A bell tolls solemnly in Amador.

[Voices of the Wheel]

Dawn broke and the sun's first light cast its rays over Amador. Sebban Balwer awoke, took the pitcher and poured some water into the a earthenware basin. Washing his face, he dried it with a small towel, which he hung to dry near the small window that looked out from one of the Fortress' higher floors. He knelt momentarily, saying his prayers to the Light and then got dressed. He went a few floors down to get some breakfast and when that was done, went to the anteroom of the Lord Captain Commander's study. It was quiet there and when he knocked, the Lord Captain Commander didn't answer yet. He took his ledger off a bookshelf.

Orderly rows of boring and useless information on the contents of the armory, the amount of horses the Children had at their disposal and stockpiles within the Fortress obscured the real contents of the ledger: his network of spies and their locations. Balwer kept working, occasionally glancing at the door. After an hour, he knocked again. Still no answer. "This is strange," Balwer thought. He knocked again, a little louder this time. He was suddenly overcome with a great worry. Opening the door, he stepped inside. The Lord Captain Commander lay sprawled on the floor, amidst a pool of blood. A sword stuck out of his torso.

Racing towards the door and into the corridor, Balwer shouted "Guards! Guards! The Lord Captain Commander's been slain!" Guards poored into the room, Balwer with them. Upon closer examination, the blood Pedron Niall lay in had already coagulated, suggesting that he was murdered late at night, before going to bed. Balwer stood in the room, looking for details. Off to the side, a rug lay sliced neatly in half. Too neatly. "I know who it was," Balwer spoke quietly. A thin voice asked "Who?"

Keeping his head lower than he would have for Pedron Niall, Balwer bowed as High Inquisitor Rhadam Asunawa stepped into the room. By law, he was now the Commander of the Children, until a new Lord Captain Commander was chosen. Chances were, Rhadam himself would vie for that honor. Balwer swallowed. "Witches, sir. Look at how this rug has been sliced neatly in half. There isn't a blade in the world that can do that." Rhadam examined the cut and nodded slightly. "Well done, Balwer. The White Tower did this, then." Then, turning to one of the guards: "Tell the Lord Captains present in the Fortress to meet me in the Chapel."

Silence hung over the Fortress of Light, only disturbed by a solemnly tolling bell. The Lord Captain Commander was dead. Rhadam Asunawa was likely meeting with the other Lord Captains to make his intentions about becoming Lord Captain Commander known. If Balwer knew Asunawa well, he would demand the Children to swear fealty to the Hand, soon. And after that, those who were responsible for the death of Lord Niall would feel the revenge of the righteous.

~*~

Edited to add:

Niall's been removed, Asunawa will likely end up replacing him, but that takes a mobol transfer and so on, so that may take some time.