Ramez began a new, “Don’t lie to me.” He pointed out several reports, “Kerym’s body was not just found outside your room, but it was hanging from your window. You brutally severed his limbs and even peeled his forehead—”
“Peeled what?” Hans stood, jolted. “So they never found Jonik’s name. Damn Xandor” As he was struggling to make some sense, Eleanor received yet another message, and he asked Hans, “Why did you peel off his forehead?”
“I never peeled off his forehead—”
Eleanor received another, “Let me rephrase it. Why did Xandor peel his forehead?”
“Don’t you get it?” Hans rebuked, “So I can be in this shit.”
“My king, please.” Ramez interrupted, “I’m in charge here, you are not, so please respect my authority here.” As Eleanor became silent, Ramez shifted his attention to Hans, “So why did you order Xandor to kill an innocent elf? Was it because he spoke crudely to you? Or was it just your Parvian impulse—”
“Hey, ” Arat interrupted, yet Hans stopped him again, “Easy Prime minister. He is not wrong you know. Even Gramps says, all Parvians are nut jobs.” Hans chuckled.
“Focus.” Ramez struck the table again, “I’m the one speaking, and you only answer me.” Pausing he continued, “Now answer my question, Parvian.”
“Haa… I overestimated this fool” Hans relaxed, as he took a detailed glance at Ramez and sat down. His demeanour changed visibly like he had all the wisdom of the world or as if someone else possessed him and he began speaking in cal and curt voice. “So you found a body hanging from my window, not even in my room and you ordered the chairman of the Knight association to bring me in.”
Hans became even more relaxed as he once again leaned his elbows on the table, and glancing a ring in his interrogator's hands, he said, “Tell me Mr. watchamacallit, what will happen, if your dear wife is found exactly that way, but instead of the window, right next to you in your bed.” Hans leaned further, not giving a chance to anyone to meddle in and his voice deepen, “Her throat slit, blood all over the sheet, your hands painted with them. Is it safe for me to assume, that you killed her—”
“How dare you threaten me—”
“Shut that fucking mouth.” Hans raised his voice, “ As you’ve said, apparently the most dangerous man in these lands is at my beck and call. You should be scared of me, Mr, but you don’t seem so. So I suggest you keep this in moderation unless you want my fantasies to turn into reality. Know your place will yeah.”
Hans turned to the next person sitting beside the Interrogator, a face that he could recognise even in his sleep. “I think, you are of proper standing to ask something of me, King Clandor or whoever is giving you instruction.” He pointed at the bead, adding, “At least your questions were interesting.”
“So where were you this afternoon?” Asked Eleanor.
“With Deli,” Hans answered without hesitation.
“What were you doing?”
“Just being the busybody, loitering around,” Hans gestured, his hands depicting the directions, “We were not talking for a while, so I had a lot to say to her.” He explained.
“Can anyone else vouch for you?”
“Nope. You see we are both famous here. People recognise us easily, so we were wearing hoods.” Hans came up with it at the spot, the thing he realised in his little trips back and forth was many people loitered around the city under the hood for whatever reasons of anonymity.
“Go into details,” Eleanor stressed.
“I just ate and whined that I lost the match, Why do you ask? I don’t believe it's related to the murdered crow”
“Because Delimira Winters is not some regular person who you can drag into this.” Eleanor said, ordering her summons, “Bring her in too.”
“She is your niece by blood, and you are bringing her here.” This was the first time Hans showed a bit of hesitation. He wasn't a great liar but he thought the king won't drag his own niece into the mess. After all she was Aredhel's daughter. "Crap! its just not my day. damn it" he cursed inside.
“What, did you think, bringing up her name was wise? I’m doing it exactly because she is my niece.” Eleanor mused, “You see, I’ve prepared a lot for you. And after Kerym went missing, we were observing you people. You were in your stay but she was not. You both came separately so you must not had the chance to get your story straight with her.”
“Aren’t you afraid?” Hans asked Eleanor his demeanour of cool headed returned, “If, hypothetically, I’m lying? She would be implicated with me.”
“You dragged her in, not me—”
“Now, I understand, why she doesn’t want to go back to Clandor. What a loving Uncle she has.”
“When you are a ruler, your family comes second, Mr Hans.”
