The duo stood there, Astrid Venier and the ‘Baron’ Freddie Khuschev before the main doors of the Crocus Senate. The session had already begun, the beginning procedures having already begun committed. Nothing revolutionary, even for as important of a session as this one were, nor anything that would warrant the session to deviate. Seldom few reasons have ever gone forth to call for a change in procedure, save for acts that directly affected the King himself. Even here, with the potential impact of a beloved member of the Senator expected to join the Court, things followed routine.

“Are you ready?” Freddie asked, adorned in a surprisingly upscale black suit, one suited more for the theatre than that of a political session. Seldom were these Senate meetings open to the public so the outfit was more symbolic than anything. No greater entertainment within Crocus than that of the political sphere, as he had once described it in passing, a sentiment even held by those within the Senate whom Astrid had come to know over her time within Crocus.

She didn’t immediately respond, looking up at the ornate filings upon the door, the final product of masterwork metalworking, a legacy forever inscribed within thick bronze. An impressive piece of work. It was simply a distraction as her mind raced, the outcome in her head conflicting constantly with how things may have ended up playing out. They had done everything that they could to set the stage in their favor; they had the support of the Senators, headlined by the backing of Lady Tsara, Elena Catlin, and Krauss Freedman amongst the rest whom long had since backed their endgame. They had the conspiracy that they had carefully helped orchestrate within the heart of Crocus, the turning of its people into a state of control, fueled by Succubus Blood and false confessions into making it a genuine threat to the Crown. And there was passing of her mother, having been turned into a confessed crime by an executed criminal in Oak, the passage of it having been long since sent to Crocus.

All the pieces had been set in place. There was nothing more that she could have done save for a masterful performance here. A deep breath. Another. Then she turned towards the well-dressed Freddie, “Yes. I think so.”

He nodded, putting a hand upon her shoulder, “You’ve done everything you can. You’re the lead role to this performance. Your costars are beyond that door.” He smiled, “Give the King a performance for the ages.”

Astrid nodded in agreement, looking once more at Freddie, “Certainly in a performing state of mind, aren’t we?”

“Dress for the occasion, as they say. No better entertainment than the theatre, after all…”

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Pushing through the doors, Astrid was not sure quite what to expect. So many times in the past had she been one to witness those coming in and through these very doors, but never envisioned herself being in the same situation. It was a different experience, if not slightly frightening. Only several steps forward and it seemed that the world had directed its focus entirely upon her. Looking up and scanning the balconies that loomed overhead throughout the massive room, she could see a sea of eyes focused upon her, many of them those of her allies while others were cautious, unsure exactly what to think of the woman.

Yet even those eyes, those that viewed her with caution or admiration paled in comparison against that of the man that stood within the center of the room only just a few feet before the young king whom sat upon the throne. Her father, Lord Venier. Her eyes eventually met his, two completely different worlds coming face to face, hers of scorn and hatred, of knowing where she stood in this grand design, fully expectant to see his world overthrown. His, of disbelief, of disappointment, even a hint of fear intertwined within. Though she privately looked forward to all of this, he certainly did not. To see his daughter before him, at this time of all times, was perhaps the worst thing that he could have wished for.

"Astrid," he stammered out, struggling to find the words, struggling to come to terms with the idea that his daughter were not only still alive, but also appearing to be in good health. "It's not possible..."

"What was that, Lord Venier?" A loud, almost mocking yell came from one of the balconies, Senator Elena Catlin struggling not to take delight in seeing the Senator rattled by the appearance of his daughter. Lady Tsara had made a point of saying that it would have made him uneasy, and even she could not have imagined just how accurate that statement proved to be. "You seem to have lost us... What can this woman possibly want with these proceedings?"

"Stay your hand, Elena. This is a very special appearance whom the Court should provide proper respects and introductions for. Would you care to do the honors Venier, or may I be so honored as to instead?" It was a trick question, after all. Lady Tsara knew as much that Astrid's father would not, nor could speak to just who she was. He had been convinced that she was dead; to know that it weren't the case, it was seeing everything he was hoping to achieve crumble before him. "King Reign, fellow Senators, allow me the distinct honor of introducing you to Lady Astrid Venier. Daughter to our Lord Venier, falsely accused dead by his own words and proclamation so it would seem. Likely you all recall her well enough, the long-regarded daughter expected to achieve glory." The Lady Tsara rose two hands to her heart, the theatrics in full display, "It warms my heart to see you alive and well after so long."

