"Finance Minister Richardus arranged this. It seems like they had all planned this ahead of her arrival."
"I wouldn't know about that either, Matriarch," the captain said.
"But I have my orders. Jolthar Kaezhlar must come with us now."
Jolthar looked at Milan, then at the two women. His expression was calm, but his mind was thinking. This was a power play: catch them unprepared, force them to trial without adequate defense, and leverage the confusion to secure a conviction or at least advance to full prosecution.
Richardus had outmaneuvered them.
"Give us a moment," Milan demanded.
The captain hesitated, then nodded.
"Five minutes, Your Highness.
Then we must leave."
He withdrew with his men, closing the door behind them.
As soon as they were alone, Cleora turned to Jolthar with panic in her eyes.
"We're not ready. We don't have witnesses prepared, we don't have legal counsel, we don't have—"
"I will take care of it," Jolthar said quietly.
