Jeza III

14th night of the Month of Ice, 7:15, After Moonrise

"So" starts Jeza in a whisper, leaning towards Darule "Fill me in?"

They're both standing to the side of the room, watching as Vyshe Ardashir prepares his tools and work table. The body of Mikhe Drest lies covered in the middle of the room.

"I thought you read the report?" Answers Darule with a smirk, lowering his head so they can speak without bothering the Haruspex.

Jeza had read the report, but it didn't really paint a picture of the crime. Body found floating in the river by the Muddy Bridge—probably moved by currents— a few minutes after Walpurgis, blood on the victim's shirt and high probability of a weapon being used. No witnesses except the man that found the body.

"I did" groans Jeza, she is tired, after such a long wane and the expectation of an even longer night "But really, no witnesses?"

"The lamplighter saw no one, and nobody else has come forward with anything" retorts Darule. After a second of silence, he speaks again "Maybe your Nomad saw something?"

A glare is the only answer Jeza dares to give. Their witness said he had found both at the same time, the body floating and the Nomad trying to swim against the slow current of the river. But Jeza wasn't sure about Enuma seeing anything of value. Nomads came into Neth confused and mostly panicking, stress was not good for concentration and memory.

Even if Enuma she had seen anything, it was probably worthless to the case, as it wouldn't be trusted.

Her heart clenches in her body for a second. She had left Enuma sleeping, under the care of her chambermaid and the careful eye of Cira, who would make sure mother would not do anything to the poor Nomad.

Her eyes return to watch the Haruspex work. The royal family has not arrived yet and Jeza fears their reaction to the Baru. A Royal Baru, not many of those around, at least not since the old queen Bacchia died when Jeza was a child, that event had been enough for old king Enke to be challenged by his son to a Direvoir that ended with Enke's abdication, it had been for the best, as he had been acting erratically after her death.

And really, Jeza didn't want to be in the same room as him as his youngest child was dissected. It wouldn't be pretty. But Captain Ulrik had given the case to Darule and her, and being present in the Baru was part of that, even if it could end with the old king trying to electrocute to death whoever was on range. But really, if he was going to attack anyone, old king Enke was going to aim for Vyshe Ardashir.

It was no secret that Enke and his youngest child held no love for nomads and hated with a passion those that managed to rise in power. It was because of this, that Captain Ulrik had urged them to investigate possible angry nomads as their killer. It wouldn't be surprising that a nomad had seen Mikhe Drest walking alone at night and killed him as retribution. The Baru would also give them a lead in that field, a killing wound with a weapon could reduct the possible killers to a nomad or an earth asha user.

"Enuma saw nothing of use" says Jeza "After this we should study possible suspects from the Infans enemies"

"Well, that will be a very long list" chuckles Darule.

Jeza opens her mouth to snark at him further, but closes it when she realizes the doors to the House of Flesh are opening and the royal family have entered the room. The body, that had been tastefully covered with a white sheet, became a beacon of attention to every member of the family present, and Vyshe Ardashir positioned himself behind the body-covered table, with the wheeled small table filled with sharp tools to his side.

Prince Artemy leads the rest of his family, his whole stance relaxed, with a charming smile adorning his face, his mourning clothes simpler that Jeza would expect from him and his hair braided in a single braid like he often preferred. Infans Apollodora follows close behind her brother, looking at the body of her uncle with trepidation and half hidden behind her brother, her mourning dress more opulent than her brother's outfit, but still retaining some simplicity, her wavy white hair had been let loose. Consort queen Pherenike stood out against the rest of her family, her black hair and pale skin contrasting deeply with the warm skin tones and white hair of her children, husband and father-in-law. She stands taller than her husband, but much thinner than his muscled form, and she is the one pushing the wheeled-chair of the old king Enke, that wears an angry pout on his face and heavily adorned mourning clothes. Lastly, enters king Zeno, face cold and tired, hair cut short as always and the Lunar Crown missing from his head.

Jeza takes the brief moment caused by the family, to pull out her notebook and pencil. The Haruspex moves his head slightly towards Darule and her, the beak of his red leather mask pointing directly at her, the yellow glass that protects his eyes glimmering slightly as he turned, and Jeza fights off a shiver of fear. Bad luck, her brain screams, such bad luck to be acknowledged by the Haruspex, the servant of Bari herself, made of flesh and fire, hands and body drenched in blood.

At her side, Darule flinches and lowers his head slightly, mouth moving in a short and silent prayer to Bari. When Jeza's eyes return to the Haruspex, he no longer looks at her, but at the body in front of him, pulling the sheet off in a smooth movement and revealing the pale and naked corpse of Mikhe Drest.

It's not a pretty sight—death never is—the corpse is bluish grey in color, bloated in a way that doesn't look natural.

The last time Jeza attended a Baru, it had been for her great uncle Grisha, and Jeza remembered the event mostly in pieces that came to her in her most terrible dreams, the ones referred as Maras, ones that woke her up with cold sweat covering her skin and her breath stuttering like a panicked child. She remembered the smells most of all, ones that invaded her nose and refused to leave, rot and blood, and also the most terrible of all; the smell of cooked meat, that her stomach at the time, used to remind her that she had not eaten anything, but that, together with the sight, caused her to not eat meat for an entire week.

