The spent crystal lens still lies beside Valia’s sealed ward account when the eastern doors thunder beneath the king’s wards. Guards brace their spears as snowlight spills through the seams.
Hildra Wulfharth
Open these doors. I am Hildra Wulfharth, daughter of this house, and I demand audience with King Theodan.
The wards hold. Hildra stands beyond the threshold without a royal seal, broad-shouldered and unarmored, her axe visible at her side but untouched.
Hildra Wulfharth
My brother has poisoned this court against our family. The tome must be destroyed, and any Wulfharth who stands against our parents must be arrested before this treason spreads.
Valia Wulfharth
Hildra, the crown has found names, payments, and concealments within that book. You cannot call every witness a traitor.
King Theodan Valiks
You bear no seal and arrive demanding the destruction of evidence. Guards, hold the threshold. Beareth, assess her words before I decide whether she enters in chains.
The guards turn toward Beareth. Behind them, Valia keeps one hand near the ward account, while Hildra’s expression hardens with absolute loyalty to House Wulfharth.
“"Hildra was never one for artful deception. She speaks without knowing what the tome reveals, but be warned, what she lacks in diplomacy she makes up for with enough might to make even the greatest of dragons quake."”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +0)
Beareth studies Hildra’s face, posture, and hands rather than her accusation. Her fury is open, her stance ready, and no glance seeks confirmation from hidden allies.
Beareth Wulfharth
She believes the tome threatens our house, but she does not know what the wards conceal.
The assessment costs him a moment of silence beneath the guards’ scrutiny. Their spears remain trained toward Hildra, and their suspicion now includes Beareth’s judgment.
Hildra Wulfharth
You see it plainly, brother. I came for our family, and I will not let this court butcher our name with lies.
Her words carry no careful evasion. She knows the tome exists and believes Beareth betrayed House Wulfharth, but she has not read its names, payments, or hidden revelations.
Valia Wulfharth
Hildra speaks sincerely, Your Majesty. Her certainty is inherited loyalty, not knowledge of what the wards conceal.
King Theodan’s gaze settles on Hildra with measured caution. Beareth’s reading is accepted as credible, though the guards tighten formation and keep her outside the threshold.
“"Valia you have been away from our family too long. Hildra's ignorance of the tomes contents is willful. She stands as one of our father's best enforcers because she doesn't care for the harm his orders may cause."”
SUCCESS (Fair Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Beareth Wulfharth
Valia, you have been away from our family too long. Hildra’s ignorance of the tome’s contents is willful. She serves as our father’s enforcer because she does not care what harm his orders cause.
The accusation crosses the guarded threshold and settles heavily over the winter hall. Hildra’s certainty fractures into stunned disbelief, while the nearest guards shift their spears toward her.
Hildra Wulfharth
You call my loyalty indifference to suffering? I protected our people while you fled with stolen pages and invited the crown into our home.
Valia Wulfharth
Hildra, he is not claiming you knew every crime. He is saying you chose obedience so completely that you stopped asking whom your strength served.
Hildra’s hand closes around her axe haft, though she does not draw it. The movement raises the guards’ suspicion, and King Theodan lifts one warning hand.
King Theodan Valiks
Hildra Wulfharth, your brother’s charge is now entered into the inquiry. You will remain beyond the wards until you answer whether you carried out your father’s orders.
Hildra Wulfharth
If obedience itself is treason, then every shield I raised for our house has become evidence against me.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish Hildra's role in her father's orders
“"Hildra, you willfully slew the Son of Lord Grathan during a Tournament on our father's order. I know this because I heard his command. Well he claimed the action as an accident I know you were intent to kill."”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +1)
Beareth Wulfharth
Hildra, you willfully slew Lord Grathan’s son during the tournament on our father’s order. I heard him command it. He called it an accident, but you intended the kill.
The charge strikes the hall harder than any raised voice. Hildra’s fingers loosen from her axe, and the guards hold their spears steady beneath the king’s wards.
Hildra Wulfharth
You heard Father give that order? Then say it before the crown without hiding behind implication. I fought as I was commanded, and Lord Grathan’s son fell in the contest.
Valia Wulfharth
Hildra, Beareth names a deliberate killing, not a misjudgment in the ring. If our father ordered it, the tournament was only its cover.
King Theodan turns to the clerk, whose quill races across the parchment. The accusation now joins the tome’s evidence with a named victim, a public event, and a claimed command.
King Theodan Valiks
Hildra Wulfharth, answer plainly. Did your father command you to kill Lord Grathan’s son, and did you enter that tournament intending to obey?
Hildra Wulfharth
The court has made my strength into proof against the house I swore to defend.
“I press Hildra to answer the king plainly”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +0)
Beareth Wulfharth
Hildra, answer the king plainly. Did Father command you to kill Lord Grathan’s son, and did you enter the tournament intending to obey?
Beareth’s demand leaves no room for inherited honor to shelter behind softened language. The winter hall waits beneath the steady glow of the king’s wards.
Hildra Wulfharth
Yes. Father ordered me to kill him, and I entered the tournament intending to obey. He called it an accident afterward so House Wulfharth would bear no blame.
The admission stills even the guards. The clerk records each word, while Valia closes her eyes briefly, absorbing the final collapse of her faith in their father’s honor.
King Theodan Valiks
Your answer is entered as testimony. Guards, admit no one else, and send sealed word to House Grathan that its son’s death will be reopened under royal inquiry.
Valia Wulfharth
Hildra, you were used as the blade, but you still carried the order through. The crown must judge both the command and the obedience.
Hildra Wulfharth
I called it duty because the house taught me no other name for obedience.
Quest Complete
Establish Hildra's role in her father's orders
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb