"Vengeance must always be profound and absolute."Hex Code ~ #088A29
It didnât take long for the pair to reach the gates of the castle, with Ryder retrieving his personal horse from one of the many stable boys currently running amok, haphazardly preparing for the Queenâs impending travels. This was the case with the majority of the castleâs workers, thankfully it seemed, which allowed for both Ryder and the visibly misplaced frail and blind Edith to slip through the frantic crowds of servants unnoticed. Her disguise, although well-done, had definitely left some questions unanswered and he would much rather avoid said questions altogether if at all possible.
Once he had readied the horse and only after asking gently for her permission, Ryder assisted Edith in mounting the stead, which whinied and paced a bit, clearly unnerved by the predator that was just placed atop it. With a soft pet, he soothed the horse until she had once more settled, her anxiety replaced by the calmness of a mount with its master. Once she was steadied once more, he turned his attention to Edith, who gripped the mane of the horse with a grip so tight that her knuckles were white, an expression of fear across her face. For one who could not see the world, being able to feel and hear it was all that she had, and in placing her atop the horse, Ryder had completely removed half of her connection to what she used as a substitute for her sight, rendering her even more defenseless than she already was. He could immediately see through this fear and, placing a hand atop hers where it was curled in the thick hairs, he smiled up at her, despite the knowledge that she could not see the warmth in his gaze.
âWorry not, young maiden - for I, the brave and valiant Sir Ryder, shall accompany you on this mornâ to ride as we fetch your brother and save him from the evil and vile clutches of the rich and monstrous uncouth fools who dare to lay a hand upon such beauty that is the Madame Edith,â Ryder said this all in one long, lavish breath, laying it on thick, clearly attempting to be over-the-top in such a way to cheer up the young girl who had already been through so much in such a short life. His words drew a giggle of amusement from Edith, her expression relaxing, and once she was as calm as the horse that she rode, he flung himself up behind her, ensuring that she was secure in the spot where she sat before him. With a muttered warning, he gave a gentle squeeze to his steed who responded in kind, taking off at a soft trot at first before developing into a full gallop.
Furrowed brows and a crease lined the forehead that belonged to Ryder. He ran his fingers along the dust ridden ledges of the windows that lined the walls of the orphanage, an unpleasant scowl on his lips and his narrowed eyes staring in disapproval at the gray sneeze-inducing substance on his hand. It was clear that the man was unhappy, if his expression was any indicator, and the emotion was set upon the woman before him, with Edith standing closely behind his body, one hand clutching tightly into the back of his shirt - both a way to keep track of him, and a comfort as she hid from the headmistress of the orphanage.
âI suppose if I had not arrived for a surprise inspection, I would not have discovered the quarters in such ⌠disarray,â he stated, the word spoken in a way that relayed his disgust. Finally, he moved his intense gaze up to the woman who, up until that point had held herself high and mighty, her overall aura that of a haughty persona, shrank instantly under the piercingly odd eyes that belonged to the right hand of the Queen herself. The womanâs shoulders slumped a bit and she seemed to almost shrink into herself, a guilty look crossing her face, and she dropped her head in shame, and unable to contain herself, began to tremble in fear over the physical repercussions that she faced.
Ryder, however, not one to strike a woman, simply sighed and shook his head in revulsion at the cowardly woman, wrinkling his nose at the sight of her.
âTo think that you call yourself a woman and a mother - and matron and a mentor. You are nothing but a mockery to the art of motherhood and matronage, and you should be ashamed of yourself,â he chastised. The woman brought her trembling hands to her face, her tears evolving into full sobs.
âEnough of your false crocodile tears; I care naught for them and you will not pull me to your side with them either. The more that you shed, the further my irritation with you rises,â he warned, and after a few moments, they dissolved into sniffles but she kept her head lowered to the ground, too ashamed to meet his hardened, unforgiving gaze.
âConsider yourself lucky to have encountered me and not someone of my status with a less forgiving nature, elsewise you would not be so lucky as to escape with your life. The clear neglect of not only this facility but the children within - the very children that will one day help to build the foundation of our landâs future and livelihood - has cause dishonor not only to Rhindeval, but has shown your complete and utter disrespect to the Grace that is our Queen Ivelda. Should it have been Sir Benedicto of The Sect, you would have been sentenced to death of a horrifying nature, or worse, sent to the dungeons to be dissected by our resident psychotic undertaker and his unfortunate new pet,â he practically spat, his disdain for the young man clear in his voice.
