Skirmantas, Part Five: Lithuania Noir
![[Image: palemonaitis%20-%2002.05%20-%20charna.jpg?raw=1]](https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ndqenm61cidk4l/palemonaitis%20-%2002.05%20-%20charna.jpg?raw=1)
Charna Frostwhisper wrapped her furs tighter around her. Thick, soupy night had filled in around the castle at Kernave, pouring in over the walls like the thick roiling blood of a battlefield. There was a tension in it, as if the whole castle was ready to snap. It was not a night to be walking alone.
She had lived in this city for almost 40 years now. Taken in by Sventaragis when she had been wandering these cold lands - not the brat high king's ugly son, but the high king's father, the real Sventaragis - he had given her shelter, trusted her council, and she in turn served him well. Well enough to become his spymaster and trusted enough to keep the position when Sventaragis had died and his son had taken over. She knew all the secrets in Kernave and had her ear in most of the goings on of the major dukes and high chieftains in the realm. She was supposed to. When Queen Gaila had died Charna then became the doctor as well. She was Palemonaitis in all but name. They were her family.
And her family was in danger.
The killings had started as whispers among the common folk. "Rumors, my lord," was the response when she was piqued enough to ask the previous year. Nobody of import had died, and it hadn't seemed like anybody had died of suspicious circumstances. But there had been a suspicious amount of accidents. And then, after the High King had been crowned...
...after the Empire of Greater Lithuania had been created and the festivities begun,
that was when the killings had begun. No more accidents, these were people cut up and left for dead in some dark corner or field. Charna began to take notice, but the high king was tied up trying to fix the diplomatic fallout of his son Sventaragis returning in disgrace from the Holy Roman Empire.
Kaiser Poppo had been the first leader to reach out in congratulations when High King Skirmantas had been crowned, and had suggested their sons and heirs get to know each other better, to help solidify goodwill and peace between the two peoples.
Skirmantas had not had the money to host such an event, his money spent on creating all the necessary titles to structure his new empire, and so Sventaragis the son had gone off to Kaiser Poppo's palace in Pula, on the shores of the Adriatic.
He had returned in less than a month. Worse was Charna never could find out what had happened that caused his stay to be cut so short, but word from her contacts in the Holy Roman Empire was that the Kaiser's son Udo had almost killed Sventaragis over something the high king's son had done.
That week they found the body of a lady from town, a lady Charna recognized but couldn't put the name to. Her neck almsot torn off her shoulders the blade had sliced her throat so deep. What she was doing in the castle nobody seemed to know, but a guard had run to tell Charna and after Charna arrived and inspected the body she had sent someone to get the High King.
Skirmantas was gathering troops to invade Pomerania and drive out the Danish forces and secure the lands in the name of the Greater Realm of Lithuania. He had no time for a common murderer, he said, and so Charna had been given the job of finding the one responsible.
Months went by without another killing. The Lithuanian army was victorious along the south Baltic shore, defeating the Pomeranian and Danish armies. They had taken the capital at Szczecin, and then in a stroke of luck had ended the war with the capture of Duke Vaclav.
He was forced to sign over the Duchy of Pomerania, but the armies stayed in the field, as the Danish forces from Jylland were still invading.
There was of course a celebration feast in the castle. It was not a large affair, with most of the high chieftains and dukes still at war. But the ones left behind had brought out the wine to cheer the news of Lithuania's victory. Everyone was in good spirits and so the high king had given consent to a small feast. The real celebration would be saved for after the war with Jylland was over.
Charna was still mad at herself for not anticipating that night would be the night the killer would strike again. She had taken the usual steps and precautions, but her mind had been in the mood for merry-making. And the night had been splendid with no signs of any intrusion or any disturbances.
In the morning they had found the Vaidilute, Karatas. The high king was furious, and although to see Skirmantas angry was like watching an angry cat - all hisses and spouting and yet backing itself up in retreat - he ordered the guards doubled and nobody to enter or leave the castle unless on his specific authority.
That had been two weeks ago.
And so here she was, lingering in the doorway, checking the distance for any odd shadows in her own home. She was acting like a little girl, scared of a killer that might be out there but was probably some townfolk who had a grudge. But why would they harm the Vaidilute, the highest figure of their religion? Could Karatas' death be separate from the murderer's? A Polish duke, perhaps, upset at being conquered by "heathens" - that was the word they used. Duke Mikolaj was the strongest of the Christian dukes, controlling all the lands of Upper and Lower Silesia. Rumor was he was upset at not being appointed to the high king's council. Countess Rana had publicly converted to Vidilism, but rumor was she was unhappy with the faith and secretly still practiced her old Slovianska Pravda ways.
It felt like the reason was that Karatas was the head of faith. But some detail still eluded Charna. What had the man done in life? He had overseen the high king's children's religious upbringing. He had spent years converting the people at the holy site in Pomerania, to ensure the faith was practiced at their sacred holy site. He had no lands, no wife, no childen. He had overseen the burning at the stake of countless Christian and Ukonusko to appease Dievas. That still seemed like the best fit, it had to be one of the Polish or Pomeranian lords behind this.
"NOOOOO!"
The scream came piercing through the dark, and snapped Charna out of her trance. It was repeated over and over, each word in higher desperation than the last: "No, no, no, no, no!"
It was unmistakenly the voice of High King Skirmantas.
Charna ran. When she arrived at the High King's quarters she was not the first there, but nobody dared come near the high king. Skirmantas was covered in blood, wandering in circles around the room. In his arms he held the lifeless body of High Queen Soaba.
"Please, anybody. Do you know anything? Somebody must have seen something. Please." He stammered variants of that again and again as he kept stumbling about in circles. Charna held back; this was the place for other councilors. She saw his sons Sventaragis and Lutuveras run up from the hall and embrace his father. She could bear to watch no more.
When morning broke it came as a surprise. Charna had not slept all night. She had been speaking with guards, with servants, the kitchen cooks, the boy who took out the privy pots, with everybody around the high queen's quarters or anybody she had not thought to question before. She had woken some of them up in the middle of the night, quietly, to not bring attention to the fact she was doing so.
The castle had been shut down. Someone from within had to have done this. An idea popped into her mind, a name that kept coming up again and again in the recountings of people. A name nobody would suspect. A name she would need proof of before she gave to the high king. Her mind came together for the beginnings of a plan, a way to trap this name into revealing if they were the killer. She spent the next three days asking questions, no longer caring for subtlety. She asked specifically for this name when she spoke to people. She repeated the name often and let the rumors take their course.
By the fifth day the whole castle was whispering the name. Skirmantas seemed not to notice, he had barely left his room since his wife's death. Charna had gathered the Marshall, Sotvaras, and told him of her name, and how she planned to bring evidence. He had tacticly approved, telling her he had two good men that he trusted for the task. They would set in the morning and lay their trap.
Charna was exhausted as she went to bed that night. If she was right, this would end the grip that had held Kernave for over a year. She found herself bubbling with apprehension, though she longed for sleep. She entered her quarters, and went to light a candle in the dark room. But the candle itself was gone.
A footfall on stone caused her to whirl around and pull out her knife, but a strong hand met her halfway. A large figure was in the room already, had snuck up on her in her sleepiness. It only took a moment for her eyes to adjust, to recognize that face even in the darkness of the room.
"You!" she called out surprised. It was the last word she would ever speak.
I need to know who the murderer is (and who is behind these assassinations). 