****Vlad****
"What!?" Will I say I shouted? Or I tried to keep my composure, I was absolutely noticed by the committee. It's abnormal for a guard to interrupt the meeting of the committee, so they already know that something isn't right.
"What's troubling you mayor?" Ioan asked with curiosity. I wanted to change the look on my face and smile but what discrepancy would it bring to their face, I picked my cup of wine, sipped a little and looked straight up to Ioan.
The truth is that Luca actually rules this town, just that he is not in direct authority as I am, everyone has this great fear for him, likewise me too, a creature in human form that can rip off a skull without metals or stills, what do you think.
"Mayor?" Ioan interrupted my thoughts once more, I picked up my cup of wine forcefully this time to pull in the confidence to answer his question this time around, I was shivering inside but on the outside, am still maintaining my composure.
I chuckled a bit, "it's just a minor issue we always have with Luca protecting the town from bandits" I said, chuckling weirdly again, the look on his face isn't encouraging, he looked around the table as if he was finding some flying birds.
"Are we talking about bloodshed here, mayor?" he asked. Even though everyone feared him, he was hated too because everyone thought that they should at least live far from humans, but we've been obeying the orders of those who were here before us.
"Yeah, he took care of the bandits that was about to attack some villagers" I added, one thing is that Ioan can never be comfortable as far as we're talking about the wolves here, I understand him anyways, that's always how fearless hunters do, unafraid of anything and everything.
"How sure are we that they were bandits or just ordinary merchants that have come to trade with our market women and men" he said, I obviously know that he was trying to defend his thoughts all these while he's been arguing.
" I was there myself," Sorina added without a second thought. It's a meeting of men, even tho he has a greater authority to speak, she only does when it's an important thing to say or an important issue to resolve, she adjusted her dress a little to feel more comfortable.
"I was there with my granddaughter when they came fully armed, they were rampart bandits, I sensed them even before I arrived" she said. "You shouldn't step out without the protection of the guards" I turned to her in surprise, "you know we need you in this town, you're the spiritual guardian of it" I added.
"I shall not hit my foot against a stone, those who abide with me and within me won't allow that" she said in parables. I usually find it hard to understand most things she says but am glad I understood this one a little, unlike others.
"But was this what the guard really told you about?" She proclaimed with widened eyes staring directly into mine, I forgot I was with the protector of the realm, she has the permission to see and say about the past but nothing about the future even though she knows about it.
"What's she saying, mayor?" he asked with a confused look on his face, I have let him down by lying to him, I don't feel bad about that. Remember, I am the mayor, the human leader of the town and it's physical protector.
"Poor boy, what has he done to your neck?" she asked the guard standing by, it is he who was cut a bit on the throat to teach others a lesson, the guard was standing there, he must still be in shock to have come out alive from the hands of Luca. But why must Luca attack who I sent to him?
"He didn't" she interrupted my thought, i was so unsure if she was answering a question that was still ongoing in my head? Unbelievable, "he didn't do this to you right?" She said the second time but now facing the guard. The guard in shock "he didn't" he said standing at attention.
With the look at Ioan's face, I could tell that he's lost in this discussion and he's also lost in thoughts, he sips his wine reluctantly, stares at me, looks at Sorina, sips his wine again, on and on he continued until he got a reply.
"Tell us what happened" Sorina commanded the guard, she quietly shifted her seat backwards because the guard was apparently behind her. The sound of the shifting disrupted the few seconds of silence we were busy enjoying at the moment, now she's comfortably awaiting the guard to speak of something she already knows about.
I interrupted the cool story that was about to be unleashed, changing the emotions of the atmosphere once more. "I apparently sent him off to get Luca as he wasn't here presently for this particular gathering we're having now" I narrated.
"Exactly what I say all the time is that these things need to be sent out from the town to a far away land for them to live" he voiced out, I could see right through his face that what he wanted to say hadn't finished yet, he was about to continue from where he stopped.
