Ed had used every trick, technique, and story he could think of to convince them of what had occurred. They had the story mostly correct but the accusation of being a slave trader of Demis was a serious crime in the south and the guard felt that they needed to be absolutely sure he wasn't a criminal before they released him.
In a room much nicer than Ed's, down a hallway and near the back of the area Ashra was sitting on a couch with a mug of hot tea being questioned by higher-level locals. They were trying to assure her that it was perfectly fine to turn him in if he had harmed her in any way. It wasn't unusual for the victims of trafficking to fear their captors even when they might be just mere moments away from freedom. They told her that she could be free to return to her home and clan. They explained that whatever the human had told her was a lie.
And these accusations only incited her anger more. Ashra insisted on them that Ed was her husband. She explained that they had met when she was sent as a servant for him. They had recently agreed to head south to see the Oracle and conduct business together and had become married. She gave them descriptions of his home, where he was from, and even told him about an intimate birthmark he had someplace that only a wife or lover should know about.
The interrogations turned from minutes into hours. After about half a day Ashra was sent back to the hotel with the name of an investigator and told that she may be needed again. When she pressed for the release of her husband, they told her that more time was needed with him. She had initially refused to leave the building and was threatened with trespassing. They were still not sure that they were legitimately married because, although love happens between demis of different races, humans and demis were a lot rarer and more frowned upon in the border areas. Trafficking was far more common between the races and the southern people frowned upon any of their people going over. They however would gloss over humans coming over from time to time for certain groups. Especially if they thought that the human was of mixed blood and being "repatriated" to their homelands.
Ashra made it back to the hotel with the help of an armed city guard and she wandered into the hotel with her shoulders slumped and Ed scarf still wrapped around her neck.
"Wait… where is Erust?" Said Rennish.
"They won't release him just yet… I didn't tell him that he is the prophet, they would have assumed I am an indentured servant or declared him a heretic even though he is the prophet." She hung her shoulders.
"I hoped they would honor our pairing, but they are questioning it so much. I hope he will be okay." And Ashra sighed and slumped into a chair in the lobby of the hotel. It was the middle of the night and she was surprised that Rennish had waited.
"Wait," She looked at Rennish with suspicion. "How did you avoid arrest?" She eyed him wondering how he wasn't arrested at all.
"Oh, I have the uncanny ability to blend in and sneak out. Cowards know when to retreat and when to escape. Erust will be fine, I promise. I am going to walk to the guards here in a few hours and see if some precious metals won't help grease the wheels to his freedom." Rennish said rubbing his hands together. Protecting Ed was ingrained into his psyche using divine magic. Normally as a human, he would have taken the sack of gold and carriage and counted it as a gift from god. His human tendencies were fighting his divine programming. And worse than that Ed was the only thing close to a friend he had. Loyalty was never Rennish strongest feature but he was finding that it was harder to think of abandoning him.
Rennish got up from the chair and used his hands to smooth his clothes and remove new wrinkles. He had several gold coins on him that had been given to him by Ed to use in case of emergencies. This absolutely qualified as an emergency in his mind.
As Rennish was planning to leave Ed was finally making headway in winning his freedom. Ed's interrogation was taking place in one of those rooms in the back that they kept free of decorations and incredibly utilitarian. This room was all stone, stacked, and lined up without a window in it to deprive a suspect of the sense of time. It was an old trick to convince them that they were running out of time and to spill their guts. These stone rooms were also easy to clean should a suspect need to be convinced to confess.
Forced confessions were not uncommon on either side of the gate but were frowned upon, especially with travelers who had the coin to pay for the entrance in through the main gate and not by going the long way around town through the unmonitored border.
"Honestly, please just free me and Ashra and let us go on in peace. If you just need us to leave town to smooth over the mess that's fine too. We were planning on leaving in a day so we can leave early if we need it." He said leaning back in the chair rubbing his temples.
