Archduke Blanxart! Surprising, but very welcome; she'll head quickly over to the scary noble mansion.

She hopes he was comforted by her comforting letter! It's unclear if archdukes have emotions but it was worth the attempt in case he does.

"Barrister. Your earlier letter was most welcome; I regret that I haven't had the chance to respond."

"I imagine we are both busy, so I'll make this brief: Valia Wain is being charged with, among other things, incitement to my murder specifically. You and I both know that she was a minor cause at worst. I want to testify to this in her defense, but I don't want to draw attention to the actual cause in open court."

Lluïsa nods, and smiles a bit despite herself. "That is an Understandable Desire. So that you may be made Aware, my Argument tends towards casting the Blame where I do truly believe it to Lie; that is with the so-called 'Friend of the True People'. That you were in addition a Specific Target of other Criminal Elements is not Germane to the Actions or Mind of Select Wain, who did in fact name you, it is true, but not for Denunciation. At the least it was hardly her Intent."

"If you are willing, would you give for me a Description of your Interaction with Select Wain that was the cause of that Mention in her Speech?"

"She proposed expelling Delegate Ibarra from the Committee on Excising Diabolism for being Evil and a worshipper of Norgorber. I opposed the motion on the grounds that this did not make him a diabolist, and that permitting the expulsion of delegates was a dangerous policy, as the Archmage had already stated."

"What were your Reactions upon hearing her Speech on the Floor; in specific Addressing these Questions, did you think it Ill-Advised, did you think it Unlawful, and did you consider it to Directly Attack you?"

"I thought it profoundly ill-advised, though I didn't anticipate as a result immediate violence in the city. I didn't know the law. If she had given that speech on a street corner it would have been sedition, but I had been imagining that the Convention followed a policy like that of Andoran, where any and all speech is permitted within the halls of the assembly. I thought she misrepresented me, but I would have been satisfied to clarify the matter before the assembly, had I gotten the chance; I would not have thought of attempting to avenge my honor, even if I had thought it licit to so challenge a Select of Iomedae."

"You may not be Heartened, but perhaps somewhat set at Ease, by the knowledge that Select Wain made a study of that Law in Force by the Queen's Decree before giving that Speech, in order not to Violate it, and that she did not Distribute or cause to be Distributed copies of that Speech outside the Hall; I know not the source but suppose that since the Hall is Packed Full during the General Session it could have been one of a Great Many. Note also that she was attentive to Concerns raised, and that I in fact have secured Testimony regarding her Refusal to Recite the Speech outside the Hall. For these reasons I hold her conduct Lawful."

"Regarding your own Murder, I am of course sorrowed to hear of it; can you describe briefly those Events, in specific including whether the Murderers had particular words on their lips taken from the Speech, for example?"

"I did not even see the man who fired the shot, in the general chaos of the sack of the house; I did hear, earlier, when the priests were attempting to placate the mob, a shout to 'Bring out the Thrune!', which was, of course, not a detail present in Select Wain's speech. Alas that I do not wish to testify to this specifically, unless it be absolutely necessary."

That's a relief. "A statement that in the Jeering of the Mob you identified no words of, or making reference to, Select Wain, will I believe be Sufficient for what is in my Mind."

"You may be Bound not to share it but in case you are not I ask for Completeness what it is the Prosecution would ask of your Testimony."

"Alas that that is not unambiguously true. I did also hear them shout 'Bring out the devils!', which I took to refer to the Count regent of Ilnea, whom the prosecution is not mentioning only because he survived the riots. He was threatened much more directly by Select Wain's speech; as I recall she said, 'if you are an evil titled devilspawn,' which indeed he is, 'you should be afraid.'"

"I expect the prosecution to ask me to testify that I warned Select Wain, well before her speech, that her course of action was likely to lead to great evil. I did not actually anticipate the specific evil that resulted, though I expect their questioning to lead away from that fact."

"An evil titled devilspawn... why, it could not have referred to the Count-Regent; perhaps he may be Evil though I see no Evidence, and perhaps known as Devilspawn by his Appearance, but surely he is Regent for a true Count, and hardly Titled."

She sighs. "It is Weak Sophistry and not worth Making. At any rate those who anticipated the Mob made their way to Select Wain only afterwards."

"Perhaps a statement along the following Lines; I advised Select Wain in generality that her course would tend to have Evil outcomes, though I did not foresee and warn her of any specific Evil outcome. I thought her Speech to be Ill-Advised, though the closure of Debate prevented me from speaking against it on the Floor, but not Unlawful to give. I did not contemplate that the Speech was a Threat or Incitement against me, and had I had the Chance to Object this would not have figured in my Objection. Later, I was slain during the Attack of the Mob, while Defending the People within—I do Presume you were, of course, but it seems a Safe Presumption unless some other Matter such as sending for Aid had Occupied you, in which case say that—and while it was assuredly Murder visited upon my Person I do not believe Select Wain to have contemplated any Harm to me, that she merely Disagreed as one Delegate to the Convention to another."

"Yes, I think that statement would be acceptable."

"I will take and Notarize it now in whatever Phrasing you choose, and submit your Name for Testimony as well. That other Name I will make every effort to not Introduce at all. Though of course privately I stand by what I have written before, that any Dishonor on that Name is hardly your Dishonor."

"Oh, I agree. I intend to address the issue openly before the Convention when it resumes. I have no such intention before an audience that will have arrived bloodthirsty and will hopefully leave disappointed."

"It is Sensibly Thought."

She'll take and notarize his affidavit.