"Why did you not bring it up before?" asked the masked man, the hood of his cloak flying behind him with the wind.
"He had already warned me about his disgraceful punishment if I did," I answered without looking up at his face or meeting his stormy eyes as tears swarmed my eyes. "And I am afraid that you would raise it up now, too, which would still not spare me from his torture."
"If you had done so in the hall, I could have locked him up to rot in the dungeons. I have always heard rumours about him with women, but I didn't believe him to have tortured them disgracefully without the lady's consent on that topic."
"How can you trust my statement, milord? He would have used it against me saying that I was lying since I came from another land that isn't yours. It would be me sitting in the dark cell instead."
"If I witnessed everything and if I command, that shall be the last word passed with none to object it."
