The Dryad 69 The City Guards

The leader of our accosters seemed to have a higher pain tolerance than most of his men. He managed to straighten himself out and glower at us. "You 'ladies,'" I wondered how he made that word sound so venomous, "are going to pay for what you have done! And you, too, you old hag, for getting the Patrol involved. To think someone from this city could be so foolis.h.!.+"

"My granddaughter's life was practically ruined by your lot. I am not going to sit by and watch again as you forcefully take young ladies as your playthings, only to abandon them when they get pregnant or you get bored." She stepped closer to him undauntedly, brandis.h.i.+ng her walking stick in his bright-red face. "Are you really such an asinine idiot? Your philandering will only lead you to ruin. How can you, in any form of conscience, cast aside Vanessa and your child she carries?" Leafia was quite aghast I could tell she really wanted to continue the 'fight'. I felt it might be a little too one sided to call it that. She looked like she was about ready to pounce on them again but eyed the Patrol man. and backed off. Were another ten men armed with sticks to much for her?

"Who is to say it is his?" the heavy, dark-haired lackey said. "We know she had more than one partner." He said this with an evil smirk. Several of the other lackeys started to laugh.

"She was a bit feisty at first, but she was so generous to accommodate so many of us," the leader said with a cruel grin.

The lady could not tolerate this talk any longer and slapped the leader on his still red face. A few of the gang went to grab the 'old' lady, but Leafia stood in front of her making them hesitate. Some of the Patrol men also started to step forward, but the leader held up his hand, stopping them.

Once the leader of the troublemakers recovered from the shock he started to rage and shouted, "That is it! I am ending all three of you! Patrol, arrest them! They have a.s.saulted n.o.bles!!"

Several of the guards started to move forward once again, but their leader again held up his hand causing them all to stop. "I would like to know who you are, since you seem to think that you are in a position to order around the city Patrol." He was not overly gruff but was far from subservient.

"I said arrest them. Are you disobeying my direct orders? I am the direct heir! I will soon be a general just like my Father," he fumed. Several of the Patrol looked scared by whatever this 'general' thing was, but the leader did not seem shaken. I was wondering if something was so important and scary, why was it called 'general' and not 'special'?
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"I am only asking on whose name and on what charges we are supposed to arrest these ladies," the captain of the guards said tersely, yet not rising to anger like the young man.

"I was going to let you go with maybe just a day's docked pay, but now I will make sure you suffer. I am the eldest son of Count Mendal. Be a.s.sured, I will teach all of you what happens when you go against a n.o.ble!" By the look on the lower guard's faces, his statement must have instilled great fear in them. Whoever Count Mendal was, he must have been an important person, even if he was just a 'general' thing they were talking about. The old lady, on the other hand, seemed to be expecting this. She was not shaken and still had resolve etched on her face.

However, the captain of the guard started to laugh. "Old s.h.i.+ny's boy," he said between laughs. At these words our accuser grew ashen. "I have been looking for a good reason to see that old dog. We fought side by side through several wars." He turned to his fellow guards and said, "Round them up." The guards started to head toward me and Leafia again. "Not them, you idiots! The men who were attacking them!"

The guards look really uncertain and one of the younger ones said, "But he is--"

"--Don't worry about the Count. We would be in more trouble with him if we did not drag his son in. During the war, Spiegel, I mean Count Mendal, would never stand for a soldier laying his hands on a lady that did not agree to it. And I know he never did it himself." The leader of the gang had turned death pale and was rooted in place. The captain of the guards then turned to the old lady and said, "You said that your granddaughter had been taken advantage of by these men?" She nodded to that statement. "I think it would be helpful if you come with us. It will make the explanations go much faster."

He then turned to me and Leafia, "And you ladies, would you please follow us as well? I am sure the Count would like to have a word with you."

"I am sorry, but we can not do that right now. We are on urgent business and have been separated from our companions. I think they will start to worry if we do not meet up with them soon," I responded.

"Are you going to be able to find them in the crowd?" he said with a look of concern.

"We were heading to the magician a.s.sociation, so we should be able to find them there."

He nodded."Sounds like you have things figured out. But please let me send some of my guards with you." Then looking at the bruises on our attackers he continued, "I can see that you don't need it for protection, but it will speed up your trip since others will stay out of your way." I nodded consent to his request. I had no reason to refuse.

"One more thing before we part. I have a feeling at the very least the Count will want to send a message to you. How can we contact you?"

"We are guests of Lillian Brightmoor and are staying at her estate. You can leave a message for us there if we are out."

The face of the Count's son had now achieved a shade of white I did not know was possible. The eyes of the commander widened a little at this statement but he did not say anything about it to us. "Do not dare to drag your feet. Facing the Count will be bad enough, but if you are not careful, you might have to deal with Lady Brightmoor herself. I would not count on your families helping you there." Several of the other trouble makers shook at those words as they started to follow the guards.

Their reaction to hearing that we were staying with Lillian was not what I expected. I really should learn more about Lillian and her family. What line of work would make these rulers so fearful but not make the doctors bow to her will? Or do doctors have an organization backing them like the magicians do? I shook my head, wondering. But there was no point in worrying about that now. We really should head on our way now that the hedge in front of us had been trimmed down.

Two of the Patrol had stayed behind. One I noticed kept looking at my hands with some apprehension. Now that I thought of it, he was the one who had a very strong reaction when I mentioned the stinging nettles. I wonder what happened? "Don't worry, I have put the nettle leaves away," I said sticking my hands in my dress pockets to turn them back to normal. I was careful to close my eyes for the moment of transformation. They already know I am a sorceress, but no point in showing my powers more than I needed to. "You won't have to worry about being stung." I was about to ask him about his experience, but we plunged into the dense crowd, making talking hard.

The Patrol men were successfully guiding us through the crowd to our destination. The captain was right as everyone seemed to clear a nice path for the guards. It made the second half of the trip across the square much faster than the first. But what about the squabble? Would that be part of the first half? Or is that an interlude that should be counted independently?