Getting to the Truth

Jina was roughly put onto the table with her feet still entangled by the bolo. Lady Sif tied her hands up just to be sure.

Kyle walked up to her with the most threatening and penetrating gaze he could. Jina Bedew shivered as she looked at him.

She wanted to turn and look elsewhere, but she couldn't do it! She was like a deer caught in the headlights. Its doom was coming, but it was too paralyzed to move.

"Talk!" Kyle yelled at her with rage.

"I...I...I..." she stuttered.

"Talk now, or face the consequences," Kyle said evenly.

"I'm not involveded direct, but I mights know somethin'...I just don't know what," she said. Jina finally broke her gaze away from Kyle and looked at those surrounding her.

Lady Sif was tightening the rope binding her hands causing the blood to stop flowing.

Sir Rollins still had his sword drawn and the Mage Melfor was completely cast in darkness except for his glowing eyes.

Around the room, she saw fear, hate, warning, and other types of emotions.

"I...I don't wants to wind ups likes, Mahony," she said.

"The faster you tell us what you know the quicker we can end this and the safer you will be," Kyle said in warning.

He didn't make her any promises. He knew, now, that it was impossible for him to guarantee absolute safety.

"I don't know much, but dis girl comes ups to me, or one of my girls and wants some clothes and certain ingredients. Shes like a regular customer for de last fews years.

I didn't know she was going to poison no one, but I don't asks questions, yous knows?"

Kyle and the others nodded their understanding.

Most of the mercenary groups were crooked and would provide whatever for the right price.

Sir Rollins wanted to empty the village of the mercenaries. He wasn't allowed to, though, as the mercenaries had their uses.

The crown used in emergencies and wartime. When a group registered as an official mercenary company in the kingdom; it was with the understanding they could be drafted on an as-needed basis by the crown.

This meant the Kingdom could double or triple its army almost anywhere in the kingdom whenever they needed to.

The mercenaries were also the ones who hunted most of the dangerous creatures in the kingdom. This freed the army from the need to hunt down the creatures to attend to matters of state.

They would only be dispatched to face really serious problems.

The mercenaries also procured a lot of materials the kingdom needed to keep its economy and its magic research programs going.

There were numerous uses for the mercenaries, so Sir Rollins was forced to make lemonade out of lemons. He was looking at one of those lemons right now.

"What else? Information like that isn't worth killing you. What do you really know?" Kyle demanded.

"I don't know, it was just the clothes and ingreedientz, I promise yous!" Jina Bedew proclaimed.

"Describe the girl to me," Kyle said.

"She was about 5' 7" with brown hair tucked unders hers hair sack. She had a scarf around her mouth. That's it," she said.

"You're still holding back. Do you think you are less of a target just because you pretend not to know anything? Speak!" Lady Siff said as she twisted the ropes in her hands.

Jina Bedew yelled at the sudden twisting of the ropes.

"I...I...saw her face once!" she yelled.

"Does she look like this?" Kyle produced a drawing and shoved it in her face. Jina looked at the drawing with wide eyes.

"That's her, it is!" Jina yelled.

"Tell me something else I can use!" Kyle once more drew close to her face. Jina was getting frantic trying to think of anything.

"Wait, I know, there's something weird!" she began.

"What, what is it?" Lady Sif asked hurriedly.

"A few weeks ago, she wanteded some grejstones; she seemeded desperates to get it. When I asks her whys she needses some grejstones; she gets all mads. I got it for hers." Jeni Bedew said.

A light of realization lit up in Kyle's eyes.

"It's not useless," he said as he pushed the picture of his attacker into Lady Sif's hands. He walked over to the ground where Mr. Mahony was lying dead.

"Pick up Mrs. Saseo!" As soon as he said this, Mrs. Saseo's eyes flashed open and she jumped up quicker than a cat getting surprised by a cucumber!

She tried to flee like Jina Bedew, but she couldn't even take two steps away before Froma appeared next to her and held a knife to her stomach.

"Why don't you stay there, dear," Froma said with a smile.

Kyle walked up to Mrs. Saseo and took out a little box. He smiled faintly at Mrs. Saseo.

"When I was going over the logs I examined the materials coming in and out of the village. There were a lot of materials I had never heard of before, so I had to look them up. One of those materials was grejstone.

Grejstone, for those who don't know, is a magic material that can be used to give things a gray color. It's mostly used in magic art, architecture and cake making!

However, it has one more use, and that is it can be used to make a young person look old by graying their hair and wrinkling their skin and making it pale. The grejstone is so good that not even powerful mages can tell when it's been used.

Like most magic materials, its effects can be canceled with a proper magic tool." Kyle held up the box in his hand.

As he was explaining about grejstone, Lady Siff was looking at the picture in her hands. Her eyes widened and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She was stunned temporarily.

"Now, let's see who you really are, Mrs. Saseo!" Kyle said as he activated the box.

At that exact moment, Lady Sif came back to her senses and yelled!

"Avas kanjo zeh dulur!"