CSI: Iziz (complete)

[Salem Ave]

“People of Onderon...”

All across the city of Iziz, people sat motionless in front of their holo-feed screens.

“Too long has the Mandalorian scourge plagued our fair city, the city which we have – all of us – worked so tirelessly to raise to its glorious state. It is time to put an end to this plague. Effective immediately, all civilian transportation to and from Onderon is terminated. Supply ships, heavily monitored, will be allowed continued passage, but all other transit shall cease until we find and bring to justice the terrorists in our midst. Know this: Iziz will not bow to thugs and murderers. We will have the head of the marauder Mandalore, and we will have peace.”

The video-stream lingered a moment on the face of Salem Ave, cold and indignant, before cutting back to the Iziz National News reporter. In the Royal Court, there was silence. Salem took a breath then sighed deeply, running his fingertips through his hair, straightening it as he tried to straighten his thoughts. He had delivered the press release on the assassination attempt, and his own speech on the newly imposed tightened security. Now it was time to make good on his promise.

Exitting the small room from which his transmission had been made, he was greeted by a patrol of Royal Guards. The men saluted then fell into formation around Salem, as he walked towards the bedchamber's of the Princess Razielle.

[Razielle Alastor]

Getting back to her own room was making her feel better already. Her shoulder was a bit stiff and still pained her on and off. She had, however, been pronouced fit to leave the medical ward and could expect a full recovery. Lira, near tears and breeched protcol and hugged Razielle upon her return to her care.

"Nice to see you too, Lira." She walked slowly into her room and sat down on the side of the bed facing the window. She was carrying her orchids and was pleased to see that Lira had procured the items that she had requested to preserve them.

A short while later Razielle was sitting in the sunshine on the veranda. She was wearing what she referred to as "her comfy clothes". Light grey sweats with silver stripes up the sides, and a hooded jacket. She had a blanket tucked over her lap and her hair was in a braid. She was bent over the last few steps in the process of preserving the flowers that had been from Salem. They were now suspended in a crystal that contained a viscous blend that both stimulated new cell growth, preserved the color and kept them exactly as they were indefinately. She turned the crystal right side up and smiled at her work, having been determined to do it herself.

Lira came running out of the bedroom with the screen from her bedside. "Your Highness, its time!" Razielle sat transfixed watching the newscast. No one had to tell her that Salem Ave could rule the universe single handedly, she had been aware for some time now. Her eyes swept over Lira in amusement as she oogled Salem.

"He's some kind of man, isn't he Miss..?"

"Lira, you have no idea." She winked. She had to make her maid believe that the reason Razielle met with Salem in the night was nothing more than a lovers tryst. It was what everyone whispered about now. How the Princess was in love with Salem Ave and had nearly died for him. Great.. I'm going to be in the scandal sheets next.

Salem looked extremely tense and she wanted nothing more than to rush to his side like a pet. She watched him walk off screen with a determined stride and wondered where he was going next.

"Oh no...." Horrified she looked down at her clothes, at the blanket and the mess she had created ensuring the protection of her orchids. There was no time to change, he walked fast.

"Lira.. go get the door. I'm going to sulk for a moment, in private."

[Salem Ave]

The door swung open to reveal Salem Ave and twelve armed men. The guards formed a box around the doorway, their eyes flitting here and there in search of potential threats, even in the heart of the Palace. Lira jumped, startled. Salem separated himself from the group, though did not cross over the threshold.

“Good afternoon, Lira.” He glanced over her shoulder, and saw that the INN news-feed was running. The reporter, a young blond woman, was commenting on the speech he had just given.

“Is the Princess here?” he asked loudly, already knowing the answer. “We have important business to discuss.”

[Razielle Alastor]

Razielle let out an unlady like snort. Of course she was here, where else would the invalid go, she was still on restricted activities. She rose slowly, wincing and stepped through the veranda doors. Her eyes slid up Salem in a carress before settling on the guards with a bit of a frown.

"Lira, would you see about picking the mess I made of the veranda. " She spoke to her maid but didn't take her eyes off Salem.

"Always a pleasure, Salem. What business?"

[Salem Ave]

Salem frowned slightly, though no doubt for entirely different reasons. “I'm overseeing the investigation into the attack. I'd like you to come with me to the courtyard where it happened, so we can iron out some of the details involved.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Salem was aware of Lira lurking on the balcony, watching and listening with a smile. As she begin to mop up the mess outside, she rolled her eyes as if to say that she knew the real reason why Salem wanted to whisk the Princess away.

