The number of those allotted to witness the interrogation had dwindled by the time the enemy was securely bound to a chair in the throne room. Not wanting to risk their only source of knowing Lavinia's whereabouts becoming infected; Caradoc dismissed most of his court with exception of his knights and Queen Gwendolyn. The king from then on allowed Sir Theodore to commence questioning while he and his wife took to their thrones at the front of the room.
"So do I get anything to eat, now? After all, I missed the mid day meal." The knight sneered at the King and Queen.
Sir Ivon blocked the knight's view with his body, threatening to slash him one. The knight grinned while nodding his head back. "You would love to have a go at me I bet, you big brute."
The metal easel was dropped down in front of the two men by Gunther. Sir Theodore rolled out some parchment upon it and began writing. The enemy eyed Gunther. "I pray you can live up to my standards, boy." Gunther stared at the man in confusion before turning to Sir Theodore's attention.
Identify yourself, knight. The ink dripped fresh from the bottom of the last letter.
"I am Sir Marcus of the Illimitato."
Sir Theodore studied Marcus's armor carefully. He had never heard of such a faction. It was possible he belonged to a group of rogues but he had heard of most of them throughout his years. But his cloak didn't lie. The same name was sewn into the banner under the coat of arms.
If you value your life, you will tell us where the King's daughter is. We are a civil, peaceful kingdom however we will take any measure needed to acquire information.
Sir Ivon held his sword by his side, gripping the hilt tightly from anticipation. Gunther held his sword in front, its tip digging into the floor. Jane kept hers sheathed, preferring to draw it if she should be ordered or need to. Her eyes met with Gunther's briefly, wondering if he felt as uncertain as she did about what was to happen in future time. Her glance caught the Illimitato's. He looked at each knight before returning his gaze to Sir Theodore.
"Actually, I have quite a lot to say. I have all day being roped here and such. I must say, it was foolish to leave the sentry unguarded. Originally we were coming forth for Turnkey and Breech. In retrospect, perhaps we should have done so first."
Gunther took an involuntary step back, taken by surprise. Jane had a similar look on her face, wondering what possibly for.
"As much as these young knights would have served as admirably, we need to condition a new queen."
Queen Gwendolyn leaned forward in her seat, horrified. The king was losing his patience as the words sank in.
"Queen Julia can not seem to bear a daughter and after watching on yours for some time, she has chosen the Kippernia princess to take over her throne. She also plans to take this kingdom for her own after inside sources have informed her of this waste of land who was deep in debt just waiting to be seized."
Jane caught Sir Theodore's gaze and shifted to the parchment which held new words. Orders. She drew her sword and walked over to the bound knight. He read them as well and laughed at her almost mockingly. "You believe you are unique, milady? The Illimitato is led by women. Women who fled prosecution. Tough lasses who were orphaned. Women who grew tired of the dominance of man. Women like Jane who abhorred the idea of being a lady in waiting but no King was open to a female knight. They grew enough in numbers to overtake a weak kingdom and were looking to strive forward and over take this one."
Jane didn't know what to make of this. There were more like her out there? No, not like her. She would never remove a child from her home to serve another.
If what you say is true, then why do you, a man, serve this supposed all female faction?
Sir Marcus's eyes fell from the parchment. The smile upon his face almost bitter. "I was a knight serving that weak kingdom they overtook. They saw me a worthy adversary and spared my life in exchange of turning over my allegiance to them. There are only a handful of males working for them for they also need us to keep up their numbers. They have no king to speak of. It is ruled solely under Queen Julia."
Sir Theodore looked to his majesties as the other knights were awaiting further orders to act upon. Caradoc stepped away from his embrace with his concerned wife and came forward when the knight stared speaking again.
"Do not feel secure, dear knights. When she takes this castle, it is already known who she will keep and who will perish. Queen Julia has taken interest still in obtaining Turnkey and Breech for her Guard. They will be tested to die for King Caradoc but the king will die before they do. He shall be easy to take down for the Queen and Prince will be targeted first which will cause the lady in waiting and chamberlain to pass on as well in a chain of effects. My Queen has no use for this oaf…" He nodded to the left at Sir Ivon before continuing. "…the Court Jester or the staff help and will probably all be executed. An attempted agreement with you, Sir Theodore, will be granted but she wouldn't hold it past your dedication to Caradoc to sway a grimmer outcome. The Dragon will be sought by us to be tamed and executed with the dragon blade if he does not cooperate with us."
In a fast harsh hand, the ink now read You will not get away with such an atrocity.
"They had survived decades in Italy, hiding. They want to claim a powerful status across these lands. The Illimitato name means Limitless. Boundless. The women invoke the word as a reminder of why they became knights of a kingdom before its time. They want to prove to the world that women are worthy of the power men horde and greedily seek more of. Many kingdoms have tried to take them out of existence and failed; retreating before they risked destroying their own land and subjects. Every king they battled sat in silence; in fear of sullying their reputation by the fact a league of girls with swords beat his knights. But because the Illimitato only have so much power, their battles with other kingdoms have thus so far come out as a draw mostly. Until they discovered Kippernia a couple years back when it was rumored that most of the staff were released from castle services. When they found only four knights served this King, they saw a window of opportunity."
King Caradoc stepped down from his throne's stage and approached with such anger, Jane for the first time ever feared her king. He wrote in short sharp strokes on the parchment. Where is LAVINIA?
"You will get no information of her location or my Queen's. Ever. " Marcus replied as a matter of fact.
Caradoc began writing orders for the dungeons but the knight was not quite finished.
"Hold fast now. Surely you want to hear the last of what I have to say." Grinning, he leaned forward as much as he could against the ropes. "It is but a dear shame I will not be the one to father your daughter's heir."
For the first time in Caradoc's reign, the knight was ordered to be put to death. He commanded that Smithy unlock the iron maiden in the dungeons and prepare it for use.
A/N: Thanks for your reviews on chapter 4 :) Also I just want to add my surprise how much people seem to like A Battle That May Never End. It really was random and I didn't think it would gain much reviews at all. I'm glad it was liked and might consider elaborating or doing more lyric chapters with the current one.