“A man, who can’t even protect his own family is not worthy of being the protector of the nation, Mr. Elf King.” Hans said aloud, giving Eleanor a chance to save Delimira from this. "Just what I've done. If Deli picked my side and later if it turns false. She'd be my accomplice then. Darn it."
“Bleep” the communication orb lit, and the conversation halted. Eleanor turned the dial on it and the orb started showing images of another room, “We have Delimira Winters there. Start asking.” He ordered the woman facing Delimra and she began,
“Where were you this afternoon?”
“With Hans”
“What were you doing?”
Delimira sighed, and started, “He was grumbling about how he lost chance. You don’t know how petty he can be, and how frustrating it is to console him, he whined nonstop. He even apologised to me too. You can never see him doing that again.”
“Why?” The woman asked, thinking she finally got something.
“We were not talking after a bad fight, totally his fault by the way. He got—”
“Wait! Wait! I don’t want to know why that happened. please only answer what I ask...” Suddenly her communication orb signalled her to stop and in Hans’s interrogation room, Eleanor asked, “She seems prepared.”
“She is answering the truth,” Hans said indifferently.
“So, if you were outside, you should’ve eaten something—”
“Not eat, but I drank some Cocoa.”
“And her?”
“She doesn’t like sugar so she just sat.”
“Where, did you eat or..drank that?”
“I don’t know, I never pay attention to names.”
The orb in Delimira’s room lit and the woman started asking the same questions. “What did you eat?”
“Me nothing, but he drank at least six cups of cocoa. How can a boy be that much of a sweet tooth and he is a jackass, who can’t even remember the shop’s name.”
“Hey, I’m not a jackass, I just have some trouble remembering the names, jeez. ” Hans lifted his head, about to burst into laughter, but managed to control it, and asked Eleanor, “She don’t know, I’m watching this, right?”
Eleanor remained silent, for once he was confident that Delimira and Hans were not together and they never made contact until Hans’s arrest, so he was confused why their story was aligning. "Maybe they came up with way before." On the other hand, Hans knew they could instantly deny her testimony by saying they both got their story right way before, like some sort of failsafe. So, he asked showing visible excitement, hoping it to catch others attention. “Hey Mr. Elf king, can you ask me something else, I wanna know what she says about me behind my back.”
“I’m not here for your entertainment, Mr Hans and you are here to be questioned about a murder, take this seriously. So answer me this - Why do you come separately?” Eleanor twisted the question.
Hans paused for a moment, he could not just wing it like the other questions and after a brief silence, he answered, “She wanted to shop and I hated the idea of wasting my whole day helping her. that's why I came early and that's why you never saw us together.”
The same question was shot at Delimira and surprisingly she answered the same, calming Hans’s beating heart. However, when your interrogator is dead set on charging you with a crime, there is barely getting away with it. Eleanor became serious, “You must’ve talked to her—”
“How wise of you, You finally said, your niece was part of this shit—”
“No, she could’ve been manipulated." Eleanor sneered.
“Ha, this is getting frustrating. You neither had a direct evidence nor a witness. You are saying my alibi is false after admitting that there was no way I could’ve talked to her. You even claimed we weren't together.” Hans paused and looked sideways, the direction where many were observing him, and stood up. “Let's get rid of this thing first,” Hans said generating a little ManaStorm in his hand, shredding the mana binding. “See, this was useless.” He said, tilting his head toward Elves.
He raised his voice again, loud enough to reach both rooms, “The only thing that connects me with that creepy guy is the heated words I said to him. Have you all no shame, I was heartbroken after meeting with my father that you, the very you killed.” He hissed at Eleanor, “Do you think anyone can remain sane after meeting that very same person harassing his family?” Hans turned to Arat, “Shall we leave, at this point they can only point fingers at me.”
“Xandor killed him because you asked him to—" the interrogator who was silent till point whispered.
“What that psycho did was his business,” Hans declared, his eyes warning the interrogator, “Don’t bundle him together with me.”
“You are the child of the men he served,” Ramez argued, “What is stopping him from serving you?”
“Yeah, I ordered a hit on that Kerym or whatever. And Xandor followed the order like a loyal dog.” Hans stated, adding, “That’s what you wanna hear so I’ll just say I did, satisfied? what can you do about it?”
