>>5896688Wedge and his guard escort you and Anemone up the hill towards Castle Rusalka. As you approach the castle’s massive walls, you can make out men atop the battlements. There are swarms of them. Archers mostly, but some spearmen too, as well as unarmed soldiers that are likely mages. Hundreds of eyes fall squarely on you. You stare up at them, managing to even recognize a few of the faces that gaze back down at you. Though they remain silent at first, it does not take long for the castle’s defenders to let their true feelings show.
“Traitor!”
“Deceitful bitch!”
“Backstabbing whore!”
A deluge of boos and jeers rain down upon you as hundreds of soldiers throw every insult they can in your direction. Not since you faced down the Almyrans at Fodlan’s Locket have you experienced such mountainous hate in your direction. No, this dwarfs even that day. These men truly and utterly despise you. The gates to the castle courtyard open, and you are led inside, where even more heckling awaits you.
“You killed my brother! You killed him!”
“Get out of Rusalka! Go!”
“Payback’s coming, Blair!”
It is only thanks to the efforts of Wedge and his personal guard that you are not swarmed by a mob of angry soldiers right there. His experienced heavy infantry are more composed than the regular troops, and you cut a tide through the mob to stand before the very gates of the castle’s interior.
“The Count awaits you in his study.” Wedge says. His voice carries audibly over all the insults.
>“Are you not going to escort me there?”“No. Have you forgotten your way around the castle already?” Wedge snorts. “Should you fail to come to your senses in there, inform the guards posted here that you’re ready to be escorted back. Now go.”
You and Anemone are hastily hurried inside the castle. All the noise outside is instantly drowned out as Wedge closes the sturdy doors behind you with a loud bang. You’re engulfed in sudden silence as you find yourself once more standing within the halls of Castle Rusalka.
>“Did Wedge recognize you?” You ask Anemone once you are sure it was just the two of you. Inside the castle, there were no signs of life. No servants, no guardsmen, nothing. It was as if the two of you were the only ones inhabiting the massive estate. “He’s a sharp one.” Anemone whispers back. “My face was obscured that night, and yet he was immediately suspicious. Who can say?”
The two of you walk through the halls of the castle, with only the sounds of your footsteps following you. The Count’s study was located at the bottom level of the castle. It was a large room filled to the brim with tomes and records. Rather than the throne room, this was where he’d often hole himself, pouring over documents and governing over Rusalka. Before heading down there, you make a quick stop first. You go up the grand steps of the castle, stopping in front of a familiar room. Your own.
