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The Palace had not been this lively in years. Decades even. Not since the current Patrician had come to power. It was not for his personal lack of trying, he just didn't care. Parties were a waste of time, and the nobles around the Palace threw enough of them that he figured he did not need to. No one complained. Today it was filled with people; every single guild master was in attendance and each one had brought some form of company.

It made Jace nervous as he watched the crowd mingle around the entrance to the large meeting hall. He was not seated at the table, but instead off behind the Patrician's left. He was in quite an oddly ornate chair that made him feel awkward to be sitting in, but at least it was comfortable. Jersa was seated to his left and Stella was to his right, both of them watching the crowd. Lily was sitting on the arm rest of Jace's chair, flopped against him and in quite a deep sleep.

People were making their way into the room and taking their seats. Apparently they all knew exactly where they were sitting. A loud shriek drew everyone's attention, some people drawing weapons. Suddenly Jace saw the Mistress shoving her way through the crowd. "Jersa?!" she shouted as she ran across the room. "Oh my Jersa, is that you?!"

Lily shifted a bit, yawning as she woke up from her nap. She rubbed her eyes lazily. "Wazzit?" she mumbled.

Meanwhile the Mistress nearly tackled Jersa, grasping her hands. "Oh my dear Jersa, you look absolutely lovely!"

Jersa, who had still not changed from last night, went very red. "I...thank you..." she muttered.

"I hardly recognize you at all!" she said excitedly. For her this was like a dream come true. "What made you want to dress up?"

"I...uhm..." She glanced at Jace, but then looked at Stella. "She made me," she said as she gestured at Stella.

The Mistress caught the glance and her eyes went to Jace before they went to Stella. "Well, then I have you to thanks for this beauty."

Stella wore a mischievous smirk. "Oh it was my pleasure, Mistress."

"I've been trying to get Jersa to let me play dress up with her for years, but she always turned me down." She moved over to Stella, leaving Jersa to fume in embarrassment. "However did you manage?"

"Oh it was not easy, I can tell you that," she said with a giggle.

"I bet!" she said as she giggled as well. "Well, maybe now Jersa will be more open to dressing up. I have so many outfits that I want to see her in... Oh what fun-"

"Ladies," the Patrician said. "We are about to start."

The Mistress straightened up and cleared her throat. "My apologies, Dear Patrician." She took a step back and glanced at Jace. Then moved quickly over to Jersa, who was staring at the floor. "Rule three, dear Jersa," she said rather harshly.

Jace furrowed his brow, looking over at Jersa, who nodded slightly. He watched as she retreated back to the table, but his gaze was caught by a rather regally dressed serval sitting not too far away from the Patrician. He was glaring at Jace. "Patrician. What is _that_doing here?" he said pointing. For a split second Jace thought that he was pointing at him. But he was not. He was pointing at Lily. "Why is there a witch here?"

The room fell silent as all eyes turned towards Jace and Lily. The two men behind the serval made a move to draw swords, but Stella beat them to it. Jace had not even realized she had moved, but there she was, clear across the room, knives to both of the men's throats. The Patrician raised his hand, no one moved. "Grand Master Sentara, surely you received my letter this morning."

"I did. I believed it a forgery," his eyes never left Lily, though most of his view was blocked by Jersa.

"It was not," he said as the serval's glare swung towards him. "It clearly lays out the law that has been made."

To the public the Patrician was not a very sociable man, and those who know him would have to agree with that. He was reserved. He was a man of focus and strength. Someone not easily swayed. Yet here he was, addressing a very angry looking serval down the table at Jace's prompting. "You cannot be serious, Lord Patrician." Everyone at the table was silent.

"I am quite serious," the jackal said sternly. "The hunting of witches is hence force, outlawed." There was suddenly a lot of murmuring throughout the room.

"I cannot believe what I am hearing! Not when we are so close!"

"You have said this many times before, yet there are always more witches." The jackal's hands were clasped in front of him as he stared down the serval.

"Please, Lord Patrician, we cannot do this. Witches are a blight on society. They are evil beings whose only purpose is to corrupt the world. They are ugly, despicable creatures and deserve to be eradicated."

