The smell was putrid, the body's flesh burned and rotted, something out of a nightmare as Amaryllis walked inside, instantly covering her nose from the smell.
"Disgusting"
Was her only train of thought as she bent down to inspect the body, a guard standing right behind her as she did so, looking nearly green as he watched.
"My lady, are you sure you want to investigate? This isn't normally something a woman of any status would or should be doing." The guard questions as she spots something in the victim's hand, prying it out of his grip, before standing and turning to look at the guard, her eyes narrowed slightly causing him to take a small step backward.
"And what exactly should I be doing? Can you answer that for me, Manuel? I'm sure I will simply love that answer." Amaryllis says, her arms crossed and her gaze firm on his uncomfortable one. Manuel shuffled in his spot looking as if he regretted even thinking about the question.
Amaryllis presses him again.
"Well? Sewing perhaps? Or maybe finding a suitor? Perhaps I should be busy shopping for jewelry or flowers. Something more ladylike according to most people. Maybe I should go and leave you to stumble around like a drunken fool looking for the person or people responsible for committing these murders and find myself a doting husband because I am sure that you can figure out what killed these men without my help." She continues, watching Manuel's eyes grow in surprise, before turning red and shaking his head.
"No, my apologies my lady, I meant no offense. I will take my leave" He all but whimpers, before bowing and quickly making his way out of the room as someone else walks in. Amaryllis rolls her eyes before turning back to the body, ignoring the amused face of Sir Peter, one of the royal knights.
"Well that was one entertaining show, I am almost sure you scared him enough to piss himself." He says in an amused tone.
Amaryllis rolls her eyes, examining the body once more.
"Maybe he should've kept quiet then. Just because I am a woman, doesn't mean a thing, if a man can do something, then so can a woman, we were not born to serve men and be stepped on as if we're ladders, all of us were born with purpose and I intend to find that mine, but not at the expense of a man trying to undermine me, if women were meant to stay quiet and breed children then we would have been born without tongues or our minds. I am no one's property, nor will I ever be." She counters, pulling a ribbon out of her cloak pocket putting up her hair, then kneeling next to the burned body she had been examining, placing her hands over it as a purple light appears from her palms.
Peter watches silently for a moment before kneeling beside her, observing.
"He didn't just die from a regular disease or fire, he was murdered with magic. I found a magic stone in his hand, an unknown sigil on it. If it's not just a warlock then it might be a warlock in the employment of a noble. I don't understand this sigil, every magic user is registered with one even if it's a simple one, they have to be, but this, I've never seen this one before, and that is extremely worrying, someone's killing people by using them as experiments unwillingly of course, Peter we need to find out who's distributing these-"
"I recognize them- my lady." A voice behind them announced quietly. They turn to find a young woman of what seemed to be barely twenty years old behind them, with blue eyes and brown hair tied up into a loose bun atop her head. Amaryllis stands and walks over, looking the girl up and down before eyeing her curiously.
"Tell us what you know and I'll make sure you're rewarded." She promises, watching as her eyes go wide.
"I only want to help stop these murders, my lord was a kind man, he didn't deserve to die like this. But a man has been seen around the market lately, he never shows his face but he draws people in with certain promises. It varies from person to person but I've heard the rumors, that anyone who's come into contact with him, dies. He appears at noon and leaves at nightfall, I'm not sure where he goes." The girl explains, trying not to look at the body of her dead master, or the sword at Peter's side, while Amaryllis notes her words before nodding and handing her a small pouch of gold.
