From all accounts, except for the very vivid and detailed one told by Lady Korinne's former lady-in-waiting. If the woman was to be believed,
Soth had been unfaithful to his wife with an elf-maid, even when his wife had been carrying his child. This charge was not all that hard to believe considering the reputation of the knight's father, Aynkell Soth.
But while being a philanderer was against the Oath and the Measure, Lord Caladen was inclined to look the other way on such matters. He wanted to disbelieve the accusation of murder, dismiss the charges as the misguided vengeance of a dismissed lady, but too many things she'd said had made too much sense.
There were rumors regarding the matter, rumors which had traveled to Palanthas well before the arrival of the former maid named Mirrel.
People in the keep had heard the sounds of a child's cries, suggesting there had been a live; birth. The same people had heard Lady Korinne's screams, suggesting she had survived the birth as well. And there was the matter of the cremation to consider. Even if Soth had been devastated by the deaths of his wife and child, a lightning quick cremation was not in keeping with Solamnic customs. There should have been a period in which Korinne lay in state so that people could have paid their respects, and men she should have received a proper burial within the Soth family crypt. Such a ceremony was automatic for someone of Lady Korinne's standing.
Like everyone else, Lord Caladen had heard the rumors that the cremation was performed to prevent the spread of disease, but like everyone else he had a hard time believing it. For what manner of disease causes a woman to die while giving birth?
So, if not to prevent the spread of disease, why then, would the ceremony have been conducted so quickly?
To hide evidence of foul play. It was the only reason Lord Caladen could think of. It was the only explanation that made any sense. Obviously, something was amiss.
And when he thought of how quickly Soth had remarried, and how soon after Korinne's death a second child had been born.
Clearly, an investigation was in order.
'Fenton!' called Lord Caladen, summoning his assistant Garnett Fenton,
Knight of the Sword.
'Yes, Lord Caladen,' said Fenton as he entered the lord's office.
'Send a message to Dargaard Keep…'
Chapter 22
It was several weeks before Lord Soth was Able to make the trip to
Palanthas and by that time the rumors were circulating among the
Solamnic Knights of Palanthas like snowflakes in a blizzard. The many knights stationed in the great port city were split as to the reason why
Soth had been summoned to the Hall of High Justice. Some believed that he had been negligent in his duties as a Knight of the Rose or had otherwise broken the code of the Oath and the Measure. Others believed he had done something worse, breaking not only the laws of the Knights of Solamnia, but the laws of good conduct by which all in Solamnia- indeed most of Krynn-aspired to live. Still, others emphatically believed him to be completely innocent of everything and anything. To them, this summons was simply a ruse to discredit the good Soth family name.
The lengthy wait for Soth's arrival provided Lord Caladen ample opportunity to make inquiries about what Mirrel had told him. Much to his dismay, many of the most crucial points had been corroborated by others, some of whom had absolutely no other motive than to speak the truth.
His findings left him no alternative other than to make sure that justice prevailed, no matter what it might do to the reputation of the
Knights of Solamnia. In his mind, the knighthood would be better served by the quick and severe condemnation of a guilty knight than by any attempt to ignore or hide the truth. Truth was an unstoppable force and would eventually win out over lies. When that happened, it would bring down more than just a single knight; it would cripple the entire knighthood. No, this was something that had to be dealt with swiftly.
And the more swiftly the better.
Soth was greeted by a party of six knights-two from each of the orders-at the base of the High Clerist's Tower, the stronghold of the
Knights of Solamnia that guarded the mountain pass leading into the city.
'Beg your pardon, Lord Soth,' said Sword Knight Garrett Fenton, leader of the escort party. 'But the high justice requests that you enter the city alone.'
While this was somewhat irregular, it wasn't totally unheard of. Still,
Soth didn't understand why he couldn't remain in the company of his own knights for the rest of the journey. He had been summoned to the city on a matter of routine business, after all. Nevertheless, he respected the wishes of the high justice and parted company with his loyal knights, saying, 'Wait for me. I won't be long.'
'We'll be here, milord,' said Caradoc. 'Or more precisely, we'll be waiting for you in The Drookit Duck.'
Soth laughed. The Drookit Duck was a popular tavern on the southeastern rim of Palanthas. Visitors to the city who stopped there quite often never made it further into the capital. 'Save a tankard for me.'
'I make no promises,' said Caradoc.
All of Soth's knights laughed.
His six escorts did not.
Soth was taken along a route that led directly to the Hall of High
Justice. As they rode the streets, Soth noticed that there were a lot more knights out and about than usual.
Suddenly, he began to have a bad feeling about what was going on. Not only were there knights lining the route, but many of them sat atop their mounts with their swords drawn and at the ready.
Soth took firm hold of the reins and tried to break ranks, but found himself blocked in on all sides by his escorts.
Then he reached for his broadsword, only to see it pulled from its sheath by the knight who had been riding to his left.
In mere seconds Soth had gone from being Lord Soth, Knight of the Rose to Lord Soth, prisoner of High Justice Lord Adam Caladen.
'What is the meaning of this?' he growled at his fellow knights.
None answered.
'Have you all gone mad?'
Again silence.
He struggled to dismount but found it too difficult to move in the tight space left for him by the other knights.
Nevertheless, he continued to struggle.
'Lord Caladen will explain it all to you when we arrive at the Hall of
High Justice,' said Garrett Fenton. 'Until then, Lord Soth, I ask that you conduct yourself with the utmost dignity and honor.'
Soth bit his bottom lip and inhaled an angry breath, but made no more attempts to escape. As they arrived in the courtyard in front of the hall, there were a dozen knights there to receive him, all clad in armor, all with their broadswords drawn.
And at the edge of the large crowd that had gathered, he recognized a familiar face that did not belong to any knight.
It was a woman's face.
He looked closely at her, realizing it was Isolde's former lady-in-waiting, the same lady-in-waiting who had served his first wife
Korinne so faithfully in the year leading up to her death.