[Razielle Alastor]

Salem was offering her the chance to do what she most wanted, to hunt the assassin down. It charmed her warped senses to a ridiculous point. She wouldn't have been more pleased if he had shown up with a box of chocolates and declared himself smitten. Don't push it..

Razielle didn't bother to tone down her smile as she zipped up her jacket and walked to his side. "Excellent. Let's go."

Her pulse quickened. Razielle was distracted, even in the presence of her own personal God for once. She was already envisioning the sadistic torments that she would submit the attacker to, when they had a name.

[Salem Ave]

The pair stepped out into the hall, and the guards shifted their formation to encircle them. Alongside the armed escort, Salem had also ensured that all posts throughout the grounds were manned. The courtyard itself had multiple perimeters of defense, including rooftop posts. As they walked out towards the terrace, the sound of static and distorted voices could be heard, as the guards performed regular radio checks. There were a number of officials idling about, who glanced up expectantly at the new arrival. They walked over to join the group.

“Alright... if you could just walk us through what you remember happening.”

[Razielle Alastor]

She seemed uncomfortable with the guards everywhere. She was having flash backs yet again of her skill and intellignce being wasted on men such as these who thought it a cute quirk of Princess Razielle's. One of them didn't think that way about her though.

Her eyes settled on Salem for a moment, as if sobering herself. She gave him a nod and stepped forward to the table that they had been seated at.

"I was returning to the Queen. You were seated here." She ran her hands over the back of the chair. Her expression was almost vacant, but for her she was reliving the event in complete clarity.

"There was the sound of a blast.. You stood immediately, I was directly behind you, facing the source of the noise. The Mandalorian and General DeSang. There was a struggle and more guards arrived to contain the incident. A table crashed.. "

She shuddered and closed her eyes. Dropping her voice she barely whsipered, hoping only Salem would hear the last. "It was fast and accurate. The blade was meant to kill instantly, severing your spine and major vessels in one blow. I was told, one more inch to the side and I wouldn't have survived it."

She walked away from the table, in a direct path to the scene of the struggle between the General and the Mandalorian. She stepped around a black burn which had destroyed the historical tiles of the floor. She noted that someone had started to clean up the blood, but had been stopped. She looked back in the direction of the table where she and Salem had been, and squinted. If she was going to hit Salem, from this location where would she be? She moved behind the burn, stood on her tip toes and frowned.

"Who was here...?"

[Salem Ave]

“This is where the fight between General DeSang and the Mandalorian assassin occurred,” one of the suited men interjected. There were markers dotted in various places on the floor – where the severed hand had landed, where the General had collided with the palace wall and so on.

Salem looked over the scene in silence. The knife had meant to kill him. It was odd, he thought, that the attack hadn't been targeted at one of the Royals. Did the Mandalorian have a grudge against Salem? Did he perceive Salem as a potential threat? A frown creased the Arkanian's brow.

“According to the guards who were nearby, the attackers last words were: 'My Queen, Legion sends his regards' ...or 'the Legion sends their regards', they aren't sure.”

“I don't believe that I've ever heard of the Mandalorians referring to themselves as such,” Salem observed, perplexed.

[Razielle Alastor]

Razielle was frowning. Why would the Madalorian attacker single out Salem Ave for assasination? The Queen was closer, an easier target and would have been more likely. Even Razielle herself made more sense as a possible mark. She had been out in the open, exposed. Easy target. The assasination of the Queen's ward would have caused Adraudia to feel responsible for her, and could have triggered a unlikely response.

If not the Mandalorian, then who? Her face registered shock for a moment before masking her reaction. Razielle had gone rigid and calm. Her pulse ticked beneath her eye, a spasm of the rage that was quickly mounting at what she suspected.

"I wonder if I might take a look at that dagger.." She slid her furious gaze to Salem.

Privately. I have to talk to you, now.

[Salem Ave]

“The blade is being held in secure storage,” one of the investigators replied, as if contesting.

“Excellent.” Salem turned immediately and began to walk away, holding up a hand to stop the men in suits as they began to follow, though the guards kept their perimeter. After a short while, they arrived at a metal door, which required a number of access codes and identification processes to enter. Inside there were sealed containers, all clear, marked with various labels. The dagger from the attack was on a shelf close to the entrance.

“Here it is. Quite an intricate design,” Salem noted.

