at your Harvard, but when I studied law at Oxford we were concerned with facts. As to the magical concealment, we will address that momentarily." George answers "Sir, and please do grace me with your name now that I have your title, what "facts" does Oxford concern itself with? Testimony, exhibits, or documentary material? And then there is the issue of authentication. One man's facts are another man's fiction. But perhaps we can discuss such epistemology at a later date. The matter before us is still what "facts" you care to give notice to, admit and consider and which you choose you choose to ignore or dismiss because of their origin."</p><p></p><p>The man says, "Very well, allow me to clarify. And my full name is Mensah Zuberi, although most address me as Barrister Sefu (George recognizes "Sefu" as being the Egyptian word for sword).</p><p></p><p>George continues "Secondly, I will not reveal further evidence, speculations, or allow interviews with my team until I have sufficient evidence that you yourself are not a part of the cabal of traitors. Our best suspect was killed, the man who could have identified the people behind this. You did little to stop that, though you were quick to take charge after he was dead." The lawyer answers "Things happened quickly Sir, and my primary concern after the Princes were slain was the protection of the other royal heirs. At that time I was temporarily occupied with throwing up a magical protective sphere over the two youngest Princesses." Gesturing to the far wall where the young ladies are standing he adds, "It still protects them. You may question my priorities, but I have no regrets to my actions."</p><p></p><p>George goes on "Thirdly, I doubt YOUR assertions sir, as they do not line up with observed facts. I have little inclination to acknowledge your leadership or line of investigation. I KNOW that I am here under the direct orders of the princess and the guardianship of Bast, I have no evidence of your loyalty, motives, or authority. Without proof of that, I cannot aid what may be a deliberate attempt to shield the leaders of this cabal by delaying and deceiving those who would bring justice to Egypt."</p><p></p><p>The man replies "I am the Royal Barrister, and my duties extend beyond the life of the Monarch. In fact, in accordance with Egyptian Law, I am the sole person designated to certify the eligibility of his successor. I am therefore the ONLY person in Egypt who is in authority at the moment. Once we are free of our temporary prison I will be able to provide you with documentation to support that claim, but in the meanwhile it can be verified by the Queen and any others in the room familiar with Egyptian Law."</p><p></p><p>George, "I might take some umbrage at your statement considering there are several persons of the royal family who are very much alive. Your yourself have already acknowledged the presence of two of the princesses. And without further information Princess Nerferka is alive, unless you deem them unworthy of succession. A might bit presumptuous"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 6899826, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 93, “Boom" September 11, 1882, 11:30PM.[/B] George notes a magical outline of what appears to be either a large revolver or a sawed-off shotgun in the hand that the General is now extending directly towards the King. Alarmed, George quickly casts message again to the "general" "Put your hand down and use the other hand or you will be destroyed." George gestures Ruby to intercept the general "his hand is a gun stop him" Ruby reacts quickly to George's warning, pulling out her gun and moving as quickly as she can she tries to shoot the "General" in the hand to keep him from shooting the King. "Save the King!" she yells, stopping to shoot. As occurred with the earlier message to him, the General appears alarmed at hearing this. Rather than complying, his reaction is to fire the gun, which then becomes visible to everybody in the room. It is a sawed-off version of a 55-calibur Elephant Gun, designed to bring down the largest land animal from a distance of 100 yards. It lets out a resounding "Boom". The impact at point blank range is that it has blown a large hole in the center of the King's chest. Lawrence had made his way for the nearest exit. When he is halfway there, the boom from the general's gun causes him to turn around. "Crap." He struggles to control the crowd trying to escape. Ruby simultaneously fires her gun at the General and continues to run towards the Princess. As the shots ring out, George signals Lawrence and Abby to take the edges of the room as George breaks into a run towards the general. Abby ripped off the robe as she sprinted to the right. Her eyes scanned the room for other reactors, anyone she suspected of interfering on the side of the probably impersonated General. Or anyone looking to take advantage of the chaos to harm any of the Royal family. Ruby's shot is perfect, hitting the General, however the bullet does not penetrate, instead deflecting off and striking against the pyramid wall. "Okay officially time for big guns," she mutters. Seeing Abby's move, Ruby thinks "That's a good idea", as she now copies Abby, also dropping the priestess robe of Bast to the ground as she continues to rush to the aid of the Princess. "Princess!" she calls out in the chaos, though it occurred to her just then that this also might be an imposter. Perhaps even one of her idols, Sandra Bernhardt. Wasn't her name mentioned among the French traitors? The two Ogre bodyguards in front move immediately, one pushing the Queen back against the wall and shielding her. The other grabs Princess Neferka, pulling her away from General Orabi. Three separate lightning bolts fly across the room from the far corner where the elder Frenchmen