Delrik and Cosaria were gathered inside Delrik's large tent. Tilda and Felux entered.
Felux said, "Perimeter's clear."
Delrik said, "Start the report."
Felux said, "The beast's killed and I dumped its remains into the river. But, it was wearing the remnants of a jacket."
"One of its victims no doubt."
Handing Delrik a brass button, Felux said, "I donna think so. It's as if the beast wore the jacket but grew too big fer it. Here's a button from it."
Delrik studied the button, saying, "This design, it's from the uniforms of Grysle's Knights."
Cosaria piped up, "What could it mean? How did a torn jacket get on the beast?"
Tilda said, "Unless he wasn't a beast when he put on the jacket."
Delrik glared, saying, "Explain."
Tilda said, "The curse turns people into vessels for demons, doesn't it?"
Cosaria gasped, "The beast wasn't a beast at all. It was a cursed man!"
Tilda said, "That's the thought."
Felux said, "That'd mean Grysle cursed his own knight to be used in a ploy instigating panic."
Delrik said, "It's not so far-fetched. Grysle himself did not attend the hunt. After Felux and I split off I met his knight, Yrse, on the hunting field."
Delrik remembered back to the encounter:
After dropping the hysterical woman off at the camp, Delrik had went back into the woods to hunt something. It would look suspicious if he came back empty handed. He was Lord Arquix, after all.
Having tracked his prey, Delrik shot an arrow, felling a giant snow leopard. Often nobles brought large exotic animals and released them into the forest, specifically for the purpose of hunting them. The leopard fell down dead as Yrse rode past.
Delrik said, "Sorry, this catch is mine."
Smirking, Yrse rode past saying, "Trivial. I'm hunting something much bigger."
As the memory ended Delrik folded his arms and addressed the crowd, "I'm sure Grysle sent him to find the demon beast. And to get it to cause a scene no doubt."
Felux said, "We met the beast in the green area. It was traveling towards camp."
Delrik said, "If it had reached its destination, I have no doubt that Grysle's priest was fully equipped to handle the situation, after a few casualties of course."
So that was Grysle's plan. Unleash a monster on the nobles, show that the priest can save them from monsters, and gain the trust of the nobles. It was quite literally insane.
Tilda asked, "So what's our next move?"
"We act natural," Delrik said. "We'll stay for the award ceremony tomorrow, while keeping eyes and ears open. We can't let them know we are onto them. It's still too early and I have no idea what his end goal is, what he's planning. If we strike now, it could backfire."
Nudging Tilda to get her attention, Felux nodded towards Cosaria who was deep in thought. One might have even described her as brooding, if such was possible on such an angelic face.
Tilda asked, "Lady Cosaria, are you okay?"
Cosaria said, "I just can't help but wonder. If Delrik isn't cured soon, could he turn into a demon beast?"
All eyes slowly turned to Delrik as a dark, uncomfortable atmosphere filled the air.
Delrik said, "I think it is time to retire for bed."
Anxious to move away from that thought, the group disbanded.
༻✧༺
Nobles gathered around the awards table as an announcer arose on a long raised platform. Tilda and Felux watched from a distance as Duke Grysle tapped his finger on his face, his posture closed off, his jaw clenched, his eyes burning with anger.
The announcer said, "The title, 'Lady of the hunt', has been given to Lady Cosaria Arquix!"
Polite clapping.
The announcer continued, "Dedicated to her name was the most elusive snow leopard, shot by Duke Delrik Arquix!"
More polite clapping.
Tilda and Felux shared a glance as Grysle whispered in Yrse's ear.
Cosaria was brought onto the platform in front of the crowd. Duke Delrik knelt in front of her, holding out the key. With symbolic movements, Cosaria accepted the key and unlocked the lock hanging around her neck. The crowd awed at the romantic display of affection.
"Kiss him!" Lady Dorsey called out.
Both Cosaria and Delrik blushed as Delrik turned murderous eyes to the crowd. Quickly, and completely by surprise, Cosaria pecked Delrik on the cheek. Immediately Delrik's hate was turned to shock.
The crowd, "Awwwwwed." Delrik escorted Cosaria off the platform.
Tilda couldn't help but overhear a nearby conversation between the buff Lady Bluewether and her sister Lady Dorsey.
Bluewether said, "There's a lovey dovey couple for you."
Dorsey said, "And a handsome couple at that."
"Eh."
"You have to admit that Lord Arquix is handsome."
Bluewether said, "He's got too much of a baby face. I need a real man."
Dorsey said, "This is why you're not married yet."
"All I want is some feral facial hair. Is that too much to ask?"
Tilda's focus was drawn out of her eavesdropping when Felux said, "Clever trick with the lock and key. How'd you come up with it?"
Tilda said, "How did you know it was from me?"
Felux said, "I watched you give her the lock. You'd be surprised what you'll learn if you keep your eyes open wide enough to see. So?"
Tilda sighed, "It was a tradition. Kind of. The actual tradition is to take the lock and key to a bridge. Together, the couple chains the lock to a bridge and throws the key into the water below. It's supposed to symbolize unbreakable love, just a peasant tradition from my hometown."
Felux paused as the gears in his mind spun together. Finally, he realized, "That lock was fer us, wasn't it?"
Tilda bit down on her lower lip as her eyes cast themselves towards the ground. Unable to handle her disappointment, Felux grabbed her hand and dragged her away.
Felux brought Tilda to the beautiful bridge overlooking the quaint stream. It was made of strong stones and birch wood railings.
Tilda asked, "What're we doing? I don't have a lock."
Pulling a piece of string from his pocket, Felux said, "Tada!"
"What're you going to do with that?"
"We'll make our own tradition." Wrapping the string around the bridge's railing, Felux said, "Fer a lock, we'll use string. We'll be tied to each other."
"Because we choose to be," Tilda said, playing along.
"Because we choose each other."
Felux's hand slipped and almost lost the string. Tilda took the string from him and began to tie it with nimble hands. While Felux wasn't always the most eloquent, he knew how to make someone feel special.
Finishing the tie, Tilda couldn't help but note how unnoticeable it was. From a distance, it would be like it wasn't even there.
Tilda said, "You can't even see it."
"Hm…" Felux said, "We're tied together by unseen bonds."
"Our bond is unseen, but it keeps us together."
Felux said, "Like love."
Tilda couldn't help but embrace how cringy it all was. But traditions were meant to be cringy, weren't they? Being struck with an idea, Tilda rushed a few paces and grabbed two leaves from a nearby tree. Rushing back to Felux, she gave him a leaf.
Tilda said, "These leaves will also be like our love."
Tilda threw her leaf off the bridge then looked expectantly at Felux. Felux also threw his leaf off the bridge.
The leaves landed in the water and raced down the stream as Tilda said, "Our love will be growing and flowing. It'll change with the flow of the river but through it all, we'll stay together."
Felux held Tilda and said, "I like that."
Tilda turned her face to Felux and kissed him. His soft eyes were like puddles of melted devotion. As if being willfully caught in a spider's web, Felux only had eyes for Tilda.