Captain of the Guard: Suspicions

Cedric got in his saddle and they headed down the trail. Despite the reassurances of Marious, Cedric made sure to have several scouts in the field. Raven walked behind them, and despite the obvious soreness of his feet, he didn’t complain. Vul was keeping to himself, and Alstone was quiet for once. It gave Cedric time to think.

He worried over the whole situation. They were outnumbered and only in a tale could a hero conquer those odds. Cedric had no delusions; he was no hero. The hound was a factor that he couldn’t quiet measure, in his experience it was better to discount something that might be an advantage, rather than rely on it. He hoped that they weren’t a liability. Marious hesitated quite a bit, Emile seemed almost squeamish and Pookie was . . . unreliable.

There was Alstone, and although Cedric was beginning to be suspicious about the layers of the man’s deceptions, he didn’t trust his suspicions to hope for anything. Vul was a scoundrel, and probably vicious, but he had never seen the man in a fight. Raven was the type that got killed at the start before he even realized what was happening.

Someone wanted Ryllos to take the blame for the death of Ro, as much as the man had been crude, simple and more brawn then brain (attributes that most people liked in their heroes), he was the favored adopted son of the kingdom and his death was going to be a blow.

Cedric had thought Ro had fled the princess, but now he wasn’t so sure. The man had left and someone had known he was leaving and which direction he was going. He glanced at Alstone suspiciously. If anyone had known Ro’s plans it would have been the mage. He’d been waiting for them and didn’t seem surprised to find Ro dead. Nor had he pushed them to find Ro, and had even actively encouraging them to stop.