AnnouncementWarning! Mentions of gore.
The day after Lin Xuen visited the Royal Guards’ training, Valeria was called by the King at the first light of the morning sun.
It was rare for her to be requested so early, so she knew that something serious must have happened.
Her guess was confirmed shortly after she arrived at the King’s office, where he and Gideon were already waiting for her.
— A moment ago, a note arrived from the city. Our shipment of equipment for the army was stolen. — Lucius said with a tired voice. It seemed that he was up even earlier than Valeria. — This is the third attack like this. Just like the previous two, there were no survivors, and no witnesses.
— We weren’t pnning on burdening you with this, Commander. — intercepted Gideon — But His Majesty insisted that we ask for your assistance.
— The city guards are like children wandering in a mist. They keep coming back empty handed. Of course we need her, Gideon. Valeria might be young, but she has proved time and time again that she’s no less capable than people twice her age.
The adviser didn’t rebuke the King’s words out loud, but his apprehension to involve the Commander was as clear as day.
It wasn’t that he harbored any ill feelings towards her. His ck of approval had a rather pragmatic origin, as he simply believed that a simple Royal Guard, no matter how skilled with a sword, could not make for a good investigator.
The King’s words were final, so whichever way he felt about it, he had to keep it to himself.
He passed all of the information he had gathered about the attacks, and shared them all in great detail with Valeria. Even if he didn’t believe in her natural abilities, he could at least equip her with as much knowledge as possible, and hope that by some miracle she’s able to find something out.
Once out from the briefing in the office, she went straight to the barracks.
From what she gathered during the meeting with the King, it seemed that she wouldn’t be back until very te at night, so she had to find someone to repce her at the Princess’ side. Fortunately, she already had someone in mind.
The moment she stepped into the barracks, an unidentified object flew at an unnatural speed, a mere inches from her face, and crashed into the wall beside her with a grossly loud squish.
Valeria followed the trail of the projectile, only to see a shapeless mass sticking to the wall that she vaguely recognized as a meatball, served frequently to the Royal Guards by their cook.
Judging by the greasy stains on the wall, and the remains on the floor below it, it wasn’t the first shot that was fired, and whatever competition the First Unit started was going on for quite some time now.
On the other side of the mess stood a group of guards, surrounding a table with a stack of even more meaty ammunition. Seeing their Commander come unexpectedly and catching them doing something that surely qualified for disciplinary overtime training, they froze on the spot, afraid to even move a finger.
However, for the sake of her sanity, Valeria decided to ignore the inhumane cruelty dealt to the local popution of meatballs, and proceeded with the reason she came there in the first pce.
— Felix, I will be away for most of the day, so I need you to accompany Princess Oriana in my stead today.
The man in question felt like his guts were doing flips for a moment when he heard the Commander address him, but upon hearing the rest of the sentence, excitement took the pce of fear.
It was very rare for the Commander to require assistance with any of her tasks, and even when it occasionally happened, it wasn’t anything of any significant importance. That meant that there weren’t many opportunities to impress her, to his great disappointment.
Fortunately, it seemed like fortune finally smiled upon him. No matter how he looked at it, guarding the Princess wasn’t an easy task. If he succeeded at getting Her Highness to say a good word or two about him to the Commander, then maybe Valeria would start relying on him more, and assign more important tasks to him.
Reinvigorated with the opportunity and everything it entailed, Felix straightened his back, and saluted with the passion of someone who was about to be decorated with medals of the highest honor.
— Good. Just remember to not go too early. The Princess doesn’t like to get up until te in the morning. Almost before noon. — Valeria began instructing him — And make sure she doesn’t leave the Pace. It’s too dangerous right now. If you have trouble stopping her, just ask Kyra for help. Oh, and it’s of utmost importance that you don’t leave her alone with the Prince if they meet. And there’s also the matter of… — Valeria kept naming and listing every small thing that she though her substitute should be watchful of. — I think that’s everything you need to know. If you don’t know something, just ask Kyra. The King requested me to look into some important matters, but I will try to return as soon as possible. — she concluded.
By the time she finished, the sheer amount of information made poor Felix feel as if his head was used to toll the bells on the Temple’s towers.
Eventually, there was nothing more for Valeria to say, and so she left the barracks, leaving the First Unit to rex again.
Except for Felix, who felt like he should start writing down everything the Commander told him before he inevitably forgets something, and disappoints or angers rather than impress her.
Just like everyone else in the Pace, he knew that the Commander cared about the Princess, but he underestimated the degree to which she did.
The Commander seems a little… overprotective…, he thought, trying to stop the ringing in his ears.
As if in agreement with him, the mangled meatball that was stuck to the wall all this time, unglued and fell to the floor with a loud wet plop.
Once Valeria made sure that there will be someone to watch over the Princess during her absence, and leaving a note under Kyra’s door expining the situation, she rushed to the site of the test attack.
According to the information she got from Gideon, the caravan was ambushed while heading to the garrison in Lucetta, and while passing through the forest to the west of the city.
Usually, any shipment belonging to the crown would travel through the much safer main road leading to the northern gate. Since the caravan was carrying equipment for the army, secrecy was required, and thus the decision to take the significantly less poputed western trail.
Valeria arrived at the site around breakfast time.
Despite it being deep within the forest and on a unfrequented route, the entire pce was swarming with the town’s guards.What immediately caught Valeria’s attention was that a lot of them were standing on the side of the road pale, almost sickly looking and with terror in their eyes.
She didn’t have to wonder for long what caused it, as it became clear the moment the caravan, or rather what was left of it, entered her view.
The heavily armored wagon used to transport the cargo was mostly untouched, with only the lock on the door being busted. What made the scene horrifying, was the area around it.
Valeria had seen and experienced a lot of cruelty in her life. There were times when she thought that she had seen the worst both humans and fey had to offer. There were times when she almost lost her life, and times when she had to take one in order to survive.
Even though she had seen it all, it still wasn’t enough to prepare her for the unadulterated atrocity before her eyes.
There was no telling how many people were guarding the wagon, or even which body parts belonged to whom. Every living being that had the misfortune of being part of the caravan was torn to shreds and turned into an indescribable, shapeless mass and spread in every direction around the wagon.
The more Valeria looked at the scene, the worse it got.
Her stomach started twisting, forcing her to look away.
As she cast her eyes down, she noticed a piece of cloth partially buried in the dirt. All she could see were four letters, neatly embroidered with a motherly attention, forming a name.
Otho.
DannyTheDaikon