were standing. Two strike the Grand Vizer, one bolt skewering his chest and the other through his neck. The bolts also continue on behind him, striking down two of his apprentices and another guard. The third bolt curves out from a side angle, striking the crown prince who earlier spoke to Orabi and another young man who was near him. Abby sees this but is too late to stop the lightning bolts, but she does note that the quartet of elder French appear to be preparing to cast more spells. George is less than ten feet away from the General when Orabi sees him with his peripheral vision and swings the elephant gun up in George's direction. George knows that it appears to only a single-barreled weapon, so would now be empty of ammunition, however Orabi is wielding it as though it can be fired again. George charges forward trying to get close enough to get past the barrel of the gun. Ruby glances around in the chaos for George to get her Fire Rod and she immediately sees the danger he is in. "Crap." She runs full speed for the gun to jumps on it, hoping to tackle it to the floor and keep it from going off. One Frenchman completes his spell and an iron wall immediately erupts over the large entrance to the pyramid, sealing all occupants inside and separating them from anybody outside. At this point there are approximately 65 people total trapped inside. The room is illuminated by magical light, although the smoke from the firearms is slightly obscuring the visibility. Lawrence stops short of the wall. "Well that just ain't right. If this is how things are going to be, so be it." Abby decides that goal number one had to be to stop either of those men from casting another spell. She pulled the rifle out, but instead of pointing it she held it her side ready to be pulled up if she needed it. Then she charged the man on the left, fully intending to slam into him and knock him into his compatriot. Ruby manages to throw herself in front of the gun pointing to George as it fires again. Inside the now sealed pyramid Orabi's Elephant Gun sounds even louder, almost deafening. The recoil from the hit flings Ruby's body back and George catches her. However, unlike the King, there is no hole in her chest. Instead there is a large round scorch mark on Aphrodite's magical dress that Ruby is wearing. George lays Ruby on the ground as he sees she in conscious, As he stands the fire rod slides out of his sleeve next to Ruby. George tries to grab the gun away from the ogre or at least cause it to fire away from Ruby or anyone else Before Abby reaches the Frenchmen one tosses magic missiles from his Fingertips at her as well as a human guard and an orge guard who are also charging them. A total of seven bolts fire forward, two striking Abby, two striking the human guard, who falls, and three striking the ogre guard, who appears unfazed and continues his charge. The fact that this man had just sent seven missiles flying didn't escape her. But magic was his playing field, and she didn't plan to play fair. Aware now that she wasn't alone Abby continued her change and lifted the rifle. But instead of firing, she swung it like a club at his head. Orabi releases the gun completely to George and grasps tightly onto him while casting a spell. George is only mildly bothered by a wave of electricity that moves from Orabi's hands and into him. However, by the time the gun is pointed to the wizards an orge guard and his ally Abigail are blocking his shot. Orabi is them lifted up the air by an oversized disembodied hand comprised of golden energy that grabs the General around the stomach. The hand stretches back to the older woman who had spoken to him and Ruby earlier. The Frenchman who had thrown the missiles was Jacquard, who she successfully strikes with the rifle. Despite his use of magic to slow his aging, he is still the eldest of the wizards at 130 years of age and no longer capable of physical combat. The rifle strikes him the head for a large gash, which dazes him. Meanwhile, the Ogre charges and makes a dive towards Daguerre and Chevruel, but instead goes head-first into the pyramid wall as they teleport away. The remaining elder Frenchman throws five magical missiles into the now fallen Ogre, who now appears to be either unconscious or dead. Abby didn't want to leave the first man at her back, but he seemed to be reeling from the blow of the rifle. Abby turned and launched herself over the downed Ogre toward the last of the elder Frenchman, shoving the butt of the rifle into her stomach, hoping to knock him over. Leaping the ogre causes her to lose her footing and stumble. The wizard turns towards her and prepares to cast a spell. Lawrence draws his gun and fires at the wizard who struck down the ogre. "Hermes, aid your servant." His shot is true as the bullet strikes the elderly wizard in the side of his head and he falls. A gun shot then rings out and he then falls dead at her feet. She sees that Lawrence was her savior. Lawrence then finds himself covered over by a thick sticky web-like substance that pins him to the floor and nearest support column. Abby sees this and realizes that he will not be helping her again anytime soon due to the web spell. George whirls back to Ruby, not letting go of the gun. Summoning the grace of Athena, he chants a quick healing spell over her rapidly bruising chest. Ruby feels immediately better. She blinks a couple of times as the room spins. Once it stops spinning she says to the elevated Orabi, "You've just pissed off a goddess. Probably not a good idea around these parts." She was woozy but not going to let on. "Are you willing to risk further wrath of the Gods by harming us?" George bends down for a quick kiss "Find the princess, make sure it's really her." before grabbing the gun he is up and running towards the king, hoping he has enough