Chapter 18: The Council of Blood
"He did what?" cried Reiach angrily. "Tell me all."
With every detail from his spy; the judge's temper, which was already at murderous rage, continued to heat up a degree after every syllable pronounced. It was time to go forward with the plan to destroy the farmer once and for all. However, it had to be done carefully like a snake who carefully stalks his prey to kill it. Seth and Naasson presented their devilish ideas, but Reiach heard nothing more than childish thoughts that would go no further than having the farmer getting a slap on the hand. Reiach wanted more, death to be exact; but just not any death, a shame that would spread throughout Shavron to anyone who dared to stand against the keepers again. It would be a public death, but he needed support to carry out this scheme.
Secretly he wrote two letters to the judges of battle and commerce. Reiach made sure that no one could read the letters except the other two judges. The letter was encrypted so that only the three judges could read, it was an art that all three had learned in order to communicate with each other whenever they wanted to keep the public in the dark about a devious matter. Once the letters were completed, Reiach took it upon himself to ensure that his business would arrive without the nosey inclinations of his two chief keepers.
The mail carrier was promised triple pay if he got the letters to their destination by the end of the week; he did it in two days and received his payment in full.
It was mid-night as Reiach paced back and forth in a dimly lighted room in a rundown tavern just across the eastern border of Shavron. There was a table that was propped up with a book, three rickety chairs( that looked as if they would break under the weight of even a mouse), and a pitcher of water to refresh themselves into the night. Under disguise, Reiach was glad to know that the owner of the tavern had no idea who he was, this made the meeting place perfect for the murderous deed at hand. From the room's door there came a knock. It had put such a fright into the otter, that he held still from a moment. Then another knock was given and Reiach made his way over cautiously. The judge placed his ear against the door as if to see if it was alive or not, and gave a call sign to see if his guest had arrived.
"What is cold as ice and as destructive as a flood?"
"Who else than the council of blood?" returned the voice, "By the way this the corniest code I have ever heard."
Reiach opened the door and Sahar came in and took note of the old room and gloomy lighting, Ping arrived soon after. The moment he entered the room he began to complain of the accommodations and insisted that they have the meeting in a place more suited to his taste.
"It's the best place for this," said Reiach. " I don't want anyone to know about it except us."
After an hour of chatting about the new things that they had brought and the gossip around Shavron, they final got to the matter at hand.
"As for this farmer, you all know what he did at the Tribless stone?"
"I hear about it from my servants all the time," said Sahar, " He has done a lot more: forgives sin, heals, raises the dead, and says he‘s the son of----"
Reiach held up his hand, intimating for the lion to stop.
"So, what is this plan of yours to get rid of the farmer," said Ping, " I all ready figured out that we will have to kill him, but why?"
"I want to kill him not for healing the sick or anything of that matter, but he makes himself equal to God. God commands us not to worship any other idol. Our forefathers suffered persecution because of it and I will not let it happen again."
"I read the prophesies," said Sahar, "He fulfills all of them from what I‘ve heard."
"Are you a believer now?!!" said Reiach, "Are a follower?" The lion not to be intimidated by a mere otter, frankly said,
"I have no interest in surrendering my life to God. I was only making a point."
"Well, next time keep you points to yourself." said Reiach, giving the lion a dirty look. Ping jumped with his question from before.
"How are going to kill him?"
Pouring some water, Reiach sipped his water slyly, looking at both the judges. Sahar and Ping looked on with desperate anticipation. One of them was inclined to demanded that Reiach give them the plan; but before the request was given, he gave them what they wanted.
"Next year when we have the Exodus Fair, we'll take this farmer and make him main event."
This wasn't much of a revelation to either of the two judges. They had both before, just like Reiach, tried capturing the panda, but with the commoners‘ respect and overall love of the farmer, that task was impossible to complete. Sahar ran his fingers through his mane, which showed his indifference to Reiach's proposal.
"Some plan!" said Ping, " Do you think Sahar and I haven't thought of that already? The farmer it popular among the masses, we can't take him openly."
The otter laughed as he looked at the ape.
"Ping, my fellow judge, I thought your species had a far higher intelligence than other creatures. Can you not see my reasoning? Can you not see my full plan?"
"If I did I would have done it by now," said the ape. " Enough with the games out with it!"
Reiach continued to torture his companions with his silent episodes. Finally he saw that they had enough.
"All right, do you know the creatures that follow him, you know, the twelve?"
"Oh, yes. Paskalo is one of them. Its a shame that he left the upper class to follow the farmer. He was a good keeper."
Suddenly, Reiach slammed is fist on the table, the very act near toppled the table, but it withstood the blow.
"HE WASN'T A GOOD KEEPER; HE WASN'T GOOD AT ANYTHING! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT DOG'S NAME AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?"
Ping shot a joyful glance at the lion, and Sahar returned the look. Both concurred that the otter was jealous of his former leader.
"Now," the otter said shaking off his fit of rage, "we'll get one of them to lead us to the panda in secret during the Exodus Fair."
"Now this sounds interesting," said the lion, "Betrayal and from one of his own– the plot thickens." he said with a sneer.
"Now there's the business of destroying him" said the otter, " We need to get the commoners on our side. We'll make him out to be a villain of some kind, I have already made a new rule to trap him, but we need more!"
"False witnesses– try that," said Ping, " They've always worked for me."
The otter clapped his hands together as if he was given a grand present. Sahar jumped to give some of his ideas, and the council of blood went into the night. When day broke, a plan was set. The three judges made arrangements to return back to Upper Shavron, satisfied that the farmer would be no more. However they were oblivious that they themselves were apart of God‘s plan to redeem a world engulfed in sin.