"Yeah?! Well I don't like you either," Lily said with a huff, folding her arms in front of her. Jace chuckled, but paid close attention to the two men behind the serval who still had their hands on their swords, and still had knives to their throats.

"And in light of recent news, it would seem that your magi are the reason."

"What? How dare you," the serval said as he sat up straighter. "We have been hunting witches for centuries. Why would we be the cause of witches?"

"A great many things that I will be investigated, I assure you. But for the first reason, fire branding," he said coldly. The serval swallowed, unable to form words or protest further. So the Patrician continued, "As I understand it, a fire brand is reserved to punish those of the most heinous of crimes." Jace put his arm around Lily and she leaned against him with a yawn.

Somehow he managed to collect himself enough to retort, "We have not used fire branding in Has-Haven in decades. It was deemed to be too cruel, and we-"

"Then please, by all means explain to me how that child came to posses one, after her mother was murdered by a magus."

The room fell silent.

A long, painful silence filled the room as the Patrician stared at Grand Master Sentara, and Sentara did his best to look anywhere but at the Patrician. Lily drifted back off to sleep it had been a long night for her.

"Since you cannot provide an explanation, an investigation will be happening. I expect your full cooperation as we find out who has been misusing their magic." The room seemed to relax. "Now, Miss Carnafor, if you'd be so kind as to return to your place." Jace gulped.

"Yes, Lord Patrician," Stella said, but she did not move. "If they would be so kind as to drop their spells, so that I may do so."

The two men released their swords and she hid the knives once more.Carnafor!? Jace wanted to scream. From a well off family is a huge understatement. In Auser, there were three major families of power. The Gulpans, who owned nearly every shipping company inside and around Auser. The Foxern's, who were the rulers of Auser. Though 'ruler' is misleading, more accurately they own Auser. And then there was Carnafor...in the roughest word, pirates. Smugglers. Criminals. Murderers. _Assassins._Jace suddenly felt extremely stupid for not making the connection earlier. "Now then," the Patrician's words brought Jace back to the current matter.

But his thoughts must have danced across his face, because Stella looked...dejected? Her head drooped, doing her best to not make eye contact. Like a dog that knew it had done something wrong and was about to be scolded. "This is a subject for another time," he mumbled, and she nodded.

It was just one thing after another. "We are here for a very important reason. To determine whether Has-Haven stays out of the war and remains neutral...or joins one of the sides." The room was completely silent as the Patrician spoke. "As guild leaders, in the essence of the law that has made our city so prosperous...you will all cast your vote in the best interest of the city." He raised his folded hands, placing his chin upon them. "And no matter what the outcome, you will all abide by the final decision."

Jace could see quite a number of the faces at the table looked nervous as they all looked at him. "As appointed mediator," he said calmly. "In the case of a tie, the decision will fall to me. As appointed by Miss Vimmara of the thieves guild, who had been appointed by a previous tribunal." He had practiced his lines for hours until they felt natural. "My word is final."

"The table will be open to discussion," the Patrician said softly.

Immediately he saw a rather round orange cat stand up. "War is good for business," he began.

"Thomas Gibled, head of the shipping merchants guild," Jersa whispered to him, resting on the back of his chair, her head hovering over his.

"There's just no two ways about it. We should remain neutral."

"Spoken like a true fat cat." An arctic fox spoke up from across the table. "You just want to supply to both sides and fill your pockets."

"Sarah Litt, fashion guild," Jersa recited.

"Of course," Gibled said with a jiggly chuckle. "Why restrain ourselves to only the support of one side. Surely-"

"And what if Auser should lose?" A zebra said as he leaned forward. "Do not forget that they are where all that sugar you love so much comes from. If the war turns too far, it will cripple their economy and sugar will stop."

"Harold Highter, bakers guild."

"That means no more sweets, Tom," Highter finished, staring at the cat.

There was an odd silence around the room. Apparently sweets were very important here in Has-Haven. "Grusk is our defense against the wilds." Suddenly the silence turned harsh as a wolverine spoke, "If they were to fall, it would leave us in a painful predicament as we are swarmed with beasts."

"Jeremy..." Jersa whispered even quieter than before. "Rangers guild..."

