675-06-19 - The Beaten Woman at the Docks
The Beaten Woman at the Docks | |||||||
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Summary: Edris searches for a woman rumored to have been assaulted | |||||||
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Initial inquiries has led Edris to Deavell's Harbor. It has been days since the rumored attack, and the young woman was finally released from questioning and is said to visit the stalls at the Harbor around the late evening. She was also warned the woman is still very jumpy and is likely to bolt if she gets too scared.
Edris attire is definitely toned down for this little excursion. Her dress is almost plain, a brown dress of mediocre quality and modest cut, worn below a dark cloak with a hood that obscure most of her red hair. She would be a fool to venture out alone, so Bertram is with her, wearing a plain attire of a commoner that suits that of his charge. Her grey-green eyes move swiftly about the area as she scans the people for the one woman that fits the description.
It takes about ten minutes before a jumpy woman is spotted fitting the description, though the amount of treated lacerations, bruises, swollen eye, and an arm in a sling would likely reveal her more then her features. She stands before one of the stalls waiting on something she's asked for to be readied, yet her eyes never seem to even glance at the stall or the owner as she is looking about as though paranoid of an attack from all sides any moment. It seems that the rumors were wrong. She isn't 'very scared' she's closer to traumatized, though by the looks of her she was certainly severely beaten. Even after days of treatment, her injuries still will take weeks if not months to fully heal.
Once she has spotted the woman, Edris will approach her, not too hastily, and with Bertram keeping a distance as not to overwhelm the woman. Her hand reaches into the pocket of her cloak and out comes an apple, one of the better sort that are sold on the Market in Deavel. "I believe this is yours...?", Edris says, her tone gentle and her smile friendly, making sure not to scare the woman overly much.
The woman jumps as she is addressed and backs up against the stall. It is a few seconds before she looks at the apple then the stranger who approaches her and stutters, "I... I... Th... That isn't m... mine." in a scared tone as she once against starts to look about with clear fear o her face.
"Easy now," Edris murmurs, staying where she is, the apple still extended. "Then, accept it as a gift? You look like you've been in trouble. You're hungry, hmm?" Her voice is soothing, her smile warm.
The woman looks at the apple then back at Edris and asks, "Wh... What do you want?" a bit of uncertainty in her voice as she looks about once more, still paranoid.
"I want you to calm down, Miss." Edris replies evenly. "Take the apple. I will not harm you. You look troubled. Maybe I can help?" Bertram keeps his distance, while having a watchful eye on their surroundings. He is armed, the rapier concealed for now by the dark cloak he wears.
The woman looks about once again and says, "No one can help. They'll come back I know it, they said so, and I'll be dead." she at least sounds like she believes it.
"They come back?", Edris inquires now, her hand gently reaching for that of the woman, if she will allow it. Her voice full of sympathy and cocern. "Why should they do that? And..." here she shoots the woman a glance. "How many were they." Spoken softly so that only the woman might hear.
The woman instinctively draws back from the attempted contact as though the touch alone might kill her. After looking about in obviously growing fear she says, “Th… They said I was a traitor, and.. and there was at least three I… I think.” as she starts to look around even more, fear becoming even more obvious on her features as she does.
"They were no officials?", Edris persists, moving a bit closer now, after withdrawing her hand, her tone hardly more than a murmur. "If they weren't they had no right to do this to you. What did they look like? Common thugs?" Asked as she moves beside the woman, turning to study what is an display at the stand, although her attention remains focused on the woman. Then, a slight turn of her head as she shoots her a glance. "What did you answer them?”
She suddenly looks frightened beyond words as the word ‘officials’ is mentioned and pulls away a bit as Edris moves closer, when Edris turns to study the display stand the young woman bolts. Running at full speed as though death itself were on her heels, it isn’t long before she ducks down a side-street without a pause, her packages clenched tightly to her chest as she runs. It would be very hard to catch her at this pace, also the fact she seems to know the area as she turned the corner as though knowing the side-street was there even if she were blind.
Edris' head turns when she realizes her last question has probably gone unheard, and the spot beside her is suddenly empty. A glance towards Bertram and he darts after the woman, but maybe a second too late! Grey-green eyes follow her guard as he vanishes into a narrow alley, and Edris frowns, a low curse escaping her. Obviously she had lacked subtlety to keep the woman from running. Shaking her head slowly, as she waits for Bertram to return, hopefully with the woman.
Bertram picks up the chase and keeps pursuit, though the young woman continues running without looking back as though death itself were on her heels, this combined with her weaving in and out of alleyways, behind buildings, through shops, around warehouses, and the like it takes her roughly twenty minutes to lose her pursuer. She definitely knows the area.
It takes quite a while, long enough for Edris to engage in a casual conversation about the weather with the seller at the stand. Letting the question drop, but in an unsuspicious way, if he knows the woman who just ran off, after all she was buying some of his wares. Her grey-green eyes lighten up when Bertram returns, a bit out of breath. His shake of his head will have the corners of her mouth twitch downward for the briefest second, before she will nod. "A shame," she mutters as she passes him, leading the way back to the Night's Dream at a casual pace, her guard soon falling in behind her.