healing to stabilize him at least. Once the immediate battle is over Ruby lets out a long breath. George's healing had made her feel much better but she couldn't help but think that had been a close call. "Thank you Aphrodite," she says out loud to no one in particular. She gathers the Fire Rod and holds it tightly. "Someone secure that traitor, just in case the spell wears off. He's better to us alive, obviously," she says, pointing to the fake Orabi. However, the remaining five still-standing guards in the room ignore her comments and open fire on the held target that had just slain their King. They are joined by magic missiles thrown by the quartet of French diplomats, Duruy, de Guzman, Degas and Faure, who had remained out of the battle to this point. The barrage of missiles, both lead and magical, bring his life to a close. The magical hand lowers the body to the floor and the hand then fades away. Ruby nods to the "old woman." She wasn't sure she should give away her teacher's identity. Few here knew who he was and perhaps he wanted to keep it that way. George crawls over to the King and not surprisingly finds that king is very, very dead. A blinding flash of light shoots forth from the very center of the room and about fifteen feet up, temporarily blinding all occupants. Simultaneous to that a voice loudly yells out "Stop" in Arabic, French, English and Nubian. As eyes re-adjust they see that an Egyptian man in fancy robes holding a scimitar has moved to the very center of the room. George and Ruby recognize his as the Oxford-educated attorney who accompanied the Grand Vizier Azam when he abducted them from Zakazik. The man with the scimitar says, "Everybody except for the King's Guard, lower all weapon and magical items immediately. Guards, if anybody speaks without being addressed first by me you can assume they are casting an offensive spell and are ordered to shoot them. There has been enough killing. Both of the assassins of the Royal family appear to now be dead." He turns in the direction of the ogre shielding he Queen and says, "Release her." He then asks, "Queen Nikkathia, are you unhurt?" She turns and then sees her husband's body and screams. She then sees the bodies of her sons and rushes over to them, sobbing. Ruby lowers her weapon and nods to her comrades to do the same, in case they had other plans in mind. She kept a very close eye on the Princess to see how she would react. George, had already placed the rifle on the ground, but he sits back on his heels and waits for more order to come to the room. Ruby then heads over to the Princess. "Nerferka, are you alright?" Ruby carefully looks the woman in the eyes, checking to see if the girl is actually the real princess or if it is the actress Sandra Bernhardt (or another) is disguised as the Princess. Looking Neferka in the eyes, there does not seem to be anything amiss. However, the Princess has no reaction at all to Ruby, as though she has never met her before. She has spent enough time recently with Neferka to know the young woman well, and the woman before her looks slightly younger. Ruby then recognizes that she has seen "this woman" before, specifically in the mirror the previous day after she used Neferka's ring to make herself into the Princess. The King had confiscated that ring from Ruby before sending her back down to the castle dungeon. This woman, however, is not wearing any rings. Stepping back and checking for a magical aura as she had been taught, Ruby detects one around the Princess, the highest magical concentration appearing to be coming from a toe on the woman's right foot, however the feet are both currently covered with silk shoes, although looking closer there appears to be a slight bump on that toe. Ruby takes a step away from the Princess with her head bowed low in an nonthreatening manner. She stops, then looks at George and ever so subtly looks in his eyes and shakes her head back and forth in a manner that probably only two people who had been together for a long while would recognize the meaning. She shakes her head once towards the Princesses right foot and stops moving. The lawyer orders all eleven bodies lying on the floor to be checked. The only one still alive is the Frenchman Jacquard. The lawyer turns to Duruy and says, "You said that you team had a physician with you?" Duruy replies, "We did, Napoleon Bonaparte's person physician Dominique Larrey." The Frenchman Baron Gouraud gestures to the body beside Jacquard Duruy and angrily states, "The Americans have murdered him." Queen Nikkathia tooks up in anguish from beside her dead son and with venom in her voice says to Gouraud "You're a fine one to accuse somebody else of murder. You were the person who handed that invisible gun to Orabi to kill my husband!" The Egyptian lawyer says "What!" Nikkathia replies, "When he first stood beside Orabi I saw their hands touch. I did not realize at the time that anything was in it." Several others in the room are recognized and now acknowledge that they too saw that. The lawyer orders two of the guards to arrest the old Baron. The man makes no attempt to resist or deny the charges. The French Empress Eugenia Maria de Montijo de Guzman moves forward and hugs her old friend the Queen saying, "We knew nothing of this plot Nikki, I swear. Gouraud has spent the last week in the company of Orabi, somehow the charismatic General must have persuaded him, just as he persuaded your daughter to enter into marriage." The Egyptian attorney turns and faces George. He states in English "All right Eastman. Explain your presence here." George nods slowly towards Ruby. George stands slowly with hands out to his side, making no sudden moves. "We were asked to come by the princess. Do not bother asking her now, for she is not here. Just as Orabi was an imposter, so too is this 