"Auser is the lead developer of technology," Jeremy continued. "If given time, Grusk will turn on us due to our beliefs. If given the proper motivation, Auser will turn on us to get a foothold on the main continent. If we remain neutral, we run the risk of falling afoul of both. Many nations on the continent have already sided with Grusk, we are the last of the major powers to decide."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" a squirrel said, a few seats down.

"Markus Kask, brewers guild."

"My network has been gathering information since the incident," a sheep spoke up. "Jeremy is correct. We are the last to decide, due to our laws."

"Garner Denla, black market guild."

"The black market has its own guild?" Jace muttered.

"Mhm."

"All the more reason we should support them," Litt said.

"All the more reason to throw them under the train," said a rather tall alpaca. "We would gain far more enemies than allies."

"Aaron Anderson, guild of archaeology."

"Others would change to our side." The room fell silent as the slow speaking crocodile opened his mouth. "They fear that Grusk is too close, but if we side with Auser, than others will follow."

"Al E. Gator," Jersa mumbled. "Not a guild leader...but he owns many of them."

"Our decision will be the deciding factor in this war," Al continued, "We either doom Auser, or hand them the victory. We cannot afford to remain neutral. We must take a side."

"You think you can scare us into decision?" a portly beaver said, adjusting his small spectacles.

"Monty Banks, bankers guild." The sheer cliché of that name actually hurt Jace on an emotional level.

"This is a civilized debate, you wont be bullying anyone around here," the beaver snapped, glaring at Al. "Especially by some leather face who doesn't even have a vote and bought his way into this meeting in the first place."

"How dare you," a mule snapped at him. "Show some respect you pudgy glorified paper pusher!"

Jace couldn't hear what Jersa said as the arguing began. The Patrician had warned him that it would eventually happen. It always happened when you had this many powerful rich people in the same room at told them to play nice. It went on for several minutes, and he was perfectly content to let it run its course, let them argue until they run out of breath.

Then Lily shifted against him, mumbling something about noise.

A sudden heavy thud and sudden appearance of a large knife into the table caused all conversations to end abruptly. "That is quite enough," Jace said as he lowered his hand. He had to admit it had been quite the impressive toss and he had almost hit the direct center of the table. Those who had stood up, now sat back down. The only one who seemed unfazed was the Patrician.

"I quite agree," the Patrician said. "I believe that it is time to vote." He cleared his throat, shifting a piece of paper on front of him. "All those who wish to side with Grusk," he stopped, looking around the room as quite a number of people stood.

A lot more than Jace had hoped, but the great majority of the room remained seated.

"Those who wish to remain neutral." Some sat down, and even more stood up. Jace spotted Dr. Minsra as he stood up. Of course he would vote to remain neutral...more business that way. "And those that believe we should side with Auser?"

A lot of people stood up. But Jace couldn't get a proper head count on any vote from where he was sitting. They had all seemed so even to him.

"There is a tie between neutral, and siding with Auser. A second vote shall be held," the Patrician said. "If neutral and Auser tie again, the decision will fall to our mediator." It was such a convoluted way of voting. A guild master could vote for one, two, all three or none at all. Most voted for one, or two, but Jace couldn't help but notice some stand for all three. Such as Jeremy, and Denla, as well as others he didn't know or couldn't see properly.

What Jace could see was most of the rooms attention had turned to him.

"Those who wish to remain neutral," the Patrician announced. Most of the room that Jace could see stood up. "And those that wish to join Auser." Again it looked like most of the room was standing. "Majority rule," the Patrician said as he stood up, the rest of the room sitting down. "As decided by guild tribunal, Has-Haven will participate in the war on the side of Auser."

Jace couldn't help but sigh with relief, slumping slightly in his chair. "Good..."

"I do hope that this is to your satisfaction, Lord Foxern?" the Patrician said as he turned to look at him.

"Quite."

There was a gasp from the table. "I knew it!" Vimmara exclaimed, pointing at him accusingly. "See? See?" She made wild gestures at a few of the other guild masters. "Pay up!"

A rather annoyed looking rat tossed a bag towards her over the table. "Minser Coal, head of the gamblin

g guild," Jersa said with a chuckle. "Always making the bad bets."

"I suppose that's how he became the head of the guild?" Jace said as he watched the room erupt into conversations.

"Yup. But, you sure that that's okay? The Patrician giving away who you are and everything?"

