Chapter 69

Unspoken Agreements

“We were once the Kings, and you the Serfs. We did you no ill will, but you did not repay the kindness. Retribution is coming.”

Seized Letters, XIII

The atmosphere inside the rather spacious carriage was quite… queer, Noah noted, barely holding back a smile. The insides were wide enough to hold ten people, but were only holding seven at the moment: Olivia, Asandra, Myrell, Sash, Ludwig Fyrost, the son the Duke sent, Noah himself, and the bard Asandra invited over: a rather queer, odd, and just to Noah's liking lad, Lo'kret. Much of the awkward atmosphere could be attributed to him, but the tension between Ludwig and Olivia was rather palpable as well.

Noah didn’t mind it, as it ought to make the journey more fun. In the end, this was Olivia’s elective, and he was quite surprised that she chose to include both Myrell and Sash over someone like Vorvil who traveled in the carriage right over, as well as her personal guard, Siyor.

He sat by the window, leaning casually against it, the wooden frame pulled back ever so slightly, letting in a few streams of wind and fresh air. Myrell and Sash sat opposite of him, their heads lowered, awkward-seeming. No matter how much he may have trained her, they still couldn’t help but show deference to the figures that appeared larger-than-life. Asandra sat beside him, nudged in-between Olivia and himself, arms crossed over her chest, eyes closed, seemingly asleep.

Ludwig and Lo’kret sat on the opposite end, next to each other, with the former shooting deadly stares at the latter frequently, the bard merely smiling awkwardly and scratching his nose. The silence was quite steep, though Noah had no intention of being the one to break it. Even as it is, he pulled a bit too much attention to himself as one of the people seated inside the Princess’ carriage. Luckily, however, it looked like Godwind said little, or probably nothing about him to his son. As far as the lad knew, he was but a humble, old Dacent escorting his Princess.

"We'll be making a stop soon, Your Highness," a voice came from the outside as the frame by Olivia's side pulled back, revealing a black-eyed figure beneath a shimmering helmet, riding a long and lean horse. He had a dissatisfied expression as he did a round of everyone inside the carriage before moving his gaze back onto Olivia. “I have already informed the cooks to prepare your meals separately, and have notified the food tasters to be prepared.”

"Thank you, Siyor," Olivia said with a faint smile, nodding. "Make sure you get proper rest as well."

“…” the man said nothing, merely once again glancing around the carriage before shutting the frame close, condemning the interior to yet another period of silence.

“… Lo’kret,” it was Asandra who eventually broke the chains, seemingly bored. The bard flinched upon the mention of his name, warily glancing at her. “I hear you’ve been singing so much horseshit Duke Drath himself had issued a thousand Crowns bounty on your tongue. Tongue. Not even head. Your tongue. What the hell have you been singing?”

"… o-oh, nothing, absolutely nothing," the lad shook his head violently. "'tis all but a misunderstanding, Lady Asandra. This lowly one wouldn't dare sing of such lofty figures like Duke Drath."

“Weren’t you the one,” Asandra grinned suddenly, causing Noah to pay apt attention as he realized this ought to be fun. “Who sang eight verses over how Lord Ludwig dug a tunnel through Elucido to Her Highness Olivia’s chambers to watch her bathe and pleasure himself? If I recall correctly, the ending line went something like ‘and thus, a river of white sludge began flowing underneath Elucido’.”

“…” Noah barely held back from laughter, both Myrell and Sash following in his footsteps, the former trying to hide behind the latter’s massive frame as to not expose the shaking of her shoulders. Ludwig’s face distorted and contorted, turning bloody-red, as he clenched his fingers into fists, glaring at Lo’kret. Olivia coughed lowly, her cheeks flushing slightly red as she glanced at Noah with a somewhat helpless and questioning gaze.

“L-Lady Asandra, you must have misheard,” the bard said, smiling innocently, truly appearing as though he had no clue what she was talking about. “I’d never dare utter such filth about our dear Lords and Ladies – if you’ve heard songs of their light and grace, then it might have been me. Day and night, after all, I sit and ponder over their greatness, trying to find the right words to put down with my quill, to celebrate them. Never anything else.”

“Oh, is that so?” Asandra said, suddenly appearing disinterested. Noah observed from the side, still expressionless, wondering what she was doing. “We, however, don’t need such a proper bard. It’s best, perhaps, if we have Lord Ludwig escort you back to Elucido personally, as to prevent any harm from coming at you. Would that be alright with you, Lord Ludwig?”

“… I’d be endlessly happy.” Young Ludwig said with a beaming grin while Lo’kret shuddered, his eyes sending a hymn of pleas at Asandra who, however, didn’t even look at him.

“Settle down,” Noah suddenly spoke, causing Asandra to sigh and glance at him as though to ask ‘why’. He merely smiled back, turning his eyes toward the confused bard. “Isn’t there an easier solution than having the young lad’s head tossed to birds as food?”

