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"Like Minds" (Rockaxe Castle) Versais Gromel had lead a distinguished life. A former Red Knight of great renown, it was rumoured that he had passed up opportunities to lead the Red Knights because he found the idea of directly serving Gorudo so repugnant; this was also widely accepted as the reason he had left the Knights. Since he had resigned, he had gradually become more and more vocal in his denouncements of the Lord of Rockaxe, to the point where he had been able to gather around himself a group of like-minded individuals who were equally outspoken. It was a commonly accepted fact among the nobility of Rockaxe that were Gorudo, heirless, ever to unexpectedly pass on, it would be Versais Gromel who would find his way onto the throne. In general, Gorudo tended to ignore Gromel and his cadre, and rarely invited Gromel to court functions. They had never been on good terms. It seemed that Versais Gromel had been on poor terms with someone else. At some point in the hours of the early morning, someone had ambushed Gromel in his bedchambers, beaten him to the point where he was hardly recognizable, and tossed him from the third storey window of his bedroom onto the street below. The efficient Knights of Matilda had already cordoned off the street where Versais' body had been found by the time Zirane arrived. The night was cold, the air sharp...his breath puffed on the air as he swung from the saddle and approached the scene of the crime. Gromel's face was hardly recognizable as his own. He was clad in a blood-soaked nightgown, and there was hardly a part of his body that hadn't been attacked in some way. He was, crudely put, a mess. "You're late," Dayne Mott told him, standing over the corpse in a thick fur cloak, big and wide in the darkness. "The body's cold." "I came as quickly as I could," Zirane said, coming abreast of the mercenary. He looked around himself at the cordon. "I don't remember giving you permission to direct my Knights." Mott shrugged. "You weren't here, Zirane." "Commander Zirane," the Blue Knight corrected quickly, annoyed. "Commander," Mott replied obediently. His voice betrayed his amusement. "Of course. If I might direct your attention to the task at hand?" Zirane nodded, ignoring the implied jape. Mott went on. "There's always the chance that this isn't Versais Gromel," the mercenary said. "I've seen it done before...you'll want to get someone with some magical healing power to try and reconstruct the face, just to be safe. Whoever did this is strong; it doesn't take much strength to overpower a fifty year old man, especially one who's gone Gromel's route and...taken somewhat to seed, shall we say, but it does take a lot of strength to do this much damage. No evidence of magical attack, but that could mean anything." "You think magic was involved?" "It's not impossible," Mott conceded, nodding. "There's no sign of forced entry in the house and nobody saw the murderer come in. Of course, it could mean that we're looking at a job done by someone inside the house. You'll want to check that out." "I will?" Mott nodded again. "You've shown up to take over, so I intend to let you. Good luck, Commander Zirane." He turned and walked towards his horse. Zirane grabbed his arm. "You can't go!" he whispered. Mott yanked his arm away. "I can and I will. You want respect?" He leaned in close and smiled indulgently. "Earn it. Earn that pretty Blue surplice you're wearing." Zirane sank back, defeated. Mott mounted his horse and wheeled it back towards the castle. "There's no need to worry," Mott said, grinning. "I'd already had the house and street more or less secure by the time your whelp rolled himself out of bed to come down." The mercenary lowered himself into a chair, while across from him, Gorudo did the same. They both sipped at their sherry. There was an uncomfortable pause. After a moment, Gorudo lifted his eyes and stared across at Mott. "Go ahead and ask, Dayne," Gorudo said after a moment. "You won't be content until you do." "Can I count on you to be honest?" Mott asked, raising one eyebrow. "We had a deal." "So we did," Mott replied. "All right. Did you have him killed, Gorudo?" Gorudo shook his head, smiling faintly. "No, I didn't. If I'd considered that blowhard Gromel a legitimate threat, I would've had him killed long before now. No, now he becomes a martyr. His group will begin to think that I did indeed have him murdered, and they'll become dangerous. I'll probably have to start having them killed now to compensate." Dayne flinched. "You asked that I be honest with you, Dayne." "I suppose that I did. I just never suspected that Rockaxe would work this way under your leadership." "It always worked this way, Dayne," Gorudo said quietly, "and you know that as well as I do. Loyalty...that's all that matters in the long term." "So you always say." "I know it to be true." Dayne shrugged and swirled his drink. "All right. If you didn't have Gromel killed...who did?" Gorudo shrugged his expansive shoulders. "Difficult to say. Gromel may have sprouted some fringe group, or it may be an old political enemy...it's clearly an attempt to frame me, implicate me in some manner." "You don't think that Gromel may have been killed for reasons other than advancing a political agenda?" "No, I don't. The murder may be related to the attack on Zirane and Liadon, yesterday." "The one engineered by the Harmonian rabble rouser." Dayne hesitated again; there were some topics that he was not eager to bring up. "Have you considered the possibility that..." Gorudo cut him off sharply. "Of course I have, Dayne. I'm no fool...I've been waiting for an excuse to terminate their holdings here anyhow, and this is the opportunity I need." "Don't be so flippant," Mott chided. "These are dangerous people we're talking about here, Gorudo. A powerful force...I told you that someday, that decision would come back to haunt you." Gorudo's brows came together sharply, his dark eyes flashed. "I will not be threatened by them! It is they who are in my debt, and they would not dare to take action against the Lord of Rockaxe..." "You only say that because you're naive," Dayne snapped. "I can't believe that after all these years, you still think you can deal with the devil and come away unscathed. Gorudo, I've seen what they're capable of." "There's no evidence to indicate that they've any involvement in Gromel's murder, in any case," Gorudo interrupted. "I want you to assist Zirane with the investigation. Link them to the murder and I will crush them; otherwise, I'm prepared to let them be." "Fair enough. In the meantime, I hope they don't decide that they're tired of you." Dayne stood up. "You've always played dangerous games, Gorudo, and that...insanity...thirty years ago exemplifies it. You can make all the plans in the world, you can wrap your Knights and your protections around you as thickly as you want, but you're living on borrowed time." "That's how you see it." "That's how it is. I'm going to bed, Gorudo. Unless you'd care to raise a glass..." "I wouldn't." Dayne shrugged and, after a moment, he slipped quietly out. Gorudo rose and went to the window, swirling his wine in his glass as Dayne had done. Gromel was dead...in a sense this pleased him, although in other ways Gromel's death made life more difficult for him. Not for the first time, he questioned his decision to send for Dayne...he knew where Dayne's loyalties lay, and that made him uncomfortable. Under the right circumstances, Dayne could be his most valuable ally, and though Gorudo knew that Dayne would never directly betray Gorudo (anymore than Gorudo would betray Dayne), he was still nervous about losing Dayne's services. Dayne knew too much, too, about the time thirty years ago. When he'd made his bargains. And if they were connected to the murder of Gromel...if they were, he was very likely in danger for his life. But if they were responsible for the murder of Gromel...then that was the excuse he needed to eradicate them. He'd eradicate them anyhow, given half a chance. But thirty years ago, a young knight had made an agreement, and that bound him in some ways still. Loyalty could also mean loyalty to one's word, and until he had proof that they were trying to destabilize his control of Matilda, moving against them would be... ...distasteful. He frowned. Dayne was always ready to raise a glass to stupid, blind Martin Resh, always ready to admire about Resh the traits that Gorudo found the most foolish, the most naive. It burned Gorudo that the decisions he'd made as a result of Martin Resh's failure were still coming back to haunt him. He slowly poured the wine out onto the carpet. "Here's to Martin Resh," he sneered, leting the glass fall from his hands. "May he rot in hell."
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