CH. 13 - Climbing the Ladder

[Daos]

Ladonna considers that Mannan managed to destroy a man's good reputation in the span of an afternoon.  One wonders what he could do to someone with a sullied reputation like her, if he puts his mind to it.  Hopefully, he's not the vengeful type.  But what's done is done, so Ladonna moves on to the garrison building in the courtyard, where the prison cells are.

Entering the garrison, she makes her way to the back to meet with the bailiff, a man named Rogar.  Rogar is a hefty man in his mid-forties in leather armor with a mace at his hip.  A ring of keys are tied to his belt.  "Something I can help you with, miss?" he asks as she approaches his desk.

[HorizonsDream]

"There was a man that was brought in here not too long ago. He goes by the name of Relken. I was wondering if I could see him?" Ladonna asks.

[Daos]

"And you are?" he asks, with the voice of a man who takes his job way too seriously.

[HorizonsDream]

"Ser Ladonna Marche," Ladonna says.

[Daos]

With a sigh of annoyance, and a grunt of exertion, the man gets off his stool and walks toward the reinforced door that leads to the cells.  He uses his keys to unlock it, then gestures for Ladonna to follow him in.

The door leads to a hallway with another reinforced door on the far end.  There are six cells on each side of the hall, making twelve altogether.  The hall is illuminated by sconces with no flame; rather, they seem to be magically lit.  He re-locks the door behind them, then walks to about the middle of the hall.  Each cell has a wooden door with a small, barred window to look in with.  The cells appear clean and well maintained, but also empty.  Apparently, there aren't too many prisoners right now.

"This is him," the bailiff says.  He knocks on the door to the right in the middle of the hall.  "On your feet, prisoner!  You got a visitor!"

Peering through the barred window, Ladonna can see that the cell is about 10 by 10 feet with a straw pallet for a bed and a large pot for scraps and other waste.  Relken sits alone, on the floor.  He is not chained up, but his weapon and armor have been removed.  He quickly gets up and moves to the window.  "Ladonna, you have come for me?" he asks, his eyes hopeful.

[HorizonsDream]

"I wish I could say that I was here to release you," Ladonna says. "But I don't have the power to do so. You have the power to do so, so I don't understand why you aren't doing it."

[Daos]

Relken sighs.  "It's...complicated," he says, casting a glance over at the bailiff.  He clearly didn't feel comfortable speaking in front of him.

[HorizonsDream]

Ladonna looks over to the bailiff. "Can you give us a few moments?" she asks.

[Daos]

The bailiff looks between the two of them and then grunts.  "Fine, I have some paperwork to fill out anyway.  Come knock on the door when you're ready to leave."  He then heads back to the reinforced door, unlocks it, lets himself out and locks it again behind him.

Once he is gone, Relken says, "I can trust you, right?  Your father speaks highly of your honor, and you are to be my wife soon anyway..."

[HorizonsDream]

"The marriage thing is a little up in the air right now," Ladonna admits. The man is in jail after all. "But you can trust me."

[Daos]

Relken looked a bit dubious about that remark, and seems to be reconsidering.  But then seems to decide he doesn't really have any choice at this point.  "I am Relken Tarn.  That certificate the gnome had is a fake, and I'm not sure where it came from.  My real certificate would prove it, but...my lineage...is not as pure as people think."  He takes a moment to collect himself.  "The truth is...my great-grandmother was...elven.  Meaning my grandfather was half-elven, my mother was quarter-elven and I am one-eighth elven.  Originally, it wasn't any kind of concern.  We were peasants, from a long line of peasants.  But then I was knighted.  And nobody knew--not even I!  My grandfather died when I was a baby, and my mother, like myself, appeared human to the untrained eye.  I only found out after the fact.  But if it got out now, I could lose everything--my keep, my land, even my title."

[HorizonsDream]

"Well, now I see why you agreed to marry me," Ladonna says. "But you are barely even elven for it to really matter," she points out. "Though, with the way Gontoria works, even that tiny bit of elven blood..." she says thoughtfully.

[Daos]

"Exactly," Relken agrees.  "If I were still a commoner, it would be a minor scandal, at best.  But now that I am a knight...I mean, I am human.  I can't see in the dark, I don't have any magic powers, my ears are normally shaped--but to some of the higher-up nobles, even a drop of elven blood would be a crime.  That's why I can't reveal my real certificate.  But I don't know how else to get out of this.  That's why I need your help.  Surely there must be some strings you can pull?"

[HorizonsDream]

"But you know that my reputation is...less than stellar," Ladonna says. "While I have connections, my relationship with those connections are strained at best."

[Daos]

Relken's face falls.  "Then...there's nothing you can do?" he asks.

At that point, they hear the jingling of keys as the door down the hall unlocks and the bailiff returns.  This time he is accompanied by Mannan Klass, who is now dressed in his respectable herald uniform.  As the two walk down the hall toward Relken's cell, he barely gives Ladonna more than a glance.

"Alright, Relken, you're free to go," the bailiff says.

"What?  Really?" Relken blurts out in surprise.

The bailiff unlocks his cell and opens the door.  "All charges have been dropped," he says.

"Yes, it turns out that certificate that stated you were not the real Relken was a forgery," Mannan adds.  "Terribly sorry about the mix-up.  Rest assured, if the scoundrel who first turned it in is ever found, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  For now, please accept my apology, as well as the count's.  And may I wish you happiness with your upcoming nuptials?  I understand you two are to be married, soon."  Klass looks to Ladonna briefly, but his face clearly shows he is enjoying himself a bit too much.

"Yes...thank you," Relken says, emerging from the cell.  "It seems the wedding is back on after all.  Surely, Gonto is watching over us," he says to Ladonna, the relief on his face plain as day.