The Romantic Trials Of A Transmigrated Empress

Chapter 406: A night cleansing.

The whispers had been eating away in the city all day. Word of the poisoning traveled like mice from one house

to another. Nobody dared to say it out loud, but it was all everyone wanted to know about. Snobles tried to

access the royal castle for information, but it was sealed off tightly, no one in or out.

At night, the city gates were closed, the bells did not ring. In silence, a cleansing began. Cloaked figures, dashed

through alleys or soared through the skies on broom sticks, spreading containment runes.

The hidden mages inside the city that felt the magic did not dare to cout of their houses or rooms. Unless

they were forced out of hiding, they would not show their faces.

In the north of the city stood the house that housed the headquarters of the Horse keepers. Their daring attempt

to harm the Empress with poison had brought consequences. Not only had it failed but Sir Gerrin had given up all

the information he knew about the secret society.

The investigation had been quiet and swift. Unexpected help had cfrom King Raff who was very agitated to

hear that they had dared to extend their claws to the royal family. Roland's reign had only begun, this was seen

as a challenge to his authority.

King Raff had always known where the real headquarters were. He had also always known that the society was

the child of house Benwick. He did not know who took over after Lord Benwick’s death.

At 3:00 a.m., mages dropped from the sky, six dozen of them lined in formation and carrying potions and

powders and wands. They spelled or poisoned the knights that guarded the manor and then blocked off every

exit. Without a single sound being made, they entered the premises to begin the hunt for the Horse keepers.

Within the manor, forty nine knights sat around a round table in uneasy silence. The whispers of their failure and

compromise had reached their ears and they had gathered to discuss how to proceed. Accusations and tempers

had long flared. Blhad been assigned. Now, they were in need of solutions.

But it was too late.

Mages and knights serving the Emperor and Empress entered, wearing cloaks that had sigils of the royal house.

The Lord mage was the leader, commanding the mission and he drew back his hood, revealing his face.

"| advise you all to surrender," He said.

The Horse keepers were men of the sword and they drew their swords. The Lord mage raised his hand and

waved his wand, casting a spell. The swords turned into candy and the knights were rendered weaponless.

Arrests began.

Surrender was not easy--sstruggled, sprotested their innocence, a few drunk poison. One stabbed

himself in the heart. Dead or alive, they were all put in handcuffs and taken out of the room.

In one of the rooms which served as a library, a hidden vault was unearthed behind a book shelf. Inside was the

holy grail of information. Scrolls with names of all their clients, encrypted in two languages. It went back eighty

eight years, each detailing the nand details of the job and mode of payment.

The hunt widened.

Clients of the Horse keepers were arrested and they were many. Nobles, exiled royals, merchants, scholars,

doctors, teachers, mistresses, dwarfs, mage knights. The scrolls also had names of foreigners from other

kingdoms and empires.

The list of crimes was extensive. From nobles poisoning each other's children to get out of marriage pacts to

exiled royals seeking to harm kings and queens. Secondary wives looking to becmain wives, maids looking

for revenge on their masters or mistresses, competitors looking to sabotage the businesses of others and so on.

All through dawn, arrests were made and prison cells filled up. By midday, ninety three arrests had been made,

lawyers had been called and the empire trembled under the weight of what it learned: that its protectors, the

knights themselves had sold their services for a fee. If the knights had lose virtues, could they be trusted? Their

only saving grace was the fact that they had not killed anyone.

Sigrid was enjoying the a cup of chocolate nut tea on the balcony of her sonar, feet up on the railing. The wind

was rustling through her hair which was running free. She had a smile on her face. This cleansing had allowed

her to get rid off all the servants in the royal castle that were not loyal to her. They had been replaced by

members of her organization.

The Lord mage and Elowin were with her, going over the last encrypted scroll which had details of where the

Horse Keepers kept their ill gotten wealth. Now, it would be uncovered and added to the royal vault.

"Dove Wheatley." She said the nwith a smile. "I thought she was simply not worth remembering but she has

found a way forto remember her for the rest of my life."

Elowin turned to her and asked, "Will she be going down in the history books? This cleansing is being recorded

by the royal historians."

Sigrid shook her head. "She is not worth being remembered. But sadly, her tale must be used to caution those

that plot against royalty. One person’s plot can bring the ruin of many. She sought to makeugly and instead

brought down an entire secret society that has lived in the shadows for almost a century."

The Lord mage sighed. "This is going to create a lot of awkwardness in the royal court. | am afraid that this

victory has cat the cost of trust between allies."

Sof the closest nobles that were seen as friends had used the Horse keepers to plot and harm each other.

Now that the information had cto light, their relationships would never be the sagain.

"| did not tell the nobles to plot against each other in secret." Sigrid shrugged. "Let this be a lesson to them.

They should all be more like Lady Percival, if she does not like you, she says it to your face."

"What do we do with the headquarters of the Horse keepers?" The Lord mage asked her.

"Burn it down," She said, "It is the place where the knights betrayed their oaths. History needs not to remember

it. In fact, burning is not enough, demolish it all. We should build a school of higher learning on the land. In time,

the people will forget what once stood there."

Sigrid took a sip of her tea. This cleansing had made her realize that she needed to eliminate Emmah now. There

were new enemies watching in the shadows. Of what use was it keeping the old ones around?