We ain't out of the woods yet

The streets were dark enough that the priest didn’t seem to notice us further along the road, but there were still a fair few people out and about, so his cries attracted the attention of everyone around.

“Shit… keep moving, I’ll trail a little behind and make sure no one’s following us,” I whispered to Alice.

“If þou so insist… but keep þyself safe, understood?”

“Of course. You too.”

Alice, along with Alces, speed up a little along the path. Not fast enough to draw suspicion, but fast enough to start putting distance between themselves and the church. I, on the other hand, slowed right down and let the distance between us grow. Off to our left, Eleanor and Elis had already gone on ahead. With any luck, the four of them would outpace the hubbub to the inn, letting them lay low before the hunt for the killers reaches that far.

With the darkness of night around us, I couldn’t see much of anything, but movement was always noticeable. I kept my distance and watched for any disturbance that could imply someone tailing them or treating them with suspicion. Luckily, it seemed they had passed by without drawing too much attention.

I was about ready to begin slowly following them myself, when the hullabaloo around the church caught my attention again.

“Ye… ye had me away from þe church! Did ye noe of þis… vishous plot? Did ye plan for þese men to be buchered, nave?!” The priest’s frantic accusations made my stomach drop, and I turned to see Arthur facing down his barrage of anger.

“Good faþer, I ashure þee, in no world, at no tyme, would I ever allow myself to be an asset to such senseless slautter. I understand þyne erratic behaveyor, but I beg þee to see reason,” Arthur said, so calmly that even I almost bought it.

“Reason? ‘Tis reason þat I speak of! For what is þe life of a stranjer when in þe way of a faþer's love? To protekt þy son from punishment, wouldst ye not compromyse þy morality? ‘Tis not a þing unherd of! Speak planely, Amaranþus: didst ye assist in þe slaying of þese men so þat þy son may avoid punishment for his crymes?” His anger and indignation caused the priest’s voice to waver heavily, but the accusation was clear: he believed Arthur distracted him on purpose so someone could free his son.

And worse, he was dead on the money.

“I could not.. I would not… be accessory to murder. þyne accusæshon is one of unchecked emœshon, not ryteness nor proof.”

“Codswallop! Ye be’þ þe sole reason I was not here to prevent þis! It cannot be mere koinsidense! þe stars doth not align as such!”

Practically every person who was still out on the streets was now gathered around watching the confrontation go down. Despite Arthur’s calm and rational responses, I couldn’t help but fear that the priest’s impassioned accusations would sway the public perception. If Arthur was rendered a pariah or even hanged because of a role we gave him, I knew I could never forgive myself.

Time to work the mob.

“Master Amaranthus beeth a kind man! An honest man! Thine baseless allegations slander his good name!” I called, attempting to blend in with the crowd and imitate their weird manner of speech. For a moment, there was silence, and I feared I had massively misjudged my approach, but before long another voice piped up to share it’s thoughts.

“Old Arþur couldst nary harm a fly! þere be’þ no kynder nor jentler soul! þe man ys innosent, I say!”

It came from a man seemingly in his 30s or so, whose voice seemed to inspire more confidence in other bystanders with a similar stance.

“He be’þ a a good man! He can be no murderer!”

“Arþur is rychous and true!”

“Ye debase his name wiþ youre slanders, priest!”

I breathed a silent sigh of relief that my plan seemed to be working. The more people spoke up in Arthur’s support, the more people would believe it. It was manipulative, no doubt, but in comparison to taking three lives it was far from evil.

“Gods be good, fyne!” Yelled the priest aloud as the chanting grew louder and more intense. “Perhaps ‘twas not Amaranþus who orkestrated þe murder of þese þree men, but someone haþ! We must apprehend þe killers at once and bring þem to justice!”

The priest’s declaration received a roar of support, despite much of the ground shouting him down mere moments earlier. He had a talent for keeping a crowd in line, if nothing else.

