The Tale of Four

The Tale of Four
Chapter Six

"You seem to be taking this very well." Vincent said while looking at me intently.

"Am I?" I asked. I really wasn't trying to be strong or anything, it's just that I haven't had much time to think clearly about my situation. "I suppose that being able to talk with you and the others will help me find my place here. It was very frustrating not being able to speak with anyone."

"I suppose it would be. I have never encountered such a situation myself. But I am concerned about you. I know I just said to Markus that you didn't have to talk about your time in the dungeon, but I also think that it would be best if you did."

"Why is that?" I asked not making eye contact with him.

"Because I saw what happened and how you reacted. You are not a killer, so you must have some type of feelings from that. Not to mention he did attack you in a sexual way. Don't you have any anger from that?" He pushed.

"Yes I do. But I don't think I need to speak to you about it!" I said frustrated. The way I said it sounded rude and I didn't mean it to be. "I'm sorry, it's just that I never killed anyone before." I replied. My throat felt tight, like I was about to cry.

"I know. You were shocked at the damage that you caused and got sick. It is a normal reaction for those not used to killing." I nodded my head, not speaking. "I want you to know that what you did to him he absolutely deserved. I am not saying this to make you feel a certain way, but he did many bad things in his life that needed to be atoned for."

I started to cry silently. "It's just that he was alive and I was the one who ended it. What if he had a family he needed to take care of? What if, because of me, his family is suffering right now?" I asked looking down at the floor.

Vincent got up from his chair and knelt down in front of me. Taking my hands into his he replied in a gentle voice, "Hush Emma, you did nothing wrong. You defended yourself against a man who was attacking you. He would have done many things that you could not even imagine if you hadn't done what you did." He said the last part so convincingly that I looked him in the eyes. "He wouldn't have given you such a quick death either, and yes, he would have killed you."

I nodded slowly and sniffled. He wiped the tears away from my face for me. "I'm sorry. I am not usually such a cry baby." I said taking my hands away from his and gently slapping both sides of my face. "I will get it together."

"You have had a several traumatic experiences in a row. I think a few tears are not out of the question."

"Thank you. You have been so kind to me. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met you."

"There is no need to thank me. I told you before, without your help I would probably be dead. I have a duty to help you if you should ask. Is there anything that I can help you with?" He asked after he stood up and walked back around to his side of the desk.

"No I don't think so. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you." I replied a little dejected. What had I been thinking, of course he wasn't being nice to me out of good will. He was obligated to help because of some moral code he had. I got up from my chair and made my way to the door. "I feel really tired all of a sudden. It must have been because I was crying, I think I will head back to the room you let me borrow. If that is alright with you?"

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"Yes that's fine. Have a good rest." Vincent replied with a look of bewilderment on his face. Shortly after Emma had left his study a knock came from the door. "Enter."

It was Colonel Markus who entered. "How did the rest of your conversation go?" He asked.

"It was going fine until the end. I must have said something to make her uneasy. She seemed to put up her guard after I said that I was willing to help her with anything that she asked."

"Perhaps it was the way you said it? Anyway I didn't come here to talk about that. What are we going to do with Saville? We can't just let him do what he wants forever. Torturing you for two months was the last straw, we need to do something." Markus ranted.

"I agree, but what can we do? Saville is not part of Bastion and very hard to touch. He is a King in his own right and the other Nations wouldn't like it if we attacked head on."

"So do you think we should send an assassin?"

"I doubt they would get far. No, for now just get me as much information as possible on him and anything concerning him. I have been blind to his goings on for two months and need to catch up. Also, bring me anything on the other Nations as well. I want to know what everyone is up too." Vincent demanded.

"Yes sir." Markus bowed to Vincent and left the room. After he had left Vincent just sat in silence for a few moments.

"I wonder if I did say it in an insulting way." He mused.

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Heading back to my room took longer that it should have. I got lost in the winding corridors and had no idea which way to head. I haven't seen many servants either at this time of night. And it was pretty dark out, the moon was still low in the sky and the stars were shining. The temperature in a desert changes drastically between the day and night. Before it was blistering hot, and now it was very cool.

I wondered around for a little while more before finally seeing someone. "Excuse me," I started. "Can you help me?"

"Who are you?" Replied a girl who looked to be around twenty years of age. She didn't look like a servant either. Her clothes seemed to be made from an expensive cloth. "I haven't seen you here before."

"My name is Emma Blackthorn. I just arrived here today and seem to have gotten lost." I decided to be completely honest with my predicament. It was not the time to worry about egos.

"I see. Where were you headed?"

"I think I was staying in the northern wing." I answered. Thank goodness Brenda had told me that much at least.