Ramez began a new, “Don’t lie to me.” He pointed out several reports, “Kerym’s body was not just found outside your room, but it was hanging from your window. You brutally severed his limbs and even peeled his forehead—”
“Peeled what?” Hans stood, jolted. “So they never found Jonik’s name. Damn Xandor” As he was struggling to make some sense, Eleanor received yet another message, and he asked Hans, “Why did you peel off his forehead?”
“I never peeled off his forehead—”
Eleanor received another, “Let me rephrase it. Why did Xandor peel his forehead?”
“Don’t you get it?” Hans rebuked, “So I can be in this shit.”
“My king, please.” Ramez interrupted, “I’m in charge here, you are not, so please respect my authority here.” As Eleanor became silent, Ramez shifted his attention to Hans, “So why did you order Xandor to kill an innocent elf? Was it because he spoke crudely to you? Or was it just your Parvian impulse—”
“Hey, ” Arat interrupted, yet Hans stopped him again, “Easy Prime minister. He is not wrong you know. Even Gramps says, all Parvians are nut jobs.” Hans chuckled.
“Focus.” Ramez struck the table again, “I’m the one speaking, and you only answer me.” Pausing he continued, “Now answer my question, Parvian.”
“Haa… I overestimated this fool” Hans relaxed, as he took a detailed glance at Ramez and sat down. His demeanour changed visibly like he had all the wisdom of the world or as if someone else possessed him and he began speaking in cal and curt voice. “So you found a body hanging from my window, not even in my room and you ordered the chairman of the Knight association to bring me in.”
Hans became even more relaxed as he once again leaned his elbows on the table, and glancing a ring in his interrogator's hands, he said, “Tell me Mr. watchamacallit, what will happen, if your dear wife is found exactly that way, but instead of the window, right next to you in your bed.” Hans leaned further, not giving a chance to anyone to meddle in and his voice deepen, “Her throat slit, blood all over the sheet, your hands painted with them. Is it safe for me to assume, that you killed her—”
“How dare you threaten me—”
“Shut that fucking mouth.” Hans raised his voice, “ As you’ve said, apparently the most dangerous man in these lands is at my beck and call. You should be scared of me, Mr, but you don’t seem so. So I suggest you keep this in moderation unless you want my fantasies to turn into reality. Know your place will yeah.”
Hans turned to the next person sitting beside the Interrogator, a face that he could recognise even in his sleep. “I think, you are of proper standing to ask something of me, King Clandor or whoever is giving you instruction.” He pointed at the bead, adding, “At least your questions were interesting.”
“So where were you this afternoon?” Asked Eleanor.
“With Deli,” Hans answered without hesitation.
“What were you doing?”
“Just being the busybody, loitering around,” Hans gestured, his hands depicting the directions, “We were not talking for a while, so I had a lot to say to her.” He explained.
“Can anyone else vouch for you?”
“Nope. You see we are both famous here. People recognise us easily, so we were wearing hoods.” Hans came up with it at the spot, the thing he realised in his little trips back and forth was many people loitered around the city under the hood for whatever reasons of anonymity.
“Go into details,” Eleanor stressed.
“I just ate and whined that I lost the match, Why do you ask? I don’t believe it's related to the murdered crow”
“Because Delimira Winters is not some regular person who you can drag into this.” Eleanor said, ordering her summons, “Bring her in too.”
“She is your niece by blood, and you are bringing her here.” This was the first time Hans showed a bit of hesitation. He wasn't a great liar but he thought the king won't drag his own niece into the mess. After all she was Aredhel's daughter. "Crap! its just not my day. damn it" he cursed inside.
“What, did you think, bringing up her name was wise? I’m doing it exactly because she is my niece.” Eleanor mused, “You see, I’ve prepared a lot for you. And after Kerym went missing, we were observing you people. You were in your stay but she was not. You both came separately so you must not had the chance to get your story straight with her.”
“Aren’t you afraid?” Hans asked Eleanor his demeanour of cool headed returned, “If, hypothetically, I’m lying? She would be implicated with me.”
“You dragged her in, not me—”
“Now, I understand, why she doesn’t want to go back to Clandor. What a loving Uncle she has.”
“When you are a ruler, your family comes second, Mr Hans.”
