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Trials of Love, the Frostclaw Chronicles 2: Frozen Blood in the Snow

This story is copyrighted to SashaWS/ArtisticEastern, containing characters owned by various people used with permission.

Any usage or posting of this story under the claim of being your own is not approved and you will be requested to remove it or face charges.

(This is a little of an author's note. I am going to be writing this chapter and the next with a few inspirations from the Ace Attorney series and such to give you a chance to understand where the connections are made. If it is warmly welcomed, then I might do more of these in the future.)

The day before in Ht'Mak, it had been a great celebration for the peace and Ambassador Ainohi of Ri'Co'Va had held a heartwarming speech about how everyone are equal and no matter if you scrub money from the sidewalk or ride around in the most luxurious public transportation, everyone were still a living being in her eyes and she wanted to work towards quenching the hostility between the rich and poor. The people had loved it, especially the politician that had been there with her when she did. Afterward they had met up at the Ricovan embassy to discuss upcoming events to strengthen the bonds between the realms.

"Thank you so much for allowing me some of your time, miss ambassador. Oh, I am sorry, I mean miss Ainohi." The stallion bowed as Ainohi giggled, "You are welcome, Castillian. It was the least I could do after such a warm welcome from your people." Castillian smiled and soon brought out a case file, "I wanted to discuss this. I heard that your family tracked down the one who ordered the assassination of the former queen of Dr'Wich. So I wish to request the assistance in finishing up finding the conclusive evidence." Ainohi moved closer to read the file's name, "Case YH-3. Sounds like not many cases with the YH classification happens here." Castillian nods and looks at the file, "Yes, YH is the classification in the system which is when someone within the court of law is abusing their rights to get what they want. Sure is a saddening feeling when someone goes for corruption to obtain what they want, right?"

Castillian was about to turn his head to look at Ainohi when he suddenly felt his head being forced back and a sharp object being pressed against the throat, before with a clean cut, his epiglottis soon getting filled with blood as he fought against the assailant who was still trying to cut him some more, but finding the stallion to be too wild to continue cutting. Another powerful hand soon grabbed Castillian by the head before making a swift twist on the head, breaking the neck and also severing the nerves with a feint scream of pain from the mighty stallion before his world went dark with the sinister voice speaking to him, "Consider this my objection, my dear Castillian."

Present day upon their arrival to the castle in Ht'Mak, Maximillian Steelmane, the regent hoofking of the realm was welcoming his guests, "Welcome to my kingdom. Though, I wish it was for a better reason than this." he spoke to the gang that had arrived. Other than her sister Kari, their parents Peridot and Tenchi, their grandfather Sedrin and their grandaunt Azura, there was also Jae, Violetta and Yang that had decided to tag along, Yang mostly due to that Yin is the head of security at the embassy. Kari decided to speak for them all, "Thank you, your majesty. It was quite a shock to receive this letter. But we came here and we are ready to start helping. In fact, I will request as the sister to the ambassador to have our coroner handle the autopsy of the late lord. And if it is not too much to ask, I want to have permission from you to send a team into the crime scene to help with gathering clues. And finally, I wanna ask to learn more about the late lord."

Tenchi and Peridot just listened to their little girl making her requests. Her words did actually help to calm them a bit from the shock of knowing that one of their little princesses had been arrested for a crime. Maximillian nodded as a reply, "Granted. The body is down at the local police station. I will take you to the room while I fill you in on the details about Lord Castillian." After getting the directions to the station, Azura left quickly before the rest began their walk to the embassy of Ri'Co'Va, while the Hoofking began to tell about the lord, "Lord Leonard Castillian was a very loved politician around here. Most called him the Father of Ht'Mak. He fought for the poor and he corrected the rich. He grew up in a poor family as the youngest out of five brothers and four sisters. He had to see his brothers being forced into labor while his sisters became maids for the rich folks. Unlike them, he had a dream and began at an early age to carve wooden figurines. The people saw his talent and what began as a hobby for him, turned into a company after a year. With some of the money he earned, he began a campaign to change the realm. No more would someone be forced into labor or becoming a maid because they are poor. He got a huge following with it and a year later from beginning his campaign, he was voted into Ten Hooves Council, the council that consists of the ten most influenced people in the realm. Yesterday, he was present at the public speech of the ambassador you sent, and the people listened to her words and so did he. It was later that day when they found him dead, and the ambassador was unconscious on the floor with a strange knife covered in blood in one of her hands. That is all I got to know from the one who found the body."

