"It's beautiful here. So this is the capital Southtale huh?." Aurora looked around in awe. They started to approach the gate, and the duo noticed the long line for entry at the gate. The two looked at each other before they chose to approach. Nearing the front of the line they were stopped by the guards.
"Halt. State the purpose of your visit." After a brief moment of hesitation, the gruff man before them placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and scowled at their hesitance to answer. "If you refuse to answer my questions, I'll throw you in a cell. Now hurry up!"
Aurora's face twisted in disgust at his actions. "Huh?!"
Camilla sighed, dealing with people like this is a pain. "We came here from the west, sir. Our city was attacked by bandits, we narrowly managed to escape with our lives. We came here to register at the adventurers guild to make a living here."
The guard merely thought for a moment, then whispered something to another guard who ran off. "I'm going to need some identification from you ladies first." Camilla and Aurora both gave a small curtsy to the guard and introduced themselves.
"I am Camilla of Trentfel, Eldest Daughter from the Dawnblade family."
"I am Aurora of Trentfel, Daughter of the Frostwind family."
They stood back up and observed the guard, who pondered what to do with them. "Both of you follow me to the guard house. I have some additional questions for you regarding this attack of which you spoke." he motioned to his fellow guards who moved to flank the two women. He turned and walked towards the guard house situated near the main gate just inside the city; the rest of the entourage followed suit.
They were led into the building that resembled a big stone box, moss and vines covered several spots around the outside. Once inside they were led to a cell and instructed to wait inside, to which they complied. The inside of the cell had one bench mounted on the wall and a wooden pail in the corner. The stench made them pinch their noses in disgust.
Aurora let out a halfhearted chuckle. "Never thought I'd ever be put in a cell before." She took a seat on the bench while they waited for the guard to call for them.
Camilla shook her head at her friend. "Let's just hope the head guard is a reasonable person. Otherwise we might be stuck here for a while." She exhaled and took a seat next to Aurora. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it'd be this much of a hassle for us to enter the city."
A few hours passed before the guard finally came to retrieve them. Aurora groaned while laying down on a bench, "About damn time."
He unlocked the door and pointed to Camilla. "You come with me, your friend will have to wait here." Once Camilla left the cell he shut the door and locked it again, he then turned and escorted her away. They entered another room further down the hall before taking a seat.
"So you said you were from the Dawnblade family?" the guard raised his eyebrow as he looked over some papers.
"That's correct sir." She had no need to overexplain herself, thus she kept her answers short.
He frowned at her short response before he wrote on the parchment. "What exactly did you do in the city?" he leaned forward, placing his arms on the table.
"I hail from a lineage of knights." she said a bit of pride leaking through her expression.
"Knights you say? So you are a knight as well then?"
"No,no. I'm simply still a squire sir." She waved her hands frantically in front of her, "I never got to even start my official training to become a knight."
"Fine, it doesn't really matter. Now tell me about this attack. How it happened, how many men they have. Everything you know."
"We were both outside the city when the attack first began. By the time we noticed the city was in flames. When I approached the front gate for a closer look, the rubble was all I could see inside. A high ranked beast tamer had brought scores of monsters to attack us. They had lesser drakes, trolls, giant spiders, and several acid spitting lizards. I counted around 100 or so bandits. That's about all I know sir." She shivered a bit, having recalled the gruesome sight around the front gate.
The unnamed guard wrote a bit more, then glanced back towards the door for a moment. "Final question then. Why did this attack occur? Surely these bandits have a reason for such destructive means?"
Camilla thought for a bit before shaking her head, "I'm sorry. I can't think of reasons other than territory, but if that's what they wanted they would not have leveled the cities to the ground."
"Wait, cities?" This word caught the guards full attention. He could feel something was off here, yet could not place it. "As in more than one?"
"Huh….Yes, the city of Arkend was attacked a few days before ours according to the rumors I overheard."
The man pondered for a moment, "You said your name was Camilla, yes?"
She nodded and simply stated, "Yes sir, that's correct."
"You and your friend are free to go. I have more pressing matters to attend to. Just don't cause any trouble or you'll find yourselves right back here." he gave his warning and turned muttering under his breath, "I'll need to report this to the city lord…haaaa what a drag."
He was about to open the door when a voice caused him to freeze. "Oh? So reporting important matters to me has become a drag to you now has it, Captain Vance?"
"L-Lord Blackwood!" Vance dropped to a knee once he entered the door, "I wasn't expecting you so soon!"
A tall, middle aged man stepped into the room, his black and grey tinted hair was cut short. He glanced around the room before his eyes fell on Camilla. " Ah there you are, your blue haired friend seemed pretty worried about you, but from the looks of it you seem to be alright."
Camilla raised her eyebrows in confusion, "you mean Aurora?" She crossed her arms not fully trusting this new man.
He simply nodded at her question, "Yes, that would be who I spoke of." he turned towards the kneeling knight, "Go find my secretary, then meet me at my estate. I need to speak with my guests in private."
"Yes sir!" Vance stood up and gave a quick bow, then ran off. After he left, Camilla looked towards the older man.
"So, what do you want with us commoners, Lord Blackwood?" Camilla slowly stood up and stretched her back a bit. I can't fathom why he would've taken an interest in us, after all we're nobodies from a different city. He must have some ulterior motive, ill need to stay cautious.
He let out a short chuckle, "no need to be such a guarded child, i used to be an adventurer alongside your parents after all." he turned towards the door and made to leave, "Now come along, this is no place for us to talk, lets go."
Camilla followed after him unsure what to think of this info. Our parents knew this old guy? How come they never told us about him? Several other questions went through her mind before they reached the exit where Aurora was waiting. She ran over as soon as she saw Aurora before checking her over, "You're okay right? They didn't do anything to you right?!" Her concern was plastered all over her face, she finally let go after a few minutes of looking her over.
Aurora felt a slight blush adorn her cheeks as she simply laughed at her, "I'm fine Camilla. They ignored me until he came around and made them release me." She gestured towards the old man behind her. "But what happened to you? Are you doing okay?" She felt concerned once she saw a look of suspicion on her companion's face. She decided now was not the time to say anything.
"I'm fine Aurora, j-just tired is all." Camilla shook her head slowly, "Let's go, apparently we have an important discussion to have." She turned and headed for the exit glad to be able to finally leave the filthy building.