Constable Gerart Bromin sat at his desk at the Vekkelmaril Guardhouse, his face resting in his hands. The pangs of humiliation still wore within him, but soon that was replaced by the haunting faces of the eleven fourteen-year-old kids still missing from Vekkelmaril.
Elmo Benok, one of his most trusted subordinates, had managed to smuggle them out of town right under his nose, without even raising the slightest bit of suspicion. The investigation had gone on since late 470, with Bromin hismelf devoted to the case, but it took a winged demon to instigate progress. He let out a sigh and reached into his drawer, poured himself a half a mug of rockscotch, and replaced the bottle. Just a nip to calm the nerves, he convinced himself, just a little bit. He took a slow sip from his mug as he gathered his thoughts. Obviously, he and Thoran were after the same culprit, although Bromin could not begin to comprehend what any of this had to do with the former Lord Marshall. Perhaps if he were to solve the mystery of Clen Thoran, he could find out what happened to those girls. He took in a deep breath and downed the rest of the mug. "May I come in, Constable?" peeped a quiet voice as a pale face appeared in the doorway. It was Inela, the girl he had saved from Benok's cottage. The Constable stood and it took some discipline to keep himself from gawking at the girl's condition. She was sheet white, thin, her wool overdress hung on her like a tablecloth. "Please sit, Inela," Bromin finally said. Inela slid into the large chair that was parked in front of Bromin's desk. She neatly folded her hands in her narrow lap, looking up at him with large, haunting blue eyes. "Inela," Bromin said in his most calm voice, "I'm going to ask you some questions. Some of this may upset you, but please try to keep in mind that whatever details you can tell me might save the lives of some of the other missing girls. May I?" Inela nodded. "Alright," Bromin paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath, then letting it out of his nose. His mind drifted momentarily to the bottle in his desk drawer. "Let's start at the the day you came up missing. What was going on then?" "Well," Inela's expression seemed distant, "Father told me to prepare the previous day's meats, and I went out back to the smoker to start the fire. I saw him there--" "Benok?" "Yes. He had his guard uniform on and he was staring at me kind of funny, so I asked him if I could help him out. He asked me a bunch of stupid questions so I just started to ignore him, figuring he was just coming on fresh or something and he would leave me alone if I didn't talk to him." Inela's words were calm. Bromin nodded in respect to her bravery. "Did he have anyone with him?" "No, he was alone. Anyway, it all happened pretty fast. He put shackles on my feet and pinned me down the ground. Then he poured something in my mouth. It was the worst thing I've ever tasted, and I can still taste it when I think about it. It made my mouth numb, and then I couldn't talk or move or anything." "What did he pour it out of?" "A metal flask. Like the kind blokes drink rockscotch out of." Chills ran down Bromin's spine. He had given out metal flasks to his G1's for last Hixa Vedek, almost a year ago. "So did it put you to sleep?" Bromin asked. "No," Inela said quietly. She winced a bit, showing the first sign of emotion since she had sat down, "I couldn't move, but I could see and hear and feel everything. He put me in a potato sack and threw me over his shoulder. A little while later he threw me into that cage." "Did he," Bromin paused again as he tried to find a sensitive way to say what he needed to, "Did he have his way with you?" Inela looked up at him, her eyes welting up into tears. She looked down with shame. "We'll get back to that later if we need to," Bromin said as he did his best not to burst into tears himself. He tried to keep a professional tone, "Did he ever say anything to you? Anything at all?" "Nothing," she sniffed, "He was quiet all the time." "Did you ever see anyone else while you were there? Anyone at all?" She looked up at him, looked around the room, then slowly shook her haid. She didn't seem very sure. "Anyone at all?" he repeated, "Please this is very important." "Well," Inela cleared her throat as she seemed to regain her composure, "There was some*thing* else that I saw a few times. But I'm not sure if I really saw it or not." Bromin arched a brow. "Why aren't you sure?" "Well, I thought it might just be hunger or madness, but I seen this white shape, like flatcake batter pouring out of the stove or from under the door. It would move around the room, like someone spilled cream, but it seemed to have a mind of its own." Bromin blinked. "And.. And this is crazy but I think it talked to me. Well, sort of in my head. You know?" "What did it say?" "It said it was sending an angel to save me from Benok. That's who I thought you were at first." "Did it say anything else?" "Just that it wished it could let me out right then, but it said it needed me to stay there for now. I'm not mad, am I Constable?" "No Inela," Gerart reached his hand across his desk and placed it on her shoulder, "You're not mad at all." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives & Other DMI Lists: http://www.dragonmyst.f2s.com/lists.php3