At the point when story-time ended, they had arrived at the embassy and Maximillian spoke up clearly, "Let me pass through, officer." The police officer quickly moved aside as they walked through the doors to the embassy. Tenchi was shocked by the polished marble floor, walls decorated with the most beautiful tapestry, the wyvern statue standing in the middle of the room with water spraying out of its maw, a giant photo of Tenchi and Peridot in their royal outfits hanging above the head of the wyvern and to think, this was only the lobby, "Ainohi actually works here? She made it really feel like a second home." Suddenly a voice with a slight honorable tone in it spoke up, "Yes, it does. And soon it might be taken by someone else." Everyone looked forward as a person dressed in a rather familiar outfit walked closer to them. The red trench-coat covering a black shirt and black pants, white gloves worn on both hands and complete with a red hat and orange-tinted glasses. Yang was the first one to notice the white hair sticking out, "Hi Yin. Are you here?"

Yin took off the glasses and hat before nodding, "Hello, dear sister. And yes, I am here. I am the self-proclaimed crime scene investigator and the unfortunate one who found the body." Everyone froze from hearing the news about this, except for Maximillian who looked at the rest, "Why the reaction?" Peridot swallowed as Yin put the glasses and hat back on, "She is the ambassador's wife." Maximillian's face turned into one of pure shock, "Wait, the ambassador is a lesbian?" Yin was about to undo her pants, but Yang stopped her, "No, I will explain it. My sister is an intersex, just like her wife." Maximillian calmed down a bit before Yang turned to look at Yin, "Now, if you do not mind, sis. Can you tell us some more?"

Yin took off her glasses and hat before nodding, "Of course. But lets go somewhere more private." Yin took the lead of guiding the group to the crime scene, allowing them to see the markings where Ainohi had been found and where the body of the lord had been found. The amount of blood present made Tenchi cringe a bit, Peridot to cover her maw, Jae to go pale and Violetta to lick her lips. (What? She is a vampire!) Yin turned to face them as Yang nodded, "So, when did you find the body?" Yin closed her eyes and began to think, "I think it was about 15 minutes into the last scheduled security check of the embassy for the day. I was checking all of the rooms and found the scene. I wanted to run in and check on Ainohi, but I know that we should not walk inside, as it would tamper with the crime scene. I got the police here quickly and they... they... they arrested Ainohi!" Yin was about to cry, but Yang was quickly giving her a hug, "Come on, sis. Be strong now. We will clear Ainohi of suspicion and find the criminal."

Yin nodded and sniffed before Yang asked her, "Did someone enter the embassy within the span of the last twelve hours before you found the body?" Yin pulled out a necklace from within her shirt and suddenly a screen appeared in front of her before she began to type on it, "Lets see. A couple of politicians, a few officers and a prosecutor. Otherwise, it was all staff working here." Maximillian could not believe his eyes how advanced they could be, but soon he read all the names, "Most of these are active within the circles of the equal values community. But why did he visit?" Everyone looked at Maximillian, "He?" The stallion nodded before pointing at a name in the list, "This one. Prosecutor Guiles Charger. He is the most recognized prosecutor around here. He got more experience in court than I got on the throne. And he never lost a case so far." Yin nods, "He came here because he wanted to offer his services in the courtroom of Ri'Co'Va, if we needed it. I must say that with his attitude, I would remember him for the fact he did not even ask politely." Yin put on her best impression, "Hey miss. Tell me where the ambassador is, so I can meet her."

They could see that Yin really seemed to hate him, Tenchi did however have a question now, "Did they tell where they brought Ainohi?" Yin nodded, "The detention center. You can visit it down the street." Tenchi and Peridot wasted no time to leave with Sedrin running after them before Yang sighed, "Okay, lets just investigate the scene of the crime now." They nodded as Yin, Jae and Violetta sat down in the chairs outside of the room as Kari and Yang pulled out a few sterile rubber gloves before looking around the room. Kari headed straight for the spot where Ainohi had been found and picked it up, finding it to be possible to fold together easily, "Seems like the supposed murder weapon is a butterfly knife. And it is covered nicely in blood. We'll send it to Azura to check if it matches any cuts." (The "supposed" murder weapon - A butterfly knife covered in blood.) Yang nodded before her eyes picked up something that was out of order with the desk, "Hey, Kari. Come here." Kari moved over, before she noticed the bloodstains on it, but mostly that one area of the desk was not even covered in blood, "Something laid there and was taken from the crime scene. Question is what exactly was it?" (Bloodless area on the table - What could have been laying there?) Yang called out, "Hey sis. Why did Lord Castillian visit?" Yin's voice soon replied to her, "He wanted to discuss an important matter and he was holding something close to him. Looked like a folder of some sort." ("Folder" - The victim brought it with him to the meeting.) Yin stepped into the room and walked over to Yang before noticing the bloodless mark and soon her mind began to work, (Bloodless area on the table & "Folder") "Wait. He carried a folder-like object and this area is completely clean off blood. It must mean that someone took the thing with them. But I saw no one leaving with it." That was a strange thing indeed. ("Folder" - Was present during the time of the murder, but where is it now?)