"Astrid Venier!?" called out another Senator, their affiliation a mystery to Astrid. "That is not possible. You declared her dead!"

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A loud commotion broke out amongst the Senators. Disbelief, anger, betrayal, a myriad of emotions being conveyed within the words of the politicians as they argued amongst one another, it being near impossible for one to be able to so much as hear themselves think let alone  broadcast to the audience gathered throughout.

Though Astrid took delight in seeing her father uneasy, her attention was equally fixated upon the young man upon the throne. King Reign. The two of them had met in passing years ago prior to her departure from Crocus. She had little reason to believe that he would have remembered her, nor could she say for certain just what he may have remembered of her if he had. Perhaps the least he knew, the better. Perhaps not. But his close observation of both Astrid and her father led her to believe that he was certainly intrigued, if nothing else.

But was it of her or how her father was responding?

Without saying a word, King Reign lifted up one hand slightly, prompting the heavily-clad guard beside him to slam down the pommel of the massive polearm in his possession upon the ground, sending a shockwave throughout the massive room that very quickly killed any further contention between the Senators. “The Senate is in session. Order will be maintained,” bellowed out the guard.

“You!” The guard bellowed again, an arm lifting up as a finger pointed towards Astrid, “You claim to be Astrid Venier, daughter of the Senator Venier. The Senator claims you to be deceased. What proof do you offer to counter such claimant?”

Iblis had made a point of this prior to her arriving, that at some point she may be challenged to prove just who she is. With records of her identity being few and far between, to the point where she had to wonder if her father even kept any of those records. During her brief search of her former home, she was unable to find anything with her name. Fortunately though, she had someone who could provide all the verification she needed; Lady Tsara.

Astrid took a light bow, embracing some of the theatrics, “I would contend that anyone who had come to know of my father for any extended period would likely have known of me at the minimum, likely having interacted with a much younger me. Lady Tsara,” Astrid monologued as she looked up to the woman, “You knew my mother well. Knew me quite well. You’ve always been like family to me, like an aunt. No, like a second mother.” She turned back towards the throne, “And you, my King, I would submit that likely you recall a moment in the past of which you and I met. Brief, likely, but still true.”

Turning around once again, she took several steps towards that of her father, now coming within several feet of him now. She could see the panic in his face, the fear of what she may have done, what she may stand to do, the unknown element of it all. And a part of her sought to move forward, to take another step and run her blade along his throat. She resisted, finding that the fear she was inspiring onto him was all the more enjoyable. “But one should only have to look upon the face of the man standing before me, standing before all of you. For he so brazenly and erroneously proclaimed me dead for his own benefit that he now must face that you all know him to be a liar. Let us assume for a brief moment that I am not Astrid, as I’ve claimed. Then the man who seeks a role within your Court would not be showing such weakness, would he?”

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Astrid's last words particularly struck with those watching, notably the King, whom had spent much of the time monitoring the attitudes and behaviors of both Astrid and her father, particularly the latter's demeanor. "Lord Venier," King Reign remarked, "What do you have to say about this? Please, rather than further entertain conjecture and speculation, answer true. Is this your daughter Astrid?"

The room was silent as they awaited Astrid's father to respond, it seeming that he was fighting within himself to not admit it true. If his fellow Senators would have sought to inquire it was one thing, but for the King to speak, he sadly could not deny an answer to the Crown. "She is, as it pains me to say, that this, I do not know if I may still refer to her as a woman any further. Creature perhaps, she... she is indeed Astrid."

"You claimed your daughter dead. A heavy point of that was made. What of your wife then? Is she alive?" Krauss Freedman bellowed out, "Were you simply looking to gain our sympathies?"

Lord Venier stared at Freedman. It was reasonable enough to expect cynicism from Lady Tsara or Elena Catlin, but not Krauss Freedman, a man whom had shown himself respectful within the Senate. "My wife died years ago, dead to the hands of a fiendish attack." He looked to Astrid, eyes filled with rage, a contempt that had been harbored for years being released in the form of a glare. "My beautiful wife, the love of my life, stolen from me by those very hands," he pointed towards Astrid, a quiet cachophony of shocked expressions echoing out amongst a number of the Senators, namely out of the scandal insinuated.

