11- LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - EVIL PERSONIFIED - SECTION 18

Once he was back in his offices, Egil Viggoaries set about writing down the petition that he had composed the day before in his mind. In an addendum, he also requested to have the burial ceremony temporarily postponed (delayed), for reasons that there were certain discrepancies (inconsistencies) about the manner of the Royal Tutor's death, which warranted an urgent and official autopsy by the Imperial Coroner. This he dispatched at once, directly to Qarzten Caimund.

The next morning when the result, which the Dark Eunuch had anticipated, was revealed and, an all-out hunt was mounted for the culprits, specifically Stewart Chutek, Egil Viggoaries had rubbed his hands together and hissed: “The orchestra has commenced with the opening bars, now let’s call in the steps and watch the minions dance (hop).” 

     

                                                                                  ~ 

01- QARZTEN CAMUND (12)

Qarzten Caimund with acuity (perspicacity, discernment)) had awaited Egil Viggoaries’s next maneuver and found that, as expected, he had opted for extorting Lady Sejon while turning the evidence into a weapon against his hated adversary. The Dark Eunuch’s timely petition for an autopsy and the following steps was all appropriately within the bounds of the law.

Furthermore, under his authority, all pertinent documents and testimonies were arranged to disclose facts, exactly the way Egil Viggoaries wanted them to appear. Lady Sejon herself was fed rumors, and they remained only rumors, that the Royal Tutor Worren Youkup had scribbled a condemning confession on his deathbed that had aroused Egil Viggoaries’s suspicions and led to the incriminating autopsy. Moreover, there was the certain verification (proof) that an ensuing investigation had turned up the agent of death which happened to be the medicinal flask belonging to Herleif’s personal physician, Enqui Rimeng.   

In the subsequent days, the Chief of Internal Security’s team had surpassed themselves in their relentless pursuit of resolving (rounding up) this case. A carefully blended presentation of factual and fabricated evidence was expertly amassed in sufficient quantity to have Chutek and Doctor Enqui Rimeng indicted and incarcerated for questioning and torture, as co-conspirators of Royal Tutor’s murder.    

Steward Chutek was quickly apprehended at an Inn near the Nexoko Pass as he was preparing to leave and was brought back in chains and under heavy guard, to Channing, to stand before the Grand Inquisitor and Egil Viggoaries. The sealed box entrusted to him by Worren Youkup was also retrieved intact and handed over to the Chief of Internal Security.

The contents of the letter addressed to Scholar Tonzeye Yevgun confirmed Worren Youkup’s suspected erratic state of mind; moreover, Worren’s unusual requests from his long-time friend unwittingly placed Tonzeye in a very precarious position. Seizing this excellent opportunity Egil had at once issued an arrest warrant for the Scholar Tonzeye Yevgun.

Qarzten Caimund, who had always been favorably disposed to the Illustrious Scholar Tonzeye, was able to intervene in time however, and taking advantage of the distance to Chukset Province, had ordered that the preliminary depositions be taken there, before the Scholar's probable, eventual transport to Capital. This measure ensured it would be at least three months before Tonzeye Yevgun could be, safely and under guard, transported back to Channing to determine, (barring a miracle) unfortunately under torture, the extent of his part in this supposed, diabolical plot. But then, Qarzten Caimund had reckoned, quite a bit could transpire in that period.

 

02-SCHOLAR TONZEYE YEVGUN (1)

Those officials within the Capital, the few who had accepted gratuities (bribes) to expedite the processing of Steward Chutek’s documents meanwhile, had all been taken in for questioning. Their under-duress testimonies, tailored to establish the Royal Tutor's secret infatuation with Chutek and his consequential unsound (irrational) state of mind at the time he had initiated those procedures (actions), were all meticulously chronicled (recorded, registered).    

The Certificates of Manumission, Powers of Attorney and latest will bequeathing all Worren Youkup’s holdings in its entirety to Steward Chutek, now deemed rigged (manipulated, swindled), were promptly and legally nullified.    

Egil Viggoaries's prosecuting team additionally, had attained further incriminating data, the so-called monitory gift payments, for a covert, perverse sexual liaisons between (routinely shadowed) Physician Enqui Rimeng and Chutek that had gone on, decidedly, for more than eleven months. The Judiciary stored all this amassed evidence temporarily in a safe place, pending the time (of the Trial) they will be required to be presented as proof (mark) of, Physician Enqui Rimeng and the chief culprit Chutek's complicity in the pre-meditated murder of Worren Youkup.    

