CONTENT ADVISORY / TRIGGER WARNING
THIS NOVEL CONTAINS DEPICTIONS/STRONG IMPLICATIONS OF THE FOLLOWING THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE OR DISTURBING:
~ BLOOD AND VIOLENCE
~ DEATH AND/OR MURDER
It was nearing dusk and everyone within the search party was exhausted. The groups of civilians who had volunteered to look had slowly begun to dissipate and return to their homes while the guards continued their search at the order of the king's lord. They had searched every inch within the city, and now they were searching on the outside of the city walls.
Libelle stood beside Eskil and Gaalin, talking with the two guards who had been searching the fields by the stables. "You haven't found anything yet?" Libelle asked. "The girl could not have vanished into thin air."
"I agree," Gaalin said. "She has to be around here somewhere. Have the guards checked with every home?"
The guards nodded. "Every home, twice now. No one has seen her."
Libelle sighed with exhaustion as Eskil patted her shoulder with a faint smile. "It's alright, we'll keep looking for her."
She nodded at him, looking over her shoulder as the sisters slowly walked up to them. They were growing wearier and becoming more tired. Libelle spun around when she heard a man's shout.
"We found something! Over here!"
They all began to run in the direction of the voices and moments later, Libelle skidded to a halt as her stomach rolled. "Gaalin..." she whispered.
Gaalin spun around and caught the other two sisters in his arms before they could see the mutilated corpse of their sister, Ingrid. "Don't go any further, girls, you don't need to see this."
Vigdis shrieked, "Ingrid!"
"Gaalin, get them out of here," Libelle said over her shoulder.
The sisters started to wail as they glimpsed their sister, trying to resist Gaalin's hold on them with little luck. He picked them up by their waist and carried them away from the scene as fast as he could while Libelle stared down at Ingrid. Eskil's hand gripped her shoulder when he sensed her rage. She wanted to scream.
"Libelle," he started to say.
She shook her head, approaching Ingrid's body. She knelt beside her and began to examine her injuries. Ingrid was nude, her dress torn to shreds beneath her. She was covered in large gashes and animal bite marks all over her body. Between wounds were large amounts of blood and many, many bruises. The guards who had found her had their helms removed, one vomiting into the grass.
"You found her just like this?" she asked.
"Yes," one of the guards said, avoiding staring at her.
"The Edinburgh guard needs to start looking for a murderer," she sighed.
The guards looked surprised at her statement. "A murderer? Why?"
She pointed to the injuries. "Ingrid wasn't killed by animals."
"How do you know?"
"See these wounds? These bruises," she sighed. "They're hands. She was grabbed and dragged here. And here, look, these gashes weren't made by an animal, they were made with a blade. The rest of these wounds, the bite marks, happened after her blood had stopped flowing. There's no blood flow from them."
"What happened to her then?" one of the guards asked.
Libelle sat down in the grass and covered her face with her hands. "By the looks of her injuries and the blood...Ingrid was raped, dragged across the ground and strangled. Then, while her body was still warm, the killer carved into her with a blade and tried to make it look like a beast had killed her."
Eskil looked at her confused. "How can you know that?"
She smiled weakly, her eyes becoming glossy. "I've seen my fair share of bodies."
"Thank you for your help, lord, we will take it from here," the guard said as several more approached Libelle from behind. "Please, tend to her sisters."
Libelle nodded as she accepted Eskil's offered hand to stand up. She walked slowly by his side towards Gaalin who was sitting on the ground with Vigdis and Brynhild crying in his lap. He looked over his shoulder at them as they got closer.
"Was that her?"
She nodded. "Girls...I'm so sorry...that was Ingrid. She's..."
"She's dead!" Brynhild cried. "Ingrid is dead because of you! If it weren't for you, if you hadn't have had us come to this city, Ingrid would still be here!"
Libelle looked down at her feet, Brynhild's words hurt yet she understood why they were said.
Vigdis pulled her youngest sister to her chest. "Shhh, it's not Lady Libelle's fault."
"I'm sorry," Libelle said.
Brynhild wailed louder as Vigdis tried to console her. "What happened to her?"
Gaalin stood up, removed his coat and wrapped it around the girls' shoulders. Libelle watched him solemnly, sighing again before she spoke.
"She was murdered."
The girls surprise was very clear. "She was...murdered? No! How? Why?" Brynhild cried out.
Libelle didn't want to go into the details. "I don't know why, but the guards will organize themselves and find the one who did it."
She couldn't stay here. She couldn't handle the girls right now and she wanted to leave. Gaalin seemed to read her mind, and he stretched his neck to look at her. "I'll stay with the girls. You head home, my lady."
"Is that okay?" Libelle asked.
"Lasses, can I escort you back to your home?" he asked them.
Vigdis nodded. "Yes, thank you, Lord Gaalin."
Libelle stood silently as she watched the girls stand up and walk beside Gaalin back towards the city gates.
Eskil's hand gently rubbed her lower back. "It wasn't your fault, Libelle."
"I know. I just can't help feeling..."
"I understand. Come, let's get you home. The guards will take care of everything else."
She nodded and followed him towards the stables.