Well, the first day of His Highness Prince Llew ap Fiona ruling the Silver Lion certainly was exciting. If this is what I have to expect as Captain, maybe I ought to confer more with Mom and Jenner.
Sorry, getting ahead of myself there. Maybe I should start at the beginning....
The day began with Open Court early in the afternoon. Everyone swore fealty to His Highness -- everyone, that is, except for me. I think some of the highborns are looking askance at that, but Llew understands, and that's all that counts. Even if he thinks it's Jenner's influence, it still works. I'd rather not have to explain why in a freehold full of Gwydion -- it could get ugly.
After Court, it was on to the celebration. The Prince's squire, Robur, organized a scavenger hunt. I let Ceilidh and Kieran try, and they found some candy...that, or they were given it -- I'm not quite sure. All I know is that Freya grabbed me about halfway into the hunt and told me that someone had found a body in the garden.
The deceased was Sidhe. Male. Probably mid-40s to 50s. Nude. And cold, meaning that he'd probably been killed quite some time earlier. Nobody recognized him; I'm still looking through the missing persons reports, but having no luck. My pet theory is that someone is impersonating him, and killed him to cover it up. That's the reason I kept everyone here overnight.
I gave the autopsy report at Privy Council the next morning. Apparently our John Doe was poisoned -- the County Coroner thinks it was a vegetable, or at least organic, toxin. Where the hell is Lillith when I need her?
Hell, I can't believe I wrote that! Maybe the pressure's getting to me.
Anyway, I went with Princess Niamh to talk with the coroner. She didn't get much with Soothsay, and all I got with Chronos was that silent Gwydion digging up the corpse. Crap.
I'm going to have to put this case on the back burner for a while, at least until we can find out who the deceased was. So far, we haven't found a match anywhere, though they're trying to match his dental records.
I'll write more later -- Miria and I are going out tonight.
No word yet on our mystery corpse, though it's not for lack of trying.
Llew celebrated his eighteenth birthday yesterday. Everything went pretty well at the party, except for my having to pull Freya off an old acquaintance of mine -- Karl Jensen, the redcap I met in Buffalo. Apparently, he's hooked up with a satyr and her band. Takes all kinds, I suppose. And if she's as...exuberant...as she was at the party, I wish him the best of luck.
Poor Llew. It seems the higher-ups at the Duke's Court are looking to make a suitable match for him. How else to explain the endless procession of eligible highborn ladies who were paraded in front of His Highness? I can't say I envy the kid.
Don't know if it was the wine I had at the party or what, but I had the strangest dream last night. Cormac (Fiagai) and I (Laoch) escorted Ginevra to the castle of Lady Fiona, where the Lady of the Waters helped in the birth of a son -- named Llew. Then I (or Laoch, if you prefer), swore that he'd be there for the kid when he (Llew) called. I'm going to have to talk to Aunt Janna or Lady Elspeth about that -- maybe they know what happened.
Well, I'm not at the freehold today, so I'll have to find out if anything interesting happened there tomorrow.
Interesting happenings of late. A member of my House from Hibernia arrived at court today, requesting help in apprehending the murderers of her husband. No sooner did His Highness call a session of privy council to discuss this, when the lady accused Lord Sheridan and the silent Gwydion of the deed. It seems she's quite certain they were the culprits, despite their vehement denials. And me having sworn to aid her, on my honor as a Raven. Talk about a Catch-22!
I've also found out from Freya that one of the visiting nobles, Countess Crystal of the Western Door, was taken ill suddenly a few days ago. Lady Althea's had her taken to the hospital, as she's in a coma. They're still trying to find out if it was an illness...or something else.
I've spoken to Lady Raven (my House-mate) about the murder of her husband -- she's quite convinced that it was Lord Sheridan and the silent one who did the deed, though she did agree to see Princess Niamh in the hopes that Soothsay might possibly turn up something more.
I had a visitor at work today -- Lord Sheridan. He informed me that someone was out to slander me, most likely an Eiluned, from his veiled references. Wonder what he's up to? I guess I'm too cynical to accept that he's doing it from the goodness of his heart.
