“Impressive to see.” Braydon knew that there would be a lot of people on the chopping block but it was still something else to see them all in one place. He and Nela stood aside, watching the procession of traitors who had been moved from the dungeon for the King to give down his verdict. Unsurprisingly, there was nowhere near as many lords and ladies who had come to watch this as had been at the ceremony several days prior. Only those who felt particularly bored or bloodthirsty joined those with a vendetta against the damned. Braydon himself fell into the last category.
“It sure is.” Nela nodded.
“What do you think he will do with those who are spared?” Braydon asked, one of the many people who preferred to talk in a hushed tone rather than wait in silence for things to begin.
“For those he is worried about, I would not be surprised if they found themselves back in the dungeon. Or they will be found to have accidentally tripped down a long flight of stairs. The rest, my guess is they will be expelled from the country or just left to their own devices.” Nela did not imagine that Aled would let anyone that he was worried about live. Even if their actual sentence was not to be put to death, there were always less public alternatives.
“I hope that can be arranged for both of my…” Braydon did not finish his sentence as the King entered the hall, Nela already knew what he was going to say anyway. The King was dressed much more practically than he had been for the victory ceremony, this was hardly the time for that anyway. Who was he showing off to? Men who were about to die? For that same reason they were in a side hall rather than the great hall. A detail Braydon was sure that the King had instructed personally.
“There is no need to stand on ceremony before traitors and criminals, I am sure that our audience agrees. So I will get right to it.” The King looked around and saw that most of those who had come to watch were servants or knights who would go and report to whomever had sent them. Braydon and Nela were actually the highest ranked people that had bothered to show up personally. The King knew them well enough to know that they would not mind in the slightest.
“A notice has been put up on every notice board in the city, detailing who has been deemed a traitor and who is to die. My men have all been informed and will now separate those who will be parting from us and those who will be parting from their bodies.” Not the funniest joke Braydon had ever heard. And from the lack of reaction from anyone in the room, it seemed that everyone agreed. They merely watched passively as the knights separated the bound men into two groups
“The group on my right, as you may have noticed includes Cecil Ryder. I do not need to go into detail. The group to my left will be removed from and never again allowed into any of my personally held territories. I leave it to my lords discretion to decide if they will be welcomed anywhere else within the Kingdom.” The King announced everything that mattered. Braydon had stopped paying attention the moment that he noticed which group Ryder had been separated into to see if his brother was amongst them.
“He’s there.” A jab to the side from Nela and a nod in the right direction were all that it took to see which group George stood in.
“Oh.” Braydon let out a sigh of disappointment. His elder brother was quite clearly not in the group that would be summarily executed. He knew that based on the sentence that the king had laid down in the ceremony that he should not have been. But who would have complained if Aled had decided to pay special attention to one person. He doubted that either him or Sam would. Though he guessed that there would be many that would use that as an excuse to try and get the King to rethink the outcome of many of the people standing before him.
“Look sharp.” Nela whispered once again as Braydon was lost in his own thoughts. He refocused to see that the King was walking their way as the various bound men were removed from the hall. A number of those who kept their lives looked quite relieved. Braydon imagined that these were the one who held minor holdings in other countries, though how welcome they would be in foreign noble circles was to be seen.
“I presume that you will be taking your leave today.” The King said in a loud voice, enough for any of the knights and servants of the various houses nearby to hear.
“Yes, you highness. We will be making the return journey once we leave the palace.” Braydon responded in a similar way. He was unsure why Aled was doing this but there must be some reason.
“He will be released half a days’ march from the east gate.” Aled said in a much quieter voice, one that Braydon and Nela could hardly hear standing directly next to him.
“Then I wish you safe travels.” He once again returned to his louder voice. It took Braydon a second to register what had just been said before a small smirk appeared momentarily on his face.
“Now that you have restored peace, I am sure that we will be fine. I presume that we will only receive joyous news from Boshil in the coming weeks. I bid you farewell, your highness.” Braydon Also returned in the same tone that Aled was speaking. He then made a small bow as Nela made a small curtsy before the King nodded and they made their way out of the hall.
“Are we having a rest on the way back?” Nela asked innocently as they made their way back to the carriage.
“I am sure that we could stretch our legs after about half a days’ travel.” Braydon’s smile had a distinctly bloodthirsty tint. He could not wait.
