6565D1
When Ivelda acknowledged Ryderās role in discovering the poison, Benedicto gritted his teeth. He had no love for the Queenās advisor. The two of them were often at odds on how to deal with certain issues, and by all means Ryder was far too liberal and friendly with the citizens. He had never brought this up with the Queen, but he did think she was aware of the animosity between the advisor and himself.
āIndeed we have to express our sincere gratitude to Ryder for prevailing any harm that would have befallen you.ā Benedicto stated without actually expressing his thanks.
The preacher rose to his feet again and stepped to the side when others were also arriving in the Throne Room. Remembering his lashing from his Goddess of the day before, he kept quiet, seeing the painting of the suspect in front of his eyes. The image burned into his soul and he could feel the anger in him rising. This person has dared to try and kill our Queen, this person needs the most severe of punishments.
Benedicto stood back to wait for instructions and looked on as the kitchen crew appeared in the Throne Room. He towered above them all and tried to read their faces. All of them looked nervous, but that was expected. He smelled a mixed stench of sweat and onions coming from all of them. With a note of disgust, Benedicto held his arm close to his nose. Appearing to be in thought, but in reality shielding himself from the smell.
He saw all of the men and women swear their loyalty to the Goddess. Out of nowhere a distracted Benedicto saw a man pull out a knife and launching for Ivelda. Adrian reacted the fastest and before the preacher could even react, the man stumbled to the floor. An audible gasp was interrupted by the manās last words. "Curse you . . . . Ivelda . . . . Lilith and . . . the true rulers will . . . defeat you. . . . long live Prince Richard . . . .ā
While Adrian wrapped the body in order to be disposed, Benedicto wandered if it was not better to display the corpse. A deterrent for anyone wanting to commit the same heinous acts. The bells of the castle sounded again in the same rhythm they had rang less than an hour before. By the time the sounds would reach the corners of the Kingdom, people would have a lot of questions. In his mind the preacher was already thinking of a phrasing in order to inform all citizens of what had happened.
Lilithā¦.why does it sound so familiar? The name disturbed him. He could swear he had read it before, but could not for the life of him remember where and in what context. He followed the rest to the courtyard with his head in the clouds. He kept whispering the name Lilith to himself, hoping to spark some kind of memory, but nothing came to mind.
Hastily, some tables and chairs were assembled in the courtyard, set up so the interrogators could do their work. Rubbing his hands as if excited, Benedicto took place behind one of the desks. He pulled one chair back and put it to the side. He rather stand while doing the interrogation. Normally he would prefer to do this in a closed room, but with the 2 murder attempts so far, he was happy some other people were around.
The Beastmaster's people were told to line up in front of his area. He started with the simple help, making people more nervous and nervous as time went on. With the victims seated, he would stalk around them like a lion around its pray. They might be used to working with horses, but they hadn't seen a real predator at work. He saw how the others used violence here and there, but this was not his style. He used words, threats and unlikely questions to shake up the people he interrogated. The people waiting in line were able to pick up words here and there, but it was difficult for them to hear it all.
He asked only non-sensical questions to the third person. He could see tears in the young girls eyes when she had no idea how to answer him appropriately without getting into trouble. He stood behind her and put his hands on the backrest of the chair. His long fingers were rhythmically tapping the wood, just behind her ears. He asked her about her morning, the people she saw and the food she ate. Then he started to talk about her family, about the people at home that depended on her. She answered how she had a difficult time providing food for all the people at home.
āSo, it would be better if there were not so many mouths to feed?ā he asked calmly.
āI.. it would be easierā¦butā¦it would be easier if we would earn more money. My father lost a foot when he was in the royal guard, so he canāt help as much around the house.ā
āSo, you say it would be easier if he was no longer thereā¦., interestingā¦ā
After torturing the girl for a bit longer he asked her to swear her loyalty before he let her go. With tears running down her face she ran back into the castle.
He looked over to the next person, a young man this time. Looking at him with a friendly smile on his face he pulled the chair back, inviting him to sit down. After a stressful morning he started to feel more like his normal self again.
18D10A
His eyes darted back and forth over the streets. He could see little movement as the streets cleared out even further. The sound of slamming doors could be heard even as high up as Raiden was. His bow was relaxed in his hands, not pulling the string until he had something to shoot at.
From the right he heard a small sound over the wind. āā¦.HEH! Cozy up there?ā
Raiden couldnāt exactly figure out what his āporker from another motherā was trying to say. Knowing him, it wouldnāt be a friendly word. Looking over his shoulder he saw the Outrider riding his new drake. Raiden felt sorry for it, it couldnāt be easy to carry that amount of weight around on your back. He aimed his bow at the boar and pulled the string. So easyā¦it would be so easyā¦
He could hardly imagine the ways Ivelda would torture him if he would actually release the arrow. After the bells had stopped it took a few minutes before the bells of the castle started to ring again. Waitā¦what does that mean? Are they going to repeat this shit the entire day?
As an answer to the bells of the castle, the bells right below his feet started ringing again as well, probably just as confused as he was. It drowned out and other sound that would be coming from Korgan or the streets.
Raiden relaxed his bow and kept looking below to see any suspicious activities. It was hard, if only they could check inside the houses instead of just the streets.