Moving on from that, he straightened and approached the woman, glaring down at her and forcing himself to unclench his jaw.
âConsider yourself relieved of your duties from this moment forth, and should you seek out any profession that entails childcare of any sort within the boundaries of Rhindeval, you will find it quite difficult to be hired in such a field,â he warned, his eyes flashing in an even deeper foreboding that should she even dare to try, she would have more things to worry about than simply being rejected from the job.
âNow, retrieve your things from your quarters and leave - you are no longer welcome within this orphanage, or any building that holds children.âThe woman bowed and scurried away, leaving Ryder to further his investigation with Edith and
without that womanâs nosy interference, and then attempt to track down where Edmund possibly could have been taken. Before doing so, he did ensure to turn to the Assistant of the Headmistress and issued a few orders so that the orphanage would run smoothly for the next day or so, but was quickly back at work hunting down Edmund. It was easy enough for Edith to show him where the duo had originally been confronted and attacked due to her proficient sniffing abilities. From there he was able to track the scuffle that was home to quite a fair amount of blood, to several sets of footprints alongside a path that had clearly been Edmund struggling against his captors.
Once he found that they led to a fairly obvious set of carriage tracks, he whistled, and not fifteen seconds later his horse came trotting happily around the corner of the orphanage, a mouthful of hay and an annoyed looking stable boy peeking around after her. Casting a sheepish grin at the boy and calling out to repay him later, as well as a soft warning to Edith, he tossed the young girl upon Penelope as gently as he possibly could, swung himself up behind her, and took off following the carriage tracks at a breakneck pace, his arms tight around Edith as she was bounced haphazardly before him, apologies escaping his lips for the uncomfortable ride as they flew threw the city and out to the outskirts where the rich had their large and impressively massive properties. All the while, Edith assisted, her nose only doing so much however as Edmundâs scent had degraded quite a bit over the time that had progressed since his kidnapping had occurred.
When the tracks led to the grounds belonging to the Redstone family, Ryder drew Penelope to a sudden halt, causing her to whine in argument, and he patted her neck in apologies. There was no one at the front gates that stood wide open, which instantly cause his internal alarms to raise, but not wanting to worry Edith, he simply tightened his arms slightly and squeezed his legs, causing Penelope to go into a gentle trot up the path that led to the sprawling homestead. The Redstone family was not the richest of the elites, but they were also not at the bottom of the social ladder either, so the fact that there were no guards stationed at the gates paired with the quiet in the air made him more than uneasy. The courtyard was all but abandoned, the only inhabitants being perhaps a handful of servants going about their normal duties - doing laundry, fetching water, the like. This further raised red flags to Ryder, who slowed Penelope to a stop before the stables, dropped from her saddle, and assisted Edith in dismounting before tying Peneloping to a nearby hitchpost with plenty of hay and water beside it. After a pat on the kind steedâs snout, he allowed Edith to once more grip the back of his shirt so as to guide her behind him, and he approached the household, his expression dark and his stature prepared for the worst.
Before he could reach the front doors, he paused. Edith had tugged at his shirt and, without a word, she had pointed in one simple direction. From what little one could see of the girlâs expression behind her bandages, they could tell that she held a look of both fear, desperation, and crushed hope. Ryder could only imagine what type of scents she was taking in, and what she had heard with her oversensitive nose and ears, and ever-so-slowly, he turned his head in the direction that her trembling finger pointed.
There stood a gaggle of men, the oldest of whom held a scowl on his face, his annoyance clear on his face.
âThat damn Benedicto. So young yet he thinks himself on par with a God! What a mockery! Pah!â The old man exclaimed, and although Ryder held his own amount of disdain towards the man in question, for Sir Redstone to be speaking ill of someone that the Queen held within so high regards was to make a mockery of the Queen herself.
