Upon the back of my little black mare, I ride though the thick forest, the road cutting a swath though its heart, as I make my way towards the Fortress. Gods I wish this man would get an office in the barracks! The ride takes me nearly two hours and for the last few miles I am racing the light as the sun begins to dip below the horizon. As I near the looming old fortress I can see the remains of a recent goblin attack littering the base of the walls. There is a moldy stench in the air around the place as I am passed through the gates, and I am suddenly a little more grateful for the civility of Delmarii.
I make my way through the Fortress and stand before the Commander's door, and for a moment it enters my mind to wonder why I was summoned. I rap loudly upon the wooden surface and I hear his baritone voice bidding me to enter. I know the moment I step into the room, and he settles that stern gaze upon me, he is in one of his moods and something is not sitting quite in his world and I feel myself stiffen and steel myself against whatever it is coming.
"The criminal known as Sebastion has been tried and found guilty of treason against the crown" he announces grimly. I react to this as I am fully expected to, and I nod, "not entirely surprising Commander" I reply, then fall silent, expecting more information. He would not bid me all the way out for that. I am not left long to wonder why, as his voice lifts again, "Captain Dhan'Loria, something of great concern has been brought to my attention" he reveals, "it seems the criminal Zalon, was given a full pardon, all charges dropped, and released from his cell..." he lifts his eyes from the parchment before him and settles them on me, "..by me" he concludes.
I stand there a moment as I try to adjust to the fact, I have just been busted for forgery, and finally all I can offer the man is a sigh. Immediately this seems to infuriate him and he rises to his feet and demands of me, "Damn it Nakieri...why!?!" the disappointment and anger in his voice causes me to inwardly flinch, but I give him nothing but my steely exterior and then give the man the honest truth. "I made a deal with Sebastion....I said, if he stayed put, stayed in the cell, Zalon would walk free". This wrings a heavy sigh from the man I respected, and I feel the pang of regret for the expression he settles upon me. His next words catch me by surprise, and stun me to silence.
"Sebastion was executed at dawn this morning" he informs me, and there carries with his words, a sense of finality in his voice. "He was hung in the courtyard at my order and buried near a distant relative in the graveyard". He regards me quietly as I stand there in silence, processing this information and something in me nods, and yet I feel a small smile curl my lip, "you found his family?" I ask, there is soft desperation in my tone, and it appears for a moment to disarm the edge about him, "yes, a relative, a cousin I believe, he has been put to rest near his own". This does bring me comfort and I suppose it shows on my face, because it is then that the Commander decides to drop the rest of his news upon me.
"Captain Nakieri Dhan'Loria, you are hereby relieved of duty in the Delmarii City Militia. You are here by stripped of your rank of Captain and dismissed from the Queen's service". He looks at me as if his own words have caused him physical pain, and he glowers at me, "dammit Nakieri, you should have known better" he growls. "I have permitted Zalon's papers to go through, as a favor to you so you do NOT end up sitting in one of your own damned cells. Before you leave here, give me your keys and your pauldron and turn in any militia issue you have, I simply can no longer trust you." The last of his words sink into me and I feel it again, that sense of disappointment in him and I lift my eyes and meet his, lifting my chin. "I would do it again Commander" I tell him bluntly, and this causes him to nod. "yes" he replies, his chin still dipping as he speaks, "that is why you are fired".
My ride back is unhurried, and done in the dark so I am in no rush as my sure footed mount carries me back to the city. Sebastion is dead. He hung for his crimes. This is what he wanted. I have to keep reminding myself of that. He made this deal, he came to me, and convinced me he wanted this. I still can not understand why he did it. He did not have to stay in that cell, he had made it out many times before. He felt no fear in what he faced, no sense of regret, and the last time we spoke, he was in a jovial mood. He had skills that I could just not wrap my head around, and constantly pushed the boundaries of everyone he met.
I felt the world a smaller place suddenly, and would miss the challenge he offered. He warned me though, when he died, stop being in the Militia. Well, it looks as if Sebastion gets his wish. I pull my mare to a halt pausing at the turn in the road, looking south towards the unseen city, then instead nudging my mount northwards, "come on Sylky, we don't live there anymore" I say aloud and I turn my back on Delmarii Bastion and head home.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
How to Catch a Thief
I find that as I muddle through my days, that this job never fails to keep me interested. The harsh glares I get from those obviously displeased with my continued occupation of the Captain's position in the City Militia, continue to ricochet off my stony exterior. I think that is what annoys them the most. The fact that I'm -still- here and I -still- do not give a rats ass about what any of them think no matter what the material of their cloak is made of.
