The King's Knights

Chapter Thirty-One: Shipping Manifests

Relma was able to find Tef before she left. However, she suspected the catgirl had been waiting for her, hoping she would seek her out. She was examining the pedestals where the golden statues had once been. Her fuzzy tail was flicking as she looked at broken pieces. Relma reached her and was not noticed.

"Tef?" said Relma.

Tef turned around, and the movement sent her breasts bouncing. Relma felt a bit jealous when she saw this. Why couldn't Relma have that kind of look? Then again, it made wearing armor impossible and a real hassle. It was also unnatural to look at and undignified. So Relma didn't wish she looked like that, now that she thought of it. Being on the slimmer and more graceful side of things was fine by her. "Oh, Relma?

"Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, uh..." Relma halted. "I have to look at the shipping manifests for Cirithil's fleet."

"Oh, what about?" asked Tef.

"It's the grain supply," said Relma sadly, looking out the doors to the streets beyond. The day was half over, and she was wasting more time here. "Could you help me look through them? The people who would know about such things are uh..."

"Hanging?" said Tef.

"Yes," said Relma.

"There wasn't anything you could have done," said Tef. "You gave them every chance. And it made everyone take you seriously."

"Thank you," said Relma. "That doesn't make it easy."

"I can show you the way," said Tef. "Rundas knew these records well, but he's gone into hermitage. Ata was never allowed to look at it all, nor was Coinfurth. Cirithil was very secretive about it all."

"How did you warrant the information?" asked Relma as Tef turned to walk off.

"I made the records," said Tef rather proudly. "Rundas taught me to write so I could work as a scribe for him. Among other things." She led Relma to a large chamber with many metal boxes with shelves built into them. "Here we are." Tef began to move down and look at it. "So, I guess you'll want possible ships that went out in the past few months. That would be this cabinet; everything labeled here applies."

"Isn't it possible they stowed away?" asked Relma, wondering why Tef was cooperating. Was this some schism? "Or didn't have passage listed?"

Good question.

"Not really," Tef admitted. "The church wasn't in the habit of hiding things.

"I think some of them enjoyed the idea that all evidence against them was behind one locked door. And there was nothing good people could do with it since he was protected. They always liked laughing at people who had faith.

"Then they had a face-to-face with death, and they weren't smiling anymore."

This was a side of Tef Relma had not seen before. She was smiling as she looked through the documents. But the smile faded, and she sighed, now looking sad. Relma wondered which was the real her.

Personally, Kiyora was seeing a different side to Relma here. She realized she'd never really seen her outside of meetings. Her treatment of Tef showed a better side of her, one which didn't seem pasted on. You could tell much about a person based on how they treated weaker people. And people they hated.

"Why did he hate him?" asked Relma. "Because he stood up to him?"

"No, Coalmarsh did that," said Tef. "Cirithil didn't care if people stood up to him, even if he lost money. It was a game to him, getting one over on those stupid religious hicks.