Snippet #194

"No no of course not...not that you wouldn't be a great wife of course" Joseph quickly corrected the statement. The two walked for awhile down the road and arrived at a fountain giving them a chance to speak without a thousand ears and eyes around. "Those coins, they will turn to dust in three or four days. Its not much but its at least a bit of time, I imagine it will take awhile to re plan the party and everything as well, perhaps by then another solution may appear."

In a small distance he saw a strange sight, he walked over alone for a closer look leaving Gabriella at the fountain for a moment. As he came closer he realized what it was. A horrible scene, an entire family murdered, stripped and hung on a pole. Words had been carved in to the surrounding cement. A message from the king to any who dare stand agains't him

Joseph stared with a clinched fist. The people lived horrible lives, in such a way he had never seen before. Gabriella was a slave to the idealistic values set by the king. Slaves were taken on a whim and forced to work and fight, and people were murdered for no other reason then to give a warning..even children were not safe. This gruesome scene was what happened when people fought back on their own terms. Joseph then remembered why he was in Arcadium to begin with. The tournament.


He returned to Gabriella and sat down on the fountain beside her. "You are a young noble women..tell me of this..king, the nation..this tournament..and tell me of your situation, I have been in this country for less then a week. I know very little." he said saddened by the atrocity he just witnessed.