The gatehouse doors open beneath a gray morning sky. The ducal envoy’s sealed letter, Elianor’s testimony, and the witnessed record of her healing lie together before Sister Agnes.
the ducal envoy
The baron’s claim is now challenged by three facts: Elianor refused his authority, the convent lawfully protects her, and her patron answered freely before witnesses.
The courier sets a second packet on the table, its wax marked with the baron’s device. Garran Holt watches from the wall under penance, while the novice reaches for fresh parchment.
Sister Agnes
Open it before everyone. If the baron invokes custody, we will compare his authority against the Duchess’s sealed terms and Elianor’s own recorded consent.
Elianor Vale
Let him state his claim plainly. I will answer it as myself, under protection, and not as property passed between powerful hands.
The novice breaks the baron’s seal. Inside rests a demand for Elianor’s surrender, but beneath its familiar language is a fresh clause naming her healing as an asset of the western estates.
the ducal envoy
There is the fraud exposed. The baron does not seek custody of a fugitive. He seeks possession of a living miracle, and the Duchess will answer that claim in law.
“I inform the Envoy of the ritual I witnessed the Baron performing when I first met Elianor, and how its goal was to silence and siphon the power of Elianor's Patron.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Maurice Headsman
When I first met Elianor, the Baron was conducting a rite to silence her Patron and siphon its power through his seal. He meant to turn her divine bond into an estate asset.
The gatehouse grows still. Rain ticks against the shutters as the envoy listens, one hand resting beside the baron’s demand and the Duchess’s sealed terms.
the ducal envoy
That account accords with the silver brand, the lead restraint, and Elianor’s restored healing. His claim is not custody. It is the continuation of unlawful siphoning.
Sister Agnes
Novice, enter Maurice’s witnessed account with the testimony already preserved. The ritual establishes intent, and the new clause confirms the Baron seeks the very power he tried to suppress.
The novice records every word beneath the earlier evidence. The envoy folds the baron’s demand away from Elianor’s papers, while Garran stands silent under his accepted penance.
Elianor Vale
Then the record is complete. He tried to make my Patron’s answer property, and now the law recognizes that both the gift and my life remain mine.
the ducal envoy
The Duchess confirms your protection and autonomy. The Baron’s demand will be answered in court, not obeyed at this gate, and your chosen service may begin only when you decide.
the ducal envoy
The demand is sealed into the record. The woman is not.
Elianor Vale
Then let the Baron learn that a life cannot be claimed like acreage.
Sister Agnes
And let the court hear every word spoken here.
Maurice Headsman
He will hear mine.
The envoy gathered the papers, Garran stood watch, and the convent breathed easier around Elianor.
The Baron’s demand left the gate not as law, but as evidence. Before the ducal court, his fraud and attempted theft would be answered, while Elianor remained under the convent’s protection, her healing her own. Maurice Headsman had spoken, and the record held.