Chutek in the interim was, with all his funds frozen and having no hidden stash of his own to fall back on, effectively blocked from contracting (hiring) competent legal aid (defense team) and proving his innocence. Not that it would have done him any good, as most in Channing had already in their minds, convicted Chutek; believing him to be the mastermind of the sinister ploy- which had the unsuspecting Worren Youkup ingesting the poisoned substance while Chutek was conveniently absent from the Capital. Even Prime Minister was not of a mind to lock horns with his chief rival Egil Viggoaries, over this sensational, highly publicized felonious act (criminal act) of an insignificant Steward Chutek. With no one to champion his rights, things looked bleaker each passing day for Chutek.

03-STEWART  CHUTEK 8 JP

Despite the expended effort to tie this case up swiftly and neatly however, there had been still one unforeseen, major snag in the steady progress of the Dark Eunuch’s persecution team, for no confession could be had (extracted) from Chutek. Quite unexpectedly and stoically Chutek had borne (withstood), to the bitter end, the unconscionable humiliation and the barbaric torment.    

 When viewed, the state of Chutek's remains had made even Qarzten Caimund wince, and he had seen it all. That day as they had descended the spiraling, perilous steps, Qarzten Caimund (from the corner of his eye) observing Egil Viggoaries’ reticent conduct, had confirmed fully then, how the hellish, foul-smelling dungeon with its endless corridors and cells, with steady groaning coming from its labyrinthine depths, its air ripped with terrifying screams of its victims being tortured, was almost a source of comfort for the demented Dark Eunuch.  Ushered solicitously into the cell which Chutek had been endlessly tormented and seeing Chutek or what was left of him, Qarzten Caimund had drawn back violently, shuddering to the marrow of his bones. Yes, despite himself, despite his efforts to conceal it from Egil Viggoaries, he had shuddered with deep inner revulsion. 

At that point, additionally, the Dark Eunuch’s inhumane, eerie peal of mocking laughter grated on Qarzten ‘s ears; meanwhile, the subhuman mirth (hilarity) rising from the depths over the anguished cries had reverberated in that chilling air. His resentment of Egil Viggoaries had apexed then, and it had seriously sickened Qarzten to the core, to be so cognisant (aware) of the degree of vileness of Egil Viggoaries’s perverted mind.   

Meeting Eunuch's eyes, Qarzten Caimund had glared at the Dark Eunuch with fierce disapproval, his heart suffused with outrage, finding no words to express the vulgarity of what he had witnessed just then. In all his years of faithful service as a vassal of Zakhertan Yozdek, Qarzten Caimund had seen countless victims of torment; many were subjected to cruel procedures to prevent their escape, barbaric (inhumane) methods that were clearly marked (patent) sadistic tortures. In cases where all else failed and other means had proven ineffective, the application of torture had been justified. It was an accepted norm in Wenjenkun, an unavoidable evil, during the Reign of Zakhertan Yozdek. Qarzten Caimund bore the burden of guilt himself for having overseen, initiated, or partaken (participating) in many acts of inquisition and torture in the past, but never had it been taken to this extent of barbarism.  And he had never seen this degree of suffering inflicted upon a living being. Nothing comparable could have prepared him for this most abhorrent of gruesome scene. But what was even worse, what was more disturbing still, was Egil Viggoaries’s chilling repulsive reaction to the disembodied corpses strewn about them and his startlingly atrocious conduct next, that had violently churned Qarzten’s stomach. It was as though Egil Viggoaries had an inherent need, had insisted on Qarzten Caimund’s presence to heighten his amusement, to reassert his belief that he and he alone was untouched, unmoved by this sort of monstrous act and the vileness of it all. The ignoble (base, dastardly) goading had infuriated Qarzten and at that point he had looked away, biting back his fierce contempt.

04- QARZTEN CAMUND (21)JP

"Was this really warranted?" Qarzten Caimund, keeping the anger from his voice had asked, as he, for a spell, burrowed his unyielding, menacing, (threatening) gaze on Egil Viggoaries. But before the Dark Eunuch could respond, suddenly, at that very moment an inhuman scream had filled the tense morbid air.

Observing the involuntary shudder that had just then rippled through Qarzten Caimund, Egil Viggoaries had sneered contemptuously and maliciously. "Of course, it was warranted." His cynical, condescending tone had still further incensed Qarzten Caimund, but he’d looked away nevertheless, not wishing a serious confrontation at that precise moment. 

