Although it is far from the ideal situation, Cecily reasoned with herself that there was no better plan as the rope squeezed itself against her skin. She made no effort to complain, even when the knight brushed against her breast. Even though it was outside of her comfort zone, to be handled like a present, this wasn't the time or situation to be worrying about etiquette.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Sir Knight?" she asked dryly. Since she centered the cloth on her head, it was difficult to see out. She would presume that any honorable knight would be uncomfortable doing such a task as tying up a noble, but he would have to deal with the moral discomfort for now.
"I would appreciate it if you helped me onto the wagon," Cecily told him after he finished. "Let me rest on my back and use your horse to pull the wagon. We'll rendezvous with the others and leave the city. Hopefully, we can escape before the sleeping ones are resuscitated with Recover magic, barring any other little secrets like what our good Sister has."
"Nicely done," Renata mumbled a compliment at Kethen as she finally re-gained her bearings. She was referring to the mercenary's speech and not the execution, but it was up for interpretation as she hastily climbed atop her horse... well, it wasn't /her/ horse per se, but it was the mount she would be riding out on all the same.
"We should regroup with the Lady and the knight," Renata stated the obvious as she surveyed the surroundings. The knight wasn't hard to find, the lady being just a step away concealed in a cloth... tied up... in a horse-drawn cart. A... brilliant escape plan and nothing more. She could almost hear her own thought stutter in embarrassment at the non-escape-related implications of being wrapped and tied up.
"I do aim to please." Kethen replied with a devilish grin. Honestly he had expected the priestess, former or current, to have an issue with impersonating a member of the church. Not that he really cared if she was angered by what he did, it just made it easier to work with her. He nodded to her and the duo headed through the city until they came upon their companions.
"I thought you'd be to straight-laced to be into that sort of thing." He commented to the knight as he walked up. "When you are done fooling around we can get going. I don't want to be here when an actual member of the church shows up to judge us."
Roland loaded the lady onto the wagon, trying to hide his blushing. Discreetly as a man in armor guiding a cart could, he wheeled his way through the town towards his unlikely companions.
When the mercenary made a comment about the Lady's unlikely escape, he gave off a nervous laugh. "It was her idea," he said quickly, looking towards the reins and out towards the road.
"Let's be off, yes? I don't want to keep the Lady tied up too long."
"The Sir Knight enjoyed it as much as any honorable knight would," she teased from the wagon, laying supine just behind the driver's bench.
"Don't mess this up," Cecily reminded the group as they moved out.
She ignored Roland's comment on getting through this with haste: he probably meant well, though she hoped he didn't actually mean he wanted to rush this part of the plan. It is the most delicate part; once outside the gates and out of the view of tower sentries, it would be safe for Cecily to be unbound.
Navigating through the streets was the easy part: Laus followed a similar street layout as other Lycian capitals, particularly as a mean of optimizing travel from military barracks and storehouses to the ramparts, so it was no problem figuring out where the main gate is. For a knight familiar with the interior of Ostia, this would be no issue.
At the gate, it was business as usual. There is traffic, passing a guard house, going in and out of the city. The outgoing line wasn't very long today, but the rate at which parties were permitted to leave did not appear ideal.
Cecily realized the latter as Roland was forced to slow his pace to avoid crashing into the groups ahead. Although it would be no good to rush, she didn't want to waste any more time than necessary to prevent her companions from being identified as in league with herself.
However, she didn't anticipate that there were guardsmen who were questioning the parties behind in line, in order to help expedite the process of getting people through the gate. Two guards approached them, one of them armed with a lance while the other did not appear to have any weapons.
"Excuse me, travelers. I need to inspect your wagon for any illegal goods," the unarmed one said.
It didn't need to be said that although the guards were welcome to look inside the wagon. But touching, let alone uncovering, the cloth that hid Cecily's frame would be disastrous. Cecily slowed her breathing, focusing on remaining as still as possible as the others dealt with the men.
Renata watched horrified as two guards drew near to the cart which held Cecily to inspect its contents. "Wait!" she called, jumping off her horse and running over to the cart just as one of the men put his hand on the cloth, preparing to tear it off. "That cloth needs to stay in place."
"What? Why?" the guard asked, raising an eyebrow and pausing. "That doesn't exactly award you any points."
