The Sandstorm King

by PioneeringAuthor

Chapter 11: The Interrogations

Karam stood at the gates of the city, holding his lean body straight and dignified as he watched Heydar and Afzal’s caravan leaving for the Aseb border. As he stood there, the wind ruffled his black mane and tail and the sunlight kissed the silver accents on his black tack, making it gleam regally. Although he was completely calm on the outside, on the inside he was supressing his shock and fear at the things racing through his mind like a whirlwind. As soon as they were out of sight, Karam turned and walked back to the palace, refusing to utter a single word to his nearby advisors, who could tell something was up. Once the advisors entered the palace, some of them attempted to break the silence.

“Sire, is there anything troubling you?” Kalil the Prosperous prompted him. Although the Zarfaim Unicorn Horse had a snobbish side, he genuinely wanted to help anybeast who was deeply troubled.

“We shall all meet in our secure room, and I shall discuss it all… Jinan, Zahir, Alem and Kamal know what is going on,” Karam coldly stated.

At that, the other advisors looked at each other in confusion.

---

*Click*

The doors to the inner meeting room were closed and locked by Karam.

“Speak, Jinan,” Karam ordered as he sat at the head of the table.

Jinan quickly explained their suspicions.

“WHAT? Afzal and Heydar? Traitors? No! Preposterous!” Qadir snapped as soon as Jinan was finished, raising his electric blue wings and flapping them in anger.

“Again, these are only suspicions… we hope we are wrong… either way, we finally have a lead as to who the assassin was. Whether or not Heydar is the one, or Afzal, we are closer to finding the truth,” Jinan humbly replied, folding his brown ears back in fear. His Special Gift was herbs, not speeches or investigations; he felt awkward standing and saying such things out loud.

“But they both just quelled the rebellion! They….” Ghayth stopped, only to slow down in deep realization.

“They both did just quell a rebellion in King Karam’s name indeed,” Alem agreed, “But that does not mean they are completely loyal.” At this moment, Alem the Oryx began to question if their suspicions were accurate or not.

“Yes… and won over the love of the military,” Ghayth finish, the scars on his Camel forehead being pushed back by his furrowed eyebrows as he added, “And we should beware those who gain too much love from the military…. I still doubt it was them but… if it IS them… they may have many supporters if they wish to pull over a coup.”

“But surely you are all wrong! Besides, even if it IS them, how would we be able to prove it? They are both quite intelligent; they probably disposed of all evidence!” Kalil parried, his blonde tail swishing back and forth as his mind raced, “What are we supposed to do?”

“Investigate as best we can,” Jaffar replied, adjusting the tack that contrasted with his pale yellow Camel fur.

“We definitely must search their rooms… and try to keep this from the public as much as possible,” Zahir suggested as he sat on the box on top of his chair at the table.

“Yes, and we must question the cooks and other servants to see if they saw anything suspicious at all from Heydar on the day of King Khayri’s death!” Qadir piped up swiftly.

“Heydar can manipulate minds: he can force somebeast to say everything they know, or make them think what he likes,” Avram sighed with a shake of his aging head, “He probably manipulated anyone who may know anything.”

“That is true… there are spells to test for such manipulation… but reversing it… is very hard,” Zahir sighed, “If it seems someone has lost memories, I shall endeavor to create a spell to restore them.”

At that, everyone stared at him.

“Everyone knows it’s impossible to restore a destroyed memory,” Kalil snorted as he tossed his white head, getting his blonde mane out of the way.

“They only say that because the spell has not been invented yet,” Avram pointed out with a wave of one of his peach-colored forelegs, “And Zahir’s Special Gift is inventing and studying magic; if anyone can do it, it is him.”

Kalil stared at the floor, unable to process it. Could such a thing truly be done?
Furthermore… could the traitor be in their own midst?
One of the faithful advisors? Such a thing sounded impossible, and Kalil covered up his shock with another snobbish tilt of his head as he utilized his magic to adjust the small covering he wore on top of his head as part of his Zarfaim tradition.

“We must not waste time: Kamal, Ghayth, question the servants, starting with the chief of the cooks. Zahir, Jaffar, Amal, search Heydar and Afzal’s rooms. The rest of you, come with me. Let us speak to the palace guards to see what they think of Afzal and Heydar,” Karam ordered stoically with a wave of one wing.

“Oh… Master of the Universe… if they are indeed the traitors, let it be made plain. If not, then let them be found innocent, please,” Kalil prayed aloud with his eyes closed, taking a moment to put away his snobbish tendencies and throw himself and his fears at the feet of his Creator.

“Amen, let it be so,” Avram added with a solemn nod as he bowed his aging head and used a hoof to adjust his own small covering on top of his peach and white head, between his ears.