Subsequently Qarzten’s gaze once more had fallen on the pitiful form of chained Chusek; however, at that moment, Qarzten’s keen eye caught a detail that instantly flooded his heart with hope. He quickly got a grip on his senses, and feigning mere technical (scientific), and in part meddlesome (interfering) interest, he drew closer to examine Chusek’s grave injuries in the head, those deep gushes and lacerations that was gradually staining crimson more parts of his hair; however, his eyes discreetly instead, had fleetingly examined Chusek’s earlobes, to ascertain of his earlier detected discrepancy.

No, he had not mistaken it! This was an imposter… He was not Stuart Chutek!

 Qarzten Camund, nevertheless feigning disgust and tediousness, stepped back and quickly lowered his eyes to hide the relief in them, while escaping the intense scrutiny of the detestable, predatory Dark Eunuch. 

Egil Viggoaries, meanwhile, not getting what he sought (wanted) out of Qarzten, gave a huff of derision and half-turning looked at Chutek's maimed and mutilated corpse; when he reverted his riveting gaze back to Qarzten, Egil Viggoaries’s face had been ugly, his body movements suddenly more antagonistic, more menacing.

The Dark Eunuch’s subsequent, spiteful abrasive words of the poor tormented creature, the uttered scornful obscenities, nevertheless, grated on Qarzten Caimund’s innate sense of morality and justice; and so, he, again bristling, clutched his fists, his fingernails deliberately digging into his palm and drawing blood; a sham performance which he had deliberately failed to veil (conceal) from the Dark Eunuch.

This, expectantly, to some extent (partially), satisfied Egil Viggoaries.

Continuing with his bogus performance and purposefully averting the Dark Eunuch's piercing eyes, lest he betray what was truly in his heart and mind, Qarzten then briskly turned about face and left hurriedly, in a quasi (pseudo, virtual) near frenzied state, rushing his steps down the hall.

Subsequently, Qarzten had ascended by twos the stone steps to abscond and to spread some distance between himself and the Dark Eunuch; his soul demanded escape(flight) from this insane vile monster who had been gloating, elated by what he had accomplished, and furthermore, by what he was still intending, proposing to do.    

Indubitably Qarzten’s core had genuinely blanched at the very thought, the proof, that there were in existence two such monsters in Wenjenkun: Sovereign Zakhertan Yozdek and Egil Viggoaries.

Then, to his greater dismay, he was quickly reminded of the third monster, Emperor Deng Hedenko of Kontu. 

 

                                                                             ~ 

 

(END OF SECTION 18) 

 

LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - THE CAPITAL CHANNING - SECTION 5

 LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - THE CHAPITAL CHANNING - SECTION 5

The temporary Chief Inspector Tomlin Kenny (filling in for Yori), facing a complete lack of evidence, a clean slate with no semblance of new clues at all, proved unwilling to re-open the investigation, frustrating all avenues of the Prime Minister's indirect efforts.  While his investigators pursued more incriminating facts, he concentrated on fulfilling the terms of the agreement with the emissaries.

Incredible though it seemed, the upright Lenny Sukzor had insufficient monetary reserves to match the amount needed to repay the emissaries in full (for the missing gold) and his insistence on secrecy precluded all efforts to raise the money among his more affluent associates.  As this predicament placed the Under Secretary in a terrible bind, Lamont Gudaren held back his efforts until he saw what desperate means Lenny Sukzor would resort to.

01-LENNY SUKZOR (3)JP

After extensive soul searching, Lenny Sukzor’s brilliant solution had been to capitulate to his fate, bear the truth in Court and face the dire consequences, come what may.  Fortunately, the Prime Minister had been informed of it in time and was able to intervene through a third party and affect Lenny’s financial rescue.

It had never occurred to Lamont Gudaren that he should dip into his own reserves to restock Lenny Sukzor for the missing gold.  In fact, this idea was inconceivable to him even though he did possess the means to do so. 

One problem was that his vast fortunes were mostly hidden, concealed under a barrage of companies and holdings under host names.  To dip into it, simply to extract the Under Secretary from his predicament, would risk exposing its (this network’s) existence. Therefore, he’d rather let Lenny Sukzor be found guilty and be executed before he would part with a single brass coin of his holdings.

Moreover, the Prime Minister suspected that this could very well be another of Egil Viggoaries's ploys; his typically underhanded, devious means (aim) to force Lamont’s hand and hope he got careless.  As the pressure had mounted greater and greater, the more Lamont had been certain of this wily design and, the more he looked upon Lenny Sukzor as a mere pawn of the eunuch.  The sinister, costly plot was surely put together to draw in a much bigger fish; himself.

