Katya's Desperate Gambit

-Border Forest, Near Jocelynn's Brothel. 0 DSTR, mid-morning-

"I have killed infants that were believed to be possessed or were showing signs of magical ability. If I thought this woman engaged in magic in any way, I would spill her blood immediately. Do not patronize me with speech of my oaths or my honesty. You are awake now anyways, so I am going to the tent to sleep for my shift. You can decide what to do with Celestia, but do not harm her. She has done nothing to deserve harm."

As Simon thoughtlessly expounded his philosophy on killing mages, Katya's jaw dropped in horror. While Simon moved toward the tent, Katya ran a hand through her hair as she struggled to figure out how she might salvage the situation.

"That is some spectacular detective work, Katya! Thank the God you hold dear, that you are a soldier of Verden and not a law enforcer in Dalen. Didn't you grow up with people telling you to- what was it? Oh, yes,- 'not judge a book by its cover'."

Katya closed her mouth and turned toward the source that had caused this predicament. She said nothing as the problematic woman continued, "I am sure Simon can make his own judgment on the intent of a charity case. But on that note, I hope to offer you wise words; not in hopes that it saves your life, but his. Fear of those who use magic to survive will get you killed. Accusing people of it, will get your mangled body placed on display in the town's square for people to spit and piss on. If you wish to search me, I would allow you, except you have no authority here."

Katya sighed. Their mission would indeed be compromised once this blighted woman left the scene and reported what had happened to the Dalen authorities. After taking another breath, Katya replied, "Unlike my loud-mouthed friend, I am very well aware of the range of my authority. Go if you wish, tell everyone who we are, and while you are at it, tell them why we were coming as well. Believe it or not, we were not going to your backward country to smite all of the wicked people that live there. Instead, we were sent to find a Verden noblewoman by the name of Sabina Hoyt Hibiscus who stole a very dangerous text from our library and fled to Dalen with it. If this text, which is a tome written on necromantic spells by none other than the infamous Galathus Kelmoran, falls into the wrong hands, both of our kingdoms could find ourselves in dire straights. If I am wrong about you, and your heart is as golden as your eyes like my companion seems to believe, then maybe you can do something about the coming plague, because I can't do anything about it any longer without the proper diplomatic agreement, the kind of agreement that will take way too long to make, by which time the situation may get out of hand."

Katya sighed. She would probably get fired if her superiors learned of what she had done here, but Katya didn't think she had a choice. The mission was probably a bust for her now that it was too dangerous for her to continue her mission in secrecy, but perhaps this Celestia could do what she could not.