What made it even more eventful was the rather unusual decree the King made, staring at Keritanima the entire time, that stated that the reigning monarch was no longer subject to common law, only the Royal law that governed nobility. The Royal laws made no mention of such things as murder, blackmail, kidnapping, or assault. What he didn't seem to comprehend was that it only reinforced the image of the naked King wandering the hallways pretending to be the most important thing in the world.

It also made the nobles grumble a bit. Damon Eram had just removed the one thing that made the playing field between the crown and the noble houses even. Those rules were delicate, allowing the nobles and the king to plot on one another but keep it from disrupting the flow of government. But now Damon Eram was no longer subject to common law, so that meant that he could literally do anything he pleased and not a soul could gainsay him. The suffrance of the king was through his nobles, and any king that alienated his nobles tended to lose his crown. She was certain that his decree was another hasty act designed to make her capitulate, but it also had the effect of making the nobles think that Damon Eram was getting completely power-hungry. The struggle of dominance between Damon Eram and his defiant daughter was clouding his judgement, just as she hoped that it would.

After that decree, Keritanima wandered around, commenting on it to other nobles, and generally setting the mood that maybe Damon Eram was starting to think himself godly long before he got his hands on the Firestaff. And they bit at her bait. Many of the nobles she chatted with were thinking the very same thing themselves, and maybe the stress he'd been under the last couple of months was finally starting to affect him.

And being the conniving backbiters they were, they immediately redoubled their efforts to get him.

The next time Damon Eram wandered the hallways, there was an escort of Royal Guard following from a discreet distance. They had ignored his orders to stay at their post and were following him, because that afternoon they had caught a shady Wikuni trying to sneak into the palace with an assassin's pistol. They kept an eye on him as he wandered around, blocked off the Hall of the Sun when he entered and conducted his phantom court, and then followed him back to his room when he was done. More than one thought he was sleepwalking, because his eyes had a glassy quality to them that made him look not quite conscious.

The next day at court, the new head of House Tarn boldly addressed him and asked him if he was feeling well. Her name was Shareese, a willowy gazelle Wikuni with a slight frame and two polished horns on her head.

"I'm feeling fine, Duchess Tarn," he replied uncertainly.

"Well, your Majesty has been sleepwalking," she noted. "We of house Tarn was just curious if you found out why."

"I haven't consulted a physician, no," he told her. "I really don't think I've been sleepwalking, anyway. I was up well into the night last night."

"But I saw you, your Majesty."

"I'm sure you think you did, but I didn't leave my room at all last night, Shareese. It must have been some other lion."

And that started it. Keritanima left court with an evil smile on her face. Oh, what plans she had for her father.

Damon Eram came into court a few days later holding a parchment in his hands. He immediately summoned the Clerk of Law to audience. He looked very out of sorts, and he paced on the dais the entire time as he waited for the older goat Wikuni to arrive. When he finally did, all of court fell silent as Damon Eram dug into him before he could finish bowing. "Why did you put this nonsense on my desk this morning, Travers?" he demanded, shaking the parchment like a chicken about to go in the oven. "It's ridiculous!"

"You did, your Majesty," the goat said in his raspy voice. "And I agree that it is indeed ridiculous."

"I most certainly did not, Travers," he said heatedly. "I spent last night in company!"

"You delivered that to me at ten last night, your Majesty," Travers said a bit testily. "You demanded it be entered into the Volume of Law. I told you that I wouldn't do that until you had time to sleep on it. That's why I put it back on your desk."

"Ten? Travers, I was entertaining Lady Shareese last night at ten!" he objected. "I didn't have time to come to your office and give you this!"

"But you did, your Majesty. Perhaps your Majesty simply forgot about it with company waiting for him to return?"

"Travers. I was in no position to go anywhere last night at ten," he said pointedly. "Me and the Duchess were, indisposed."

"No offense, your Majesty, but I saw what I saw. You delivered that decree to me last night. I will swear by it. Perhaps we could ask the Duchess what time you left? Maybe my clock was off."

"Good idea. Summon Duchess Shareese Tarn!" he commanded to the Chamberlain.

When the Duchess arrived, she looked a bit confused. She curtsied to him gracefully. "Yes, your Majesty?"

"Duchess, when did you leave my chambers this morning?" Damon Eram asked.

"I didn't, your Majesty," she replied. "You invited me to dine last night, but I was called back to my house about seven. We had a ship fire."

"Duchess, you were with me last night," Damon Eram protested.

"I was, for about half an hour, your Majesty," she said sincerely. "I apologize for leaving early. Would you prefer to dine tonight instead?"

Damon Eram's face screwed up. "Something's going on around here!" he suddenly boomed. "Bring a priest! I want the truth divined!"

That sent a rush through court. Damon Eram got a furious look from the Duchess and a glare from Travers. That he would doubt their word enough to send for a priest to divine the truth was an insult.

When the priest arrived, he cast his spell to divine the truth, then Damon Eram stood up in front of his throne and addressed Duchess Shareese Tarn. "What time did you leave my room last night, Duchess?"

"It couldn't have been more than seven, your Majesty. I was called away due to an accident at our house docks."

Damon Eram looked at the priest. "She speaks the truth, Majesty," the portly bear Wikuni announced.

"Travers, when do you say I showed up at your door?"

"Ten, your Majesty, by my clock. You demanded I add that decree to the Volume of Law."

"He speaks truth, Majesty," the priest told him.

"That's impossible!" Damon Eram said furiously. "I was with Lady Shareese all night last night!"

"Your Majesty!" Shareese said indignantly. "I'm a married woman!"

"What's going on around here!" Damon Eram demanded heatedly. "I did not bring this to you, Travers, and I certainly did not demand you notarize it into law!" He raked his gaze across the room, and it fell on Keritanima. "Keritanima, come here right now!" he snapped. "This has your hand all over it!"

Keritanima floated up to the dais and curtsied elegantly. "What do you want, your Majesty?"

"Did you do this?" he demanded hotly.

"Do what, your Majesty?"

"Don't play games with me, daughter," he warned. "I'll have you racked! Did you set up this little game?"

"I didn't do anything, father," she said with a malicious grin. "Not a thing."

"She speaks the truth, your Majesty," the priest told him in a quavering voice. Word had gotten out that every time Keritanima and Damon Eram exchanged words, innocent bystanders tended to die. The priest didn't feel comfortable with making himself noticable.

"I don't believe you!" he shouted. "Are you using your magic to hide the truth?"

"I am forbidden to practice Sorcery in the Hall of the Sun, your Majesty. You decreed it yourself. I'm not about to commit high treason in front of a hundred witnesses."

"She is speaking the truth, your Majesty. Regardless of that, her magical powers cannot hide the truth from her words. She cannot evade the spell, because it has nothing to do with her."