As the guards were walking towards her they heard her announcements and their feet stopped. The crowd was not so hesitant. “Nah ya can kill yourself with that stunt we don’t want anything to do with it.” replied what appeared to be a leader of the men with axes.
Lilith became agitated by this comment and she was not particularly pleased with that fact. Nevertheless she required a solution. She focussed on other areas than that infuriating man and thankfully found a pair of odd, scruffy siblings walking their dog past casually as though the man’s voice had not rattled them which immediately helped her calm down.
This also gave her an opportunity to pass her gaze over the rest of the crowd to see if they too required ‘convincing’. Thankfully their reaction was significantly more pleasing.
Those without armour were glancing between the guards, her and the other people at the gate. Those not marred with indecision walked behind her. There was however a single young girl who stepped up from among their ranks and confidently made her way towards Lilith, standing out from the rest of the crowd.
Her hair coloured like rusted blood and hollow cheeks made the girl familiar. Unfortunately Lilith had other areas of focus currently. She turned her attention and subsequently Claire’s towards the man who dismissed her. To his credit he did not flinch.
“My task here is simple and I shall relay it to you. I have the strength and expertise to cull the monster population around Marinez significantly. I intend to teach both to those who join my organisation. This would make going outside of the walls significantly easier and thus I have been given permission by the duke to do as I please.” Lilith explained in a fashion akin to bullet points while cleansing her language. She believed saying ‘human territories’ would make her sound too alienated and that would not build trust.
The moment they heard the duke had given permission a good number of the people without armour sided with Lilith even if very few stepped up to be part of the demonstration. The axe-wielders however did not react to the mention.
“That’s great and all but the duke ain’t the one orderin’ us right? That’d be you.” The man responded calmly. “You ain’t shit here princess. You don’t have the authority to force people into your schemes. We’ll do our work and some will die. That’s how it has been since these monsters came about and we’ll accept our lot in life. Ya can’t deny us that.”
Lilith pointedly looked at the man but he simply stood there and stared back. His defiance was inefficient. She had to consistently remind herself that she had not shown a basis for her claims and thus their trust was completely natural. Otherwise she may have drained them on the spot.
His opposition irritated her perhaps more than it should have. He had denied her command and the most efficient solution to his problems. It reminded her of a particularly unpleasant negotiation partner. Those who relied on their ‘gut’ or preconceived notions were extremely troublesome and only the reminder that they did not have the same information as her allowed her to remain rational. She turned away from the man and merely walked towards the gates.
The moment she reached them a certain man showed up and shouted down at her. “Justin, Olivia what are you doing?!” Or at least she thought it was at her until she heard it and quickly realised otherwise. The two guards in front of the gate snapped their spines straight on reflex.
The claks that indicated the stomping of heavy boots got louder and louder as they descended the nearby steps with the ferocity of a thunderclap. The man who emerged from the storm appeared familiar. Even without the several stairs worth of height he had on her she would have to look up at the welcoming abyss that was his black eyes.
He ignored her however and turned towards the guards at the gate. “Do knights take such insults to their faces and allow their honour to be besmirched unchecked?” He asked them with a tone of finality and a smile on his face that felt like anything but a smile.
The guards already stiff postures became rigid and the expression on their faces froze. “Why do you allow the girl to insult your work to your faces?” One of the knights answered the question by making an exasperated expression, opening his mouth to protest and making a gesture at Lilith. The other looked at the floor with a red face.
The man did not let the protest take form. “Her status is irrelevant if she is disturbing the peace. More importantly is the honour of the knights so fragile that it may break and bend before a person of status?” Then he left one to contemplate and the other to be reminded of what he said. Next was Lilith.
“And you, young lady, should not be making such baseless claims. We work hard for your sake every day. Seeing someone dismiss that work and use the name of the duke in vain is not just disheartening for my men but an affront to our pride. Do you understand?” The man admonishes looking down at her.
She ignored him for a moment and pondered doing so for significantly longer. She turned to him eventually. When she did, she was smiling at him and she hoped it had been sculpted well-enough not to show a predatory glint.