With commotion over investigation and the like taking all attention away from Arthur, the old man managed to slip by the somewhat large crowd towards me. I beckoned him to follow, and we took a side path out of ear shot, taking a slightly longer route to the Dragon’s Flagon.

“I should þank þee, young man. þy kwick þinking lykely saved me from a cruel punishment or an early deaþ. Bringing þe vokal among þe crowd to my syde was quite þe gambit.”

“Considerin’ it was our plan, I couldn't so bloody well leave ya’s to the whims o’ fate, could I?” I replied, keeping my voice as low as I could. “Elis and his guy should be safe at the Dragon’s Flagon, let’s get there quickly and quietly before the people investigating starts asking questions about us, yeah?”

“Aye, let us move under cover of dark.”

Between fear of being found suspicious and Arthur’s immobility, it took us quite a while to make our way to the inn, but eventually the low humdrum of drinkers making merry met our ears, and the sanctuary we were searching for came into sight.

With one last look around to ensure we hadn’t been followed, Arthur and I entered the inn, which was chock full of patrons as expected. Nowhere to be seen, however, were our companions. The only familiar face in sight was Alphonse, who was busy serving the many customers at the bar. Upon spotting the two of us, however, he discreetly pointed to the stairs, indicating that the others were already safely in the rooms. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief I guided Arthur through the bustling inn and up the stairs, where we finally knocked on Alice’s door.

“...who ys it?” Replied a cautious voice that I recognised as Eleanor.

“It’s us. Sorry for the wait,” I called back. A moment later, I heard the chain lock on the inside of the door unlock, and the door slowly opened. A moment later, a took a wide step out of the way as Elis practically bolted out of the door and wrapped his dad in a tight hug, which Arthur of course returned.

“My son… þou art all ryte…”

“I’m all ryte faþer… þank you…”

For a short while, silence fell as the two embraced. But even so, I was painfully aware of the circumstances.

“Gents… sorry to break up the reunion, but we need to stay out of sight. Let’s get back in the room, yeah?” I said, making sure no one was around to hear us.

“Ah… of corse…” Arthur said, and the two released their hug and retreated into Alice’s room, with myself entering last and shutting the door behind me.

The whole gang had gathered all at once, with Alice sat on the bed, Alces in a chair in the corner, and Eleanor still stood near the door. With us two new arrivals, the room had gotten a tad crowded, but that was the least of our worries at the moment.

“I’m glad everyone’s all safe an’ all, but we ain’t out of the woods yet. Arthur 'n' Eleanor are too close to the situation, they’re definitely gonna get investigated,” I said. “Arthur damn near got caught just now, we gots to be more careful from ‘ere on out.”

“Aye, and larje gaþerings like þis are sure to draw attenshon. Once þe inishal panic hath kwietened down, we must disperse and avoid meeting lyke þis again. Alphonse haþ already prepared a room for Elis and Alces, but þis place ys not safe. We must find a more permanent solushon, and kwickly,” added Eleanor.

Unfortunately, she was right on the money. Staying here was a temporary solution at best. They wouldn’t be able to show their faces for fear of being recognised, and if they were traced back here, all of us could end up implicated. We needed somewhere for them to go into hiding.

“I shall arranje a place for þe two to stay, never þee worry,” Arthur said. “‘Twas at my behest þat þee and þy friends undertook þis task, we can ask noþing furþer of you.”

“Nonsense, we involved ourselves of our own volishon,” replied Alice. “þough I must say þat we are far from being in a posishon to help þese men go into hyding. For þat, I fear, we must rely on þee alone.”

“þou hast done more þan enuff, dear girl. þou may leave þe rest to me. þough, as such, it may be a while before I can deliver þy product to þee.” Alice, Eleanor and I all perked up at once as he said this.

“þen…”

“Aye, my lady. As promised, I’ll make þy weppon for þee. Please, root out þe rot þat plagueþ þis yland.”