Correl of Otley
In that split moment, Correl’s mind had gone blank, and instinctively she turned around. Because what could Winston have possibly meant by that? She hadn’t fully turned around but it was enough that she had done exactly what he wanted her to.
Correl heard a gasp from beside her and saw that Winston had swung his body enough to kick Lord Brighid in the face with both legs, gathering up enough strength to come free from her grasp. Correl reached out to help Lord Brighid, who nearly lost her balance staggering backwards from the hit, and Winston slammed to the ground before skittering towards the doorway and up the stairs. Correl started to apologize, but was cut off, she watched Lord Brighid pull away from her and rush out the door after Winston.
Correl started to follow, but she once again turned to the piles of books and papers. It was just a trick!, one part of her mind chastised her, urging her a few steps closer to the door to follow Lord Brighid and help track down Winston before he hurt anyone else. But another, quieter part of her mind kept looking back. The voice kept her from leaving the study, and a dozen other questions joined to it to create an up-roaring, mountainous call that only ever asked one thing:
Who was she?
And where had she come from. The Lord Brighid’s study had to be about the most heavily guarded room in the entire house. It was locked well, with a key that only Lord Brighid herself had access to. Even that little punk Winston had to wait for Lord Brighid to mess up and forget to close and lock it before entering… So, who was she? This woman whose body lay as a permanent fixture against the floor?
Correl could hear a struggle going on upstairs, she heard grunts and cries, and could tell that Winston had not yet made it all the way up the stairs just yet… and she needed to check something.
Correl walked tentatively over to the body, wincing as she got closer to the smell of rot and decay which she hadn’t noticed before, during the height of the battle. She looked at the corpse for a moment longer, trying to decipher Winston’s lies and get his doubting words out of her head. She was practically right in front of the body, and was finally able to get a better look.
She saw that it seemed to have been there for a long time, the body was already showing signs of deterioration and decay, there was a hole in the chest, and several stab wounds… This person had to have been caught up in Winston and Lord Brighid’s fight. But why then, does it look like their battle was a long time ago? There were still loose papers covering the legs, and lower body, and a book had landed across their face, covering it. So after a moment’s hesitation, Correl removed it.
What she saw when she moved the book froze her in place.
Correl’s brain went blank for a moment, only clicking back into working order when she heard someone calling her name from the stairway. Right, Lord Brighid was fighting Winston… and she was going to need her help. They were going to need to capture him to ask him questions about all of the murders. She turned from the sight in front of her to the stairs, and moved to leave the study. She only looked back once, to the body in the study, before leaving the well lit room to walk into the stairway.
Correl felt numb, and could only watch really, as Lord Brighid struggled to restrain Winston again. The stairway was much smaller, and more narrow than the study had been, and while she couldn’t fully grab him, she was able to stop his progress. But even that wasn’t helping much, Lord Brighid didn’t have the energy to keep this up with her injuries.
Correl moved closer to intercept Winston as his catlike movements managed to keep him out of Lord Brighid’s grasp. She reached out and grabbed Winston’s bad arm ,pulling him into a neck hold while he yelped in frustration. Correl struggled to hold him as her arms suddenly felt weightless, like she wasn’t holding anything anymore. When Lord Brighid, as tired and as injured as she was walked over, she glowered at Winston, “What happened to killing us first?” She asked in a tired tone, earning a glob of spit spat at her face.
Lord Brighid looked over to Correl with the same nonchalant smile as always, “God job, Correl. I”ll see if we have anything to tie this little monster up with, we need to-” she was cut off when Winston reeled his head back, and crashed his skull into Correl’s nose, Correl hissed, accidentally letting go of the boy with a yelp. Winston bounded from Correl with a roar, sailing over Lord Brighid’s heading and scurrying up the stairs. Correl swore as she held a now bloodied nose, and pushed her way past Lord Brighid up the stairs. She left Lord Brighid behind on the stairs with little thought.
Right out of the stairways, Correl caught sight of Winston’s retreating form in the darkness, and followed his shadow towards the main hallway, The main hallway had no windows, and no ways to escape unless you went down the hall towards the entryway of the house, or unless you went into some of the rooms or servants quarters. Correl couldn’t let him get that far away. If he ran into someone else, or barged into someone’s room…
Correl tried to not think about it. Her eyes never left Winston as he seemed to scurry around the hall, desperately weaving and bobbing across the floor. If she let him escape, they would have nothing, no answers, more questions… Correl saw Winston finally stop at a familiar large set of doors, the way to the knight’s barracks. She swore.
She barely caught the doors as Winston squeezed his way through and disappeared. As Correl followed him, he was making use the the courtyard to climb up and out of the building! The indoor courtyard had no roof at the top, and led out to open skies and mountains. She thought about throwing her sword for him, he was struggling to keep his footing after all. But they were at the top of the courtyard, three floors up, and if she missed she was without a weapon. She was thinking and losing time. She could climb after him, and started to until she felt her wounds pull. She had forgotten she was injured.
Correl had no choice but the watch the deft monster climb his way out of the building and disappear into the night. Correl cursed her luck for a good few seconds, but after fully losing sight of Winston…she felt numb. Her body felt cold, and weightless and her thoughts were all over the place.
Without any other options, she returned to the study. She took note of the traces of black and red blood all over the floor all the way back, and especially the smell as she opened the heavy oak door to return downstairs. Once the door was open, Correl caught sight of… Lord Brighid, having made her way up most of the stairs with a pained look on her face and looking worse for wear than Correl had ever seen before.
Correl walked up to her mentor, not only meeting her on the stairs but blocking her way forward. She tried several times of change her expression, “put on a different face” as Lord Brighid so often did, but she couldn’t shake the sullen look she had currently.
“We need to talk,” Correl stated, watching whatever light Lord Brighid had in her eyes quickly fade away, “about what happened, and what we do now. About cleaning this mess up…” Correl tried to keep her voice even, but it broke, and shook. Almost as much as her hand did, turning her sword against someone she travelled with for weeks, “About that body in the study behind you, and what happened to it.”
Lord Brighid- no, whoever this was, Correl had expected a more sudden turnaround, like what happened when Winston finally dropped his disguise. Instead the person in front of her, who resembled a knight, just sighed, titling her head to the side, and looking at Correl with an honestly tired and sad expression. “ Is it alright if we sit down first? I’m not exactly in top form?” She responded, in a quiet voice.
Correl nodded, and while keeping an eye on her allowed her to sit on the stairs. Correl stayed standing beside her, weapon still drawn. The stranger on the stairs was completely still and silent for a moment, and with her hands resting on her lap she looked up at the sword, “What is it you want to know first?” She asked, eyes never moving from the blade.
“You can start by answering who you are, and why you’re here.” Said Correl
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