"So you've been digging around our former stronghold?" The Duke's voice grazes my ears like sandpaper as he speaks.
"Possibly infiltrating, no less." The white haired woman speaks whilst standing beside the Duke, her position of power and grudge against me is clearly a problem.
I open my mouth to speak, but before I get the chance to do so, I hear the door behind me creak and footsteps trail in.
The familiar voice of Abern interrupts the silent stares of the court's spectators as he briskly walks into the hall, I assumed he was another supporting voice, and that he was also late. my body's tenseness built up from accusations thrown against me began to subside. Though this all felt like more like a criminal trial rather than a simple meeting.
"My Lord." He bows respectfully before preparing for a heart-felt warrior's plea.
"You may speak." The Duke raises his arm to stop any opposition after seeing some of his court, including the white-haired woman ready to accost the retainer for his supposed insolence.
"I've confirmed for myself that none of the swords were taken by him, and were in fact used as self defence against a group of goblins, who had taken up residence, using our grounds to hunt." Abern explains thoroughly.
"And I heard he killed them all, in the dark no less." The Lord gave his own addition to the discourse, nodding as he spoke, which, filled me with some positivity regarding his outcome, perhaps he thinks of me as a strong warrior, and will treat me with more respect based upon that assumption.
"What do you think, my daughter?" The Lord glances to the side, I hold back the urge to audibly groan as I see him once again asking for the opinion of the wrong side of the argument.
"Wholeheartedly, he should face trial for thievery." She replied without hesitation, both Bealla and Abern opened their mouths to speak, but were interrupted by the raising of the Duke's hand.
"There's no need to go that far, we'll simply take off whatever hand touched one of our treasured weapons." The Duke spoke with a terrifying calmness as he scratched his beard, I saw as he scratched his beard, as if he was satisfied with the decision.
I supposed I should've been more concerned with the man's response, however the retainer's defence of me made me confident enough to waiver all worry, until I looked behind me.
Not one of them spoke, instead they idly stood, looking ahead, like they were waiting for orders.
"Abern, draw your sword, enact the blow." The Duke spoke once again.
"Of course, my Duke." The sound of ringing metal as it scraped out of his scabbard haunted my ears.
His sword was readied, and he looked towards me with a dead-calm expression, I shoot him a confused look, what the fuck is happening?
I glance to the other side of me, where Bealla is standing, she holds no emotion at all, in fact, her eyes are closed as she begins whispering, but nothing seems to happen in regards to her. The tubes within my ear begin to constrict to hone in on both of their heartrates, they are perfectly normal. Have they suddenly switched sides? Why go into such an elaborate farce just to trick me? Was it to give me false hope?
Or I suppose, at the end of the day, their lord's commands are final even if they object to it, this is an absolute feudal society after all. It seems my arm will be sacrificed for making the mistake of trusting diplomacy in such a world.
I weigh up my options as he begins to raise my sword, I raise my arm up, offering it to be amputated, however thoughts raced through my head of possible escape options, once it was chopped off it would just regenerate and I would be able to run all the same, or perhaps I could dodge the strike before it gets my arm, though, am I even as fast as someone like him?
"If you'd only like your fingers taken off, admit to the attempt of looting, that you have desecrated our sacred family ruins." The Lord's cold hearted demeanour pulsed through the room, I narrowed my eyes, readying myself for the anguish to come.
"I admit nothing, as I have done nothing, my soul is innocent." Speaking their language feels shockingly natural now. But as much as I have tried to integrate with this strange place over the short time I have been here, I still feel so disconnected, as if even the blade about to strike me is illusory. Perhaps time-travel ...or dimensional travel, or whatever science has imparted onto me has it's own form of jet lag, I wouldn't doubt it, this odd flip between calm and panic has had me in a daze my entire time being here.
I notice as Abern tenses his grip on the handle of his blade, he swings downwards, the wind whipping around the glimmering edges of his sword.
My eyes gently shut, as if I was attempting to wake from a bad dream.
I feel wind hit my arm, yet nothing in the form of pain comes to bite me. My eyes gently open to see the sword stopped inches away from severing my arm.
"A rather brave display you've put on my boy." The Lord smiles at me, I'm then met with the strange sight of the entire court bursting into laughter, as if I was the victim of some hilarious prank.
Abern sighs as he places a hand on my shoulder, a meagre comfort for the now embarrassing situation.
"My apologies, it's my Lord's preferred way of testing people's loyalties, you did well when faced with my sword." He spoke with a sympathetic tone, though Bealla simply started snickering.
"Thank you, my Lord." I spoke with absolute humbleness, even though the aristocrat had just embarrassed me in-front of tens of people.
"I deem you a promising subject of Thagos, tell us your name." The Duke raises his hand and everyone stands as a show of respect.
"It is Gale." My words make his eyebrows raise.
"What an exotic name, you must be well travelled after all, if you do enough good in the name of Thagos, I may even make you a retainer!" The Lord scratched his silver haired chin as he chuckled heartily.
"My father has deemed you promising, however I will be conducting a ritual to scry tour true intentions as even he will admit that he is not all knowing." The white and orange haired woman spoke condescendingly, shattering the joyous air which was present in the room.
The ritual that they spoke about earlier, a deep rooted interest in the odd nature of magic existing meant that I was actually excited to see this ritual done on me, rather than nervous. As a scientist, I could perhaps even rationalise this 'magic' and turn it into another mechanism of science.
The Duke of Thagos's daughter gracefully descended from the dais, though she seemed to retain a snobbish look all the while, her large servant always accompanied her, who also seemed to be in a permanent state of smiling, in a generally happy mood of which I would not expect from a underpaid servant.
She passed me by as she walked without even looking back, simply clicking as she went and said:
"Follow me, without Abern and Bealla." Her orders were precise and prompt, strongly imparting the need to follow them, and so I began to follow her out of the large hall. My shoes crunching on the expensive carpet as I made my way out of the large gate. I looked behind me towards the concerned faces of the two that defended me.
Even though they both scared the shit out of me.