Nothing to say…

The remaining guest left over the next couple of days. I found I missed seeing Amarana and Vara as time continued its impenitent journey. My thoughts did not stray long as Sir Gais indicated we had other objectives to tend to. The Earl Plumbrose of Oakleaf had four sons he also wished to join the order but Sir Gais indicated he heard word their sister was a better candidate. Times had changed within the order as I learned they did not offer positions of the knighthood to many women.

There was yet one more surprise the day before we were to embark on our journey. The lovely Kathryn, daughter to my lord had been gone for several years tutoring for a white rob wizard and returned unannounced. She almost crashed the carriage into the estate upon her arrival. She indicated the driver had a bit too much to drink and was passed out in the car. I think he would have been a better driver in his condition, even so. When she left she was nothing but knees and elbows but she had blossomed into a lovely young lady. Gordon still insisted on treating her as a 10 year old girl and greeted her with a punch to the arm. Kathryn convinced her smitten father rather easily to join us on our journey much to the chagrin of Lady Vara. Her mother wanted nothing more than to have Kathryn get married and start a family like any proper young lady. I was intrigued to find the things she learned and I also soon discovered the power she possessed. It saved our lives several times over.

We set out and I remember how eager I was to leave. I never even gave it a second thought as I was so excited to start my new life. I do not even remember looking back at my home and the people who loved me most. Oakleaf was not a far journey and it went by in the wink of an eye. I was transfixed by Sir Gais and the teachings of the knighthood as he did not waste any time to begin our education. I eagerly listened to the next story and the next lesson as I did when my mother told of tales before the cataclysm. He had a way of capturing your attention and opening your mind to endless possibilities.

How naive I was when we approached the town. How could people treat such a noble man with such disdain? I had heard stories about the knighthood and men who tarnished the image as a child but seeing Sir Gais and hearing about how the knights helped destroy the dragon armies, how could they not see it too? But when a leader of men does not care for the ones he serves, they will not love him in return. It was a difficult lesson to learn.

I was proud of Gordon for not losing his temper as we slowly made our arduous climb through a sea of sorrow and hardship up to the earl’s estate. We were greeted by stable boys. I assumed the same greeting my lord gives to his esteemed guest but there was no such treatment here. Not for me of course, but they were receiving a knight and a baron’s children, none the less. We found that the stable boys were actually the earl’s sons and gifted daughter Eliza. She was not what I had pictured, she was dressed like a boy and carried herself the same. I found her charming immediately especially how she chided Gordon from time to time. But I will never forgive myself for knocking the poor girl unconscious in a sparring session later that day. Gordon teased me for two years straight.

We entered the estate and were finally able to meet the earl and his wife. They were also not as I pictured but I should have judged that from their subjects in the town below. Earl Plumbrose cut to the chase and asked how much it would cost to have his four boys enter the knighthood. Sir Gais quickly recovered by the shocking appeal and said they would be tested like any other individual. By the look of the boys, they were too portly to even get on a horse without a ladder so I did not see them passing any tests. Even though the knighthood had been depleted during the war, he was not about to let undeserving individuals within their ranks. The earl and Sir Gais quickly made haste to discuss other issues within the city and left Gordon and I alone with his wife. She clamored on about why we were really there but I was most uncomfortable to begin with so I was not able to fully understand neither her innuendos nor her curt remarks. I did however catch Gordon giving me a mischievous grin at one point in the conversation.

Later that night, the youngest of the earl’s sons entered Gordon’s and my bedchambers screaming and covered with blood. He was out of breath and was barely able to explain what happened but he and his brothers had been kidnapped and these men were demanding a ransom. To prove how serious the cutthroats were, they gave the poor lad his eldest brother’s pinky. We looked desperately for the earl and Sir Gais but they were nowhere to be found. The earless was in a deep sleep and we could not awake her and the rest of the houses staff were almost as helpless. There was no choice but for us to go and deal with the situation ourselves.

Eliza, Gordon, Kathryn and I grabbed our gear, the earless’ jewelry for ransom and horses and headed to where these men were. The men were there as the boy had indicated but Gordon and I were astonished to find the leader of the band of misfits was no other than the same highwayman that and assaulted us on our ride. I was determined to run him thru but they did have the boys, tied up, hoods over their head and a knife to the eldest son’s throat. We attempted to bargain with the criminals but quickly discovered they had no intention to give the boys up and that the earl had hired them himself. The nervous man holding the knife to the boy slit his throat and Eliza screamed in horror as the other two boys struggled to get away. I allowed my anger to cloud my judgment and I pushed my horse too hard as I went for their leader, landing on my backside. I would have perished had it not been for my companions that night. I recovered quickly and we bested the men with haste as they were not skilled in the art of swordplay. I was even able to subdue their leader without killing him and he would prove valuable dealing with the earl. Watching Kathryn using the powers of magic during the fight was most unsettling. Eliza’s eldest brother bled out and died there frightened, well aware of his father treachery. There was nothing to say.

We took the bodies and the criminal leader and brought them back to the estate for evidence of the earl’s treachery. The earless never awoke but we left Eliza and Gordon to tend to her brothers and await Kathryn and my return to find this miller. This was the only lead we had in finding Sir Gais and about the only useful information we got talking to the earless earlier.

We did not have to travel far because in the town square, there gathered around a pit of fire were the same naïve citizens with an angry lust in their eyes. The earl, pushing them further into hatred indicating it was a knight, this Sir Gais that was the cause of their hardship. It was then I saw what they had done. Sir Gais was tied to a stake and they were hoisting him into the fire.

Fear crept over me at first and I froze and then I realized I was holding my breath. I tried to collect myself with a deep breath as Kathryn met my gaze; frightened was what we both saw. I felt helpless once again. I rode through the mob and confronted the earl. I tried to get control of the crowd as I told them what the earl had done. He continued to spit lies about Sir Gais as the mob put Sir Gais further into the flames. I unsheathed my weapon and demanded the earl speak the truth while Kathryn attempted to stop the men from hoisting the Gais into the flames. The earl would not speak the truth even as I put my blade to his neck so I rode through the men holding the ropes and Sir Gais fell to the ground, writing in pain from the flames. As I cut the ropes I could see why he did not speak. His mouth spewing blood, they severed his tongue. By the Gods, Kathryn and I were able to persuade the angry mob to at least see our evidence.

We reached the estate and Gordon and Eliza met us outside the earl’s home. With our prisoner and the testimony of the rest of us, we were able to show the truth to the town of Oakleaf. They still lusted for blood and would have killed the earl themselves but it was not our place to judge him.

We left the next morning for Solanthas with the earl cuffed, his daughter behind him, head hanging low. There was no mob that morning to see us out just a few glances and even a few of gratitude. We were no longer children after that night.

Treachery and lies seep into the cracks of the faithless.