Danica stirred from her uneasy slumber to the noise of what sounded like a massive gathering mob. She felt disgustingly sick still and her body ached all over, especially her legs. She wanted nothing more than to lay in bed until the pain was gone, but curiosity ate away at her until she finally got out of bed to see what was happening.
She went to the window and looked down into the courtyard and saw exactly what it sounded like. Hundreds of people had congregated to the gates and were currently being held back by several guardsmen. She watched for a few moments and realized that they weren’t trying to force their way in, but instead seemed to be trying to get answers from the stationed guardsmen. She thought that perhaps she should do the same.
Danica grabbed a nearby robe, wrapping it tightly around her before leaving her room. It didn’t take long to find someone that probably knew something about what was happening. A young woman carrying clean bedding into the rooms, paying no mind to her surroundings. She didn’t notice Danica's approach, and nearly dropped an armload of fresh linens when the half-elf spoke.
“Allissa, what’s going on out there?”
“Damnation Danica, don’t sneak up on me.” She tapped her chest for a moment and took a few deep breaths, trying to gain her composure. “Landon’s went and arrested the head of the church. Good way to anger the gods and get smitten doing things like that.”
Danica just stood there blankly for a moment. She was trying to process what she had just heard and make sense of it. Angela must have told Landon what happened after she went back to sleep and he took care of the situation in his own way. Not that the man didn’t deserve it for what he’d done to her. He deserved that, and so much worse.
She ran downstairs to find Angela wringing her hands nervously. “You told him?”
She nodded solemnly, only half focused. “I did indeed. It’s his duty to enforce the law and keep people like that where they belong.”
Danica couldn’t fault the woman for speaking the truth. “I understand, it’s just…” She just couldn’t seem to find the right words for how she felt. “Where is Landon?”
Angela’s face grew worried and she simply nodded in a direction. “He’s interrogating that priest now. The name and description you gave, do you realize who he is?”
Danica shook her head as horrible memories came flooding back. “Sombec, that was all I knew.”
“He’s the high priest of the Norport Church of Light,” Angela said, beginning to pace the floor. “That puts him as the most influential religious figure in all of Andesty. A high profile figure like that was just arrested and paraded through the streets like a common criminal, and it’s created quite a stir.”
Danica sat down upon a nearby stool and stared down at the floor for a moment. “Why me though? What do I have to do with all of this?”
Angela stopped walking for a moment and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have those answers, child.”
Danica sat in silence for a moment, thinking of what she had just learned. The head of the church of light, dedicated to the god and goddess of light. Why would a man, so holy and revered in the community, risk everything for sick perversions. They’d come after her that night, and now she was beginning to wonder if it wasn’t just a random coincidence.
She didn’t have long to think through those thoughts when an alarming cry began to ring throughout the keep. Danica heard it first, but she could almost sense that Angela knew it was coming ahead of time. “The lord is coming!” The guards on lookout were signaling Lord Rowan’s approach it seemed.
Danica and Angela quickly made their way to the great hall where several others had already gathered to watch the spectacle unfold. Hushed whisperings gave away to dead silence as Lord Rowan strode into the hallway, a dozen armored royal guards following in his wake.
It wasn’t hard to see the outrage and anger emanating from him as he strode quickly to the city guardsman by the front desk. “Where in damnation is your captain?”
“My lord, we’ve informed him of your arrival. If you wouldn’t mind waiting just a moment…”
Rowan delivered a powerful backhand slap to the man, staggering him with the surprise blow. “Wait?” He turned to address everyone in attendance, his eyes lingering a moment too long upon Danica for her liking. “I am your lord and ruler by right of birth. I do not wait for anyone!”
He brought his cane high, ruby shining brightly in the light, spun around swinging it at the head of the stunned guard. It never reached the mark as a hand shot out and grabbed the end, a loud slap rung through the hall as wood met flesh. Landon and Rowan stood facing each other, eyes locked in anger, neither man willing to give quarter at the moment. Danica gasped at what she had just seen, never imagining someone could move so fast and still be so accurate.
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Landon finally spoke through gritted teeth “I would appreciate it, my lord, if you could contain your anger.”
“You forget your place captain,” Rowan snarled. “I answer to no one.”
“I know my place. I answer to the city and its people, as should you.” Landon said his anger seeming to fade. “Let us be civil about this.”
Both men uneasily backed down from one another, but the tension between them was nearly thick enough to cut with a knife.
