There were several long moments, in which the entire group was riveted on the site of the palm-sized jewel.

“This crystal,” Lexavier went on , “is a very unique sort of magical item. Few of the other nobles know that it is anything more than a simple jewel.”
“These silver things give it away, don’t they,” Peter said, “the way they move around.”
“Thankfully, few others notice them,” James replied. “And few who do know what they are.”
“So what are they?” Bayani asked as he leaned in closer to the jewel.
“They are the very thing that our king needs to see,” Lexavier told him. “This crystal was placed on a table in the room where the nobles met to discuss the king’s demise. It took a record of that evening, in much the same way that a camera on Earth would today. His majesty knows how to activate the images and watch the events for himself.”

Peter peered up at the baron the way a librarian would look over glasses, and with the same incredulous expression that she might have if she had just been told that there was a perfectly good reason why someone might shout in the library. “Something like that, and it is not well known that it exists?”

“This crystal was not easy to acquire,” James told him, a slight air of defensiveness lining his voice. “The wizards do not like to sell magical items to the mundane. They talk about them about as rarely.”

“How did you get this one?” Cerys asked.

“When I heard about the gathering that the other nobles had planned,” the baron explained, “I knew that something was amiss. I paid a visit to the wizard of southern Summerlay, and explained what was going on. It took some negotiating, and quite a lot of convincing, but I was able to purchase this jewel from him.”

“Are they terrible difficult to make?” Himeko asked.

Lexavier nodded. “The wizard needs a very particular sort of gem to do make one. I promised that I would send him samples from our mines until he had what he needed to replace this one.”

“Nevermind how they’re made,” Peter said. “Are you sure that we can trust this wizard with the knowledge that you sent spies into this meeting?”

“He and his kind have worked with our family for ages,” James told him. “We have no reason not to trust him.”

“Nor any choice,” Lexavier added. “The other wizards of Summerlay are in far-off baronies, and passing through them would mean detention for certain. There is a kingdom south of ours, but the distance there is too great.”