Ironcloud's council did not summon Helmar Ruskell quietly.
The order traveled through official messengers, family channels, commercial offices, and every airship station authorized to carry council notices. It named charges of attempted murder, unlawful assassination contracts, slave trafficking, and refusal to disclose workers held at Blackwater Reach. Helmar was ordered to appear within seven days.
His answer arrived on the sixth.
The sealed statement accused Renn of conspiring with foreign adventurers to steal Ruskell property. It described Serrik as a criminal hired by unknown enemies and dismissed the documents found in his room as obvious fabrications. Helmar would not abandon Blackwater Reach merely to participate in a proceeding designed by his nephew.
Renn read the statement inside a council waiting room.
"He called me his nephew." He said.
Rod looked up. "You are."
"His earlier statements called me an alleged relative."
