The trip to Midrouge was an easy one. They had journeyed for two days and there wasn't a single sign of trouble from robbers or worse; as much as Lilah would have liked to take that as a good omen, she had only felt more uneasy. The trio had been tiptoeing on a sword's edge for the entire journey and each day of safety sharpened the blade. It was as though they were prey being stalked by a predator they could not see or anticipate. The three of them had camped out in an unlit and inconspicuous corner of the woods the previous night. As much as she trusted Bleu to be the watchman, Lilah had found no peace in sleep. She had tossed and turned and her ears perked up at the sound of each noise in the woods, afraid that the creature from the palace gardens was following them. When the sun began to peek into the sky, she had finally given up and joined Bleu outside the tent where they sat up and whispered throughout the night. They had discussed what could be done once they returned to the palace to help the poorer regions of the kingdom. Bleu had advised her to find a way to create more jobs and to somehow help the sick or injured better than the kingdom had done in the past. It was all good advice, but it was also easier said than done.
Now, it was late afternoon and the group was arriving just outside of Midrouge. There were many more people in this town than all the other villages put together. Midrouge was the poor man's Vidan. The town was just beside the Erzulief border and next to Delladine's only Church of Boneel, so that was why many followers congregated in the area. There were buildings stacked up one after another that housed travelers and locals alike. The town was dirty and overcrowded and Lilah noticed it had a permanent burning smell that rose above all else. It was not so much a city as Vidan was; however, it was more like a town with a very overpopulated market street. As the trio led their horses down the dusty road that passed all the local shops and houses, Lilah noticed many who were standing to the side and begging for money or food. Lilah reached into a pouch she had filled with silver and gold coins, intending to give it to the beggars, but Bleu's voice stopped her.
"Lilah, I know what you want, but you cannot give them anything. As soon as one person sees you have money, everyone else will mob you until you're left with nothing. I could obviously keep that from happening, but that doesn't seem in accordance with this goodwill mission." He said evenly.
She nodded, seeing the sense in his statement, but that didn't lift the guilt she felt inside her chest. There were elderly and even mothers with children tucked on their hips that were begging. The sight of it almost brought tears to Lilah's eyes but she refrained. Trying as she might to avoid the thoughts, she looked at each of their faces and wondered how they ended up in their hardships. Did their farms refuse to yield crops? Were they unlucky with managing their goods? She knew without asking that it was more likely that they had never had anything to lose in the first place.
The low rumble of what could only be a large crowd broke Lilah from her thoughts. It wasn't clear what was being said, but she could tell it was a huge body of people chanting something. She looked over at Bleu and Marzonna and their attention was glued down the street.
"We're getting closer." Marzonna said grimly.
"It's the mob outside of the church." Lilah said.
"Yes, and that means we need to be more attentive. No one should pay us any attention, but violence could break out at any moment." Bleu answered.
Lilah swallowed and led her horse further into the crowded town. It was only when the trio followed the cobblestone road around a corner that Lilah finally saw the commotion. She had only seen the Church of Imperi before this day; and that building had industrial walls that did not reach very high but spread wider than any building in the kingdom. It had always reminded her more of a storehouse rather than a church, a fact she and Marzonna often joked about. The Church of Boneel, however, was nothing like that.
This church was made of old limestone that had received many knicks and scars over the centuries it had stood there, but it looked as sturdy as though it was built that year. Lilah found herself wondering if it reached higher than even her own palace. The church was dirty and covered in ivy that wound itself all the way up the pointed top of the roof, and yet it still looked magnificent. It had the air of something ancient and sacred and otherly, as though the walls held secrets that the rest of them would never discover. Lilah only took note of the huge mob that had encircled the church after a moment of admiring the building. The crowd created a strange juxtaposition to the serenity of the sacred building before them.
The mob was bigger than Lilah had ever seen in Vidan. It was filled with people who mostly seemed to be dirty and tired, but all were dressed in black. This reminded Lilah that they were all in mourning for the Fallen Noduvs and she realized what a slap in the face these executions were. In a month that was meant to respect and remember Noduvs who sacrificed their lives to save others, their very own descendants were being persecuted and killed for conjuring. Lilah's hand curled around the reins tighter and she felt her nails cut through her skin.
As if to capitalize on her thoughts, she soon noticed all the wild flowers and butchered game that was laid on the church's front yard. It seemed rather gruesome instead of holy, but Lilah knew that was just the Boneel way. The church would soon hold a sacrificial burning of all the offerings before leading its members towards the Boneyard Coast to offer its respect. That is, if this all died down in time for that.
Lilah scanned the area and soon found a group of pristinely dressed officers that she recognized as a part of the Vidan force. Their perfectly pressed emerald uniforms stood out against the worn clothes of the civilians, their faces were hard and indifferent to the huge mob chanting around the church. Lilah turned her attention to a wooden scaffolding that appeared to have been hastily built and placed just behind the officers. The structure was three times as tall as Bleu and cast an imposing shadow over the day's proceedings. Squinting, Lilah tried to get a better look at the scene in front of her and that's when she finally realized what was hanging from it. The masses she looked upon made bile rise in her throat and threatened to gag her. There were two ropes with frayed ends that only hung pointlessly at the end, but beside them, there were four ropes pulled taught with blue and swollen bodies hanging from them. The crowd, the guards, the entire city, was surrounding four bodies that had been hanged and left on the gallows as though they too were offerings.