03-04-2015, 10:39 PM
Renata nodded: although she was mainly responsible for the brawl in the cathedral, maybe it would follow her outside once the bickering individuals within realised that they were only fighting each other. Making her decision, she ran out the entrance—
— and was immediately grabbed on both sides by multiple sets of arms.
"What's got my guards worked into such a frenzy?"
Renata stopped struggling when she realised that the man before her speaking was probably the mayor of Iste, given the tiny entourage of guards following him. Along with the ones still in the church, who were either starting to lose their enthusiasm for fighting in a holy place or scrambling away fearing for the safety of the townspeople or themselves, this was probably the entirety of the town's militia save one or two men keeping the gates. "Well?" It was mostly the stereotypical picture of a mayor: middle-aged, slightly plump, mustachioed, yellow-jacketed; though this one had on a powdered wig which looked quite out of place in Iste's rural setting. "Say, aren't you that valkyrie girl who arrived this week...?" He chuckled after seeing Renata's eyes widen. "Come, now; you can't hide a horse of that caliber between a few trees."
"I won't hide anymore," Renata mumbled nervously.
"And what does a young holy maiden have to h—"
"Mayor Albert," a guard approaching the mayor, apparently named Albert, nervously interrupted to hand him a piece of parchment. "One Renata from Laus, suspected of murder and animal theft."
Renata felt her heart sink. She had been hoping that the authorities of the rural towns in this central area of Lycia, relatively the middle of nowhere compared to the boisterous east and west, would not have received the alert as quickly as the duchies had. "I— Iste isn't safe from the Church, Mayor Albert," she stammered. A vague doom-saying was her best comeback after being outed as a criminal? "We have much to discuss..."
"Indeed we do," the mayor replied. "We're going to the mayoral residence," he told the guards who still had a vice-grip on Renata's arms, who jostled her along in response. Though she was perfectly willing to walk on her own, Renata found herself lifted up with her legs skimming the ground thanks to the height difference between her and the guards.
Her hope re-ignited itself once she realised that Albert was sending them to his residence and not a town penitentiary of some sort. She looked back at Roland and Ambrose: the men had no obligation to follow her. But if not accusations of murder or animal theft, they almost certainly all had at least a few counts of high treason in common already. At least the other young woman from earlier, nowhere to be seen, had evidently evaded capture and escaped.
"Strangers," Albert greeted Roland and Ambrose, paying little mind to the stream of weary guardsmen and townsfolk gushing out of the cathedral behind them. "Imposing strangers. The worst kind. Either you join us and see what our naughty little valkyrie has to say..." He produced a jingling coin-purse from his jacket, holding it before them. "Or you leave Iste now and nobody's the wiser." He shook it impatiently in front of them as if he was offering food to animals and waited for an answer.
— and was immediately grabbed on both sides by multiple sets of arms.
"What's got my guards worked into such a frenzy?"
Renata stopped struggling when she realised that the man before her speaking was probably the mayor of Iste, given the tiny entourage of guards following him. Along with the ones still in the church, who were either starting to lose their enthusiasm for fighting in a holy place or scrambling away fearing for the safety of the townspeople or themselves, this was probably the entirety of the town's militia save one or two men keeping the gates. "Well?" It was mostly the stereotypical picture of a mayor: middle-aged, slightly plump, mustachioed, yellow-jacketed; though this one had on a powdered wig which looked quite out of place in Iste's rural setting. "Say, aren't you that valkyrie girl who arrived this week...?" He chuckled after seeing Renata's eyes widen. "Come, now; you can't hide a horse of that caliber between a few trees."
"I won't hide anymore," Renata mumbled nervously.
"And what does a young holy maiden have to h—"
"Mayor Albert," a guard approaching the mayor, apparently named Albert, nervously interrupted to hand him a piece of parchment. "One Renata from Laus, suspected of murder and animal theft."
Renata felt her heart sink. She had been hoping that the authorities of the rural towns in this central area of Lycia, relatively the middle of nowhere compared to the boisterous east and west, would not have received the alert as quickly as the duchies had. "I— Iste isn't safe from the Church, Mayor Albert," she stammered. A vague doom-saying was her best comeback after being outed as a criminal? "We have much to discuss..."
"Indeed we do," the mayor replied. "We're going to the mayoral residence," he told the guards who still had a vice-grip on Renata's arms, who jostled her along in response. Though she was perfectly willing to walk on her own, Renata found herself lifted up with her legs skimming the ground thanks to the height difference between her and the guards.
Her hope re-ignited itself once she realised that Albert was sending them to his residence and not a town penitentiary of some sort. She looked back at Roland and Ambrose: the men had no obligation to follow her. But if not accusations of murder or animal theft, they almost certainly all had at least a few counts of high treason in common already. At least the other young woman from earlier, nowhere to be seen, had evidently evaded capture and escaped.
"Strangers," Albert greeted Roland and Ambrose, paying little mind to the stream of weary guardsmen and townsfolk gushing out of the cathedral behind them. "Imposing strangers. The worst kind. Either you join us and see what our naughty little valkyrie has to say..." He produced a jingling coin-purse from his jacket, holding it before them. "Or you leave Iste now and nobody's the wiser." He shook it impatiently in front of them as if he was offering food to animals and waited for an answer.