âTo think that he can just waltz in with his occult and take the very monster that injured my son ⌠The very monster that we were entitled a blood debt to! That cursed child drew blood from Redstone kin ⌠It is only fair for that debt to repaid in kind!âThe group had yet to notice Ryder and Edith, which was an advantage to him, and this gave him a moment to survey them. It was clear from their discussion that Edmund had been there, and also Benedicto Carama, and given that neither was present at the time, it was a fair assumption to make that Benedicto had taken Edmund with him. There were a few that were clearly servants of Sir Redstone, and two young men that from their clothing he assumed were the young sons of the House of Redstone, one of whom seemed to be badly injured. From the distance it was hard to say for certain, but it almost looked to be Edmundâs doing, and a small smirk turned up Ryderâs lips. Looking past the men and into the barn, he spotted what Edith must have smelled, which was a square outline in the dirt, specks of blood on the ground, a few rods lying around that he assumed were pure silver if these men had any brain cells to claim, and various other weapons and restraints that clearly did
not belong within a barn. Rage instantly welled up within his chest, but with a clenched jaw, he forced himself to hide his anger, instead throwing a carefree smile on his face as he strode over to the men.
âI could not agree more; that Benedicto is absolutely unbearable,â he groaned, rolling his eyes and ignoring the odd looks that the men gave him, instead giving them a confident smile in response.
âApologies, my good men, I could not help but overhear your complaints, for I am here because Benedicto realized after leaving so shortly ago that he had been unjust in simply taking the young monster from your care, so he sent me to offer repayment and penance so that it is ⌠of an equal trade, one could say,â he said with a small, unreadable smile on his lips. The men seemed to hesitate but the patron of the family instantly moved forward, seeming to eat up Ryderâs words, none the wiser to what Ryder was planning, and as soon as the man was within armâs length, Ryder reached out and placed a hand gently on the manâs shoulder, that unreadable smile still on his face.
âAh, however, I did forget to mention that the trade seemed to be unequal for us, as it seems that you have yet to learn your lesson, old man,â he paused and leaned in closer, his lips near the patronâs ear, his voice dropping to a whisper before he continued,
âAs the saying goes, âYou cannot teach an old dog new tricksâ.â With that, it took nary a second for Ryder to unsheath the small dagger at his waist which he instantly dove into the old manâs spinal cord, drawing a scream of absolute agony from his lips. This caused the men in the group to go into action, drawing their weapons from their sheaths and moving forward as Ryder held the old man up, turning him in his arms so they could see the twisted face that was their Patron.
âAh, I suppose I should tell you all - I lied. I am actually the right hand of the Queen, the glorious Goddess that is our beautiful and lovely Ivelda, and I am more than free and obligated to act out in her righteous duty however should I see fit,â he said softly and cooly, that unreadable smile never wavering from his lips, his piercing eyes frighteningly dark despite their bright colors. There was almost something missing in those eyes, as though his soul were no longer there. Lifting the now blood-stained dagger, he allowed the old man to crumple in a complete and utter heap to the ground, ignoring the sobs of pain he let out as Ryder approached the group of men who now stood with their weapons held in uncertainty.
He turned his dark eyes on the servants, narrowing them.
âI would highly recommend lowering your weapons should you wish to leave with your lives. This is not your battle to fight within, and I do not wish to injure or slay innocently involved people,â he warned, his face showing them that this would be their only warning. The two men exchanged a look before dropping their weapons and retreating within the barn, their hands raised in surrender and leaving him with the two sons of Redstone whose gazes flickered between their sobbing father and the approaching, unreadable man before them. He cocked his head slightly to the side and raised a brow at the injured one before shrugging his shoulder and waving the boy off, but when the young man did not budge, he narrowed his gaze once more and waved again, this time making it clear that there would not be a third wave. With a nudge of warning from his elder brother, the young man begrudgingly backed up to be with the two servants, his worry evident in his features.
Ryder, however, took his sweet time, and began to whistle a bit of a jaunty tune, eying his knife a bit ominously as he approached the spot in the barn that the outline of the square box was. Once he had, he crouched down beside it, tracing the spot a bit in the dirt with the blood encased knife. After a moment, he stopped whistling and looked up at the wall, seemingly brooding on something, but before any of the men present could speak or even react, he had moved in an instant, his actions almost a blur.
