“Kre will travel freely,” Lowil snapped back, clearly frustrated at the desperate attempts by Braun to see the poor boy suffer. “He is, after all, only a suspect until the Citadel deems otherwise, as well as being the only witness. Witnesses don’t travel in chains nor would the Rangers bother to deal with anyone that is not a convicted criminal. A suspect doesn’t become a criminal unless they break their covenants.”
No matter how much the townsfolk disliked Braun, a few of them started to worry that the poor man’s heart was going to explode given the fact that the throbbing of his neck vein had been increasing in intensity for better part of the last hour. Still, some others were laying bets on how many minutes it would be before it happened as well as if the weasel would, in fact, go pop.
“Kre should still have an escort,” Art called out calmly. “It’s a long trip to the Citadel, and we would be not be doing our duty to him or his family if we let him go alone.”
Mr. Koraski stood up and addressed the blacksmith directly, “I don’t know that there’s a one of us that can be away for the nearly full season it would take to walk to the Citadel and back. How do you propose we make sure he gets there in one piece?”
Braun had gone from angry to flippant, having finally accepted the fact that he never had any power in these proceedings. “The fact that you’re only concerned with the boy’s safety and not with ensuring he keeps to the covenants of justice is a testament to your obvious bias. This case should never have been tried in this dung heap of a town.”
“I believe we can contract with some caravans to get Kre at least to Sandort,” Lowil said, stepping in to keep Braun from completely turning the crowd into a mob. “From there, there’s either the overland travel through the other regions or possibly booking passage on a ship out of Tri-Steppes.
“As for needing an escort, I agree with that as well,” he continued. “I would gladly offer my own services to that respect, since, let’s all be honest here, I’m relatively useless on the farm and the children of the town can probably stand to suffer a long break from lessons. As long as we travel with others in a caravan, we’ll stay relatively safe and should have no need of the far more physically capable among you.”
The townsfolk laughed, feeling relieved for the first time in a while. It finally seemed like this whole horrible incident was going to end well. Braun, of course, had to ruin that feeling. “If he goes, I go. I’ll not let this washed up excuse for a scribe be the only one present to explain the case details. Plus,” he smirked, “I can present the report directly to the Sandort City Council.” He would, no doubt, take that very opportunity to request a more confining mode of transport for Kre or possibly to get the Council to take action on the case and overturn Lowil’s assessment. Additionally, seeing the Citadel was one of those things that you simply don’t pass up. Perhaps they might even need him to present the public’s case against Kre. Perhaps, he would be asked to remain at the Citadel as a civilian adviser.
“…soon as possible and… um… Braun?” Lowil inquired once he noticed the far-off look in Braun’s eyes. “Braun, are you still with me?”
“Oh, of course,” he snapped back, partially annoyed that he had been caught daydreaming and partially because he had been enjoying that daydream in particular.
“We will establish the covenants of justice here, and we’ll plan to depart with the next caravan headed to Sandort.” That would give him plenty of time to write up the transcripts of the past two days in his own words. While he may not have been the greatest orator in his class, there was no doubt that if given plenty of time to prepare, Braun Osser’s writing was irreproachable. The trip would give him plenty of time to write prosecuting arguments that would directly implicate Kre of the murders.