However, just because they hate me and want me removed, that does not mean we do not have to keep up appearances, on both ends of the social scale. They are required to accept me, and treat me accordingly with the respect deemed my rank, and I am required to pretend to hang on their every word and smile politely as they deliver their inane complaints and demands with a nasal whine. I am not saying they are all guilty of this offensive sound, just the majority of them.
As it is, I am entangled in an rather fascinating game of cat and mouse at the moment, due to one of their complaints. However, I can see the man's point, he was fleeced by a professional, and in public too. I cannot begrudge the man his anger. So now I am back on the hunt for someone who can not be caught and held by ordinary means. It was fine to delegate his arrest to others when he was just a petty criminal, but he upped the ante when he started targeting nobles in public.
To be honest, I enjoy the game, this battle of wits between myself and my quarry. Most people think he is simple minded. I know he is not. They think he is crazy. That part at least, is highly possible. They think he is stupid, but I know a con artist when I see one, and that man has had them all snowed. That in part is how I think he has managed to get away with as much as he has so far, he has them convinced he is some sort of simpleton who needs their sympathy. I think if I hear one more story about how they had tried to help him only to have it turn out miserably for them, I think I might just laugh right in their face.
Something has changed recently however and the search for him has taken on a new urgency. I have been put to the task to bring him in and put him to trial. Certainly the source of the task came from the most unexpected of places, but that does not mean I can avoid my responsibility in this. So I will do what I always do. I will follow my orders to the letter, and I will do my job to the best of my ability.
I was told to take it slow, play it out a while, but that is not my style. Instead I jumped in feet first and began to snoop around his local haunts. It took little time at all to find the one I would use to lure him. Seems my prey has a new, dumber friend. I'm not exactly sure what the point to this man's existence is in my quarry's small world, but he will work nicely in this. He has already got himself in hot water, and it was entirely too easy to get him to walk voluntarily into my cells, and now that I have him, it is only a matter of time before I have my prey as well.
I know this is not justice, I know the charges are trumped up, and I know this man does not deserve to hang, but I made a vow and that is not something I break lightly. All that remains, is to make sure he knows that his friend is cooling his heels in my jail and is going to go down swinging, so to speak. I know him, he will come, and when he does, I will finish this once and for all, just like I promised.
However, just because they hate me and want me removed, that does not mean we do not have to keep up appearances, on both ends of the social scale. They are required to accept me, and treat me accordingly with the respect deemed my rank, and I am required to pretend to hang on their every word and smile politely as they deliver their inane complaints and demands with a nasal whine. I am not saying they are all guilty of this offensive sound, just the majority of them.
As it is, I am entangled in an rather fascinating game of cat and mouse at the moment, due to one of their complaints. However, I can see the man's point, he was fleeced by a professional, and in public too. I cannot begrudge the man his anger. So now I am back on the hunt for someone who can not be caught and held by ordinary means. It was fine to delegate his arrest to others when he was just a petty criminal, but he upped the ante when he started targeting nobles in public.
To be honest, I enjoy the game, this battle of wits between myself and my quarry. Most people think he is simple minded. I know he is not. They think he is crazy. That part at least, is highly possible. They think he is stupid, but I know a con artist when I see one, and that man has had them all snowed. That in part is how I think he has managed to get away with as much as he has so far, he has them convinced he is some sort of simpleton who needs their sympathy. I think if I hear one more story about how they had tried to help him only to have it turn out miserably for them, I think I might just laugh right in their face.
Something has changed recently however and the search for him has taken on a new urgency. I have been put to the task to bring him in and put him to trial. Certainly the source of the task came from the most unexpected of places, but that does not mean I can avoid my responsibility in this. So I will do what I always do. I will follow my orders to the letter, and I will do my job to the best of my ability.
I was told to take it slow, play it out a while, but that is not my style. Instead I jumped in feet first and began to snoop around his local haunts. It took little time at all to find the one I would use to lure him. Seems my prey has a new, dumber friend. I'm not exactly sure what the point to this man's existence is in my quarry's small world, but he will work nicely in this. He has already got himself in hot water, and it was entirely too easy to get him to walk voluntarily into my cells, and now that I have him, it is only a matter of time before I have my prey as well.
I know this is not justice, I know the charges are trumped up, and I know this man does not deserve to hang, but I made a vow and that is not something I break lightly. All that remains, is to make sure he knows that his friend is cooling his heels in my jail and is going to go down swinging, so to speak. I know him, he will come, and when he does, I will finish this once and for all, just like I promised.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)