Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

617 617 Steward

The Rosefinch sitting room was a beautiful place by any standard, with dark oak walls and a black granite floor inlaid with scenes of flying birds made of solid gold. It had been made with Earth Magic, Wolfe was certain, and the floor of the room looked like a starry night sky full of golden birds.

But what he didn't see was anyone who might have intended to meet them here.

There was no herald or maid, as there would normally be, for a meeting with anyone in the Palace. Instead, he was seated alone with Rail in the luxurious room. He couldn't tell if she was getting nervous or bored, but after a few minutes, she began to fidget, and then eventually went to the bookshelf to grab something to read while they waited.

"Perhaps we should have found a staff member to inform that we are here." She suggested.

"They might be giving us alone time, under a misunderstanding about what we needed a private room for." Wolfe agreed.

Rail giggled and flipped open her book. She was fully expecting to be kept waiting by whoever thought that they needed to be brought to a secluded area of the Palace to talk. If it could be done openly, they wouldn't have been called to a disused wing of the building in the first place, much less kept waiting long enough that staff would forget that they had seen someone coming this way recently.

Rail was deeply engrossed in her book and Wolfe had the [Whiteboard] spell active to draw new spell inscriptions, practising what he had been learning in the Library, when someone finally came storming into the room.

Of all the people that they suspected would come barging into the room as if they were greatly inconvenienced by the entire situation, they had never thought that it would be the Palace Steward.

"Good, you're both here. I've been looking for you. We need to have a discussion about adding exceptions to the spell you placed on the castle to allow for proper disciplinary measures." He demanded.

"There already are." Wolfe replied, unconcerned.

"Just this morning, one of the serving staff dropped a fork during breakfast service, and I was unable to whip them for their incompetence. The exceptions need to be modified."

Wolfe looked around with [Detect Hidden] as the Steward had left the door open when he barged in, and sure enough, there were staff from the cleaning crew hiding two doors down with the door cracked in a spotless room, pretending to clean.

The fact they were unmoving and perfectly silent gave away their game, but he couldn't blame them for wanting to know how this conversation ended.

Rail cleared her throat. "If you wish to whip the staff, you will have to take them to the formal punishment ground in the village commons. I have memorized all the official castle disciplinary measures, and a formal censure is to be exercised in front of the commoners."

The man seemed to pale a little at that suggestion, but his determination didn't wane.

"It's nothing so important as to need a formal censure. This inability to maintain discipline is leading to a breakdown in castle procedures." He insisted.

Wolfe smiled and placed a gentle hand on the Steward's shoulder.

"Fortunately, you have come to the perfect people for the cause. As an investigator team, albeit temporary, we can certainly shadow you for the day and make detailed notes of the disciplinary issues to put before the Lead Investigator, who can present them to the Royal Council.

In fact, I must insist that we do. It would never do for discipline to break down in the Palace just because of a reinstatement of security measures. Minister William might be concerned about this as well. A lack of discipline is a security issue." Wolfe informed him, and watched as the man truly began to panic.

Rail realized that the Steward was one of those who had delighted in punishing the staff for the smallest of infractions, and joined in with Wolfe's game.

"Yes, I will begin a formal investigation now, and we can do a full report on the condition of the staff's morale and job performance. If they are underperforming the standards, we will refer the findings to the council so they can assist you with funds or staff to maintain discipline.

In the meantime, don't be afraid to use the formal disciplinary measures. There hasn't been a public flogging for disrespect of Palace Procedures in months. Perhaps the formal paperwork needs to make a comeback, now that the informal methods are unavailable."

The problem with that, from the Steward's point of view, was that he had to justify the punishment, and provide corroboration. He was not well liked by the staff, and they had done an efficient job of eliminating his cronies in the last week, using the Palace Security Minister to cast suspicion upon them and have them reassigned.

The Steward was just about to retort when hard boots on the hallway floors reminded him that the door was open and others might hear anything that he said to the Investigator. He couldn't push too far, or the Succubus would call him out. Rail was notorious for being uptight, and she wasn't from one of the court families or a generational servant family which would understand the need for his ways.

But the boots didn't pass by their location. Instead, they stopped right at the entry, and the thick oaken door swung inwards to reveal their visitors.

"Good, so many people that we needed to talk to are all in one place. Please, have a seat." The short golden demon, with a head like a dragon, but no wings or tail that Wolfe could see, insisted.

With six heavily armed guards, or possibly thugs, as they looked more like assassins in the black armour, his words weren't a request, despite the polite phrasing.

"Are you the one who called for us, Intelligence Minister?" Rail asked, with a polite bow to the diminutive Demon.

"Indeed. Catching the Steward at the same time is a stroke of luck, though. I had intended to speak to him later. Now, let us have a little discussion about the possibility of corruption within the Palace Staff."