"No one moves," Wiesheng said, eyeing each one of the Dukes. He paced up and down the hall, closely examining all of them.

"It could have been any of you" Weisheng said coldly

"Please, I'm far too handsome to commit an atrocity like this! I say you find the ugliest man in the room! He must be the one responsible!"

"Why are you averting my eyes?" Wiesheng said. "Was it you Silvio? Whoever brought this wine must have had exquisite tastes."

"It was Bishop Clay then." Silvio said. "He owns every wine France has to offer, not to mention he's been in outs with the King on this whole operation anyway! I heard him say, `It's not good for our finances."

"Hold your tongue you impudent circus animal!" Clay erupted "His Majesty and I resolved those issues, which by the way are none of your concern! Besides, I'm horribly a toxicology expert or an assassin, come to think of it… aren't there 13 of them in this room?" He said eyeing Wieshen and his followers.

"We would never defile our honor!" Weisheng said

"What guarantee do we have that maybe one of your 13 didnt pull this?" Clay asked

"How dare you! We are assassins not traitors!" One of the assassins said.

"This isn't getting us anywhere… As it stands, everyone in this room is a suspect, and unfortunately for us, there are no experts to investigate this matter… I propose we all-" Gilbert began

"No, That's not quite true" Duke interupted. Walking to the center of the room, he addressed his colleagues. "I've read quite a bit on murder, I elect that I am equipped to handle the situation here." Duke said

"And how do you absolve yourself from this?" Clay asked

"You said the culprit must have had very good taste in wine, correct? Well What do I, an 18 year old boy know of that? Besides, I was at this Castle before any of you on separate business, you can ask Wiesheng, at no time did I have any alcohol with me."

"He is right" Silvio said "Besides we have little choice, the best thing for us is to all be separated, before more blood inevitably gets spilled."

"Agreed, Now, all of you are dismissed, Weisheng will assist me in investigating this crime scene, and I will question each of you separately in your rooms. You are Dismissed." Duke said

And with that the room was emptied until Wiesheng and Duke were the only ones left.

"Do you really think you can find the culprit?" Weisheng asked

"This will be a simple case." Duke said. "Based on what I have observed the culprit wasn't planning on hiding themselves, this will be a simple matter. The first thing we need to know is where the poison came from, was it in the cup, or was it in the wine?"

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Weisheng asked.

"Lets ask Godefroi, of course." Duke said.

Wiesheng became still, and for the very first time in Duke's acquaintance with him, he saw a tinge of fear in his expression.

"Is that some kind of joke?" Wiesheng said.

"You don't have to lie to me," Duke said. "I'm well aware of My uncle's artefact."

"What are you talking about?"

Duke walked over to Godefroi's corpse. After letting out a sigh, he picked up a knife from the table, and stubbed his finger.

"Awaken, my dear Uncle," He said, landing a drop of blood onto Godefroi's lips.

For a moment there was stillness. Duke's tiny drop of blood ran down his uncles lips proceeding into his mouth.

"Gulp"

There was a small but noticeable movement in Godefroi's adams apple, that, for a moment seemed as if he had croaked.

BUMP BUMP!

A soft pattering in Godefroi's chest began to flutter

BUMP BUMP

The puttering got louder and louder until it seemed as if all of Godefroi's body was pulsing.

"Artefact of Vladmir, blood Transfusion" Godefroi coraked.

For a moment Godefrois hair became golden and shown with the full radiance of the sun. His eyes became golden as well, glistening with a yellow shine. His weak and weary body became vascular, and pumped full with life. Within moments he was standing back up addressing Wiesheng.

"When did you tell Duke his majesty? I was made to believe that I was the only one to be made aware of this." Weisheng said.

"That's not true." Godefroi said. "I also told you that I would tell the man I chose to be my successor, in case there was ever a power struggle, I could die and hide away until I regained my strength."

"Then that means…"

"Thats right Wiesheng, as he stated earlier, this is my nephew by extension of family, The cousin of the Dark Prince, Duke, the man I have named as my successor."

"In...credible" Weisheng said.

"So uncle, can you tell me? Was the poison in the wine or on the glass?"

"Pass me the glass and I will drink from it without my lips touching, If I die once more, do another transfusion."

Godefroi ingested the drink once more. After a few moments he became sick and it wasn't long before he went into seizure dying yet again.

After he was revived, Duke sat at the table with his hand on his chin.

"So, it is the wine." Duke said. "Now there is no doubt about it, somehow before you got your taste of the wine, someone poisoned you! Which man was the last to touch the bottle before the servant poured your share?"

"That would be, without a doubt, The Duke of Champaigne" Godefroi said.

"I knew it that good for nothing Traitor! I'll kill him" A voice erupted from the hallway.

"That was GIlbert wasn't it! We have to stop him before we question The Duke!"

WHAM!

Gilbert knocked down the door to Godefroi's private study.

"What do you want you old coot?" The Duke of Champaign said

"William de Frank! By order of the King I sentence you to death!" Gilbert said drawing his sword.

"You fool!" Willaim said drawing his sword.