Part 4 Chapter 8

 

CHAPTER 31

 

 

W

hen Moira heard of Sertia escaping the Highguard cell all she could think was how relieved she was that Sertia was not going to die and how grateful she was it was now over. But after Bevil left and she thinks of it more and more she realises it isn’t over, not yet. The people of this city will want justice; they will want to know from Moira herself what they will do about this. They will want to know how she got out and who helped her and they will want that person or persons to be punished brutally.

  The problem she has (one of them anyway) is that Bevil is the one who helped Sertia leave, inadvertently of course but no one is going to care about that distinction. She goes through it over and over in her head but always comes to the same conclusion: someone else will have to be falsely accused and punished in a way that would satisfy everyone and hopefully this person will not say anything about it to the public, or the truth will come out and Bevil will have to be punished as much as Sertia or more so.

  Neither of these options appeals to Moira but she knows she has to pick one soon. Approximately ten minutes after Bevil angrily leaves The Fair Maiden Moira tells the movers and shakers of Tov’ra to inform the city to prepare to hear her decision. She as of yet has not made her decision but thinks she will soon.

  To learn more about Sertia’s escape Moira goes to the barracks to visit Lord Wazilli, hoping any insight might help with her decision. He gives an extravagant bow and stays standing until she tells him to sit. He does so but is very tense; she notices this but doesn’t tell him to relax. She has too much on her mind to deal with him.

  She has Lord Wazilli tell her in excruciating detail what happened that night, everything from what the guards saw, what they heard, even who went into the cell, when they went in and what they did.

  He tells her all he can from what he heard from the guards, it isn’t much but it is enough to get a clear picture of the night. It is clear that all was well until Bevil went into the cell, Wazilli tells her Bevil is the one that visited Sertia the most aside from the guards themselves, and Moira realises his timing was not long after she had signed Sertia’s execution order. Then sometime later the servant girl Kaila enters saying Sertia wanted to see her and she tells the guards that Bevil had given permission. Wazilli then tells her of what the guards assumed was Kaila exiting the cell, though they know now it was Sertia in Kaila clothes and Kaila herself was lying dead in the cell.

  She gets irritated when he slows down whenever a he gets to a point in the night when a guard enters the cell to beat Sertia and he can see her irritation so he loses concentration and stammers out jumbled words that make no sense until he controls himself.

  When he is finished telling her of that night they are silent for a moment. Wazilli is uncomfortable with it and Moira can see him shifting slightly on his chair. When he seems to get comfortable she stands and he follows. She tells him goodbye and leaves, he replies with a goodbye and watches her go then sits back down when she closes the door. 

  As one by one everyone is told about her public appearance she goes to the throne room. Not to do anything important just to stay somewhere that no one will be, she can be alone for a while to think things over. She stare blankly at the throne in front of her, her mind jumps from one thing to the other, though she comes back to her children several times. She agonises over every detail of their lives, of her life. Trying to think of her decision and what affect, if any, it might have on them.

  Suddenly she stops thinking. She realises this is not about them, Sertia is the reason she is in this mess and Olraym and Thorne are somewhere far away and she has no idea when they are coming back. This decision is about her, what type of Queen does she want to be now that Gremborlin is dead?

  The answer comes quick she is surprised it didn’t come to her sooner. She has to tell the people of Tov’ra the truth and deal with it accordingly.

 

ø

 

Since leaving The Fair Maiden Bevil has been angry. What he thought was a nice business call from Miantha turned out to be nothing but her having some fun recounting the story of Sertia defiant escape. Chiding him like a mother chides a disobedient child, about Sertia getting out, laughing when she came to the part of the story where it was Bevil who let Kaila in the Highguard cell. Bevil doesn’t know how exactly she knows all this so soon but guesses it isn’t hard for someone like her to find out.

  He wanders Tov’ra aimlessly trying to rid himself of this anger. He doesn’t want someone important to see him like this and then have to explain why he is angry.

  Upon returning to the castle Bevil hears that Moira has decided on what to do, he still believes completely that he will not have to suffer anything and is curious if anyone will be reprimanded at all. The most he can think of is the guards that let Kaila in the cell and Sertia out minutes later. 

  He doesn’t dwell on it too long, though is still very angry. Instead just finds out where and when Moira’s public speech is being held. He quickly learns from a knight outside it is being held in the city’s main square and when he arrives there he joins an already large crowd. He thinks of which side he wants to be on: the side where Moira will be with the Lords and Ladies, or the side with the commoners. He picks the latter side.

  There is no sign of Moira so Bevil thinks he might be early despite the crowd. He picks a good position to see where he knows Moira will be, between a small group of children and a large heavy set man. He waits patiently like everyone else for her to appear, wanting to get this whole thing done so everyone can move on.