"So you're a guest?" She asked in a surprised voice.

The way she said it made my eye twitch a little. "Yes. Is it that surprising?"

"Well I just thought that you were a servant. The clothes you're wearing are kind of dull."

I had to admit that they weren't the finest clothes ever, and they didn't even come close to what she was wearing. From the way she had said that is sounded like a she was just stating a fact and not trying to be purposefully insulting. I took a deep breath to calm myself. I had a habit of getting defensive when people said rude things. "I'm sorry my clothes are not as fancy as yours, but I am not the one that picked them out. Besides I have no social status anyway so these suite me just fine."

"You don't have any status? Then how are you staying here as a guest?" She seemed on the verge of calling the guards. She must have thought I was lying and just trying to steal things.

"I was brought here by King Vincent and Colonel Markus. Due to some circumstances I had no choice but to follow them." I had added Markus' name just to show her that I knew something of them. Hopefully she knew both and would at least ask one of them before throwing me out of the palace.

"Markus did?" She asked. "He didn't say anything about that to me." She said Markus' name without any honorifics and that set a bell off in my mind.

"Do you know him personally?" I asked.

"Yeah. He is my brother."

"Your brother!" I repeated shocked. Now that I looked closely at her she did have the same red flaming hair like he did, and some of the facial features looked similar. "I guess you do look kind of the same." I said hesitantly.

"He is older than me by a few years so that is natural. I came here today because I heard that he was back with King Vincent and wanted to see the both of them. Unfortunately he just said that he was busy and to leave him alone."

That sounded like something he would say. He didn't strike me as the type of person who was all loving with family members. "Not to be rude, but should you be telling me all of this? I mean I could be trying to do something bad and you are just giving me all sorts of information."

"But aren't you a guest?" She asked puzzled.

"You didn't seem to believe me when I told you that." I replied.

"I see. But a bad person wouldn't have told me that, would they? They would have just taken the information and did what they wanted with it. So I think you are just fine."

Well at least she isn't completely stupid. "Alright, do you know the way to the northern wing?" I asked.

"Yep! Just follow me." She said walking back down the hallway I had just come from. I just shrugged my shoulders and started to follow her like she told me too. It wasn't long before I realized that she had no idea where she was going either.

"Maybe we should start knocking on some doors or something." I suggested after a while.

She dipped her head down and mumbled. "I don't think there is anybody in those rooms. This time of year we don't have many visitors."

"Hmmm. Then what do you suggest we do. I wish Brenda would just appear."

"Brenda? Who is that?" She asked.

"She is a servant who works here. She is very nice and knows her way around."

"I'm sorry. I've only been to the palace a few times and each time I was with my brother. I didn't really pay attention to the different places."

I sighed. I shouldn't be taking my frustrations out on her with glib remarks. "It's alright, I'm no better. I should have noticed the way we went from the dining hall."

"What are you two doing?" A voiced asked, making us jump in surprise. It was Markus still wearing what he had on earlier. He must not have gone to sleep yet.

"Brother!" The girl said jumping into his space and hugging him. Markus just stood there with a look of annoyance on his face.

"I will ask again. What are you doing?"

"We got lost." I offered when the girl didn't say anything. I could tell that she had gone stiff. Markus looked at me and then at his sister, then back at me. I just shrugged.

"Tara get off of me." He ordered, which she grudgingly did. She was pouting slightly from what I could see. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"I wanted to see you! I tried to earlier, but you said you were busy."

"That is because I was busy. Next time leave when I tell you too. Walking around here at night is a bad idea." He scolded.

"Could you please lead us to the right place?" I asked kindly.

I got a cold look in response and a smart, "Follow me." Unlike earlier, with Tara, I was sure that Markus knew where he was going. Only a short five minutes had passed when I was in front of my door once again. "Here you are. Please make an effort to remember where it is for next time."

"Yes, I will do that." I said embarrassed and slightly peeved at the same time. "What are you going to do with Tara?"

"I will lead her to the front gate so that she can go home. It is not that far from here so she will be fine." He added after seeing my worried look. "At least I hope she will find her way home."

Tara, after receiving a stern look from Markus, was led away from my room. I sighed deeply and entered my room to get some sleep. It had been another long day and I was exhausted. I realized then that I hadn't asked Vincent anything that I had wanted to. This is what I get for getting upset over nothing. Hopefully tomorrow I can ask him what I need too. I walked over to my bed and flopped down onto it like I did before. I tried to look around the room to check it out, but it was too dark and there was no light source. I shrugged and decided to go to bed. I crawled under the covers and noticed that this was the most comfortable bed that I have ever slept on. It didn't take me long to fall into a deep sleep.