The Warden spoke first, his voice as cold and low as ever. "You don't know?"
"If I'm not the killer, how would I know?"
"Three special envoys from the Rikaner Kingdom were found dead at the Embassy this evening."
"You mean all three? Including Cynthia and... and..." Annan had forgotten the young prince's name.
"Anok."
"They're all dead?"
"You sent people to assassinate them, yet you don't know how many they killed?" the Warden scoffed.
Annan glanced at the Warden, who was playing the villain. "There's no point testing me. Assassination is too crude a tactic for my taste."
And too cruel. Cynthia was innocent... Not because Annan was a Sorcerer and she was a woman, but because Cynthia was clearly close to Princess Sails...
He wondered whether Princess Sails had heard yet.
"But perhaps it was one of your people? Your city is full of refugees from the Northern Frontier, and many of them have blood feuds with the Rikaner Kingdom."
"You mean my people attended the Victory Parade, set off for the banquet, slipped away without anyone seeing them, broke through the Empire's tight security to enter the Embassy, killed three envoys in front of their personal guards, then vanished?"
The sarcasm in Annan's voice silenced the Warden.
The middle-aged man beside him smiled. "Relax, Annan. We just want to ask a few questions."
"And I was merely pushing back a little. You are?"
"Andrea, an Executor with the Imperial Military Department. I'm in charge of this assassination case." Executor Andrea seemed easygoing enough. "What were you doing this evening?"
"Going to the banquet with everyone else... The Minister of Ceremonial Affairs can vouch for me." Annan sounded even more agreeable.
That gave Executor Andrea a headache... On one side was a special envoy; on the other, a