  Just as he is about to go to a nearby knight and ask where she is he hears someone shout and point, this is followed by other shouts and soon a vast majority of the crowd roars and dances as she appears. The few stragglers that don’t are difficult to find as they wait for her to speak. To Bevil she looks graceful standing there looking out at everyone with a wide genuine smile. The roaring continues unabated until she raises her hands and the square quickly goes silent.

  There is a moment of silence filled with anticipation. The crowd is holding their collective breath waiting for her to speak. Then when she does she tells Bevil something shocking, something he never thought she would say.

 

ø

 

Moira waits with growing impatience in her bed chamber until she is told by a royal guard that the city is ready for her in the main square. She thanks him and walks out the door he is holding open for her. Then she walks through the castle halls with him close behind her, once outside he is joined by three others.

  The streets they take are practically deserted, everyone is already there waiting for her. As a precaution she always takes unnecessary turns which the guards always agree to and not just because she is the Queen.

  When she gets close to the main square she can hear the rumbling of thousands of people standing, talking, and shouting, all in one place. She knows Bevil is in there as well, somewhere in that throng he is standing waiting like everyone else for her.

  They see her and a deafening roar erupts like sudden thunder, so loud she can barely think straight and almost forgets why she is in the main square. She walks along the outside of the crowd until she reaches the far end. The same part of the square she was standing at Gremborlin’s public funeral.  She lets the roaring and cheering continue then lifts her hands gesturing for silence.

  This gesture is obeyed by the crowd in seconds.

  She greets them and the crowd cheer again then fall silent. She tells them about Sertia’s escape, though she knows they already know as much as she does, maybe more. But she doubts they know about Bevil’s involvement. She tells them how heartbroken she is about her daughter doing what she did and more so for the families who lost their husbands and fathers when Sertia escaped.

  She stops to take a breath then after looking around her at the crowd she tells them she has found out how she got out, and who helped her. The crowd is now on edge wanting desperately to know who did this. They are ready to give judgment and punish those responsible themselves.

  She tells them all the details of how Sertia was helped: a servant girl was sent to the Highguard cell, the servant was a known friend to Sertia and that she asked someone to bring the girl to her. Then that girl was killed and Sertia used her clothes to get out unseen.

  The crowd shouts out questions. Who was the servant girl? How could the guards let Sertia out without checking her? The question Moira knows is coming is the last one spoken, who told the guards to let the servant girl to enter the Highguard cell?

  Silence follows that question. To the crowd it is the most important one of all. Moira’s mind is racing, she knows she has to speak the truth but also knows she is going to hate herself for a long time for it. Bevil will hate her too but that doesn’t concern Moira as much, not since she found out it was him who did this. She is grateful to him for his inadvertent help but hates him for allowing people to die.

  Moira answers the first few questions, though not the name of the servant girl, wanting her to have some dignity and not become trash to the people of Tov’ra. When it comes to the final question, the important one, she hesitates. Though she still cannot see Bevil anywhere she knows he is here. She closes her eyes and lets the silence in, wanting to be somewhere else, anywhere else, just not here.

  She opens her eyes again and speaks two words, “Bevil Bralag”. There is another roar from the crowd, but this one is not a happy cheerful roar, this one is a bitter angry roar of those finding out they were betrayed.

 

ø

 

Bevil cannot believe it. The way she was before Bevil had guessed she would give someone, someone who is not him, a simple slap on the wrist and be done with it. He never expected this to happen. When he hears his name and the angry roar he ducks his head down hoping not to be noticed and looks around. Everyone is concentrating on Moira; no one is looking in his direction.

  He slowly back away then turns to the nearest street out of the square and walks through the crowd towards it. He has his arms around his face hoping not to be seen. He makes it far; he is near the outskirts of the crowd and can see the streets behind them. No one is even glancing at him and thinks he is safe.

  He stops, not by himself something is stopping him. A hand, a hand on his shoulder. He stares at the hand, then at the hand’s owner. It is the beefy man he was standing beside when he arrived. The man looks at him with a warning not to run, Bevil tries to anyway. He goes forward a step before the hand on his shoulder tightens to painful proportions and he falls backward to the ground.

  Though he is able to stop himself from crying out there are still people around him who notice him falling, then notice him. They all shout to those around them of Bevil being among them. Knights and city guards rush to him. The beefy man only lets his shoulder go when they are within reach. They drag him to his feet and make sure everyone can see him.

  He can hear the crowd shout and scream all kinds of profanity at him, those close to him and the knights step closer to hit him with either fists or rocks they pick from around their feet. The knights do a half-hearted job of pushing them back until they are away from the crowd. Just before getting out of sight Bevil lifts his head and looks to Moira and she looks back at him sad but determined. He lets his head drop again and lets the knights lead him away.

  At first Bevil thinks he is going to the Highguard cell and laughs to himself. The knights hear him and order to shut up. But then the only go to the regular dungeons. Bevil struggles, he wants to be alone, and he doesn’t want to be near anyone else for a while. But a sharp hit to the back of the head stops him and he falls unconscious.