03-10-2015, 05:26 AM
After a moment of furious thinking, the mayor turned to the guards carrying Renata and barked "Bring her back!" He then turned to Ambrose. "While I have the money to pay off a few vagabond mercenaries, I don't have enough to remain a mayor much longer," he said matter-of-factually. "But if there's any attention attracted to Iste? I'm as good as dead."
Renata barely caught herself from falling face-down as the guards holding her suddenly let go of her arms to shove her betwixt Albert and Ambrose. Getting an idea, the mayor pointed at the scarf coiled around Renata's head and neck and commanded one of the guards to take it.
"Wait!" she gasped in protest as she realised what was going on, but by the time she was grabbing at the scarf it had already been wrested from her neck and torn from her hair.
"I'll be needing it, miss," Albert said in response as the guard handed it to him. "'What a travesty, that such a wide-eyed lass could become a dangerous criminal'," he said theatrically, waving the scarf about. "'Alack, she is no more, slain by a shadowy pair of assassins. The stolen horse and tattered scarf, found in one of our simple farming fields, tell the unmistakable story that she died just outside of Iste.'" He nodded to himself and smirked, optimistic that he could buy favor with this arrangement. He would be able to give the Church's inquisitors the news of Renata's death but avoid the gruesome scene having to take place in his own town. "... Do it quickly, won't you?" he asked Ambrose in a hushed tone.
"Now, wait a tick!" someone else yelled before revealing himself to be one of the civilians from the cathedral. "Isn't this the little lady who just told e'eryone to 'stand up for what's right'?"
"This is a criminal marked for death," Albert answered before anyone else could. "Now, the three of you will begone before I change my mind!" He made a shooing motion before turning to the guard holding the wanted notice, handing the guard Renata's scarf and making a point of moving away from the three people he had just effectively banished, not feeling too comfortable around them for obvious reasons. "Dispatch a messenger to Caelin and inform the clergy there of this Renata's death," he commanded. "Bring the notice, this garment, and that horse hidden in the woods as evidence."
Although the guards who had previously been fighting amongst themselves were now commanding everyone to move along and return to their homes, a tiny swath of people instead began following after Ambrose, Roland, and Renata. One of them broke away from the group boldly to address them. "It's time, isn't it? To, you know... rise up," he muttered to Ambrose so the guards in the distance wouldn't hear, though the congregation was difficult to see thanks to the morning's haze making it look like the people were just walking to their houses. "We've been waitin' a mighty long time for this."
"Let's cover a little distance first," Renata suggested meekly, brushing aside the hair that had fallen in her face as soon as her scarf had been yanked off of her. She felt exposed without it and could barely bring herself to look at either of her comrades, who were the only reason why she wasn't doomed. Ultimately, it was up to them what happened next.
"The Empire's enemies never stand alone." Though it was doubtful that a bunch of villagers with pitchforks would be useful to whatever Ambrose's cause was, Renata recalled his words from the scene in the cathedral hopefully. As much as Mayor Albert had demanded Renata's scarf as "evidence" of her death, the guards hadn't even bothered to relieve her of her weapons.
Renata barely caught herself from falling face-down as the guards holding her suddenly let go of her arms to shove her betwixt Albert and Ambrose. Getting an idea, the mayor pointed at the scarf coiled around Renata's head and neck and commanded one of the guards to take it.
"Wait!" she gasped in protest as she realised what was going on, but by the time she was grabbing at the scarf it had already been wrested from her neck and torn from her hair.
"I'll be needing it, miss," Albert said in response as the guard handed it to him. "'What a travesty, that such a wide-eyed lass could become a dangerous criminal'," he said theatrically, waving the scarf about. "'Alack, she is no more, slain by a shadowy pair of assassins. The stolen horse and tattered scarf, found in one of our simple farming fields, tell the unmistakable story that she died just outside of Iste.'" He nodded to himself and smirked, optimistic that he could buy favor with this arrangement. He would be able to give the Church's inquisitors the news of Renata's death but avoid the gruesome scene having to take place in his own town. "... Do it quickly, won't you?" he asked Ambrose in a hushed tone.
"Now, wait a tick!" someone else yelled before revealing himself to be one of the civilians from the cathedral. "Isn't this the little lady who just told e'eryone to 'stand up for what's right'?"
"This is a criminal marked for death," Albert answered before anyone else could. "Now, the three of you will begone before I change my mind!" He made a shooing motion before turning to the guard holding the wanted notice, handing the guard Renata's scarf and making a point of moving away from the three people he had just effectively banished, not feeling too comfortable around them for obvious reasons. "Dispatch a messenger to Caelin and inform the clergy there of this Renata's death," he commanded. "Bring the notice, this garment, and that horse hidden in the woods as evidence."
Although the guards who had previously been fighting amongst themselves were now commanding everyone to move along and return to their homes, a tiny swath of people instead began following after Ambrose, Roland, and Renata. One of them broke away from the group boldly to address them. "It's time, isn't it? To, you know... rise up," he muttered to Ambrose so the guards in the distance wouldn't hear, though the congregation was difficult to see thanks to the morning's haze making it look like the people were just walking to their houses. "We've been waitin' a mighty long time for this."
"Let's cover a little distance first," Renata suggested meekly, brushing aside the hair that had fallen in her face as soon as her scarf had been yanked off of her. She felt exposed without it and could barely bring herself to look at either of her comrades, who were the only reason why she wasn't doomed. Ultimately, it was up to them what happened next.
"The Empire's enemies never stand alone." Though it was doubtful that a bunch of villagers with pitchforks would be useful to whatever Ambrose's cause was, Renata recalled his words from the scene in the cathedral hopefully. As much as Mayor Albert had demanded Renata's scarf as "evidence" of her death, the guards hadn't even bothered to relieve her of her weapons.