A strong slap resounded through the Duke's office. His palm stung after meeting his son's cheek, but he could barely contain himself, striking him once more.
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
Elron lifted his fingers to touch his tender face. He understood why his father was angry.
A couple of days ago, he had publicly denounced half of the dukedom's vassals for tax fraud and malversation of funds. This last element had ignited the ire of the populace, since the heads of various houses had wrongly taken possession of the relief funds intended to help the dire food and resources shortage.
He had also caught most of those involved in the plot for his assassination, but the guards and knights he had sent after the two escapees had returned empty handed, or just didn't come back all together. The whole fief was buzzing with the news of passages being discovered inside the castle, and a considerable effort was being made to find and seal every one of them, being of no use after becoming part of the public's knowledge.
His decisions might have been rash, but he still stood by them. If outsiders had been taking advantage of the passages already, it was best to just get rid of them.
Keeping his gaze on the ground, Elron answered anyway.
"I did what had to be done, Father. You know just as well as I do that a revolt was just around the corner. This, at least, has managed to appease our citizens."
"Silence!"
Veins bulged on the Duke's forehead, but at the sight of his remaining advisors whispering at the corner of the room, he decided to inhale deeply to calm down.
"I left you in charge to keep the dukedom's affairs in order, not to create another situation. You will be confined in your room until I say otherwise."
Elron's fists clenched.
"But, Father-"
"You are dismissed."
The door closed with a bang, and the Duke finally dropped himself on his leather chair.
"With all due respect, my Lord, I don't entirely disagree with the young Lord. The situation in Singre has significantly calmed down and now only a couple of extremely radical groups remain, but it is no longer a problem of the whole citizenship."
The Duke sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"That might be true, but I lost practically half of my court in one day."
"Still, my Lord, I truly believe this was for the best-"
The Lord stared coldly at his vassal.
"Do not step out of line. Do you believe I don't know your territory was also misusing the funds I gave you? That child just eliminated the households who didn't support him. If I had known he was so cunning I would have never handed over the leadership to him."
The advisor stepped back, ashamed. He almost wanted to confront his master about how unfair he was being. Wasn't he the one who had created this whole situation in the first place? He had turned a blind eye to the houses' misconduct in order to maintain a steady hand over the court. Now, he appeared to want to disassociate himself entirely and shift the blame to others.
The rest of the vassals remained silent, sending each other furtive gazes. Those who had survived the manhunt were the ones who had taken the young Lord's hand. Seeing the attitude of the Duke now, it seemed that it would not be long before his son took over his position.
Being from an older generation, the Duke's priority of appeasing the nobility had blinded him into disregarding the rest of his people, creating the double edged sword that Elron had now used not only to present himself as a just leader to the citizens and calm their ire, but it also had become a leash on the rest of the noble's necks since they had stolen from the people as well. There was nothing better to force a man under you than to hold a blade above his neck.
With this swift move, the young Lord had firmly set his position as the future Duke, eliminating his opposition, weakening his father's standing and pressuring those under him into submission. It was simply brilliant.
The tense atmosphere was cut by the intrusion of the head of the knights, Sir Constantine.
"My Lord, may I interrupt? I have the report you requested."
The Duke signaled for the man to step inside, at which he promptly knelt down in front of the desk.
"My Lord, after escaping the recently discovered passages, the fugitives seem to have stolen a horse at the stables. We found torn and bloodied uniforms that match the description the sole surviving knight provided us."
"So, have you managed to track them down?"
"I apologize, my Lord, but from what we gathered, they stole a horse and merged into the crowd that was leaving the assembly that day. We also believe the savage caused the attack at the city's outer wall that knight."
"Those seven knights who were murdered on the night shift?"
"Yes."
"Then that beast must be traveling farther away as we speak."
His fist banged on the wooden table.
"Damn it!"
"I am truly sorry for this negligence, my Lord. With the enormous amount of people inside the castle attending the assembly, we were forced to place most of our manpower in the main hall."
"I don't want to hear it. Just make sure you find and dispose of her."
"Yes, my Lord."
The Lord was about to turn back to his work, but Sir Constantine's voice stopped him.
"Um, my Lord."
"What is it?"
"There is something else I must report about the Ronna's companion."
"Oh, do you know who he is already?"
"We are not sure, but we recently discovered that the savage was not the only thing missing from the harem."
"Who else is missing?"
"A small child named Neera."
-----
Neera felt tired and sore. The large slash on her back was particularly painful as her body swayed in rhythm with the horse's gallop, her wounded shoulder was numb from the tightness of the bandages that prevented it from bleeding. Davina held her steady with a palm spread on her stomach while steering the reigns with her other hand.
They had left Singre a couple of days ago with only a fresh set of clothes, some bandages, and the small amount of rations Neera had been able to steal without rising suspicion for their travels. These had all been stored in a small bag that she had hidden in the stables.
After waiting for the assembly to finish, they had successfully managed to take a horse during the confusion, passing the castle gates under the cover of the hoods above their heads. Unfortunately, the security at the walls of the city had been raised to avoid the escape of any of the convicted nobles, forcing Davina into a swift but brutal assault at one of the smaller exits.
