Back inside the room, the loud banging upon the door momenarily drew Maria's gaze away from the fallen magistrate. Her lips peeled back into what almost appeared to be a grin, but the gleam in her eyes and the intensity of her stare betrayed her nefarious thoughts.
The guard quickly moved to help Magistrate Thorvard back to his feet. Edgar however scrambled to his feet on his own and rushed to the door. After trying to yank it open he stared hard at the guard.
“What are you doing, man?” Edgar shouted. “Open this door!”
Scrambling for the keys, the guard seemed confused as he opened the door. It was hard not to hear the growing mob outside now as it was hard to ignore rocks pelting the side of the building. The guard was even more confused though when he did open the door and he was yanked out by the frantic Asborjn Thorvard.
“Go, your fellows need you! I will stay here with my father.” When the guard was gone, Asborjn turned on his father with a wild look. “I need to speak to her father! This wound, something is wrong.”
“Nonsense!” Edgar growled through clenched teeth, offering a sideways glance to Maria to signal that this need not be discussed in front of her.
Edgar's glance went disregarded by the prisoner though and she abruptly interjected into the exchange. “For how long do you think he can hide it? How long until it is he in this cell,” Maria interjected. There was a feral intensity to her eyes as she looked back to Edgar. “They will try herbs and remedies first, but when that fails they will try to poison and burn it out of him.” Her thick accent and foreign dialect marred the clarity of her words, but there was a coldness to them that was unmistakable.
“Enough of your tongue, creature!” Edgar yelled as he picked up the poker and charged the cage. It would not have as burning of a bite as it would have when he first entered but he could still stab her well enough. He lunged forward with it but was thrown off balance by his son grabbing him by the wrists.
“Father, no! I need this creature alive! Do not be so blind!”
Edgar pulled away but let his son take the weapon. “No one needs this filth! Perhaps we should just give it to the crowd! You are fine, my boy! This affliction does not have you, it is just paranoia. I have seen the change before, boy. Do you remember the tales I told you? A simple scratch will not…”
It is then that Asborjn exploded at his father like he had never before. “The damned thing did not scratch me! It bit me! I could feel the saliva seep in to the blasted wound!”
Maria's gaze did not waver as she slowly stepped away from the iron bars and back into the shadowed corner of her cell. “If he is lucky, they will hang him after. If not, they will burn him alive.”
Edgar moved as if to kick at the cage but Asborjn was there to stop him. With a final glare at the werewolf, Edgar looked up at his son and sighed. Asborjn was a young man now and no longer a child. Despite wanting to coddle him the way his mother no longer could, Edgar knew he had to step down this time.
“Very well, Asborjn. Just do not let her touch you, my son.”
Asborjn did not reply though but instead turned around to face the werewolf. He could not let his father see the fear in his eyes. It was probably not a good idea to let this creature see it either but he figured that she could just as easily smell it in his sweat.
With what might be considered a final, pleading look at his son, Edgar Thorvard sighed and turned to leave that he may better assist in calming the growing mob outside.
