Twins of Fate

Caution

****

Aliesia didn't know what to do; the man in front of her hadn't given her any reason to trust him from the get-go. If she asked her mother to come here and it ended up being a trap, she could get her mother hurt or killed and she would be sentenced to death. Before she did anything Aliesia decided to try and get more information out of him.

She looked at captain Johns and nodded her head. "Before we go anywhere near the Queen, I need more information Mr. Andrew, you understand of course."

"...That does make sense. If I know the answer I will tell you what I know." He said.

"How... cooperative... first off, if you're here to gain sanctuary, why would you attack me? What kind of sense does that make?"

Andrew looked uncomfortable, "Ah... yes. I can see how that would send mixed signals. I attacked you because I wasn't sure if I would need a hostage to allow me to meet the Queen. I don't know what your clans' opinions are of the Derkaz clan since I haven't had any contact with other clans for many years, I didn't want to take the risk of not being able to meet the queen."

Even she could hear the irritation in her voice as she said, "Not a great first choice Andrew. Now, why are you seeking refuge in Svetu territory? If I'm not mistaken, aren't the Ruskea nearest the Derkaz? Why didn't you go to them for safety? Their territory is much closer to you?"

"I... can't go to them..." He looked away for the first time and Aliesia scowled.

"Why is that?"

Andrew sighed, "Haaa...Because I'm running from my clan...which includes their allies."

"What happened to force you on the run?"

"My daughter got caught leaving the territory by His Majesties secret militia and His Majesty isn't fond of those that break his rules. So we both had to leave to a territory that isn't an ally."

Aliesia hesitated and Captain Johns stepped in, "Where is this daughter of yours then? If we are to believe you then shouldn't she be here with you?"

"Yes... she should be. Before we left we ran into a problem and had to split up... I was hoping that she had beaten me here. If not, she should be coming soon." Andrew's eyes shone with worry, shifting his eyes to the sky, trying to find her.

"How convenient." Captain Johns whispered to Aliesia.

Aliesia chewed her lip in debate, still unsure of how to proceed. Captain John stepped closer to her, "My Lady, may we step aside for a moment?"

"Certainly."

Stepping far enough away to be unheard, Captain Johns whispered, "If I may My Lady, I'd like to speak freely."

Aliesia smiled, "Of course you may Captain, I was wondering what I should do with this Andrew character. What are your thoughts?"

"I'm inclined to think that he's not lying about his daughter and their need to flee, but I'm not sure I completely buy his whole tale. It should be safe to take him into custody where we can hold him in a cell until we can validate his story. Maybe until his daughter shows up?"

"Ah! Then we can match her story against his. If it's true, they'll be similar. Thank you Captain. We'll go with that plan for now. Have the men do another sweep of the area before we take him inland. I also want the border guard to form groups and keep their guard up around our boarders. We'll keep it that way until we hear from her majesty on what to do next."

Captain Johns looked at Aliesia with approval and nodded, a warm smile forming fine lines on the corners of his eyes, "Yes, My Lady."

"Alrighty, let's go take him to my mother then." They turned back and walked up to the tense group.