"Have you forgotten that for years ... .years before you were conceived, these protectors you called 'things' have been the reason this particular town is still in existence and have been prosperous, living in harmony and others?" she said audibly, sounds like a quarrel but isn't, she pulls her seat inside more, placing her two palm on the table.
"Harmony?" Ioan reluctantly asked, "Did you just say living in…." Was still pouring his mind out and was cut by Sorina. "Yes, harmony it is, Do you know the misery this town was in until the wolves came to its rescue a thousand years ago?" she said she isn't done yet but there words kept Ioan mute for a while.
"we suffered greatly at the hands of invaders, one after the other, it was a game of 'whoever conquers rules the captives' until the wolves came in and gave back out town to use directly into our own hands, it will be sour behavior to go by your words Ioan" she finalized.
"Let's continue from where we stopped" Ioan said, feeling defeated, no matter how physically strong a man can be, emotions can still hurt, Ioan gave up the argument so easily and that's unlike him.
"So back to my story" I continued, sipped the remains in my cup and looked into the eyes of both one after the other followed by a slow chuckle, slowly dropping the cup on the table. "So!!" I exclaimed.
"We all know that Luca isn't here for this gathering, so from the start, I sent my personal guard" I said, touching my guard, didn't remove my hand for a while. "To go and get Luca for the meeting and that was it" I added, removing my hands from the guard.
"And he suddenly showed up here saying that he was attacked" waiting for the response from Sorina, telling my guard to step back a little. " What do you say about this Sorina?" I asked inquisitively.
"We should hear from him instead," she said, looking slightly at the guard. "I will ask him some questions in your stead" she added, shifting her seat again and again to feel comfortable.
"Did you actually went to call Luca or did you went there to handle him under the mayor's command as you said" She asked, she was staring at my confused face because I literally can't remaining sending someone to handle Luca, that's a suicidal mission to send someone to a monster like him.
"I wanted to attack him" the guard responded, the response exploded my mind the more, it was seriously a horrible conversation to be listening right now and the worst of it all is this, as Luca didn't feast on him, he will demand justice for what the guard did to him, I was speechless in the middle of this conversation.
"And who spared your life?" Sorina asked another question. I think this was her last question, she adjusted her sit to the previous position, not looking at the guard this time around rather was listening.
"It was Kael that spared me under the order of Luca, he used me as a bait to scare the other guards away" he narrated, bowed his head and stepped back, silence was all over the place, I believe I am suppose to speak, but the more I try to open my mouth, the more it closes.
"What is that sound" I muttered, it was a sound of a man walking, sounded more like a beast or a monster, in the silence of the room only the deep sound the feet produces was what we were hearing, tho we already know who it was, in this dangerous scenario, it was a shock for him to come in now, the sound of his feet suddenly stops.
Kpa, kpa, kpa. The sound of his clapping flooded the room. He stood upright in the front of the door, his two hands on his back with his broad shoulders, a perfect jawline, with his very white hair, just a picture of a handsome monster in a human's body. "Welcome to this….." still introducing and kael interrupted.
The noise he made from pulling the chair for Luca disrupted my welcome greeting. "I believe you must have heard?" he announced as he sat in the middle end of the table, directly opposite to mine. his question sounded incomplete but yet I already know what he's about to pull out.
"Luca, I heard what happened and we're deeply sorry about that" I appealed to him, the look in his face stood impassive, he slowly turned and looked at Kael and they made a disapproval sign to each other.
"I believe you know how it's done mayor, we don't accept apology, we accept justice and sentence" he stipulated, he's a no nonsense monster, it would be a waste of time trying to plead on behalf of a mere guard, we can only do the needful and give him a sentence.
"Drop your weapons" I commanded the guard, in seconds, sounds of metal armor and sword shattered on the floor was heard. "Seize him, he has a sentence to face' I said, looking at Luca's face, he smirked and was waiting to hear the sentence.