She had been sixteen at the time, older than Infans Apollodora, and no prayer to any of the gods would erase the memories the Baru would create for the fourteen year old Infans.

Another thing she remembers was the silence during the process; something the Haruspex will break to inform them of the cause of death. Silence until the end of the ritual, when the Haruspex will read the organs and see the omens related to the family in question. Something for which neither Darule or her will be present.

The Baru starts without any preambles. A sharp and small thin tool points at the only visible wound in the body, and teases the entrance, making the first disgusting sound of the night, the squelching noise making bile rise to Jeza's mouth for just a second.

"The wound was created by a small knife, no asha involved" says the Haruspex in a mumble as the tool deepens into the wound "It pierced the intestines but did not kill him"

Jeza takes notes as fast as she's able, making the words incomprehensible to anyone but her in the process. She adds her own notes to what Vyshe Ardashir explains.

If the wound didn't kill him, what did? Someone had clearly attacked him, that much was clear.

The Haruspex continues his perusal of the body, checking every external body part with care, it's not until he reaches the head that he speaks up again.

"Hmmm" he mumbles as he palms the matted white hair of the corpse of Mikhe Drest, then he moves the body so he's laying on its side, making Infans Apollodora flinch and gasp as the corpse of her uncle suddenly faces the family.

Vyshe Ardashir palms the back of the corpse's head with careful gloved finger and then prods with the small silver tool from before.

"A head wound" he says as the tool disappears inside the skull of Mikhe "It fractured the skull and by the position of the wound, it could have proved fatal"

A head wound? How curious…to break a skull one had to put some force on the intended blow. Maybe with a weapon? But what kind? Jeza added every comment, already thinking of her schedule and when it would be proper to question the Haruspex on the possibilities.

The small silver tool makes ringing sound as it's dropped on the table, the body being returned to its previous position as Vyshe Ardashir readies himself to traumatize the room by pulling out a shear-like tool, the long handles making it seem uncomfortable of handling it, and leaving it close, preferring instead to use a small and thin blade to cut the torso and peel away the skin.

The bile returns as Jeza watches Vyshe Ardashir cut and cut until he finds the ribs, then, the shears make their appearance again and with a morbid crack, the torso is opened for all to see.

At her side, Darule is tilting towards her, face pale and slightly green, she holds on to him, to keep him upright and respectable, when she looks at the dissection again, Infans Apollodora looks a breath away from losing whatever food she had managed to digest at moonrise.

The Haruspex pulls out the organs one by one—the blood Inside not yet rotten thanks to the Baru taking place mere hours after the death—and puts them on the small table by his side. He inspects each one and only when he reaches the lungs he pulls out the small knife again, prodding and cutting at the tissue.

"There's a fluid buildup in the lungs" says the Haruspex, his voice breaking the silence and tension that had filled the room after his last intervention "Another possible cause for death"

Fluid buildup? There was water inside the organs? Jeza ponders in her head and in written form. What had been the cause then? Drowning or head wound? Another thing to ask Vyshe Ardashir.

When Jeza raises her head to look back at the proceedings, the Haruspex's mask is pointed directly at her and Darule.

"This is as far as you can attend" he says and he return his attention to the body "For any questions, do come by at a later time"

Jeza sighs in relief and nudges Darule with her elbow, making him whimper, and together they bow in thanks and respect, exiting the House of Flesh. As they pass the royal family, the prince waves at Jeza playfully, not at all bothered by the Baru.

They practically run out of the Ogdra, looking for fresh air and maybe a bush where Darule can throw up.

"You okay?" Asks Jeza as she watches her partner dry heave by the Ogdra's entrance.

"Yeah" he manages to answer, his voice shaky and more a whisper than anything else.

"We should go back to the Night Hall" mumbles Jeza "Write everything and start studying possibilities, meet up with the Haruspex as soon as possible. We'll have to interrogate many possible culprits"

"Are we including the prince in that list?" Asks Darule and Jeza cannot help but look at him dumbfounded "Come on! Everyone knows he hated his uncle! can you imagine what went on behind closed doors?"

"But the prince…" starts Jeza without knowing what to say. There had been always some animosity, but family members fought all the time.

"And also, the murderer is always a family member or someone close!" Says Darule "You should know if the prince really hated his uncle best, right? You used to hang out with him when you were children"

It was not something Jeza remembered fondly most of the time. The childhood friend group formed by Jeza, Artemy, Anax, Loa and Hilde had broken up messily when Artemy started to include that nomad child in their games. Anax hadn't reacted well to something the nomad child had said and a fight between Anax and Artemy had dissolved their group almost entirely. Artemy was still friends with Hilde, as they were second cousins, and with Loa. But he had never spoken to Anax again, and Jeza had been dragged into Anax's side eventually, keeping in touch with him after all these years.

"I have not talked to him in a long time" says Jeza, but it feels like an excuse.

Darule looks guilty and sighs.

"Let's just write the report and then we'll see" says Darule "Maybe there's someone even more obvious were missing"