70 One Down, One to Go (1/2)
In clear contrast with the earlier noise, the Ancestral Hall had been taken over by a quiet murmur. No one had expected this strange turn of events. The first prince had proven unusually persistent, even when pressured. Corco himself didn't care about anyone's opinion. His confidence as high as ever, he could bask in the sound of their confusion until Chaupic returned and handed him the utensils he had asked for.
”Okay, lets get-”
As all the elders around the table schemed a response to help Prince Amautu, they continued their whispering to find out just what the strange first prince had planned. Unhappy with the lack of attention, Corco looked around the room.
”You really want me to take the megaphone out again? Let's calm down, okay?”
A false smile and a few seconds later, the conversations had calmed down enough for Corco to start his explanation.
”...good. Now then. Here's how this works.”
Corco took a seat on the ground in the center of the room and began to prepare his supplies. He took the ink stone and knife and began to shave flecks of black pigment onto a piece of paper.
”First off, anyone who leaves this room from now on will be complicit in a crime. If you leave now the only reason to do so would be to tamper with the evidence in the grand court up above. Let's be careful about that, shall we?”
Fadelio had taken position at the door to guarantee no one would sneak out, but you could never be too certain. Corco decided to put an additional stigma on any of Amautu's allies before they could take action. Meanwhile, he had finished amassing a mound of black dust and proceeded to clean his fingers of any residual ink with a soft cloth.
”Now then, onto the meat of the issue. I'll press my fingers onto this piece of paper. The paper is completely clean, as are my fingers, what with me cleaning them and all.”
He did just as he said and then took great care to move the paper with the invisible finger prints, the mound of coal dust and brush over to the table of the ancestors, right in between his grandfather and the frowning Elder Ichilia.
”Now I'll smudge my fingers and then make an imprint of their skin pattern on the same piece of paper.”
”Prince Corco, the ancestors have no time for magic tricks. Prince should find a conclusion soon or the elders should rescind prince's right to speak,” Amautu said from the back.
Corco barely managed to suppress a grin. The master of ceremonies, the man to lead today's assembly, was an Ichilia. With how obvious the man's agenda had been so far, Corco wouldn't even have to answer for himself.
”The ancestors will continue to hear the prince's plea, as is tradition. No interruptions shall be permitted during this time,” the still frowning Elder said.
Even though he didn't like Corco showing off, the first prince knew that the man still relished the chance to deal with Amautu. Rid of his brother's disturbance, Corco could continue his demonstration.
”Right. So here's the rub: All people, that means everyone in the world, have an individual, unique set of fingerprints. When we touch something, even with cleaned hands we leave an imperceptible imprint of dirt and sweat wherever we've touched. With the right tools, those imprints can be made visible.”
”So if Prince Amautu's fingerprints were to be found on the throne, it would prove his actions.”
A helpful voice came from the side. Of course Caelestis would support Corco. It was something the prince had bet on. After the events of the last few days, the old man must have felt guilty. He would show leniency as long as Corco only aimed at Amautu. The support of the former emperor and the tolerance from the master of ceremonies would be enough to get his voice heard.
”Exactly. That's the plan,” Corco replied while he pressed his smudged fingers onto the paper to produce prints, ”You've all seen me press my fingers onto the paper before and it didn't produce any results, right? Now look again.”
The prince took great care to cover the fine writing brush with ink dust and brushed it over the paper to uncover his own fingerprints from before. After, he showed the paper to the elders within the room, especially the two in his front.
”As you can see, the prints revealed are identical to the prints I made myself.”
He knew that the rebuttal would follow right on his heels, but Ichilia would only try to make him look incompetent, rather than try to disrupt the argument, so he let the slander from his right wash over himself.
”To the point, Prince. Wasting the precious time of the ancestors is unsuited of one deserving the crown.”
”Right. You're asking: Why believe that finger prints are gonna be different for everyone? I could have just made up the entire story. Let's just prove this for now: I can guarantee you that even the fingers of close family members will have a pattern of grooves and lines nothing like my own. To our good fortune, there is a good few of my relatives right here. Grandfather, if you would be so kind?”
”Of course.”
The old man on the left was eager to stand up and help out, while the one on the right just sat and watched, unhappy but not willing to interrupt. Since House Ichilia tolerated his actions, he wouldn't have to go thorough the long and slow process of proving the usefulness his new forensic methods. Despite his doubts, the master of ceremonies would accept his theories as long as they would hurt Amautu's chances for the throne.
After Caelestis had taken his fingerprints and compared them to Corco's, all the prince had to do was collect samples from a few separate people to compare. A bit of back and forth and the ancestors looked convinced.
”Good. Now that we have established that this is a viable method to prove what someone might have touched, all we need to do is get Prince Amautu's fingerprints and compare them to the prints he left on the silver throne this very day.”
Corco's face remained emotionless as his eyes zeroed in on the tensed body of his brother.
”This prince refuses to accept! This is nothing but charlatanry! Tricks of traveling folk!”
”It's not your turn to talk, good brother! The ancestors have decided to accept my evidence as just. Does Prince Amautu mean to defy the ancestors?”