The Raven's Chronicles. Rage of the Wraith

Chapter 20. The Man With Too Long Tongue

The second Jules and Captain Rogre entered the Great Hall, two guardsmen slammed the heavy door shut behind him. The crowd pressed onto the walls, leaving the middle of the Hall empty. People stood in groups with heads down and shoulders slumped. The tension in the air couldn't be blown away by the wind that accessed the chamber through the broken windows.

"Evionel!" Jules spotted the apprentice healeress in the corner close the dais, trying to blend into the people behind her but unable to fight her way to the back of the crowd. She looked around at the sound of her name. Her face relaxed into a relieved expression as the boy ran across the Hall to join her. "Have you any idea what's going on herez?"

"Somebody is going to be tried for treason," she whispered, casting a short glance at the servants scowling at them. Jules ignored them; he didn't need a reminder that he wasn't welcome among them. "I was in the infirmary, marinating piapins, I haven't hear any details."

"Piapins?" Jules grimaced at the thought of the big, moscito-like creatures. They could bite as nasty as hornets, leaving swollen and aching wounds that healed slowly. Imagining Evionel removing their heads and wings and putting their abdomens into jars gave him a strange satisfaction.

"I'm going to brew a painkiller. It's strong, yet save for pregnant women," the girl explained, then turned around at the sound of the side door being opened. One of her braids slammed hit Jules' face, but she didn't notice, focus on Lord Kedmon entering the Hall.

The Lord stepped onto the dais wordlessly with Arthur following him like a shadow. His eyes swept across the room, cold with badly hidden anger. All faces turned toward him, the whispers ceased. A choking silence fell upon the chamber, soundless as if people forgot to breathe.

"I believed I had your loyalty," his voice rolled over the crowd. "And yet, one of you decided to betray me."

Not even a whisper answered him, as if people held their breaths like a one man.

"One of you left the castle today. He visited the inn, and there he told some strangers things that were to remain secret," Lord Kedmon stepped forward and glared at the subjects before him, his eyes wandering slowly from one face to another. "He was not alone. If any of you were there with him, step forward and confess, and maybe I'll show you mercy."

The crowd murmured, people looking around and at each other, shaking their heads as they shared unsure glances.

"This isn't going to end well," Jules muttered as many faces turned towards him with suspicious looks.

"Why are they staring at you?" Evionel played nervously with her braid.

"Because they know I left the castle today," the boy held the servants' gazes, dermined not to look away.

"But you don't have anything to do with it, do you?"

Just as the girl spoke, the door flung open and two guardsmen walked into the Hall, draggingalong a man with tied hands. He gazed around with shifty eyes, shaking on his legs.

A whisper came over the crowd like a gentle wave disturbing a still lake. Once the Lord rose his hand, the sound died.

The guardsmen pushed the man forward and he fell to his knees in the middle of the Great Hall. The Lord walked down the dais, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He stopped just before the prisoner.

"So it's you who betrayed me," his voice, though quiet, echoed between the walls.

"It's Thomas Hillson, my Lord, one of the cooks" Captain Rogre cleared his throat. "He was caught spreading news about Lord Harald's death."