“… what are you proposing, dear Dacent?” Olivia latched onto the straw, asking with a gentle smile.

"For the rest of this journey," Noah smiled. "We'll all take turns verbally abusing him, while he can't say nothing back. There are no limits as to what you can say, and, as insurance, the young bard will be forbidden from ever writing another song about any of us. Naturally, if he does, I just might step away and let the world handle the issue."

“…” Olivia’s nearly choked on her words while Asandra’s dispirited expression beamed. Lo’kret, who had a brief taste of hope, sunk once again into the pits of despair. However, in the end, it was better than having his head spiked outside the city’s gates. Ludwig seemed somewhat reluctant for a moment, eventually relenting; in the end, some revenge was better than nothing.

“Seeing as I made the proposal,” Noah said. “You don’t mind if I officially open our little agreement?”

“Naturally, dear Dacent.” Olivia said.

“Don’t kill him immediately,” Asandra said. “Insulting a corpse isn’t nearly as fun.”

“…” Noah glanced at Asandra queerly; she really did have some exaggerated ideas about him, more so than anyone else perhaps.

“Tell me,” Noah began. “Why do you all think he sings and writes about such bedeviled things?”

“…”

“… why?” Ludwig asked curiously.

“… it’s simple,” he added with a smile. “The young man wants to indulge in them, wants to be that man in the stories, committing all those heinous acts. Alas, he is of the cowardly heart; so cowardly, actually, he cannot even use himself in those songs, and has to use other, innocent people.”

“True, true,” Asandra played along. “You can see the perversions burning in his eyes. I bet he’d like nothing more than if we all stripped him right here and now and started whipping him right across his behind.”

“We best not,” Noah sighed. “Else we might wind up drowned in the white sludge.”

“… pfft,” Asandra cracked, and even Olivia had to turn her head into the corner and hide. Myrell and Sash’s shoulders were bouncing up and down as they desperately fought the laughter off, and even Ludwig cracked one of the few, rare smiles, glancing victoriously at the bard whose countenance appeared unshaken, yet the tears in his eyes were a dead giveaway. “Alright, you are done. At this rate, he really might die.”

“Eeh?” Noah protested. “I said like two things, though…”

“And look at what you’ve done to the poor guy,” Asandra pointed at the bard. “He’s on the verge of bawling his eyes out.”

“No, no, you’re mistaken,” Noah shook his head. “That’s him charging himself afull. It will not be his eyes spraying the liquid, I guarantee it.”

“I—I’m not that perverted!!” Lo’kret cried out softly as the facades cracked and laughter swallowed the small carriage. Noah flashed a simple smile at the bard and winked, withdrawing into the corner and closing his eyes. He’s good at acting, he evaluated Lo’kret inwardly, somewhat surprised Asandra brought in someone so good. And even better at playing the situation. He understands that, rather than his death, all those who hate him would much rather see him humiliated and shamed. He readily accepted the role, even embraced it, and is practically giving everyone in the carriage a run for their money… not bad… not bad at all.

Lo'kret, currently crying aloud toward the laughing trio of Asandra, Olivia, and Ludwig took several, secret glances at the Dacent in the corner. How the hell did that brutish Asandra become a guard of someone like him? He mused inwardly; while he held a great deal of respect for her, and even admired the wit she developed within the limited circumstances, she was not nearly clever enough to wiggle her way into the good graces of someone like that. Not only did the Dacent practically create the perfect role for him as to relinquish the attention, and even buy the penance, he also used the points of shame of people inside the carriage and traded them over onto him, absolving both Ludwig and Olivia from the embarrassing memory. Why? That was the most important question.

The two never met, Lo’kret was certain. Rather, he wasn’t even aware that Olivia had found herself a new Dacent, let alone someone like that man. Was it out of pity? He doubted it. Because he was bored? Could be. The likeliest one, however, was that the Dacent extended a hand toward him, almost as though saying ‘I’ll help your head stay where it is, and, in turn, you won’t question the things you will write on this journey’. Lo’kret knew from the get-go that Asandra did not bring him here to simply write down the events that transpired and then relay them throughout the Kingdom. Any bard could do that, and there were hundreds with far better reputations and similar reach.

He was brought in, likely, to lie his ass out. To exaggerate more than any other bard would be willing. Eh, he shrugged inwardly, I guess it wouldn’t be so bad as to have at least one of my works framed inside the Royal Library. Olivia… Olivia… hmm, maybe… When the Young Princess Burned the Fire? Or When the Young Princess Illuminated the Kindled? Or Kindled the Fire? She spread her wings of golden fire, and had the Kindled hold their own pyre… ho ho, not bad, not bad. This really will be a lot of fun, after all…