[Razielle Alastor]

She walked over to the shelf and stood in front of it, her eyes frozen on the container and the damning evidence held there. She didn't move. She was afraid that if she did, she would turn around and find the bastard and kill him effective immediately.

Knowing that no one could overhear them, she spoke openly to Salem. "A few nights before the ball. I served dinner for the General on my private terrace, an apology for our first meeting that night in the hall. I was seeking to gain information from him and things were going fine up until he brought out his family heirloom.."

She smiled into her own reflection in the glass of the container. "A sword. Quite old, generations I'd say. Afixed with a rare carved icon of a silver dragon..."

"Like that one." She tapped her finger on the container. "Exactly like that one."

She may as well finish the story. She had no idea why but she had only put it off this long because she feared his reaction. Razielle wasn't foolish enough to think he cared, but he wouldn't like it. Instinct told her that. Then again she wouldn't have guessed that he would have sat guard like a pet wolf while she had been unconscious either.

It didn't matter. She had to tell him now, it could have been a motive for his death.

"After I inspected the sword and returned it to the General, I was caught off guard as I was pulled into his lap and held quite solidly. His intentions were quite clear and I'm eternally greatful that Lira had been present. I managed to deal with it quite effectively. I ordered him to get his hands off me, told him what a blackguard he was for taking advantage and thinking because I would have welcomed one man to my bed that two would be acceptable."

She dropped her head onto the shelf and let out a long sigh. "Then I informed him that I already had a lover and made a dramatic display of slamming my bedroom door."

[Salem Ave]

“We shouldn't leap to conclusions,” Salem assured. “The Mandalorian may have simply taken the Generals knife, in the heat of the battle. The severed hand of the assassin was recovered. Finger prints will be taken and can be compared with any on the knife itself.”

May have. Dalamar's hatred for the Prime Minister was widely known, but Ave had not thought his anger would come to any kind of fruition. It was too much of a compromise to the Generals own position for him to attack Salem, yet all evidence pointed towards him now.

“As for the Generals indecency with you... I'm afraid that isn't a crime. All we can do is to offer DeSang a few words on how to conduct himself appropriately around women.”

[Razielle Alastor]

Tucking the hood of her jacket up over her head, Razielle seemed fairly closed on the subject. She would wait for Salem to accquire his results, but she already knew. She could feel the truth behind it. She wasn't going to be allowed to kill the General and she was fuming inside about it. He would have to deal with Adraudia's justice if it came to that.

"He's guilty.."

As to his treatment of her, the assumptions that had been made about her. Princess Razielle may look the part and act it, but in truth she had little experience. Her entire stock of seductive come hither ploy's were based entirely on speculation, second hand knowledge and her own feminine insticts. She was completely wasted for any decent man because she was stupidly fixated on the one who wouldn't have her.

Giving Salem a soured smile, she spun on a heel. "No need. I can handle the General. Did you need me for anything else..?"

[Salem Ave]

“Not at this moment in time,” he replied, looking once more to the dagger. He would keep this nugget of information for now, stored away until it seemed pertinent to unveil it. Glancing away, he saw Razielle heading for the day. As she opened it, the guards fell back into their orbit.

“Thank you for your help... let me escort you back to your chamers.”

[Razielle Alastor]

Damnit. She could neither go and gut the General in his bed in the medical ward, or take advantage of her escape from her room and go excersize her arm, against medical advice. Not with Salem on her heels. There was simply no way around it, if she protested she would be even more obvious about her intentions.

"That would be lovely, thank you.." Razielle stopped just outside the door, waiting for him.

[Salem Ave]

Once they had returned to the Princess's bedchamber's, with Razielle safely inside, Salem addressed the guards in a voice loud enough that Razielle herself would be able to hear him. “I want this door watched at all times. I want the Princess's movements monitored and reported to me regularly. She is not to be allowed to leave her quarters without an armed escort. Understood?”

[Razielle Alastor]

Her hands slid up inside her jacket sleeves to conceal the way her fists clentched, making her knuckles appear bone white with tension. She could feel the sharp cresents of her fingernails cutting into her palms. She was being locked in her room, spied on and followed about?

You may want to post someone on the veranda too. I may be tempted to climb down.

With a flutter of her lashes at the guards assigned to her door she gave them a cherubic smile. "I'll try to behave for them. No promises."

[Salem Ave]

In no mood for games, Salem replied abruptly: “Good. See to it that you.”

He gave a curt nod to the guards. As he began to walk away the guards followed, while a small number of them remained stood outside of the Razielle's door, still as statues.