Got a call from the freehold early this morning. Someone attacked the princess -- Lord Nataniel claims it was Raven, but I'd trust that sneaky Eiluned about as far as I can throw Jenner.
At any rate, I tried to find out who the culprit was, but unfortunately that taciturn Gwydion trampled all over the area under the princess's room. I really need to get some police tape, or maybe they ought to have called me earlier. As it is, I haven't been able to get a clear print -- and any one I did get would most likely be the Gwydion's.
I got in touch with Raven, and she claims she was innocent. Add to that Miria's talent confirmed it, and I'm wondering who has it in for my distant cousin. For her own safety, she's holed up in a little place I know in Georgetown. And given what's happening, I'm not likely to reveal that to anyone.
I'll write more later...I'm going in early tomorrow.
Her Highness is recovered, though still a bit shaken. Raven's remaining incommunicado, though it may be time for her to reveal herself -- things are getting hotter. And I'm getting really tired of His Lordship Matthew Sheridan cross-examining me. I swear, I'd really love to kick his arrogant ass into the next kingdom!
To complicate matters, Lillith decided to drop in for a visit. As is her custom, she isn't telling anyone why...not even me. Then again, that's nothing new.
His Highness is less than pleased about my visitor; apparently, he hasn't forgotten the time Lillith threatened Minako to get info out of him a few years back. Can't say I blame Llew, even if Lillith and I do share an affiliation. Dariun always did claim she was too impulsive....
There's a new face at court, too -- a Liam greybeard who calls himself Sir Gregory Soma. According to Athos and Ari, he's another county liaison. Swell. Poor Llew...I wonder what Count Garrett's going to say when he hears about this.
More weird shit going on. It seems a "Lady Giselle" showed up on the back of that taciturn Gwydion's bike yesterday. By all accounts, she's claiming Sir Aidan ap Fiona's death drove Raven into Bedlam. Yeah, right. I've seen Bedlam, and Raven's not in it. And when you add to that that Miria said she's telling the truth -- I wonder what this "Giselle" is up to. Something stinks, and it isn't the fertilizer the boggans are spreading in the garden. Time to step up the investigation.
Sir Gregory talked to me about somebody hiding poison on the grounds yesterday. Good thing the Gwyn's Spear is locked up. I hate to think of what might happen if that got into the wrong hands....
Got e-mail from Records today -- they seem to have a match for the mystery corpse. At last! Which reminds me...I'd better go and collect it.
That's all for now...gotta go.
Lots of stuff has happened lately, which explains why I haven't written in a while. I'll try to condense things as much as I can.
Last week, I discovered the identity of our mystery corpse -- one Nathaniel Evans-Smythe, late of West Virginia. A bit of digging at the freehold by various folks revealed that his Fae name was Lord Nataniel ap Eiluned, late of the duchy of Dogwood. Apparently, he and Her Grace the duchess had been allies back when she was just the countess of DarkWater, before I was born. Then who was the Lord Nataniel who's been at Court the past few months?
Oops, getting ahead of myself there. More on that later.
Given the current climate, I figured it was time to talk to Raven someplace where we wouldn't be seen or overheard. Ergo, I picked The Dark Side. How was I to know His Highness had decided to have a night on the town there, or that Lady Alexandria would send Lord Silent One and Sir Gregory to retrieve him? When His Gwydion Lordship discovered me and Raven, we had quite a conversation. He seemed to think I should have brought Raven directly to Caer Leon. Uh-huh. Riiiight. And I've got some great swampland down in White Sands that I'd love to sell him.
Fortunately, Llew showed up right then, and His High and Mightiness shot his mouth off to His Highness, himself! And they say I don't have any manners! My liege showed Baron Prick the error of his ways, though I really think he took the dressing-down a bit too hard. I don't know if my Jeep will ever run quite the same again after following Llew's Ferrari back to Caer Leon. And I just had it tuned....
Anyway, the Prince's squire, Robur, investigated "Lord Nataniel's" rooms the next day, and discovered that our impostor had disappeared. We're still uncertain of who he was, though Princess Niamh discovered some Dreamstones in an envelope bearing the sigil of House Ailil in the room. Looks like we might be in for some rough times ahead....