86
You ride to Scade with all the speed your exhausted horse can muster and return at once to the Lucky Bucket Inn where the remaining members of the troop are billeted. The news of your encounter at Castle Tranius comes as a shock, both to the troopers and to the innkeeper who fears for the safety of the real Knight Tranius.
‘I haven’t seen him in the town for near-on a week,’ he says, anxiously rubbing his many chins. ‘We ’ere had no inkling that somethin’ bad was happenin’ up there at the castle. It’s right put the shakes up me, I can tell you.’
In the warm comfort of the inn, you use your Kai healing skills to mend the Lord Constable’s injuries. He is carefully testing his weight on his newly-mended ankle when suddenly there is a commotion outside in the street. An angry mob of hard-faced men, many clutching torches, staves, and coils of rope, are marching down the cobbled avenue towards the inn.
‘Hang the Talestrian thieves!’ they shout. ‘String up the murdering swine!’
‘What’s going on? Who are these men?’ says Nathor. The innkeeper’s face turns white and he begins to tremble with fear.
‘I … I don’t rightly know,’ he stammers. ‘I ain’t never seen ’em before. They’s not from these parts. We’ve never had no quarrel with Talestria. You’ve always been our friends.’
Suddenly a chunk of cobblestone smashes through a window and an angry cry arises from the mob:
‘Come out, you Talestrian dogs. Come out or we’ll burn you out!’
Nathor calls everyone to the rear of the inn where a passage leads directly to the stables.
‘I fear this is some kind of crude ploy to murder you, Grand Master,’ he says. ‘If you are to stand any chance of reaching your homeland, you must continue your journey at once. I and my men will do what we can to hold this mob at bay, but you must leave now and you must go alone.’
Another window shatters and a burning brand is hurled into the inn.
‘Very well,’ you reply, uneasily. ‘I shall leave at once.’
