Toby Keith

June 17th through 20th, Albanus 1.

The party waited patiently until Sir Terrens' flailing died down.  Then Titus waded into the stream and tried to string a rope around the errant knight.  Unfortunately Terrens still had a few gasps of life in him.  He grabbed Titus and frantically tried to pull himself out from under the horses that had him pinned to the stream bed.  Terrens didn't get up... but Titus did get dragged under.  Most of his relatives waited patientily, figuring that the paladin could hold his breath longer than a half-drowned knight.  Marius, though, stuck his head underwater and ordered Terrens to breath.  A few more lungfuls of water and Terrens was down for the count.

They fished him up, removed his armor, and staked him out.  Then Corvina revived him, eschewing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in favor of foot-to-solar-plexus resuscitation.  Once he stopped vomiting water, Terrens glared defiantly at all of them and demanded to speak to Titus alone.  When the paladin refused, Terrens threatened to "tell them about him."  Having no idea what the knight meant, Titus encouraged him to do just that.  Full of spite, Terrens announced that Titus was no real paladin;  he was working with their aunt Surilla.  Baffled by this ludicrous accusation, the party questioned him until he admitted that he "knew" this because when he warned Surilla that Titus might come back to Surrexus, she said, "I hope he does.  I could really use him right now..."  Everyone had a good laugh, and Severus explained that demon-worshippers like Surilla had a lot of unclean uses for paladins.

Once this was over, the party demanded an explanation.  Terrens asked, why should he cooperate?  What was in it for him?  A quick and relatively painless death, Titus told him.  Terrens sneered that they could go screw themselves.  He wasn't afraid of a pack of puppies that had never bloodied their blades.

At this point, Severus asked Titus if he wished to renounce his paladin's vows.  As the eldest surviving son, he was heir to the county.  But he couldn't be both a Rostillan count and a Viridian knight (a sentiment almost all paladins would agree with...)  Titus did not wish to renounce his vows... at the moment.  Severus agreed to be regent for the time being and acknowledged that Titus would still be count if he chose.

Once the formalities were taken care of, Severus -- as regent of Surrexus -- pronounced a sentence of death on Terrens, for base treachery against the Count of Surrexus.  The execution was going to be slow and painful, he said, unless the knight chose to volunteer more information.  Titus, disturbed by this, retreated up stream a bit.  The rest of the family watched as Corvina and Severus began to torture Terrens.

It didn't take long before the knight decided that maybe the "gutless whelps" weren't as squeamish as he'd hoped.  And with that, he spilled the beans.

Surilla approached him six months ago, Terrens said.  The Count was a traitor, she claimed, and was going to be killed soon.  If Terrens helped her, she would ensure he became count.  Larentius would abdicate;  she was sure of it.  Terrens might have to be Martialis' regent for a bit, but Surilla would arrange a marriage with Leyna, which would make him count in time.  (Don't mention that marriage to Martialis, she warned Terrens.  He'll need some persuading -- he doesn't think anyone's good enough for his little dumpling.)

And what of the count's children?  Brennus was going to die with his father, Surilla had said.  Severus needed to be killed -- preferably slowly.  Corvina had flown the coop and wasn't a problem;  if she returned, Surilla was sure she'd be reasonable.  Ditto for Cassius, who could no doubt be bought very cheaply.  And "that little one who's name she could never remember" would just have to have an accident.  What about Titus, Terrens asked?  What if he came back.  That was when Surilla made her joke about hoping he did.

Gaius interrupted here and said, "What makes you think the king would sit still for this?"  "The king's not a problem," Terrens replied.  "Your aunt's going to be his queen."

Terrens considered her offer quite reasonable, and he had agreed to spy on Count Arius and help murder the Surrexus children after Arius' death.

When they had no more questions, Severus gave Terrens the "easy" death he'd earned.  He cut off the knight's hands, feet, and head, then drove a stake through his heart.  (The traditional execution for traitors.)  The one soldier they'd captured admitted he'd known they were going to murder the heirs (well, he lied about that at first, but he was a miserable liar).  He too was executed.  Marius then gave the two traitors a proper, if not honorable, burial.  (Out of character, let me just complain that by doing this, James de-railed a lovely thread I was going to introduce later:  Terrens' ghost.  I figured the next time you crossed this stream, a spectral hand would reach out of the water and grab the front rider.  But no, you had to bury the mangey cur.  Grumble, sigh.)

With that, the party turned to one last remaining problem:  what to do with the men-at-arms?  Loyal men who nevertheless did not wish to leave their families behind.  After some discussion, Severus gave them a letter of introduction to Durus, the count of Invictus.  Durus would protect them and their families until it was safe to return to Surrexus.  Captain Marcus, however, steadfastly refused to abandon them.  His sons could get his wife and grandchildren to Invictus, he said.  His place was with the band.  Severus nodded.. then ordered the old man to kneel and repeat a knight's oath of hommage.  Stunned, Marcus began to stammer that he wasn't worthy of this honor;  his father had been a cow-herd.  "Terrens' father was a knight," Titus replied, "and that didn't make him noble.  Now be quiet.  Terrens got was was due to him, and so will you."  Marcus obeyed, though he stammered so badly that he probably gave his oath two or three times.  Severus took Terrens' knight's chain, the symbol of his office, and gave it to the worthy captain.

After some discussion, the band chose to backtrack.  Everyone would expect them to flee west into Bendigroth.  Well, they'd turn east -- back through Surrexus.  Catch a barge to take them down the Rogatus River to Tillaford, where they could investigate this supposed Temple of Lil and find a ship to take them to Viridia or Altania.  So they returned to the hunting lodge that evening and told Cantorius he should go to Invictus with the other men.  "Hells no!" the old man snapped.  "That place is full of monsters.  I'll just stay in the woods till this all passes."

It took them three days to cross the counties of Surrexus and Sandapilla, by-passing the towns and villages where they'd be recognized.  Late in the afternoon of the 20th, they came to the city of Birus, a bustling trade town on the banks of the Rogatus, where the roads from the southern counties crossed the river to the north and Rostilla.  As they entered, Marius spotted a ferry flying Surrexus colors:  their uncles Martialis and Larentius, along with a squad of High Hold guards, were travelling with two ebon-wood boxes.  The type of boxes usually used to hold urns...

Keeping out of sight, they followed their uncles back to a fine inn.  As the older men settled in and called for baths, Titus and Corvina slipped under their windows.  Corvina could sense magic in Martialis' room, but not Larentius'.  Titus found Larentius' room clean -- but picked up the unmistakeable stench of something nefas.  Nothing evil... just a very faint, almost trace scent of rot.

Clearly they needed to talk to their uncles... but how?