“Wake up Blackwell!” The rough voice jolted me from my sleep, the looming figure of the guard cast a shadow over his bed. Thoughts began racing through my mind but the annoyed look on his face made it clear that the guard wasn’t here to arrest him. “Get up… you have a murder to write about”. Every insult under the sun could be used for Osric but he was never a liar, it was the one thing that I couldn’t fault him for. 

He waited outside as I dressed, the impatient thud of his spear against the wall of my house was a warning that I shouldn’t be late. The cloak I had quickly thrown over myself did little to protect me from the elements but I grew warmer as we walked along the muddy path and into the forestline. 

I took out my pen, hastily checking the ink as we walked. “So, how many are dead?” A few moments passed before he answered “We counted 3 bodies but there could have been more, it’s better that you see it in person” If it was near the forest boundary, it was likely to be a ransacked carriage, prey to numerous bandit clans that roamed at night. A clearing opened up as the sound of the river got closer, sunlight beginning to stream through the canopy. 

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There it was, exactly as I had expected it - an upturned carriage with the horses missing. I nodded to Cole as I passed by him surveying the track that led northwards. He was a hunter that had recently joined the night watch but he proved valuable for tracking the bounties of criminals who escaped from our nearest city.  

However, as I got closer to the vehicle, there were several strange things about it. A fire had decimated the woodwork, the orange glow of embers slowly beginning to die down. It was obvious that it was high quality, the wood remained firm and there was ornate metal gilding along the wheels. The tatters of a red curtain further led me to believe that it belonged to a noble family, rather than one of a merchant. 

Bandits would never have left valuables like this, even if the murder was just hours old, they would have had enough time to drag it away under cover of darkness.  Furthermore, as Cole had noted, stab wounds were why the occupants had died. Osric crouched down next to an armored figure, digging his finger inside one of the wounds “It’s a 3-inch blade but the rest of the wounds seem pretty shallow”. Maybe he had been tortured before he died? 

The other two, a man and a woman had died from a blow to the back of the head. Their vibrant garments supported my theory that they were nobles instead of merchants but why they were traveling down a forest path was anyone’s guess. Cole noticed me staring at their wet clothes “We dragged them out of the water, they’d been left there but the riverbed was too shallow to take them downstream ”  

My final observation was what doomed me to my future of trouble “Is that not the Royal Crest?”