Chapter Fifteen: New Captain In Town
Time is an odd thing, when you are enjoying yourself it will go fast, when you are in anguish it will move ever so slowly. If you're in a rush, it will move so much faster than you wish it to, no matter what you do. If you wish it to hurry along, it will slow down to a crawl just to spite you. So you can imagine that when you are confined to quarters, what feels like two months is actually two weeks.
I remember pacing back and forth with all manner of dark thoughts haunting my mind. We all had started to guess our chances of escape, of fighting our way to freedom. None of us had sunk to the level of actually making a break for it but we were close, ever so close to making a try for it. However, we managed to keep our wits about us and hoped the slim hope that we would be released sometime soon.
After all, since we were proven right we thought that sooner or later someone would want to talk to us, to find out what we knew. At least that was the hope I was clinging to, that someone would find us useful and see the error of the Commander's ways. It seemed obvious to the Guards that guarded us that we had information on the situation and shouldn't have been left to rot in there.
Thankfully someone did come for us finally, I remember the door opening and a strange Guard entering the room. She looked around the room while counting our heads, and without as much as a hello ordered us to come with her. Then she turned and left the barracks and waited for us outside. To us it was almost unreal, almost a dream. We played along anyways and walked outside and winced in the bright light of day.
We were escorted with a few more Guards over to the Town Hall, and again not a word was spoken to us. No explanations were given, no apologies or concern was shown for our time incarcerated. We were marched like cattle being driven to market, to her we were just another thing to deliver. As we walked through the Town Hall we all had an idea of where we were going, namely to the Commander's office. Eventually we found our way to the door of her office but oddly enough the Guards posted outside her office were not regular Guards. These were the 'Council Guards', the Guards that bore fancier swords and finer armour. I knew that could only mean that a person of some import was in there with the Commander, a Councillor or somebody of the like. Nothing prepared me for the shock I got when I rounded the corner and saw Lochel sitting there in the office alone.
Lochel, or rather Director Teroncia was sitting at the desk looking over some papers and didn't seem to notice our arrival. Our escorting Guards stood outside but the lead Guard entered the room ahead of us. We all lined up in front of the desk and waited, not knowing what would happen next.
"The prisoners you requested Director." The lead Guard said in a dry tone, with just a hint of pride in her voice while she stood at attention tall and proud.
"Thank you, but they're not prisoners." Lochel replied, looking up at the lead Guard only just as he finished his sentence, glancing over us once.
"Sir? . . . But these are the individuals you requested?" The Guard asked a little confused over his last comment.
"Yes they are, but they are not prisoners. They were arrested for impersonating Guards yet I have their transfer orders here." Lochel said holding up one of the papers on the desk. "According to this they were properly deputized in Greenglen and then transferred here. Why then were they arrested two weeks ago?" Lochel inquired with a perplexed look. The Guard also looked puzzled over this news but gave no reply for a moment.
"I don't know sir, you'd have to ask the Commander about that." The Guard said and fell silent again, still having a disturbed look about her.
"The Commander, yes." Lochel said with a disappointed and frustrated sigh with a look to match as he rolled his eyes. "Fair enough, dismissed." He said with a commanding glance to the Guard who then disappeared without another word closing the door behind her. "Have a seat all of you." Lochel said warmly to us as he rose and walked toward Treabilla who walked toward her Father. "Good to see you dear. You had me so worried, I swear you will be the death of me yet." Lochel said with a warm smile just before he embraced her and kissed both her cheeks, she did likewise.
"Oh Father, stop worrying about me, I can take care of myself." Treabilla said with a bright smile as she looked into her Father's face "Besides I was with good friends, you should have known that." Treabilla said while still embracing her Father while motioning to the rest of us.
"But still you shouldn't have run off and made me worry so." Lochel said with a cloaked perturbed tone with just a hint of a condescending flavour in his voice.
"Oh Father really! I'm not a little girl anymore!" Treabilla said with just the beginnings of a pout.
"We'll talk about this later dear." Lochel said with a tone that Treabilla knew was the end of the discussion for now. "Why is it Mr. Westlock that when my Daughter goes missing these days I find her in your care?" Lochel said with a curious tone and a raised eyebrow as he looked at me while still holding his Daughter.
"Just lucky I guess sir." I replied respectfully, remembering whom I was talking to.
"To have the company of my Daughter for so long a time on more than one occasion, I should definitely say is lucky indeed." Lochel said proudly with a squeeze of his Daughter who hugged him back. "I'm so relieved that you're alright dear. I came with fresh Guards as soon as I heard the news." Lochel said first to Treabilla and then turned to the rest of us. "Can someone tell me what is going on here? Do any of you have the slightest idea why the Captain of the Guards joined the rebellion she was supposed to quell? And why over two hundred Guards went with her?" Lochel said with the shock and disbelief he felt.
"I can sir, but you'd better sit down for this, it is a bit involved and quite a troubling tale." I said with a regretful sigh and a shake of my head as the weight of the news I had to tell came back to me.
With that we set about telling him everything we knew about The Mistress and her Disciples. Every last detail of the trip that we took from the gates of Teroncia to Greatfoot we told him. Naturally we left out certain intimate and more private details that he didn't need to know. We took our time and described everything else in detail, making sure that he understood all of it. After all, if there was one person in Tania who needed to know and understand what we had to say, Lochel was that person. He asked a number of questions and we answered them as best we could. Thankfully I did not do all the talking, everyone took their turn in explaining a portion of the tale.
Yet again, Treabilla had to drop her drawers and reveal the mark of The Mistress; Lochel stared at it for a moment, almost in disbelief. Once we were finished and he had been caught up to the moment, he fell silent and was deep in thought. As he sat there, I could see a look I hadn't seen before on his normally confident face, now he had an almost frightened look about him.
"My God, it's worse then I thought." Lochel sighed. "I knew that she had Disciples and did strange things to them but I always thought it was relatively harmless. I was assured by The Captain that she was trying to find The Mistress and bring her to justice as I ordered long ago. I suppose she was protecting her instead hunting for her." Lochel shook his head in disbelief. "I always thought she was content with the few she had worshiping her and paid her little mind. Naturally when she took Treabilla from me I wanted her head, but that was as a Father not as the Director." Lochel said and sighed with a frowning forehead.
"Understandably sir." I assured him.
"I never imagined that she would go this far, it never occurred to me that she would actually want Tania!" Lochel said with a sigh and a shudder at the unpalatable thought.
"But it is the truth Father, and we have to stop her!" Treabilla said with conviction.
"Agreed, and thanks to you lot she has been captured and is on her way to Teroncia as we speak, in fact she should be there by now." Lochel said with a smile. "It is good to think of her as locked up." Lochel added with a satisfied smirk.