“But in the end, I outsmarted you, Egil Viggoaries, and I managed to turn your trap to my own advantage.” Lamont grinned, mumbling to himself.

For a while things had looked rather bleak, as time had run out and he had lost patience with his competent investigators who still had not turned up anything conclusive, anything concrete, nothing at all with which to file an indictment, much less order an arrest.

Then, in an unexpected stroke of good fortune, one of his investigative forces had a serious breakthrough and through it, they had uncovered a piece of vital information.  There was finally that (sought after) thread which, when followed, led to two of Lenny’s former servants who had been dismissed for wrongful conduct some three years prior.

 This oversight had nearly cost Lenny dearly, for the Prime Minister was certain that it was they who had exacted revenge upon their former master by robbing him and setting the place on fire.  Sure enough, when the two conspirators had been sought out, proof positive was attained (retrieved from its carefully concealed cache), in the form of one of the rare Kontu artifact (relic), in their present hideout.

The Prime Minister knew that it would have been too careless for the mastermind of the robbery to have paid these two for their services with part of the loot, especially a piece which was so easily traceable.  The only explanation was that one of the culprits had stolen the miniature during the heist, not expecting it to be a hard item to fence and figuring that its loss would go unnoticed. 

Without creating an incident, the perpetrators were summarily apprehended and incarcerated under a minor charge but, when it came time for their thorough questioning, they were found, both mysterious and under the most bizarre of circumstances, expired. 

Suicide had been ruled out, as had outside tampering for there had been a heavy and constant guard posted over them.  The subsequent autopsies all indisputably confirmed that they had died only minutes apart in their separate cells by natural causes.  When the Prime Minister's elite force arrived on the scene they investigated all avenues, as usual, and discovered that a luminous poison had been administered days before the pair were even suspected of the theft and had remained inert until after they had been arrested.  Unfortunately, after causing the intended victim's death, this type of poison decomposed into a chemical, often found in all corpses.  They had no existing proof to back up their findings.  And so once more these unsubstantiated allegations, the case Lamont had so meticulously built up against his greatest adversary, had to be dropped.

As far back Lamont Gudaren would recollect, it had always been the same, persistent cat-and-mouse game with Egil Viggoaries.  Every so often Lamont would achieve some small gain, other times he would have to concede gracefully to defeat and retire to lick his wounds.  Occasionally he would be forced to yield a little ground but on the next round his nemesis would be the one to retreat.  Their rise to power had been kept in check by these incessant measures and countermeasures.  Lamont Gudaren knew that, at the end of it when all was said and done, there would be only one victor and, determined as he was to be that one, he had spent the last few years mounting his secret associations (connections) and extending (widening) his support network.  His best efforts were concentrated on the grand strategies (schemes) that won ultimate (final) wars, not every day insignificant battles.

02- PM LAMONT GUDAREN -1-JP

These minor setbacks only ruffled his plumage for a time, nothing definite. Once again, he lied to himself.  In fact, the eunuch's steady growth in power and mounting influence (far surpassing his), had become a constant source of worry and irritation to Lamont.

 Many nights, Lamont laid awake concocting ingenious means to curtail his nemesis’s power; if not outright vanquish, him and his invincible network of agents.

This most recent victory concerning Lenny Sukzor afforded him much pleasure and so he was able to shrug off the more troubling notions he had about the case.

Eventually, through a trusted third party, Lenny had been provided with the required amount and the Prime Minister's part in this had, for the time at least been concealed from, the Under Secretary.  As far as Lenny Sukzor was concerned it was his close friend and sometimes confidant, Lakkos Hemming, who, during an intimate dinner, had sensed something was wrong and, with his persistence, had wrung a confession out from Lenny Sukzor.  Upon learning the source of the Under Secretary's problem (predicament) and its scope, Lakkos Hemming most readily volunteered to help his good friend out of the present difficulty.  He had offered Lenny the entire amount as a loan since Lenny refused outright to accept it as a gift.  Lakkos did specify, however, that there was no urgency to repay this trifling sum.

Mindful of Lakkos Hemming' supposed vast inheritance, his immensely wealthy family connections, Lenny had not suspected in the least that, the latter was in fact in dire straits himself, having lost the entire family fortune, discreetly of course, and quite some time ago, because of his terrible, hidden vice.  In fact, Lakkos was completely (utterly) bankrupt, barely able to keep up the outward pretense of opulence, going deeper into debt all the while with his extravagant expenses incurred.

