"You lie!" Carl hissed, his face contorted with outrage. 'She must be lying! If it's the truth and the queen finds out...'
Sophia glared at his little outburst as if dealing with a petulant child. 'Pathetic, he hasn't changed in all of these years. He still harbours fantasies of making his wife.' Sophia felt disgusted at the sight of the older vampire.
"You dare to deny it?" Sophia scoffed.
"You expect us to believe such a claim when you offer no proof!" Carl retorted.
Celia cast her gaze back and forth. She was of a mind to side with Carl. However, the way Sophia had made her declaration with confidence gave her enough of a reason to keep silent. 'I have to defuse the situation before Carl can say anything that he might regret.'
"Regardless of who is correct, this is not sothing we can decide on our own Carl," Celia said as she stared at Carl. "The queen is the only one who can pass judgent on such a claim. As you know, our laws state that if such a claim is made and found to be false, then it's a cri punishable by death."
Sophia did not miss the knowing look that Celia was casting in her direction. She could not care less, though. 'I'm not in any danger; only Carl and his big mouth have that privilege.' Sophia thought, while flashing a serene smile.
Carl was seething. He had hoped to spark outrage hear and now so that he had an excuse to kill her so-called 'champion.' That way the risk of Sophia telling the truth could be negated before anyone could find out if it was or not.
Kace felt a little helpless standing by the side. Even though their conversation was about him, it was as though they were completely ignoring his existence. 'I have no interest in political power plays. Just give us a way ho and whoever your pillar is and ill be in my way.' He thought while clicking his tongue.
When everyone gave him an annoyed look, he simply averted his gaze, pretending not to notice. Their combined annoyance seed to calm their tensions towards one another. This allowed Celia to heave a sigh of relief.
"Well, there's no point standing here arguing. We may as well head back to the castle. I'm sure you're all looking forward to so warm food and beds." Celia said in a tone that would allow no further argunt. "However, until this matter is properly clarified, we will still have to detain you. Please understand and cooperate."
At this point, neither Kace nor the rest of the group had the will to fight it. They just wanted to get it over with. It was slightly deaning to have themselves bound and marched along like a group of wanted criminals. Hardly the first impression they wanted to give the residents of the city.
Only Raven and Sophia we're spared the experience due to their respective status. A few of the vampires realised which race Grugda belonged to when they moved to bind him. Although he was not spared the sa fate, the soldiers treated him with respect.
As they were marched along so of them shared stories with him about fighting alongside his ancestors years ago. They were greatly heartened to see that his race had not perished. More than one of them was only still alive today due to the feats of the Eljein during the war.
So even went as far to describe in great detail so of the spells his race had used. They were asking if he were also capable of them. Much to their disappointnt, he had to deny it. He was lost in thought as he wondered how much knowledge his race had lost due to their isolation.
Kace listened intently to their old war stories. The more he heard about the potential strength that Grugda might one day exhibit, the more he wondered if there was soone out there that could ntor him.
The stories helped to pass the ti and alleviate the boredom that they all felt. Kace studied the walls that were protecting the city within as closed the distance with the gate. 'Why does it look like it's just survived a major war?' Kace wondered.
The walls showed signs of having been assaulted. Cracks and chunks of stone were missing from them. It made them feel sowhat less grand in Kace's mind. Even the ground before them showed signs of a significant battle that they had not noticed before.
Broken pieces of weapons and armour dotted the landscape like flowers in full bloom. Large swathes of earth appeared to have recently been dug up and refilled. 'Either those were trenches to stop an invading army, or they're mass graves.' Kace silently thought to himself while staring at them with curiosity.
Sophia had noticed sothing that Kace had no way of knowing. Most of the weapons and armour were of vampire origin. It left quite the impression on her mind. 'What the fuck have we walked into!?' She was secretly cursing as the facts before her eyes told her that a very large number of her kind had been slain.
"Aunt, what happened here?" Sophia asked Celia while waving her hand out across the carnage before the city.
Celia looked around while considering how best to broach the subject. She did not want to earn the queen's ire by telling her sothing that Sonja might not want her to know. 'After all, if she's lying about Feliks then the chances are she'll be sent right back.'
"Oh, it's nothing for you to be concerned about dear. I'm sure your mother will perfectly explain everything to you better than I ever could." Celia replied instead.
Sophia rolled her eyes at her aunt's obvious way of avoiding her question. 'Who does she think she's trying to kid? As if my mother would ever actually trust enough to tell anything...'
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