118 Getting What You Wan

Professor Kal sat cross legged in the chair across from the restrained dwarf, his cold eyes staring reflecting the flickering firelight. He had been silently staring at the dwarf for several minutes, causing the bearded fae to sweat profusely. A loud pop came from the fireplace as the sap in a piece of wood exploded, causing the tightly wound dwarf to jump, and let out a little shriek.

Finally moving, Professor Kal leaned forward in his chair, "What's your name?"

"Gregor Ulibarri." He said, managing to keep his voice steady.

"Well, Gregor, do you have any idea who I am?"

After a moment of silence, Gregor shook his head, always keeping his eyes on the Professor. "Doesn't matter who ya are, ya still hang for this! We've made pieces for the King himself; he won't look kindly on anyone that harms me or my wife!"

Cracking a smile, Professor Kal stood up, "They'll have to have a witness, now won't they?"

His footsteps sounded out as he moved closer to Gregor who had renewed his struggle against his restraints. Reaching out, Professor Kal placed his hand on his clammy forehead, although it was warm inside the room, his forehead felt cold to the touch. Even though Gregor's face didn't betray his emotions, his body told the Professor everything as it began to tremble at the physical contact.

"Now, I'll teach you a little lesson before we begin." Professor Kal started as his hand rested atop Gregor's head, "Memory retrieval is a taboo school of spells, that's the case for several different reasons. For one, it is considered much too intrusive since nothing can be hidden from the one casting it, even the deepest darkest of secrets. So, it was mainly used on spies that had been captured infiltrating kingdoms or other highly sensitive places, or on criminals that wouldn't confess. Now, as you might have noticed, memory retrieval spells are all but forgotten, can you tell me why?"

After a moment, Gregor shook his head.

"That is because no matter how careful the caster is, the one having their memories viewed would always have some degree of brain damage. Most of the time they would just be killed during the process." Professor Kal paused to let his words sink in, "But don't worry, the memories I'm after are not that deep and should be easy enough to retrieve. So, you should survive the process with only moderate brain damage."

As the Professor talked, the image of the poor merchant he had encountered during his first day outside of his lab surfaced in his mind. He had used the spell on him as well but had dug as deeply as he could into his memories; this resulted in his brain liquifying as he went, since the influx of mana tore his brain tissue apart. In this aspect, Gregor was lucky, since this memory was fresh in his mind, the spell would be much less intrusive.

"You could avoid that fate, avoid being fed mush with a spoon while you sit there in your own filth, only able to be a burden on those you love."

Gregor took in a shaky breath as he envisioned his wife having to take care of him like she would a newborn. How he would be able to do nothing but stare at a wall with dead eyes as his wife cried herself to sleep every night.

He looked up at the Professor with sad eyes before opening his mouth to speak, "Yer an evil man, ya know that?"

All Professor Kal could do was shrug his shoulders at the damning comment, "You may think so, but I believe a truly evil man wouldn't give you a choice."

…..

Princess Alessandria had been nothing but a bundle of nerves since she and Lilly had returned from that awful basement. She was nervously fidgeting in her overly plush chair, surrounded by dozens of nobles and listening to Bishop Croft vehemently deny the church's knowledge of a monster obscured behind its walls. The investigation launched by the crown, once the riots had been quelled, pointed toward the monster originating from the large cathedral controlled by the church.

"Your Majesty," Bishop Croft started with a hoarse voice, "We have lost dozens of paladins, and over two-hundred priests during the attack, to say that we purposefully released such a creature is absurd. And what reason would we have to do so?"

"To weaken us!" A slightly overweight nobleman yelled out, bolting to his feet, "Amine is breathing down our necks, maybe the church has turned their backs on us, maybe they have brokered a deal with them?!"

Bishop Croft couldn't help but roll his eyes, "That's even more of a ridiculous suggestion, Amine hardly tolerates the church, why would we align with them?"

"The fact remains that we have lost even more than the church in the monster's attack. Even now, knights, adventurers, and civilians are being killed by the monsters still loose within the city!" The nobleman said, his face red, and flecks of spittle sailing through the air and across the large table in front of him.

"And the church is assisting in that endeavor as well, are we not? To say that we let loose that atrocity out of malice is nothing short of a slap in the face, and we will not stand for it!" Bishop Croft rebutted, standing from his chair as well, just as red in the face as the opposing nobleman.

As the two men glared at each other, King Lexington sat in his chair, his face ashen grey. He was already in his late sixties and recently his health had been failing him. The stress from the recent invasion had eaten away at him from the inside, and now with the sudden monster attack wiping out most of the noble district and killing so many of his elite knights, as well as his Court Mage, his stress had only multiplied.

"Enough." He said in a feeble voice that was drowned out by the two men bickering at each other. "I said that is ENOUGH!"

The King shouted out with all his strength, his voice barely overpowering the bickering while triggering a coughing fit. No one reacted to the hacking coughs of the elderly King, it would have been considered extremely rude, they just suffered in silence until he recovered on his own.

"No one here is questioning the church's integrity," King Lexington offered the Bishop an olive branch, "But you must understand our frustrations. This incident could not have come at a worse time, and we must work together in order to mitigate the damage done and to weather the storm yet to come."

The King's feeble words still carried with them immense authority, so the two men immediately nodded their heads and sat back down without another word. A tense silence fell over the entire meeting room, only the King's labored breathing could be heard as everyone waited patiently for him to continue. Princess Alessandria wore a worried expression as she looked at her ailing father, she silently prayed that the Goddess would have mercy on him.

"Now, I have invoked the powers granted to me through the Wartime Accords, and have called upon all the nobles to surrender their forces to the crown." The King's words sent a wave of murmurs through the noblemen sitting around the large table. Holding up his hand, King Lexington quieted their hushed voices, "If we do not stand together now, it is only a matter of time before each one of you fall."

His quiet voice echoed in the filled room; the heaviness of his words shackled themselves to the noblemen present. They all knew that his words were true, that Amine wouldn't stop with just taking the capital, that they would march until they occupied the entirety of Morgania.

"Do you intend to conscribe ALL of our personal forces? Will we be left any to defend our own lands?" A nasally voice pricked at everyone's ears as they turned to look at the man that spoke.

Their eyes landed on a thin, spindly man. His attire, although fit for the setting, was very outdated and was obviously handed down. His face remained stoic even as the other noblemen glared at him with clear disdain in their eyes.

"What lands would you be referring to, Baron Minelly? Last I knew, you had sold all but your estate." Another nobleman chided him, eliciting many scoffs, and shaking heads directed towards Baron Minelly.

Without batting an eye, Baron Minelly ignored the statement and continued, "I beg forgiveness your Majesty, but what assurances do we have that once this war is over, you will stop at seizing our forces, that you will not lay claim to any other assets you deem necessary?"

The room fell silent once more as the man's words sowed the seeds of doubt within the noblemen's hearts.

"How dare you say such a thing at a time like this? Our kingdom stands at a precipice, and you say we should hold back? That we shouldn't throw everything we have at the enemy? Have you gone mad?!" A red-faced nobleman shouted out.

"On the contrary Viscount Jorgeson, I'm only thinking of the future, of course. I have no doubt that we will be victorious in the end, so I wish that there are certain protections put in place." Baron Minelly stated matter of factly, drawing subtle nods from the others sitting around the large table.