Once the duo had successfully abandoned the capital, Neera felt all the tension leaving her body, making way for every thought she wanted to push down to flood into her mind at unexpected moments. She could be walking down a small town on her way to buy some food for their travels, or finding a place to sleep when suddenly, amidst the crowd at the market, she saw a knight with a sword stuck in his chest, grinning at her maniacally while blood gurgled up from his throat and through his teeth. His visage then morphed into Maule's face, who now tried to call out to her with his battered fingers stretching out towards her, until finally, the vision changed into the familiar girl with blonde locks, Alea, crying out her name in rage while a myriad of wounds tore open her skin, staining her pristine dress in red.
"You left me behind!", she roared, charging towards her.
The first time her mind had betrayed her, Neera's body froze, her heart rose all the way to her throat, and she felt her chest increase its rhythm to the point where she wondered whether that would be the end of her. By the time she regained her senses, she found Davina holding her trembling shoulders as the sobs she hadn't noticed escaping her lips shook her whole spine.
"You're okay. You'll be fine. Don't worry."
The soft, consoling words seemed to bring her back to the present every time, but Neera could not help but feel anxious at the warm tone, so she pushed her away once she was calm enough. Davina's eyes followed her constantly. Whether they contained empathy or apprehension, Neera did not know.
They traveled like that for a couple of weeks, skipping from town to town with lowered hoods and whispered voices.
One night, sitting by the fire in the woods at the outskirts of a town, Davina confronted her.
"You see him, don't you?"
Noticing the girl by her side immediately tensing up, she proceeded.
"I saw my first one for a long time as well. I sometimes still see him in my sleep, but it is just the price I have to pay for being here alive today."
Davina threw another stick into the fire, prompting the lively dance of the sparks rising through the hot air. Neera turned to look at her but said nothing. The flames cast a strange shadow over her features, with her eyes lighting up for a second only to be covered in darkness the next. Davina had had that thought before, but she couldn't help but feel that that gaze didn't belong in the face of a child.
"Who else do you see?"
Neera flinched at the question, turning her face away from the light of the fire.
"No one."
"Don't lie to me. I've heard you call out to her in your sleep. She's your friend, right? Alea."
Only her eyes moved back towards Davina as she answered.
"I don't know if she considers herself my friend anymore."
"She betrayed you, didn't she?"
Davina had caught on pretty quickly about the cause of the knight's invasion into the tunnels the day of their escape after learning of Alea's existence and her knowledge of the passages. She noticed a small drop falling from the girl's chin. Her voice cracked when she spoke.
"I betrayed her too."
The Ronna didn't deny it.
"Do you have any idea why she would tell on us?"
"I'm not entirely sure whether she knew I was there or not, but she was probably trying to gain the Duke's attention by saving his heir. Her father has been eyeing the Duchess' position for years."
"How do you know?"
Neera's eyes turned cold. Unshed tears glistened as they hung on her lashes.
"I once read a letter he sent her without her knowing. He was asking about the progress of their plans of grooming me."
"Grooming you?"
"Yes. They were going to take advantage of the Duke's attitude of rewarding anyone who does right by him. His obsession with loyalty makes him quite susceptible to these kinds of schemes. From the moment she showed me the passages, they intended to frame me into trying to assassinate the Duke and his family since I had enough motive to do so."
Davina didn't pry into the last part. The scars on her body spoke for themselves, and she was sure there were more she wasn't aware of.
"If he wanted more power, why didn't he just dispose of the Duke through the tunnels?"
Neera sighed.
"If the Duke died, the chances of a barony taking over their fief was extremely small. That is also the reason why he tried to step over the Marquise. He wanted to go even higher."
"So, they learned of the proposal that was sent to me and took advantage of it.",
Neera nodded.
"The Baron became impatient."
They remained quiet for some time, but eventually Neera felt the need to speak up for Alea.
"I never knew if she was going to do it or not. I could tell she really disliked her father. He doesn't see her any differently than the way the Duke sees us. I always hoped she would come one day and tell me everything. She would say she was sorry and we would both find a way to escape."
"But you never told her of your plans."
The girl looked down once more.
"I couldn't trust her."
Now, Neera would never know whether Alea would have truly gone through with it or not. That chance had been destroyed by their escape. Still, she felt the urge to defend her, to clear her image in Davina's eyes.
"She probably told them about the tunnels for revenge, you know? It was the only decisive evidence that would have made such a young child's story against her father believable. Without it, he could have just dismissed everything she said, but endangering the Duke's safety is a crime that involves the whole family behind it. That was probably the first time she acted entirely on her own."
"She must have had nothing to lose."
Davina knew this moment was rare. Neera always kept her thoughts very preciously, and barely shared them. She thought she could take advantage of this moment of vulnerability to finally understand the child and the reasoning behind her actions.
"You were expecting her to tell on you the moment you left, didn't you? Is that why you asked me to come with you? Because you were preparing for resistance?"
Neera kept her eyes on the floor.
"No. Even if I prepared for it I never thought she would actually do it. I thought..."
Her voice trailed off.
"Not even I ever thought she would be so bold."