"My daughter, turned into a ghoul... If ever there were a greater tragedy than I can remember..."

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“A ghoul!? Sounds more like a monster more inspired by the stories you would never read her,” Lady Tsara remarked, as much building the sense of disbelief within the Senators while taking her own dig upon Astrid’s father. “Yet, let us even entertain if such things were true, isn’t what we know of them that the minds of ghouls are in essence, rotten away? And yet we’re to believe that your daughter whom you already have lied to us about her status, who has poignantly spoken and conducted herself thus far through these proceedings, is a ghoul simply because you say so!?” She leaned back dismissively, her words resonating strongly within the chamber, “You either must find us incredibly gullible or incredibly stupid…”

“I would have assumed you capable of greater thought than this, Lady Tsara… Seems you’ve allowed emotion to overtake your sense of logic…”

“And have you not too, Venier!?” Yelled out a different Senator, one whom Astrid were not familiar with, but had to assume was one of those whom had aligned themselves with her cause earlier. “Never would one have expected you to make proclamations for power and yet, here we stand.”

“My ‘ambitions’ as you regard them to be have always been for one thing and one thing only… the realm. Fiore. So many of you may have lost your way and indulged in the criminality and corruption that inevitably seeps into this precious role we carry, but I have not!” He turned towards King Reign, “Everything I have done, it has always been for one reason and one reason alone, to help the people.” With each word he moved closer towards the King, eventually stopping as the guards stepped forward to meet him, their massive halberds forming an ‘X’ as they blocked off Astrid’s father from moving any closer. Though he flashed the pair of guards a look of disgust meddled with disbelief, he quickly rose his hands and stepped back a step.

“Was that the intent behind your Night Watch then? We all witnessed what they have done, the revelations that have come out in recent day?” Elena Catlin moved forward, her accusations like that of venom, a cruel reality that even Astrid’s father seemed at a lack of proper response.

“Under my authority, crime came to a halt within this city!” Venier stood his ground; unable to explain away the accusations cast by the Senator, he stood to what he knew, the achievements he accomplished overall. “I cannot speak to what possessed those within the Night Watch. I will not pretend to have the answers. But neither can any of you speak to what happened. As to why. That I am the ire of this Senate for doing what none else attempted, a tragedy, nothing less than that.”

“Multiple confessions, you saying that they have no merit?”

“I’m saying that even King Reign has had accusations thrown against him from an early age and yet we stand before him still in loyalty.”

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Though largely quiet for much of the discussion, King Reign spoke from behind the split halberds, “Accusations come with anyone in any role. You cannot dismiss signed confessions, explicit details.”

Astrid’s father turned towards King Reign, “My King… I swear to you, never had I orchestrated something of the sort!”

“An apology is nowhere sufficient. There are deaths upon the hands of your little unit. More deaths that were plotted. Efforts confessed to. The Senator cannot simply be permitted to apologize and waive away this!” Lady Tsara bellowed out, the first genuine accusatory remark made towards the Lord Venier.

“There will be a time and place to discuss that matter. That is not the nature of this session,” one of the guards echoed out. “The matter at hand is the nature of Lord Venier. You have sought the right of the King to rest among those of the Court. The Senate has presented evidence of you having conspired against the Crown. The presence of your daughter has directly countered your claims. What say you in your defense on the matter?”

He looked at his daughter, a look of defeat upon his face. Everything he had worked towards seemed to have been slipping away from him. He knew the reality of things. The next step of this, however it played out, would be answering for the crimes brought before him. But he could read the writing on the walls easily enough. The Senators were against him, the King had even seemed to indicate his stance on the matter. It was just a matter of time before he faced the respective punishment, likely death.

“Are you happy?” He asked Astrid, looking directly towards her.

She almost wanted to say nothing, to just revel in the defeat of her father. Yet, she could not help it. She wanted him to know how she felt, to lay the verbal dagger within it all. “Very. Even more once you’re dead…”

“Do you have any defense to your name?” The guard asked again, his words stern.

Lord Venier sighed and then looked the guard, and the King, directly in the eye, “No.”

“Then follow us. You are to accompany us while the matter is further handled.”

She said nothing more. She simply watched with delight as she watched her father walking with a pair of guards who arrived to escort him away. She knew his death would soon follow. It was just a matter of time. What happened next, that would remain to be seen, but she knew that she had the backing of the Senators still, however that were to go.

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