Angelblood - Retribution

Deception

The angel turned and moved back down the stairs passing Chamuel and Michael and the others whose names he did not know.

"What do you mean there has been no body? This is impossible. I left him in his bed and it was not more than a few minutes later that I saw you. I can testify his death!" Semangelof growled to himself.

"What is going on here?" Chamuel asked and the one who just passed him turned back to him.

"I was meant to meet a man this evening but after a few minutes of conversation, he died of poison from the wine I brought from here. This is why I have to talk to Lady Myriel. Something is going on here and the more I try to find out the odder it becomes."

"Where is this bottle you talk about?" The older angel asked and looked concerned.

"It is in my saddlebags still." He looked over to the stable. "Give me a moment. I shall get it."

Semangelof growled to himself again. How could this happen and what was this all about? First, the murder and then the body was gone. This all made no sense. With those thoughts, he entered the stable and looked for his saddle. Finding it at the usual place he opened the saddlebags only to discover them empty. Furious, he looked around trying to find the servant who took the reins earlier. Finally, he caught him cleaning one of the boxes.

"Where is the bottle boy?!" He snarled at him.

The young servant gasped and almost fell to the ground from the shock. He backed off till his bumped into the wooden wall. Fear was obvious in his eyes which glistened by the tears of terror welling up in them.

"W... What bottle sire?!" He whimpered and slid along the wall into one of the corners.

"There has been a bottle in my saddlebags. Where is it?!" He yelled at the boy who sank down to his knees totally intimidated.

"I... I did not see a bottle nor have taken anything. All I did has been to take off the saddle and took care of your horse. It is standing two boxes further along the hall sire. Please..." He rose his arms over his head to protect himself from punishment.

"You have not taken anything from the saddlebags?" Semangelof asked again and calmed down.

The young man shook his head still guarding his face with his arms and hands. The angel turned and felt angry but there was no proof the servant was lying and he could not unleash his anger on someone innocent.

"Get up and finish your work." He said and sighed then left the stable. This whole evening was a complete disappointment and gave him an enormous headache. He picked up his saddlebags as he left the building but further searching through them did not reveal any more hints of the whereabouts of the bottle. As he arrived at the group on the stairs they sensed his misfortune.

"What is it?" The older angel asked.

"The bottle is gone. Someone must have taken it."

"Are you sure this all really happened and not something or someone made you believe it was happening?" The mayor asked but Semangelof was sure this has been no hallucination. Was this some weird plan to make him think he is losing his mind? The man was growing slowly less sure of it anymore. The whole situation went from being annoying to grotesque and enigmatic in the span of a few days. A few hours!

"I met Daniel tonight. He is the father of one of the servants here. I am not crazy. I know very well where I have been and what I did." He turned and ran up the stairs. "I will have a talk with Lady Myriel and I am sorry I have wasted your time mayor." He said while he took multiple steps at once.

The remaining men looked at each other puzzled but then Chamuel shrugged and changed his posture to look over at the man on the horse.

"Good man. Thank you for taking care of the village. We appreciate your work. May your night hold no more surprises. I wish you a good night."

The mayor nodded. "I thank thee, Sir." He replied then turned his horse and left the castle along with his guard.

The older angel faced his companions.

"Is it only me or does anyone else have the feeling that we poked our nose into a hornet's nest here?"

Semangelof in thoughts took the reins of his horse and walked down the hill into the village. He needed a drink. After finding a spot for the animal he walked over to the tavern and, while still in thoughts, he literally ran over a man who ended up in the dirt. A young farmers woman showed concern and surprise.

"I am so sorry." He said and offered a hand. "Please, accept my apology, Sir."

The man on the ground accepted the hand as well as the apology from Semangelof who then, without another word, continued his path to the house he was aiming for prior. He felt sorry for the man but his mind was elsewhere. Something was going on in this village he could not grasp and every time he thought he was seeing things more clearly, it suddenly became even worse than before.

Since that night, days have passed and Semangelof tried over and over to gain an audience with Lady Myriel. Her maiden and guards kept telling him that she was not available. He did not see her wander through the garden like she was used to in the mornings, either. He hoped he could catch her there and have a chance to talk but he had no luck. After checking on the servant in the stables once more, the young man told him that he saw a person leaving the castle the night Daniel was murdered right after the angel left through the gates. Based on the clothes and saddle used he would have guessed it was a man but something on the person way of posing and moving did unsettle him and gave him a more feminine impression.

All this put together give Semangelof the thought that Myriel may no longer be in the castle but instead had left that night and ordered her guards to keep up the illusion of her being present but not available to him. But why? Was she trying to avoid him or the Inquisition or someone else? Why would she run in such a hurry and with that kind of masquerade? Why would she try to cover her disappearance?