'princess'. Her fears were correct and she was in danger. My companions and I have uncovered a plot by a few of the French high wizards to destabilize Egypt to further their own fanatical politics of magic. They want to create a puppet state that will allow them to practice arcane magic without restriction. I fear the faction of the French wizards who schemed to kill the king have both the real Orabi and princess captive. My guess is they wished to kill all the other royal family and be in control of the new rulers of Egypt. We are also here under the guidance and protection of Bast and under her aegis seek to protect and save Egypt," answers George in his calm, earnest, baritone. The lawyer mulls this over and nods. "Some of what you say is clearly true, however I believe that you may have overstated the involvement of the French. One thing that I have learned over time is to recognize when people are sincere. Other than Mr. Gouraud's involvement I sensed no duplicity from any of the French present here now. During the last week Mr. Duruy, Mrs. de Guzman and their party have been sincere in their seeking of peace. Similarly, Mr. Taine and Mr. Passy's negotiations during this past hour spoke of true passion, they believed and wanted a peaceful resolution." He then gestures to the body of the apprentice lying dead behind that of the Grand Vizier Azam and says, "Prince Rajjid was clearly in on the plot, for it was he and not the French wizards who cast the bolt that struck down his two half-brothers. He was the eldest son of the King's second wife, and was in the line of succession to the throne if Queen Nikkathia's five children were to have perished. He did it in such a way as to try to incriminate the elder Frenchmen, but that was his own undoing, as the French wizards saw that and retaliated. Whether Azam was also part of that conspiracy we will never know." Looking back to George he says, "What other evidence do you have? And which other French do you know were involved? Do not speculate, I am seeking hard facts Sir." George laughs at this last statement. "Hard facts? In the hot minute after a fight? I don't know whether to find fault more with your rhetoric or your logic. Hard facts? When we are dealing with magical concealment, duplicity, impersonations, royal intrigue, foreign intrigue, and assassinations? When has hard facts ever been used where these are involved. Shall we begin a lengthy, fact-finding investigation? Foremost though is the fact that I have no reason, evidence, or even inclination to value or trust your authority here to conduct your ad hoc investigation. The lawyer briefly interrupts, "Sir, I do not know how they did it at your Harvard, but when I studied law at Oxford we were concerned with facts. As to the magical concealment, we will address that momentarily." George answers "Sir, and please do grace me with your name now that I have your title, what "facts" does Oxford concern itself with? Testimony, exhibits, or documentary material? And then there is the issue of authentication. One man's facts are another man's fiction. But perhaps we can discuss such epistemology at a later date. The matter before us is still what "facts" you care to give notice to, admit and consider and which you choose you choose to ignore or dismiss because of their origin." The man says, "Very well, allow me to clarify. And my full name is Mensah Zuberi, although most address me as Barrister Sefu (George recognizes "Sefu" as being the Egyptian word for sword). George continues "Secondly, I will not reveal further evidence, speculations, or allow interviews with my team until I have sufficient evidence that you yourself are not a part of the cabal of traitors. Our best suspect was killed, the man who could have identified the people behind this. You did little to stop that, though you were quick to take charge after he was dead." The lawyer answers "Things happened quickly Sir, and my primary concern after the Princes were slain was the protection of the other royal heirs. At that time I was temporarily occupied with throwing up a magical protective sphere over the two youngest Princesses." Gesturing to the far wall where the young ladies are standing he adds, "It still protects them. You may question my priorities, but I have no regrets to my actions." George goes on "Thirdly, I doubt YOUR assertions sir, as they do not line up with observed facts. I have little inclination to acknowledge your leadership or line of investigation. I KNOW that I am here under the direct orders of the princess and the guardianship of Bast, I have no evidence of your loyalty, motives, or authority. Without proof of that, I cannot aid what may be a deliberate attempt to shield the leaders of this cabal by delaying and deceiving those who would bring justice to Egypt." The man replies "I am the Royal Barrister, and my duties extend beyond the life of the Monarch. In fact, in accordance with Egyptian Law, I am the sole person designated to certify the eligibility of his successor. I am therefore the ONLY person in Egypt who is in authority at the moment. Once we are free of our temporary prison I will be able to provide you with documentation to support that claim, but in the meanwhile it can be verified by the Queen and any others in the room familiar with Egyptian Law." George, "I might take some umbrage at your statement considering there are several persons of the royal family who are very much alive. Your yourself have already acknowledged the presence of two of the princesses. And without further information Princess Nerferka is alive, unless you deem them unworthy of succession. A might bit presumptuous" [/QUOTE]
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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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