Captain of The Guards' Eyewitness Account
I first ignored when I heard that sharp girlish scream- another chit of a servant girl making too much noise about nothing and not allowing her betters to live in peace. When a pale faced and stammering servant rushed to me trying to tell me that the Lady has been attacked, I could not believe him. "Moonshine! The Princess attacked in her own throne room? Pshah! What would they say next, that pigs have wings and they saw them fly?" I guess, I was wrong about that, as I was about many things that day.
As I saw the screaming rushing servants in the corridor, panic etched on their faces, I knew that something was amiss. I summoned the Priest, for a Cleric is handy in any emergency, and rushed to the Chambers.
It was as the servant said. The Princess was on the floor with a girl over her.
The thought "Some sort of kinswoman of the Lady, not important" crossed my mind.
I put the thought to the back of my mind. First things first, this might be our
Lady on the floor, but we still need to do things right. This is an emergency if
there ever was one and I had to keep my head. There would be time for regret and
for self-accusations later. After all her safety was my concern. But.. not to
think of that now.
I cleared the room of the gawking servants and set a heavy guard against the doors. All those present were to be questioned. No one is permitted to enter or leave the palace on the penalty of death. And then I looked at what surrounded me. The blade that the Priest had drawn had once been sharp, steel with intricate gold work with rubies on its hilt, expensive. Was. Its blade was corroded with greenish looking poison that ate away at the very steel. I dropped it with a curse, "Blood and ashes! That thing is dangerous!"
I looked at her, while the cleric was at his work, and saw that there was no sign of resistance on her part. Whoever did this, was known to her. I picked her goblet and sensed a sweetish odor that was not of wine. Dagger and poison both- someone wanted to be doubly sure. And yet, the destruction wrought to the room belied that. What DID happen here?
The servants had nothing much to say. Neither did the sentries at the gates. The usual mix of travelers. Could be anyone or no one. Oh well.. this isn’t getting me anywhere. Damn servants never notice anything anyway. I turned to the girl.. What was her name again?. aah yes, Ceridwen.. the orphan. bah! Whatever! "You found the body, what did you see?" She didn’t have much to add. They never do. Fool girls only scream and can do nothing of use in an emergency.
And then she mentioned something of interest. A figure emerging from the Chambers when
she left. A figure familiar to her, a figure garbed in a cloak that gleamed like Fire.
Aaah..that is.. something....worth.. looking at closely isn’t it?
By Captain of The Borderlands Guards