<h4>Chapter 406: A night cleansing.</h4>


    The whispers had been eating away in the city all day. Word of the poisoning traveled like mice from one house to another. Nobody dared to say it out loud, but it was all everyone wanted to know about. Some nobles tried to ess the royal castle for information, but it was sealed off tightly, no one in or out.


    At night, the city gates were closed, the bells did not ring. In silence, a cleansing began. Cloaked figures, dashed through alleys or soared through the skies on broom sticks, spreading containment runes.


    The hidden mages inside the city that felt the magic did not dare toe out of their houses or rooms. Unless they were forced out of hiding, they would not show their faces.


    In the north of the city stood the house that housed the headquarters of the Horse keepers. Their daring attempt to harm the Empress with poison had brought consequences. Not only had it failed but Sir Gerrin had given up all the information he knew about the secret society.


    The investigation had been quiet and swift. Unexpected help hade from King Raff who was very agitated to hear that they had dared to extend their ws to the royal family. Rnd’s reign had only begun, this was seen as a challenge to his authority.


    King Raff had always known where the real headquarters were. He had also always known that the society was the child of house Benwick. He did not know who took over after Lord Benwick’s death.


    At 3:00 a.m., mages dropped from the sky, six dozen of them lined in formation and carrying potions and powders and wands. They spelled or poisoned the knights that guarded the manor and then blocked off every exit. Without a single sound being made, they entered the premises to begin the hunt for the Horse keepers.


    Within the manor, forty nine knights sat around a round table in uneasy silence. The whispers of their failure andpromise had reached their ears and they had gathered to discuss how to proceed. usations and tempers had long red. me had been assigned. Now, they were in need of solutions.


    But it was toote.


    Mages and knights serving the Emperor and Empress entered, wearing cloaks that had sigils of the royal house. The Lord mage was the leader,manding the mission and he drew back his hood, revealing his face.


    "I advise you all to surrender," He said.


    The Horse keepers were men of the sword and they drew their swords. The Lord mage raised his hand and waved his wand, casting a spell. The swords turned into candy and the knights were rendered weaponless.


    Arrests began.


    Surrender was not easy--some struggled, some protested their innocence, a few drunk poison. One stabbed himself in the heart. Dead or alive, they were all put in handcuffs and taken out of the room.


    In one of the rooms which served as a library, a hidden vault was unearthed behind a book shelf. Inside was the holy grail of information. Scrolls with names of all their clients, encrypted in twonguages. It went back eighty eight years, each detailing the name and details of the job and mode of payment.


    The hunt widened.


    Clients of the Horse keepers were arrested and they were many. Nobles, exiled royals, merchants, schrs, doctors, teachers, mistresses, dwarfs, mage knights. The scrolls also had names of foreigners from other kingdoms and empires.


    The list of crimes was extensive. From nobles poisoning each other’s children to get out of marriage pacts to exiled royals seeking to harm kings and queens. Secondary wives looking to be main wives, maids looking for revenge on their masters or mistresses,petitors looking to sabotage the businesses of others and so on.


    All through dawn, arrests were made and prison cells filled up. By midday, ny three arrests had been made,wyers had been called and the empire trembled under the weight of what it learned: that its protectors, the knights themselves had sold their services for a fee. If the knights had lose virtues, could they be trusted? Their only saving grace was the fact that they had not killed anyone.


    Sigrid was enjoying the a cup of chocte nut tea on the balcony of her sonar, feet up on the railing. The wind was rustling through her hair which was running free. She had a smile on her face. This cleansing had allowed her to get rid off all the servants in the royal castle that were not loyal to her. They had been reced by members of her organization.


    The Lord mage and Elowin were with her, going over thest encrypted scroll which had details of where the Horse Keepers kept their ill gotten wealth. Now, it would be uncovered and added to the royal vault.


    "Dove Wheatley." She said the name with a smile. "I thought she was simply not worth remembering but she has found a way for me to remember her for the rest of my life."


    Elowin turned to her and asked, "Will she be going down in the history books? This cleansing is being recorded by the royal historians."


    Sigrid shook her head. "She is not worth being remembered. But sadly, her tale must be used to caution those that plot against royalty. One person’s plot can bring the ruin of many. She sought to make me ugly and instead brought down an entire secret society that has lived in the shadows for almost a century."


    The Lord mage sighed. "This is going to create a lot of awkwardness in the royal court. I am afraid that this victory hase at the cost of trust between allies."


    Some of the closest nobles that were seen as friends had used the Horse keepers to plot and harm each other. Now that the information hade to light, their rtionships would never be the same again.


    "I did not tell the nobles to plot against each other in secret." Sigrid shrugged. "Let this be a lesson to them. They should all be more like Lady Percival, if she does not like you, she says it to your face."


    "What do we do with the headquarters of the Horse keepers?" The Lord mage asked her.


    "Burn it down," She said, "It is the ce where the knights betrayed their oaths. History needs not to remember it. In fact, burning is not enough, demolish it all. We should build a school of higher learning on thend. In time, the people will forget what once stood there."


    Sigrid took a sip of her tea. This cleansing had made her realize that she needed to eliminate Emmah now. There were new enemies watching in the shadows. Of what use was it keeping the old ones around?


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