"Yes. I asked that he do it if the guilds voted to side for Auser," he said with a sigh.

"Furthermore," the Patrician said, the room fell silent, the ones who had been making their way to the door stopped. They had all assumed the meeting was over. "Lord Foxern will be Guild Liaison during this time of war in order to-"

"You cannot do that!" Someone shouted. Jace was quite certain it was Sentara from the sound of his voice.

"If you do not like my decision, you are free to vote for someone else during the next election. But I believe that Lord Foxern has Has-Haven's best interest in mind." The Patrician was gathering his things. "Only he is allowed to protest this position."

The attention of the room once again turned to Jace. It was an amazing opportunity to actually be able to help out in the war, but he wished the Patrician had talked it over with him before...and been more tactful about the announcement. "I see no reason why I should not accept."

"Then it is decided." The jackal looked around the room as he picked up the small stack of papers. "This meeting is hereby adjourned." He stepped to the side and looked back towards Jace. "If you could please come to my office at your earliest convenience."

Jace nodded. "Of course, Dear Patrician. I have a few matters to attend to, as previously discussed."

The Patrician nodded and then left the room. Most of the room was deep in their own conversations, but the Mistress practically ran towards him, a grin on her face. "My goodness! How exciting!"

Jace looked at her and gave her a slight smile. "I do apologize for-"

She held up her hand. "No need, my dear. I must say that you had me fooled at certain points, and that is quite the feat." She was standing in front of him, smiling at him. "I was so worried that I was actually going to lose the bet with Minser." She giggle softly, shaking her head.

"Well, that's good to know," Jace said, wondering if that was actually true or she was simply trying to be nice during the current circumstances.

There was an odd expression on her face as she looked him up and down. "I wonder how much of it was an act..." she mumbled before turning. "You are still more than welcome to stay at my guild for as long as you need, though you will have to start paying for your room." She giggled again. "Stop by anytime to pick up the rest of your payment~"

He didn't have a chance to retort before she walked off. Gingerly he rubbed his face, closing his eyes for a moment as he decided that now was the time he needed to go see a doctor. He stood slowly, picking Lily up as he did, and opened his eyes to see a familiar looking stoat in front of him. Wrong type of doctor. "You are making quite the bold move, Lord Foxern."

"It is necessary. I hope that you would not think I would do such a thing without a plan." He looked at Dr. Minsra, briefly wondering if he would try and inhume him.

"I merely wish for you to be careful. Your contract is at seven-hundred thousand." Jace's jaw nearly dropped. "I expect it to go up. As a courtesy to Thomas...many high class will not take the contract. But...be careful."

Just like the Mistress he turned and left without giving Jace a chance to respond. He looked down at Lily who was still deep asleep, then he glanced at Jersa and then towards Stella, who was making her way out of the room. "Stella," he said, and he saw her step falter slightly, but then her pace quickened. He moved after her quickly, but by the time he got out into the hallway she was gone. "Stella..." he murmured.

"I think she needs some time alone," Jersa said, having followed after him. She returned his dagger to its sheath, having grabbed it off the table as they had passed.

"This is something that needs to be discussed." He looked back and forth, trying to figure out which direction she would have gone. Eventually he decided right and headed down the hall the exit was left and that was too obvious.

"I'm sure it can wait until you at least see a doctor," Jersa said, putting her hand on his shoulder to try and stop him.

"It's important," he snapped and stepped away. She was Carnafor and that meant a lot of trouble if he didn't figure it out as soon as possible.

"Am I not important?" Jersa said softly.

Jace froze for a second before looking back at her.

"Rule three..." she said softly, staring down at the floor. "I broke rule three." Down the hall he could see the guild masters leaving and heading out.

He turned towards her, taking a few steps closer. "What's rule three?"

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, but she was doing her best to fight them. "Don't fall for a mark."

His expression softened as he looked at her. "Do you really think that?"

"Jace...I just..." She was having difficulty forming words, that was obvious.

Maybe she had had ulterior motives at the start. Maybe she still did. Either way, he wasn't about to just let her breakdown in front of him. "You're very important to me," he said softly as leaned forward, pressing his mouth to hers. After a moment he pulled away. "Now let's go and see that doctor."