And who was the source of the immeasurable amount Lakkos was put under obligation to?  Why, the Prime Minister's trusted affiliate, Tugo Kenny, of course, who acted as front man for the Prime Minister.  As it were, Lakkos Hemming had mortgaged his entire future, even his children's future.  The considerable sum with monthly interest incurred could never be repaid in his lifetime; hence he often became subjected to extortion or blackmail.

When the gold failed to surface, just as the Prime Minister had anticipated all along that it would never be recovered or traced, the Prime Minister had spun this entrapment to force Lakkos Hemming, who in fact held an important office in the Treasury, to rig the books once more. 

This time it was, supposedly, to help Lenny out of his predicament, in exchange for a temporary reprieve and extended time of repayment on his (Lakkos’s) next installment of, amassed debt.

03- LAKKOS HEMMING

Lamont Gudaren had conceived, long before these events, that the Undersecretary's friendship with Lakkos Hemming would cost Lenny dearly one day and so had bided his time, waiting for such an opportunity.  When the proper circumstances availed themselves, allowing maximum gain for the Prime Minister, he intended to disclose the truth to Lenny Sukzor and extract a hefty repayment and significant favors from his new pigeon.  Under threat of exposure as a co-conspirator or even the instigator of Lakkos' crime, Lenny would be constrained to comply.  Under the dictates of his good business sense, the Prime Minister never invested in anything or anyone without first assuring himself of at least a tenfold return.

Lamont Gudaren grinned in satisfaction and returned to his desk and picked up a file only to push it aside as his mind wandered back to his triumph.  It had, accordingly, gone quite well for him. Lakkos Hemming was able to embezzle even more funds than were immediately needed and offered the overage to rebuild the Undersecretary's mansion.  For the time being the illicit deductions had been so expertly hidden in the financial maze that they could never be traced back to their source unless the Prime Minister purposefully disclosed the discrepancy.  Meanwhile the newly rebuilt mansion would stand as testimony to his resourcefulness in ensnaring the incorruptible Lenny Sukzor.

Prior to this, Lenny Sukzor’s integrity had been virtually invulnerable, and, despite Lenny's obvious dislike of Egil Viggoaries, there had been no means by which the Prime Minister could persuade the Undersecretary to join him in a secret affiliation and buy his loyalty to his own cause.  An independent ally who wielded a certain influence on the Sovereign, was certainly a boon to his interests, his greatest conquest yet.  He had even placed another of his agents, the Assistant Imperial Architect, Quanz Yommei, in charge of the rebuilding.

How fortunate that this had all transpired just in time before the assassination attempt on His Highness and the exposure of the treachery of the Kontu emissaries.  Now, Lenny Sukzor’s action and integrity shone even brighter still and won him further favor with Sovereign Zakhertan Yozdek.

In Lamont Gudaren’s estimation, Lenny with his barely tapped (utilized) potential had been pegged, speedily, in a very short span, to ascent in power; hence, Lamont had taken advance precaution to truss Lenny Sukzor, with puppet's strings, especially since the Undersecretary was blissfully ignorant of his full potential.

“And when the command performance is called for, the right pressure here, a tug there, and Lenny Sukzor will dance like one of my concubines” Lamont grinned viciously.

A sudden knock on the door disrupted Lamont Gudaren’s licentious reverie and, responding to his loud consent, his secretary entered timidly and scuttled up to the desk to add even more files onto the pile on the desk.

"Is that the last of them?" the Prime Minister growled.

"No, you’re Excellency, there are still more forthcoming.  Also, the compiled data on the litigation being investigated by the Tunco Commission should soon be ready for your perusal.  The memorandum on the matter involving Konizo Noer has also been drawn up according to Your Excellency's specifications and is now being written out by the scribes."

A grunt and a wave of dismissal sent the fellow on his way.  Frowning, Lamont opened the file before him once more and he surveyed it with stern visage.  But again, it failed to capture his imagination, and he let his mind stray once more, as he drummed his fingers on the file's cover.

 

 Even with his busy schedule he should make time at his earliest convenience to throw a feast of introduction for this scholar Fradel Rurik Korvald, if only to consolidate support among the invited and antagonize the cursed Egil Viggoaries. This business with Yekov could wait.  

Decisively, he recalled his secretary and dictated a set of orders, one of which was the forwarding of invitations to a select group of privileged individuals, inviting them to a future banquet (formal meal), given in honor of Fradel Rurik Korvald.

 

 

 

                                                                                 ~

 

(END OF SECTION 5)