Kah-kang cong kang kung!The sound echoed slightly throughout the barn and was followed by the immediate shriek of the elder son of the Redstone family as he crumpled to the ground, hands gripping his now twisted and mangled leg. A bent silver rod lay beside his writhing body on the ground, and from what the men could assume, Ryder had flung the rod with such precision and force, it had impacted and crushed the young manâs leg on impact before following to rest beside him. The younger son rushed to his brotherâs side while the servants hurried to the patron of the family who was quickly turning white in the blood beginning to pool around him. Ryder simply rose to his feet, once again calm and placid, and dusted himself off, surveying the horror and bloodshed around him as he began to walk back to Edith, who stood where he left her. She did not know exactly what had happened but she had a fairly good idea given the sounds and smells, and she knew the Young Master Ryder to be a very scary man should one get on his bad side, and she thanked the Gods that he liked her and her brother.
âNow, I would recommend caring for your wounded and never again making the mistake of angering those associated with the righteous Queen Ivelda. Have we made ourselves clear enough?â The wails and sobs of agony he received in response were answer enough and he smiled, allowed Edith to clasp his shirt once more, and cast a look in the direction of the front doors of the household that now stood open with the young daughter of the family standing within them with her mother, both of whom held horrified expressions upon their faces.
âAh, and as for you two - I would highly recommend no longer lying through your teeth - lest you wish for me to come visit again and take a limb or two this time, instead of simply causing a bit of pain,â he warned, holding a sweet, unreadable smile once more. The young girl began to sob in horror, but he ignored her, approached Penelope, helped Edith up, and they were off towards the city once more, leaving the chaos of the Redstone estate behind.
Ryder wasted no time in reaching the castle, as he knew exactly where Benedicto would head should he have discovered something like an untrained Lycanthrope within Rhindeval. He would wish to show off his new treasure to Ivelda like the little pet that he was, not knowing that the Queen was already well aware of the treasures that were the Lycanthrope orphans Edith and Edmund. As soon as they were within castle walls, he dismounted and threw Penelopeâs reigns at the nearest stable boy, vowing to make it up to her later, and took off with Edith on his heels to the carriage that he saw within the entrance that held the colors and emblem of Benedicto and his sect.
âBenedicto!â he bellowed, his fury evident in his voice. It was rare for anyone to see any emotion from the man that was the right hand of the Queen, let alone anger, so for those that were present in the courtyard, this was frightening indeed. The servants scurried away to hide within the palace or watch from a safe distance, and the guards and knights did the same, the stable boys hiding within the stableâs to watch with curiosity. It was clear that the leader of the religious sect had done something to absolutely infuriate the man that was the most trusted advisor of the Queen, and he seemed to be practically seething with rage.
When he finally reached the carriage, Benedicto himself was quite close to it, but before Ryder could approach him, Edith ran from his side and towards the carriage that belonged to the leader of the sect, obviously not knowing where she was heading other than the fact that it was towards her brotherâs scent, but was stopped by two men in church garb before she could reach it. One of them reach down and plucked her up like she was nothing more than a ragdoll and simply peered at her before laughing and tossing her aside again, like she was nothing more than a toy. The girl landed with a sound of alarm, and this drew a near-inhuman sound from Ryderâs lips. It took mere seconds for him to close the distance between himself and the carriage, and once he had, he shot out both hands, one grabbing the hair of the man on the right and forcing him to the ground, and the other wrapping around the throat of the man on the left. This caught them both off-guard, allowing him to toss them to the ground before the carriage, which he gripped the door to and wrenched open, revealing an extremely frightened and
extremely injured Edmund encaged within.
Ryder stood still for a moment, his eyes staring into Edmundâs as his rage slowly and gradually built, and after a few seconds had ticked by, he reached his boiling point. His fingers tightened around the doors to the carriage briefly before he pushed himself back, ignoring the men that had now scrambled over to Benedictoâs side, and he turned slowly to face Benedicto, withdrawing the sword at his hip as he did so, the absolute fury blazing within his gaze one that was completely unrecognizable in the young man that was otherwise known for a placid and gentle persona.
âGive me one reason right now why I should not cleave you in two, Benedicto Carama, in the name of the Great and Honorable Ivelda herself, as you cage and injure a loyal servant of the Goddess within a carriage that you own,â he practically snarled out.