"It— It's a statue of Our Lady. I'm a servant of the Church of Sanctity, you see, escorting this statue to Pherae..."
"You're holding up the line," the armed guard mentioned from behind the unarmed one.
"Which is why I'm trying to explain this as quickly as possible," Renata continued. "Once it is sent off, a statue of our blessed lady must not have eyes laid upon it until it is received by the bishop in residence at its destination."
"Now that you mention it, it does look kind of like there's a person in there," the unarmed guard replied, running a hand along Cecily's concealed foot to feel around it.
"See, this knight is our escort," Renata said, gesturing toward Roland with one hand while trying to lightly nudge the guard's grasp away with the other. "He's already confirmed that the statue is legitimate. And also received the order that it must remain concealed during transit."
It was then that Renata noticed the armed guard giving her an obvious, stink-eyed stare, although the man's lance was still in a relaxed position, so it was hard to tell whether it was genuine suspicion or just an impatient personality. The unarmed one looked as though he could be swayed to letting them through more easily, but would just one of the guards agreeing be enough?
"Sir, I must agree," Roland fumbled, trying to catch up to the cleric's plan. "I have been ordered to strike down every man who lays eyes on the bare statue. This is a heretic statue," he improvised, slowly bringing his sword nearer to him in case it needed to be drawn.
"The heretics have cursed it so that any person who looks upon it begins to foam at the mouth and attack his fellow man. It was made to look and feel like a beautiful woman on purpose, so that more people would be drawn to it. The bishopric in Pherae seeks to purify it. Please, for the safety of all those around you, back away slowly."
It was all Kethen could do to not smack his palm against his face. The excuse was so far fetched that he didn't see anyone believing it. He had placed himself behind the wagon on purpose so he could distance himself from the group if he needed to, now it seemed like a good idea. He sighed, putting in as much annoyance as possible into his tone.
"You gonna hold up the line all day?" He shouted, trying to pressure the guards. With a sweeping gesture he indicated himself and the people in line behind him. "I have a job in a town ten miles over I gotta walk there on foot and be there by nightfall. The rest of these people got places to go too so can ya speed this up? Some of the natives are getting restless."
"Sir, we're doing what we can to make sure the process moves as quickly and smoothly as possible," the armed guard answered, raising his free hand to reassure Kethen. Although his body language was supposed to be disarming, his voice showed frustration.
"If this statue makes people who see it insane, shouldn't we have been notified of it as special cargo?" the armed one asked.
But the unarmed guard's face suddenly brightened. "Ah, I was wondering why you seemed familiar, miss: you arrived here a few days ago on business with the church, did you not? I know a friend in the valkyries, so it's hard not to recognize the horsebreed."
"Well, if she's a valkyrie, then I suppose it's okay..." the armed guard said hesitantly.
Not only did they allow the cart to go through, the guards gave them priority transit, bypassing the general crowd and allowing them to exit the gate in a timely fashion.
'Possibly to maintain good relations with the Church,' Cecily mused.
The ordeal was fairly stressful, but not for the fact that she was the source of the guards' suspicions. It was a combination of her companions almost blowing her cover by speaking too much and a fairly nasty itch creeping up her spine. Perhaps she placed too much trust in her companions' ability to sweet-talk the guards: Cecily made a mental note to instruct her companions to not give too many details if they were going to lie. Thankfully the guards they met were not politically inclined, or else they would have instantly smelled the deception.
Cecily started to grow impatient as the group moved away from the castle, but she knew better than to make unnecessary movement or sound for the time being; it was best not to reveal herself until the watch towers were out of view. After counting to a hundred, she slowly pulled her arms along her bindings to satisfy her itch, thinking that the action would be difficult to see from the distance she estimated.
"Why yes sir, you'd be correct... Indeed, it was a few days ago... Thank you... Your good deeds will not go unrewarded. I bid you have an excellent rest of the day," Renata found herself smiling and nodding her way past the guards, surprisingly quickly. That went better than expected, she thought, obviously pleased with herself.
