It seemed that everyone had overlooked one thing. The victim's father really could dig in his heels and demand a wedding. Alexander decided that there were enough proposals; he had already chosen an option that suited him.
"I suggest we conclude the meeting and accept one of the proposed solutions. I'm in favor of the pole. Eugene, I understand, is as well," he said, waiting for nods before looking at the last triumvir, "Konstantin?"
"The pole."
The members of the Triumvirate unanimously reached a decision, and further voting was unnecessary. By a vast majority of votes, back in autumn, executive authority among the vampires had been appointed as the supreme judicial authority.
"Then tomorrow morning, I will speak with the girl's father. If he does not insist on the rapist marrying his daughter, then the day after tomorrow we will carry out the sentence."
The advisors began to disperse.
The morning dawned again with Demur hanging in the sky, devoid of a single cloud. The conversation with the elder took place in the same tower as the day before. However, there was a curious incident.
The elder noticed a new tower that hadn't been there yesterday when he went to sleep, a tower that had been erected overnight. The perplexed man rubbed his eyes and kept repeating, "how can this be." In this state, he was led to the knight.
"Now that the guilty party in dishonoring your daughter has been identified, I would like to discuss our next steps with you."
"What is there to discuss, Your Grace? Let him marry Sofka; she's a young, healthy girl. She'll make a good wife!"
"But he will be a bad husband."
"So what, Your Grace?"
"You see, dear sir, your daughter has already suffered because of this... man. And I see no reason why either of us should condemn her to a life of suffering with him for the rest of her life."
"So what. He ruined the girl. Let him marry her. And then let the Most Bright One decide, Your Grace."
Alexander just cursed under his breath. The elder either didn't understand or didn't want to understand the hints. A direct offer would have to be made.
"How much do you want to settle your daughter's tarnished honor, so we can avoid the wedding?"
"Don't you want the mage to tie his life to a peasant girl, Your Grace?"
"I don't want your daughter to tie her life to a scoundrel!"
The conversation with the elder dragged on for a long two hours. The man adamantly refused to take money or any other valuables. He firmly believed that the mages simply did not want to arrange a wedding for one of their own with a herb-gatherer. All attempts to convince him that the criminal was a scoundrel and a wretch, and that his daughter would be very unhappy with him, hit a wall of incomprehension.
In the end, Alexander just started naming sums, hoping that the peasant's tenacity and natural frugality would prevail and prevent the man from passing by a mountain of money. And so it happened. At the sum of three hundred and fifty silver moments, the elder relented and withdrew his demand for a wedding.
The sum, by village standards, was enormous, and even beyond. For example, a regular baron's warrior received five silvers a month, which added up to 15 silver coins a year. In total, the elder's daughter received a dowry equivalent to more than twenty years of service as a warrior, effectively for her whole life.
Seeing off the elder with his daughter and the money, Alexander tried to sleep, but only tossed and turned. Unable to bear it, he got dressed and went down to the basement where the rapist was being held. After hitting him several times in the face, he returned to his quarters with a clear conscience and finally fell asleep.
The Triumvirate's decision was highly controversial among the vampires. There was no one who did not condemn Krapivin's actions, but the actual death sentence imposed on him did not receive mass approval. Screaming curses and incomprehensible words, the rapist was tied to a pole an hour before dawn.
He was wild with fear but made no attempt to break the symbolic ropes binding him. Naturally, for a vampire, this would not have been difficult, even if he had been chained to the pole. The most reliable thing keeping him tied to the pole was the knowledge that if the bonds were to break, the guards loyal to the Triumvirate would tear him to pieces.
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