28th of Terith'an : Beryl Capitol City

28th of Terith'an

Vyncent sat as calmly as his nerves would allow him to in the large plush chair of the Exchequer. He rubbed his hands against his temples and hoped that the headache he had would go away. The dull aching throb was a normal thing for him these days, more than likely caused by the large chain he wore for his office. He rubbed at his temples, massaging the skin below the slight peppering of his hair. The stress that his job placed on him was considerable. However, there was one stress that was more so than the others. He looked towards the open glass box that was on the desk. The sides of the box had fallen open forming a large cross on the corner of his table, multicolored threads sprawling in separate directions like a halo of random strings.

The thieves had to have been very clever to get in without setting off any of the alarms. That was not the problem however. The magical seal of the treasury had been missing for over a week, but merchants from local counting houses were still coming in to have their writs exchanged. It was not a problem really, except for the fact that all of these writs seemed to have been made after the seal was stolen.

Vyncent sighed. The only people who could use the Royal seal were those of the royal house. That required them to have blood of the royal family. There was none of the nonsense of having married in and being able to use it. He looked at his thumb, where the impression of the small spike that tested his blood every time he used the seal. He looked at the empty place once more and shook his head. It had to be the damn Bishops, however none of the Inquisitors he talked to would admit to anything. He reached out for a large slip of paper on the desk and drew it close.

The seal of the Royal Treasury stood out in pure red wax like a large beacon. The impression was the exact depth and the same roundness of the original seal. He shook his head. This had been issued a day after the seal had been stolen and now, the writs of exchange were being brought in to be cashed out by the counting houses. The writs were being checked of course by the Treasury Guard and clerks were besides themselves. It was not a well kept secret, but those in the know knew that there were no writs being issued, eve if they did not know why yet.

Vyncent had kept it from his brother for as long as he could before breaking down and telling him. contrary to what he thought, his brother was not mad at him, however, he had sent out two cadres of people to go out and find who might have taken the seal. The search was not going well.

There was a quiet knock on the door and a sigh escaped the younger brother's lips. "Come in," he said with an air of resignation.

A small mousy woman walked into the room. She was wearing the uniform of a clerk, but Vyncent knew who she was and motioned for her to walk towards the desk as quickly as possible. He stood up from his large chair and his eyes sparked with determination.

"Well? have you been able to figure anything out?"

The girl quickly curtsied and then clasped her hands in front of her. "Lord Vyncent, we may have a bigger problem than we thought."

Vyncent leaned forwards and then said,"Is it or isn't it?"

The girl shook her head. "Sir, the seals are all real. Not a single one of them is a forgery. What's more, the seals have the appropriate magical signature, so we know that it has to be the real seal that is being used."

As soon as she finished saying it, he slammed his fist against the desk. "Damn it Annabella! Can't you give me any good news at all?"

The girl cringed shying away from Vyncent's rage for just a moment before she straightened her self back up again. She took a deep breath and said, "The good news is that since we know that it is the real seal being used, only someone of the blood could be using it."

Vyncent narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure about that?"

Annabella nodded her head. “The only people who can use the seal are those who have the blood in their veins. This however leads to our second problem."

"What would that have been then?"

Annabella looked rather  concerned and in a low voice said, "There is more than likely someone else with royal blood that we do not know about."

Vyncent frowned and then rubbed his eyes. "Are you saying that there is a bastard among us?"

Annabella looked at the ground and her face brightened to a shade of red. Vyncent shook his head again and slammed a hand against the table.

"Damn it! We need to get the royal records and see if anyone is a possible match. We are going to have to go back generations..."

Annabella nodded her head vigorously. "I got it. I will retrieve the roll book immediately."