The Great Escape

Audience Part II

"I wrote to you." Edith leaned back and stretched his legs under the table.

"About the two of our citizens you have detained?" Alpha Theodore leaned forward, resting his hands on the table and entwining his fingers.

"About the two witches we caught," Edith reformed the sentence, "—who are citizens of Rotus."

"I would not deny they are our citizens. Our foreign relation ministry has already given yours our confirmation," Alpha stated with utmost confidence. He continued. "In fact, this matter is on the agenda to be discussed in the meeting between the foreign ministers of the two states. But since the opportunity presents itself, I shall bring this to your attention— the two women you caught— they have been wrongfully detained by you."

"They were caught stocking up combustibles in an abandoned warehouse near our borders," Edith countered.

A glass bowl filled with small pieces of roasted mutton was on the table. A bottle of blood wine for him and mead for the Alpha. Alpha Theodore pursed his lips. Leaning forward, he grabbed the bottle of blood wine and poured Edith a glass. His long blond hair speckled with greys bobbed to the side.

"Combustibles, you say?" He presented Edith the glass which he took with a thank you.

"They are traders, Marquess Edith." He grabbed the bottle of mead. "They have been traders all their lives. They sell the greenwood of specially cultivated Wort trees for years. The two of them are sisters and are continuing to head the business their great grandfather started." Pouring a glass of mead for himself, he took a sip. "Your officers and guards have known the greenwood to be highly combustible for a long time. They know the greenwood is bought and sold— since their great grandfather started this trade, since many others before him did this business. Why sudden change of heart?"

"Hearts change when tragedy strikes, Your Highness." Edith was yet to drink. His glass of blood wine was placed to the side, his fingers drummed the table. "Our late Duke is suspected to have been murdered. And if that was not anguishing enough, arsons are trending among the miscreants. You could fathom how flared someone of authority would be at the meagre of anything that burns."

"One must not resort to massacring all the cats if one stray bites you. As I said, they had been trading the greenwood for years. Hence, the arsons had nothing to do with my citizens." He chugged down half the beverage in one go.

"This is not about the pain one suffers from a bite of one stray cat, Alpha Theodore." Edith sighed. His left hand was placed casually on the table. The index finger of his other hand circled the rim of his glass. The serpent ring twinkled. "This is about the fear of a pounce of cats being after our blood. This is not about what has happened in the past. This is about the challenges we will be facing in the future."

"I concede." Alpha Theodore nodded his head, "But accusing our citizens of being witches—"

"Interruption is a grave offence." Edith's sharp voice coldly cut off the Alpha. The pureblooded vampire sat straight in his chair and placed his feet firmly on the floor. "However, my conscience would not let me breath a second more in peace—" Brushing back his raven hair, he rested his right leg's ankle on his left leg's knee, "—if I let you speak the words you were going to." He tilted his head to the side, the yellow light of the tiny flames of candles striking his pale skin. His dark red eyes gleamed.

Alpha Theodore regarded him with interest and chugged down the rest of the mead.

"Please excuse me for this disregard of customary politesse but I must ask of you to halt here. We are not accusing anyone of being a witch." Edith affirmed. "One is accused of theft. One is accused of murder. One is accused of fraud. One is accused of crimes. Being a witch is not a crime. It is hardly something someone should be accused of."