“A man, who can’t even protect his own family is not worthy of being the protector of the nation, Mr. Elf King.” Hans said aloud, giving Eleanor a chance to save Delimira from this. "Just what I've done. If Deli picked my side and later if it turns false. She'd be my accomplice then. Darn it."
“Bleep” the communication orb lit, and the conversation halted. Eleanor turned the dial on it and the orb started showing images of another room, “We have Delimira Winters there. Start asking.” He ordered the woman facing Delimra and she began,
“Where were you this afternoon?”
“With Hans”
“What were you doing?”
Delimira sighed, and started, “He was grumbling about how he lost chance. You don’t know how petty he can be, and how frustrating it is to console him, he whined nonstop. He even apologised to me too. You can never see him doing that again.”
“Why?” The woman asked, thinking she finally got something.
“We were not talking after a bad fight, totally his fault by the way. He got—”
“Wait! Wait! I don’t want to know why that happened. please only answer what I ask...” Suddenly her communication orb signalled her to stop and in Hans’s interrogation room, Eleanor asked, “She seems prepared.”
“She is answering the truth,” Hans said indifferently.
“So, if you were outside, you should’ve eaten something—”
“Not eat, but I drank some Cocoa.”
“And her?”
“She doesn’t like sugar so she just sat.”
“Where, did you eat or..drank that?”
“I don’t know, I never pay attention to names.”
The orb in Delimira’s room lit and the woman started asking the same questions. “What did you eat?”
“Me nothing, but he drank at least six cups of cocoa. How can a boy be that much of a sweet tooth and he is a jackass, who can’t even remember the shop’s name.”
“Hey, I’m not a jackass, I just have some trouble remembering the names, jeez. ” Hans lifted his head, about to burst into laughter, but managed to control it, and asked Eleanor, “She don’t know, I’m watching this, right?”
Eleanor remained silent, for once he was confident that Delimira and Hans were not together and they never made contact until Hans’s arrest, so he was confused why their story was aligning. "Maybe they came up with way before." On the other hand, Hans knew they could instantly deny her testimony by saying they both got their story right way before, like some sort of failsafe. So, he asked showing visible excitement, hoping it to catch others attention. “Hey Mr. Elf king, can you ask me something else, I wanna know what she says about me behind my back.”
“I’m not here for your entertainment, Mr Hans and you are here to be questioned about a murder, take this seriously. So answer me this - Why do you come separately?” Eleanor twisted the question.
Hans paused for a moment, he could not just wing it like the other questions and after a brief silence, he answered, “She wanted to shop and I hated the idea of wasting my whole day helping her. that's why I came early and that's why you never saw us together.”
The same question was shot at Delimira and surprisingly she answered the same, calming Hans’s beating heart. However, when your interrogator is dead set on charging you with a crime, there is barely getting away with it. Eleanor became serious, “You must’ve talked to her—”
“How wise of you, You finally said, your niece was part of this shit—”
“No, she could’ve been manipulated." Eleanor sneered.
“Ha, this is getting frustrating. You neither had a direct evidence nor a witness. You are saying my alibi is false after admitting that there was no way I could’ve talked to her. You even claimed we weren't together.” Hans paused and looked sideways, the direction where many were observing him, and stood up. “Let's get rid of this thing first,” Hans said generating a little ManaStorm in his hand, shredding the mana binding. “See, this was useless.” He said, tilting his head toward Elves.
He raised his voice again, loud enough to reach both rooms, “The only thing that connects me with that creepy guy is the heated words I said to him. Have you all no shame, I was heartbroken after meeting with my father that you, the very you killed.” He hissed at Eleanor, “Do you think anyone can remain sane after meeting that very same person harassing his family?” Hans turned to Arat, “Shall we leave, at this point they can only point fingers at me.”
“Xandor killed him because you asked him to—" the interrogator who was silent till point whispered.
“What that psycho did was his business,” Hans declared, his eyes warning the interrogator, “Don’t bundle him together with me.”
“You are the child of the men he served,” Ramez argued, “What is stopping him from serving you?”
“Yeah, I ordered a hit on that Kerym or whatever. And Xandor followed the order like a loyal dog.” Hans stated, adding, “That’s what you wanna hear so I’ll just say I did, satisfied? what can you do about it?”