After a few moments, Renata glanced back at the Lausian capital. The city was slowly growing smaller and smaller on the horizon behind the group, although they couldn't be getting away any slower than this. It was tempting, the thought of leaping onto her horse and riding away at full gallop, but she resisted the temptation as she waited for something to happen— hopefully the Lady would soon surmise that they were in the clear. They were out of town, but the adrenaline from the pressuring situation before hadn't yet subsided.
Roland, shaking all the way through the gates and out into the surrounding hinterlands, kept guiding the horse onwards until they were in the clear. It seemed they were almost roaming out of view, and he had to keep from suspiciously looking behind him at every opportunity possible. Finally, the city was out of sight, and they seemed to be on their way.
"My lady, I apologize for the long delay, but we seem to be out of reach, if you'd like to come out." He quickly realized she was still tied up.
"I would be happy to untie you, if need be."
"It would be appreciated," Cecily said as she struggled against her binds.
The moment her bonds were freed, she immediately attended to that annoying itch, giving a sigh as the sensation eased. Cecily didn't have a clue how long she would have lasted without scratching her itch, but as long as her deception worked, it did not matter.
"I suppose introductions are in order, but first..." Cecily unwrapped a fresh set of clothes from the back of the wagon, courtesy of her Lausian agent. Her dress is still cold from her night in the moat so, although the smell would not be eradicated until a proper bath could be found, a fresh set of clothes is appreciated.
"A little privacy would be appreciated," she explained to her entourage.
The extra clothes are nothing elegant: perhaps the lowliest clothes that Cecily ever had to wear. However, to the common folk, it would be ordinary clothing. She had nothing to complain about though: it is still a much more preferable alternative to cold, damp clothing.
"Privacy, please?" Cecily asked again, waiting for the men to look away before changing into a fresh set of clothes.
Since none of them betrayed her at the Lausian gate, she presumed that it was safe to tell them her intentions. It would have been practically impossible for her or any of those who chose to help her to escape if one of them alerted the guards to her true identity. Even though Theodore will remain behind, Cecily did not have any reason to distrust these new acquaintances.
"I mean to travel to Bern. Are any of you willing to accompany me, the Lady Cecily Laus?" she asked them once she finished changing into her fresh clothes.
At least, that is who she is supposed to be. She had no idea whether she really was a bastard child, though it mattered little at this point. Word of her fall from grace will inevitably spread through Lycia; unbeknownst to her, other nobles were suffering the same fate as though the entire empire was purging its "heretics." What truly mattered is getting to Bern while evading Lycian authorities.
Roland blushed and hustled away as Cecily changed her clothing. He shook internally at the thought of ever seeing any part of her exposed body. That would truly be a vile act. Defilement of the worst kind. Even in the simplest of rags, she was a sight to behold
When she spoke her intentions, he piped up, taking a second to compose himself.
"My lady, I am a knight with no master. It shames me to come before you as such." He stooped on one knee, unsheathing his sword, and presenting it to Cecily. Such a flower should not go unguarded. It was not proper.
"Lady Cecily Laus," Roland stated, determined. "My sword is yours. From this day forward, let my will be your own." He bowed his head and offered up his suppliant hands.
Renata would have withdrawn a few steps from the wagon to give her lady the privacy that she asked for... but it wasn't necessary as she found herself a few steps away anyway after absentmindedly stepping in a pothole. The valkyrie horse, well-trained as it was, had elected to deftly step around the hole. As much as Renata had wished that the horse could be replaced by a normal one, she couldn't deny that the beast had already been very useful despite being stolen property.
Pulling her boot out of the mud that had encased it, Renata tried not to dwell on the film of filth that now reached up to her right knee. After all, the path that she had chosen was not one that would let her look prim and proper all the time. There were more important things to attend to than propriety.
"Mine as well," she added after Roland finished his declaration of allegiance. Catching up to Cecily's wagon, she would have offered her own sword as well, but she was not a knight, only a young inquisitor who had managed to get herself into something bigger than she could imagine. Was it the will of Elimine that brought her here to serve the lady of Laus? No. It was my own actions, she thought pridefully. Renata hadn't felt any divine presence for some time, so she decided that this must be her true calling. "I was once called Sister Renata," she observed, sounding stupidly bubbly in contrast to Roland's noble speech. "But I am far more content to be Renata from Laus. I'll serve you however I can, milady!"
At best, she was an eager subject.