The other advisors solemnly nodded their heads and turned to their young king.
Karam nodded as well, glad for the unwavering faith those two had. There was something comforting about the faith of the Zarfaim creatures, and he was glad for any comfort at this moment. Sure, Kalil wasn’t exactly the most faithful, but now his deepest heart was coming out, and something seemed extra potent about that. Avram, of course, always had a genuine presence surrounding him. Although Karam wasn’t really religious, he truly hoped that whatever god or God was out there would be on his side, proving his innocence.

---

In two weeks Afzal and Heydar would return. They had that long to investigate. Of course, they had to go out into the city and find all the servants that had been fired. When they did find the former servants, their first major clue revealed itself.

“Oh yes, I remember many festivals and what we served--those days were always the most important, after all,” He declared with a firm nod.

“Well, what did we serve that day?” Kamal asked him with one of his white eyebrows raised..

“Oh that’s easy, we had…
had…
uhm… come to think of it, that whole day is rather… foggy for me… I suppose it’s all the stress, heh,” He nervously replied, wondering why he had trouble remembering it.

“I remember seeing you serve Malik Khayri,” Kamal recalled, “What did you feed him? Do you recall?”

“I… err… I don’t know! Wait, you don’t think I killed him, do you? No! I swear I did not!” The servant declared in a panic.

“Hush! We never said that… but we find it interesting that you can’t recall any food at all,” Ghayth hushed him with a snort.

“I… well I do remember… uhm… oh yes! Salad… with… some kind of… fruit… from… uhm… okay so I have a bad memory regarding that day, but I promise it wasn’t me!” The servant wailed miserably as his Pony ears drooped and his wings twitched.

“Oh be quiet! I just said we did not suggest it was YOU! *sigh* But can you remember ANYTHING of that day?” Ghayth groaned as he rolled his green eyes in frustration.

“Yes! I remember helping the cooks for hours--the soup took so long to make! I remember serving the first course, it was… wait, I DO remember! It was the steamed vegetables with the fruit glaze! *phew* Ha, I do remember!” He sighed in relief as he wiped some sweat off his brow with a wing.

“And the next course?” Kamal prompted as he polished one of his white hooves quickly.

“That’s when we did…. The soup! Yes! I remember… but… after that it’s a blur…” The servant sighed.

“... return to your home; we do NOT think you murdered anyone,” Kamal ordered him softly.

The servant nodded and quickly rushed away.

“All the other cooks remember the food very well,” Kamal noted as he began polishing his other front hoof, “But not him. Not only that, but he has a good mind for food--he was such a talented servant that I regret firing him.”

Ghayth noted some information on a pad, carefully holding a quill between the two halves of his cloven hooves.

“We’ll have Zahir examine him at a later time--we have more servants to interrogate, and it’s already been three hours; we must hurry,” Ghayth decided.

Kamal nodded as he examined his hooves, ensuring there wasn’t any dirt left on them.

---

Later their second clue came through one of the gardeners.

“I’m terribly sorry if I cannot say much today; I have such a terrible headache for some reason…” The aged camel apologized as he moaned.

“Oh? Headache? When did it start?” Kamal asked, worried if some sort of sickness might be spreading.

“The other day it… happened…” The camel tried to remember it but could not.

“What were you doing?” Kamal asked as he tilted his head, letting the beads on his tack click together as they moved with him.

“..I don’t know… all I remember is a bush… something about a bush… then looking around and wondering why I was there,” The camel answered, “And then Advisor Heydar told me to not stand around and return to my duties, so I left to the other part of the main gardens.”

“Heydar? Was anybeast else there?” Ghayth probed, his eyebrows furrowing in seriousness.

“Yes, Tactician Afzal was there too, glaring at me… I think… it’s a bit blurry… and ever since then I’ve had a terrible headache, on and off all day for the past few days,” The Camel admitted, ashamed that such high-ranking creatures saw him in the gardens when he should be unseen.

“...that’ll be all for today; return to your duties,” Kamal quietly ordered him.

The camel bowed and quickly left.

“...I have a feeling we are probably right about Heydar… and perhaps Afzal as well..” Kamal sighed as he rubbed his pale head in sorrow with one of his cloven hooves.

“ If they are indeed traitors, I shall ensure they get a traitor’s reward,” Ghayth snarled as he snapped his quill between the two halves of his hoof.

Indeed, the interrogations were quite interesting.

Author's Note:

Note:

This was actually one of the harder parts for me to write because I usually don't write mystery.

I had to talk it out with Imperator Aetheris, and we came up with a solution.

Not this scene in particular, but this whole mini-arc.

---Turquoise Dreamer, the dreamer with a heart for others and a thousand stories to write ~+~

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