Yes, I Lied

Who knew what Lord Marshwall expected to see when he was preparing to go to his eight year old pleasure slave, but it certainly was not a huge warrior materializing out of thin air, his golden eyes burning with rage. The lord, paralyzed with fear and trying to get his brain to comprehend what just had happened, was grabbed with one hand and brought level with the horrible eyes. He feared this was a demon or a planar creature after him, losing control of his bladder.

- "I disapprove strongly of people who hurt children," the warrior spoke, his voice growling and deep. "Get me the list of those names, and get it now."

- "Who..." the lord whispered, scared out of his mind and almost unable to speak.

- "It really isn't important who he is," Peri interjected as she saw Sarevok inhale in order to start an epic rant. "You will give us the names of those people if you don't want to die."

Now lord Marshwall saw a red-haired young girl, who also looked like a powerful, formidable warrior. But at least her eyes were more normal.

- "How did you..."

- "Now, now." The third speaker was just a lean, small man in his fifties, wearing black and smiling ironically. But something about his distinctly feline demeanor was very unnerving. "This isn't going the right way, sir. You are asking questions, when you should be providing answers. That young man, the one attached to your larynx if you didn't happen to notice, is notoriously impatient. And when he gets impatient, he might get violent."

- "You don't understand..." and then his world was a flash of blind-red pain. Something hot ran from his shattered nose. Blood.

- "I can punch a lot harder than that," the red-haired girl said after delivering the blow. "If you don't want a demonstration, give us the list."

The nobleman couldn't understand where these people, if people they were, had come from. But apparently they would kill or torture him unless he gave the list of his contacts to them. Hands shaky, he shuffled through his files and found the parchment. He considered misleading them and decided he wouldn't dare. Who knew what kind of sorcerers they were, able to detect lies and forgeries. Reluctantly he handed the paper to the giant with glowing eyes.

- "But I really don't hurt children! I love children! They are sensual creatures too! They like it..."

- "SILENCE! Now I am normally not a person prone to violence, but if you continue your depraved speech I will hurt you just out of the pleasure of doing so," said a feminine, blonde woman with blue eyes. She wasn't tough and muscular like the red-haired girl, but somehow she managed to look powerful as well. The nobleman understood to be quiet. These people apparently were not interested in talking philosophy about children's sensuality.

The operation was over. It was indeed a shame, especially as some of his contacts delivered him children in exchange for the ones he paid for, but it could not be helped. Perhaps, in time, he could start it anew.

- "I will give you information on the operation if you promise not to kill me. Where the ship leaves, how they do the exchange, the whole deal."

- "Very well. Tell us and we won't kill you," said the warrior with the golden eyes.

Lord Marshwall did, hope flickering in his eyes, still scared but already cunning.

When he was done, Sarevok nodded and smiled. Then he squeezed the man's throat, starting to strangle him, enjoying the despair and horror on his face. When the lord was almost dead, barely conscious, he let go for a second.

- "Yes. I lied," he smirked, drew his sword and ran it through the man's entrails.

There was a moment of silence.

- "Sarevok. I fear that last stunt makes staging a suicide a challenge indeed," Winski said.

- "He sickened me," Sarevok answered stubbornly.

- "I'm pretty sure none of us found him exactly endearing, but now we have to do something about the corpse," Winski replied.

- "This doesn't belong to my area of expertise," Jelena said. "If you don't mind, I will go and find that poor child he was abusing."

- "You do that," Peri said. "Poor kid, I wonder what we are going to do with him."

- "Yeah," Imoen said, her eyes large. She had cried a little. "I still don't understand how anyone could hurt a little child like that... I'm not sorry that you killed him, Sarevok."

- "What about that 'burglary gone wrong' trick?" Peri asked.

- "This doesn't look like the work of a panicked burglar," Winski said.

- "He should be hung from the city wall and everyone should be told what he is," Sarevok muttered.

- "The problem is that many would not care," Peri sighed. "What if he just disappeared?"

- "How do we make that happen?" Winski frowned.

- "Well, Jelena can make corrosive poisons, can't she? You killed ice trolls with the vials..."

- "Peri, sometimes I am scared of you," Winski said, respect in his eyes. "But I think it will work. Do not, however, present the idea to her in front of the child."