"Why so hurried to leave? The town square has many treats for newlyweds that I am sure your 'wife' would love to see." The head investigator said with disdain in his voice.
"We would have, yes. But this has put a sour taste in my mouth and we must head south to visit the oracle and make more trade deals. We are simple folks just trying to make it on our own free of the judgment of others. We THOUGHT that maybe we could live in harmony here in the south where things were supposed to be more open. We see how that worked out." Ed sighed and looked up at the ceiling. The stones were all gray and lanterns hung every few stones to give the room just enough light to have a conversation.
A knock on the door came and the first investigator got up. The two investigators were old men, gray hair shown in their hair and they both looked like Felis, although one may have been part wolverine. Ed wasn't fully sure what race he was and he wasn't about to ask now. The one that was for sure Felis was the one who got up and answered the door. He peeked outside and said something to someone shorter than himself, looking down and sounding agitated.
Finally, the door was pulled open and a Taxman was standing inside the door frame. He was different from the rest of the taxmen he had seen but you could tell. He wore the same style of uniform but this one was cleaner, neater, and somehow more opulent. As if money had allowed him to make it the same but somehow more opulent.
"Erust of the northern people." The taxman said walking into the room with his hands behind his back. Both guards moved over by the walls and stood against them. This man was known to them and held some kind of authority. The man walked over to the table that Ed was seated at and stood before it. He looked up at Ed with a face that told Ed he was a man in charge, and he knew it.
Ed looked at him and sat upright. His instincts were screaming to be polite and listen to this man. The air around him even seemed to sit up straight. "Yes sir, that is me," said Ed.
"You came through my gate, tried to pay in gold that was overweight for the standard with two accomplices and were selling only a dozen or so ornamental Golems was it?" his level of information was a tool to show that he was THE man in charge.
"I wouldn't call them accomplices sir, Ashra is my wife or mated partner in her words, and Rennish is an old friend and traveling companion," Ed said putting his hands in front of him and weaving his fingers together. "We are traveling south to see the oracle and I hoped to see Ashra's home if we make it. We brokered a deal to sell to Ursal along the way."
"I saw that in my notes. You're not making a ton of money in that but if you take the purchase order with you the levies can be reduced from 6 gold here on out. Do you really expect me to believe that a mere 24 gold is enough to travel on?" The taxman said rubbing his hands together behind his back and talking with a simple monotone that gave on that he was bored with this conversation already.
"Well, we have some savings from the work I have done before. Honestly, we are just travelers and doing our best to make the trip without much trouble. The merchant's license will help us travel and sell our wares. Had I known we would have this issue we would have gone around the town. I always wanted to see the massive bronze gates. I saw the city of Ganel once and the buildings from the ancient times amaze and enthrall me." Ed said letting everything out but controlling what he said. He was actively boosting his charisma, trying to bleed the impression that he was honest and trustworthy. It worked on weaker minds, but he wasn't sure that he was going to be able to persuade someone who's will seemed as strong as this man.
"Well, it is good news that you wish to travel as an Honest man. If that is the case, I may have work for you later, I am sure that is okay. Since you plan to travel as a good law-abiding citizen. Do this work for me and I will make sure that the damages to the wares in the halls of commerce are taken care of for you."
There it was, thought Ed, good old fashion blackmail. He wasn't sure that this wasn't the plan all along. It wasn't normal to go through the gate with such a small load of wares and even more so not to sell them in the town of Southern Gate and then just walk through the wall into Northern Gate.
"I am sure if your errands are on our way, we would be glad to drop off whatever you need. We do have a very small cart though sir. So, the load will need to be small." Ed knew he couldn't weasel out of this. He had the gold to cover the losses but explaining a large amount of gold he kept would be even harder for someone without a merchant's license.
"See, all a simple misunderstanding then. I do believe your traveling companion is here for you also." He said smiling sadistically. This was going to haunt him later, he was sure.