An Angel Called Eternity

To Bet on Losing Dogs - Cardinal Sin X: Hellfire

Cardinal Sin X: Hellfire

The Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Moon, 873 AD.
Aegos, Aegan Hills, Western Dathan.

The time of the trial was now. Any moment it would begin, and Admeta would be tried in front of the entire assembled powerbase of the theocracy. If he could best her in this court, then he'd have struck a tremendous blow to the foundations of this wretched edifice.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Sin?"

He smiled at Spyridon's concern, his friend having worn the same worried expression for days now. Honestly, there was little that wouldn't make his friend afraid for Sin's life at the moment. It was quite endearing, in all honesty. He could think of worse people to have by his side than Spyridon, that much was certain.

"I'll be fine, Spy. This is our chance to see Admeta removed from the picture. It isn't pleasant, I know, but it needs to be done. She's too dangerous for us to trust anymore, too unpredictable to be counted on. Most importantly, she's too smart when it comes to playing this sort of political game. You and I need her gone to make sure our goals can succeed, our plans can come to fruition, and our people can breath freely once more. I'll be fine, Spy. Will you?"

His friend was still for a moment, then nodded with what at least seemed to be certainty.
"I will. It isn't something I'll enjoy, but then I haven't enjoyed much of what I've done these last few years. Why start now?"

Sin snorted at his friend's words, knowing that feeling all too well.
"Yeah, I get that. Still, we'll enjoy what we do soon enough. We just need to make sure we're fine when the smoke clears from today. You think you can manage that?"

Spyridon gave him an exaggerated salute, and Sin laughed again. It would be nice to go back to this sort of thing when the coming civil war was over, to live a life where he could simply enjoy himself alongside his friend and not worry about the sword that hung over his head at any moment. He'd often thought his life would have been much simpler if he'd just believed in the work of the theocracy, which was true, but he was more than pleased with the fact that he'd taken the difficult road in life and done what was right to the best of his abilities. It wasn't fun, no, and it certainly hadn't felt rewarding at times, but he'd done it anyway. It had exhausted him to no end back in Athio and it had stressed him to the point of madness in Aegos, but he had done it anyway. What that said about his character was more pleasing than any reward or praise Adikos could have given him, even if he'd have wanted a gift from those blood-soaked hands.

"Ah, the trial is beginning. I need to go back to my place by Adikos' side. Good luck, Sin."

Sin nodded his thanks to his friend and rolled his shoulders to relieve some of the tension he was feeling. It was time to put on a show. It was time to put on the most convincing act of his life. If he fucked this up... well, best not to think of that. If he succeeded however... well, that was certainly going to be fun. A lie to himself of course, for condemning one of the few people he'd ever trusted certainly wasn't liable to be something he enjoyed. Still, he had work to do at the moment, and thoughts of what was to come after all of this would only distract him from the goal he had been working towards this entire time. He couldn't afford to trip himself at the last hurdle; he needed to be focused.

Cardinal Admeta walked onto the stage, flanked by a pair of guards, and answered the questions put forwards to her with grace and dignity. The senate was strangely silent at the moment, but Sin knew all of that would change soon enough. He just needed to wait for his turn.

Admeta walked off of the stage perhaps an hour later and was led off through a side passage, and there was no small amount of muttering as the assembled men of the church discussed what they believed should be done with the information that had been given to them. Soon after Sin was called into the centre, and all the chatter stopped. He walked out with purpose and swagger, confident in his abilities to bluff his way through any of the hardliner's questions designed to trip him up. He was Cardinal fucking Sin, and he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip him by.