Yang followed the bloody trail and soon noticed how a plant had been partially stained by the blood, "Wait, how did the blood end up there? You think they could have been fighting after the cut was made?" Yin looked over the amount of blood before nodding, "And so much of it too." (Pools of blood - Both the desk, parts of the floor and a plant got stained with it.) Yin suddenly noticed the flaw in all of this, (The "supposed" murder weapon & Pools of blood) "My dear Yang and Kari and fellow listeners. There is a clear contradiction here. If the knife was the murder weapon, then the amount of blood would be less since the victim would be able to cover their throat or be stabbed through the heart. And with the struggle that happened, it is clear that disarming someone holding a butterfly-style knife would be really easy. In other words, we are looking for a bigger knife here." (The "real" murder weapon - Has to be a big one to cause this amount of bleeding.)

Yang and Kari saw the clear contradiction with it and gave a sigh of relief, "This means also that we look for someone with strength. Ainohi might be strong, but surely a stallion would pose a challenge for her." Yin nods before she noticed that Kari was picking up something from under the desk, "Well, hello there." Kari smiled before bringing out the case file, "Look here. It seems to be that someone dropped this." (Case file - Was found under the desk at the scene of crime.) Yin's eyes soon began to sparkle and Yang smiled, "You remember it, don't you?" Yin nodded, ("Folder" & Case file) "We found our folder. Or maybe we should say case file. When the fight was over, the victim must have been sliding down the desk and pulled it with them, and from this, it ended up under the desk." Kari opened up the case file and began to read before looking at Yin, "I think you might wanna mark our little prosecutor with a motive for murder. This case file is all about him." Yin walked closer to read, "Bribes to make witnesses fake their testimony. Accidents caused to lawyers. Forged evidence. Personality dominance. Part time hunter." Yin looked coldly at this before looking at Kari and Yang, "Excuse me while I visit the coroner." There was no stopping her as Yin had left the room already and was heading towards the police station.

Over at the morgue, Azura sighed as she had finished up the autopsy, just as Yin walked in, "Oh, hi there Azura. What you got for me?" Azura looked confused before Yin explained that she was the investigator, "Oh, I didn't know. Well, he has been dead for about 22 hours." Yin nodded, "Confirms that the murder took place before the last security check. What more?" Azura brought up an x-ray of the neck, making Yin shiver from what she saw, "The victim suffered a broken neck and torn nerves after having been delivered a cut to the throat. I can confirm that the knife we are talking about has a curved design and is at least 40-45 cm long." Yin asked, "Like a kukri?" (Kukri - A curved machete-blade from Nepal, common among warriors and hunters.) Azura nodded before Yin made the connection, (The "real" murder weapon & Kukri) "Wait, if a kukri would be the murder weapon, that would mean... File everything, Azura, and have it ready for me later. I got to tell the news to the others." Azura was nodding before Yin ran out and growled, "Damn, this is big."

Back at the embassy, the investigation had not turned up a major clue and Yang sighed, "We have combed this place completely and we cannot find a single more evidence. If we do not find anything, we will not have it easy to regain our trust with the others." Yin suddenly walked in with a smile, "Then be happy that I got the evidence we might need." Everyone looked at Yin, who pulled out a document, "This is a list of everyone carrying the possible murder weapon, a kukri knife. And guess who is one of them." Everyone's faces went completely blank as Yin spoke out the name, "Prosecutor Charger."

An applaud was heard from behind Yin and the attention turned to see Diopia standing there with Sasha, but the eyes went wide when Sasha's belly had grown a bit since they saw her last time, "Amazing job. Worthy of warriors of justice. And since we got a case of this caliber on our hands, I think I got right guy for the job to be her lawyer." Everyone looked confused before Sasha brought out a full photo of a stallion proudly wearing his lawyer's suit and badge. The reaction was all Sasha needed before she simply nodded, "I will talk to him right away. Oh, by the way, since you wanna uphold your honor like your father would want you to do, I want you to assist him, Yin. His name is Zeus." Tenchi, Peridot and Sedrin had just returned at this point of the news and Tenchi looked at Sasha, "Then I wanna know one thing before you leave. Who is the father?" Sasha smirked and pointed to the photo before she left them with jaws on the floor, Diopia laughing half-heartedly, "Didn't see that one coming." Outside the window to the embassy, the shadowy figure sat on the branch and growled, "You will not win so easily! I will make sure your reputation is grounded into dust tomorrow! See you in court." With a black smoke, the figure disappeared, but Sasha had seen them already, "Seems like we got someone that has to fall tomorrow."

The End.