“You know why I’m here, captain,” Rowan said, speaking the last word with some emphasis of disdain. “If you wished to lodge a complaint against the church, you should have followed proper procedure.”
The anger returned to Landon in an instant. “A complaint? He kidnapped a girl, my ward, and she barely escaped with her life.”
Danica was thankful of the tactful way he phrased that, trying to save her from some amount of embarrassment. Even in the heat of the moment, he still managed to spare her feelings, just like always.
Rowan scoffed. “On whose word were those accusations brought? Hers?” He pointed to Danica and fixed his stare upon her. She felt sick and wanted to hide from his withering gaze.
“It was, on her word alone that I acted and arrested Sambec for his crimes.” Landon smiled slyly. “And my lord, he confessed.” He paused for a moment and added, “to everything.”
Barely perceptible, Danica could have sworn the room darkened ever so slightly. It was as if the hatred Lord Rowan felt had somehow manifested itself into existence and was coming to consume them all. She could almost feel it come off of him like the heat from a fire pit. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one as Angela reached out and squeezed her hand hard. It only lasted for the briefest of moments, but that was enough to leave her feeling unsettled.
Regaining his composure, Rowan nodded. “I will take the prisoner and investigate this heinous matter myself.”
Landon returned the gesture in kind. “Of course your lordship. One of my men is bringing him up now. I must warn you however, he did seem to fall down every step despite our best efforts to guide him safely.”
All eyes turned to the opening door as Dannig half dragged the portly priest behind him. His once pristine white and gold robes were now stained with mud, blood and other random detritus. Both eyes were swollen shut, blackened and puffy, his face was barely recognizable as even being human now.
Rowan regained his normally regal composure, seemingly indifferent about what he was seeing. “He is a rather clumsy lout. Hand him off to my men, I’ve got other matters I must return to, but I’ll expect an official report of this by tonight.”
Rowan turned to leave but was interrupted by Landon. “My lord, a fair warning. If that bastard or his followers ever come near my girl again, I will personally hang him from the rafters of that cathedral before I burn it to the ground.”
Rowan paused as if to say something, but changed his mind. The royal guardsmen grabbed Sombec and exited the barracks, heading back to the palace. Once the tension had ended, the hushed whispers began to stir, with many people stealing glances towards Danica. The rumors were already beginning to circulate it seemed.
Landon shouted for the congregation to return to their duties, clearly no longer in the mood for an audience. As they cleared, he watched them sternly while rubbing his hand. He approached Angela and Danica, remarking to them “that stick hurt.”
“You’re too old for heroics, you blasted fool,” Angela quipped.
He nodded and looked around. “My office.”
When they arrived he nearly collapsed into his chair, looking exhausted and vulnerable. A completely different man from the one they’d seen only a few minutes before. “Damnation,” he muttered quietly. Landon motioned for the ladies to take a seat in one of the other chairs nearby, though he didn’t seem too insistent upon it.
Angela took the seat and crossed her arms, deep thoughts coursing through her mind. “So that’s it then? He gets a slap on the wrist and walks.”
“Yes. That’s the most likely outcome,” Landon said, shuffling a few pages around casually.
Danica grabbed the edge of the desk, squeezing hard enough to turn her knuckles white. “How? He confessed to doing it.”
Landon looked up at them. “Actually, he didn’t. He wouldn’t confess, because he was terrified of someone or something that had greater power over him.”
Angela sat up straight up in her chair. “So you lied to Rowan,” she said, her curiosity piqued. “Very unlike you to do that.”
He nodded in acknowledgement. “Calculated risk and it paid off. Rowan’s a hard man to read and to see that level of anger he showed at the moment, it told me that he’s possibly involved in it somewhere.”
Danica began to walk around the room, clutching her fists. She wanted so bad to throw everything in sight, to unleash that bottled anger she felt. “So why am I involved? I never did anything to any of them to deserve this.”
They sat in silence for a moment before Landon stood and looked out the window over the city. “I cannot answer the why of it. We’ve been given only a few pieces of this puzzle, and I still have no clear picture of what it is.”
Danica continued her pacing. “So what now? What if they come after me again?”
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “Angela.”
She looked over at him expectantly. “Yes Landon?”
Hemotioned towards Danica. “Get her to a good physician, one that understands women's needs better than that old sawbones we use.”
Danica had a vague idea of what he meant, but Angela seemed to understand completely. She nodded her head in agreement with him. “Sound advice, of course. Then what?”
“Then,” Landon said looking at Danica, “We’re going to teach the girl to defend herself.”