“Several creatures live outside of your borders. Are you aware of their designations?” She asked attempting to hide the condescension in her voice. Apparently not well enough. The knight in front of her frowned but his smile soon re-appeared as though carved into the man’s face from below. Her own smile did not budge and the rest of her body was unnaturally still.
“Young lady I am starting to think you are not listening to me.” He responded ignoring her question. That was not a satisfactory answer so she informed him of the correct course of action before he could talk once more.
“The snakes are by majority smooth green snakes or perhaps you would better know them as grass snakes. Of course they are unnaturally large and aggressive for their species. The wolves are of the timber variety and thus prefer to live far from human occupied territories. Despite that they are here and again far larger than before. What do you think this tells you proud knight of the empire?” She asked but this time when he opened his mouth to respond she simply continued to talk ignoring him.
“It means these are not monsters but animals. This is the new norm. I believe this city had the occurrence of marine-folk and I would imagine, a number of other hybridised or otherwise changed humanoids. The system, as I have taken to calling it, is a wake up call. I am your currently most efficient solution to the problem and I intend to prove that.”
The captain remained silent this time as she spoke “I cannot do so if you treat my warnings like the rant of a fanatic or the grumblings of a child so I shall state my intentions and methods clearly for all those present. With my help the monsters are no longer a threat. With my information less knights will die because they understand their enemy and with my strength Lisaran will not come to clean us up once the monsters have cracked our walls, broken our spirits and wasted our knights.”
He knelt down in front of her and brought his eyes level with hers once she had finished speaking. “That is our job. You do not need to worry about them because the knights will handle them. If it makes you feel better, we can take you outside and help you understand what it is you’re saying.” His voice was steady and determined as he looked into Lilith’s eyes.
She did not look away but only nodded silently. She did not breathe as she did so, hoping to contain the sigh that was about to come from her mouth. Seeing her agreement he turned to the two at the gate who were looking at him with similarly determined gazes.
He gave them a nod and one marched up the stairs to gather a platoon. “I do not believe you introduced yourself.” Lilith told the knight as he was about to turn towards the crowd to disperse them. He looked back at her with that smile again. He introduced himself with a small bow and his first three fingers pointing towards his heart.
“My apologies. My name is Jacob Mill Vice-captain of the Marinez knights. It is a pleasure milady.” Following his introduction he left up the stairs as well. Meanwhile now that she had the time, Lilith turned to the girl beside her.
She was the only member of the crowd to come forward during her entire interaction with the knight. Despite this when she looked down at the girl she did not see loyalty or respect in her eyes. Instead her gaze was appraising and perhaps mildly condescending. From a child it appeared harmless but Lilith knew otherwise.
Before she could even open her mouth the girl spoke first. When she did her voice grated like sandpaper. Her cracked lips parted and when she spoke it was without fear or the childish innocence Lilith had known the twins to display.
“That speech was shit. I heard royalty was all about false promises and fancy words but I didn’t think you were stupid enough to think we’d actually believe that without proof.” The girl said and silence returned to their surroundings in an instant. Though only for an instant as everyone started their discussions once more moments following.
The gall was impressive but Lilith could not bring herself to like the challenge. “I merely take the most efficient route first. If my actions are insufficient alone then I shall use my words. I have found it is significantly swifter to merely brute force bureaucracy”
Before the girl could challenge her argument Lilith turned to her and asked “Regardless I find your courage impressive. I have read of those in your station and they tend to have one of two viewpoints on their rulers. They are either completely ignorant or utterly terrified and my sister has been attempting to find a balance between the two for some years now.”
The girl merely shrugged. “You guys are just descendants of some great figure right? When we hear about royalty they’re real cool and mysterious then you meet one or learn where they come from. Suddenly they’re just people and you’re like ‘huh so how come everyone worships them’”
The answer was fair from a logical standpoint but the ability she displayed with that judgement interested Lilith. Sadly she did not get the time to investigate further. Jacob and the knights had returned yet she was not finished investigating the girl. Thus she would take her along, acting even more wilful would not make their opinion of her drop further.
