Clove (bladeslinger) wrote in heretherebe_ic, @ 2011-07-19 06:56:00 |
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Knowing there was a reason the soldiers had been ordered to escort the messengers and seeing it first hand, Lilian discovered, were two vastly different things. She knew they were out to protect the girl from any townsfolk who took it upon themselves to physically protest the announcement. She didn't think it was particularly fair for them to even think about taking it out on the messenger, but they'd known it could happen. The first rock came from somewhere deep in the crowd, and while they'd gotten a general idea of the section, none of them had actually seen who had thrown it. The rock had struck the girl high on her cheek; just a bit higher, and it would have taken her eye. The captain had moved in front of the girl then, his shield before her. She continued to read the announcement, though Lily had heard the quaver in her voice. And why not? She'd just been attacked for nothing more than doing her job. Lilian's green eyes kept a constant motion then, searching the faces of the crowd, looking for potential rock throwers. They couldn't honestly do much, she knew. They could bull into the crowd, certainly, take down innocent folk while they were at it. She wished there were more of them; then they could have circled the crowd and kept a better eye on it from more than one vantage point. The captain had offered to answer any questions, though she didn't think any of them were surprised by the sort of questions coming their way. She had a feeling any legitimate questions were held in check by people too frightened to show anything positive in the face of such outward hostility toward the magic. The questions they had gotten were bitter, vitriolic things predicting another incident like the one that had gotten magic such a bad name to begin with. They'd endured the verbal onslaught for as long as the captain had felt prudent (which wasn't long at all, and she was glad for that). When they'd turned to lead the messenger away from the square, a rain of fist-sized stones had followed them. One had glanced off the captain's horse's flank, causing him to startle -- but the captain kept him well in hand. Once they'd left the crowd behind, the journey was smoother. One of their soldiers took care of the girl's cut face. It was going to bruise, but at least it hadn't hit the eye. Lily took over the captain's horse for him while he went to go talk to some of the townspeople personally -- the ones who should be alerted what the general feeling of the town was. Lilian was far from impressed with the reception, and she wondered if the other messengers were faring better. Or worse. After she'd gotten the horses squared away, she received word that they were posting guards both on the stable and outside the girl's room. Lily was not surprised in the least, and she was glad that order had come down. For the remainder of the day, she was guarding either the barn or the girl before she was freed to take a meal and then find her bed so they could leave early the next morning. Settled comfortably on Alex's back, Lily shook her head as she shook out of her thoughts. Despite the reaction at the announcement, she did hope that some of the people there who needed to learn magic would find a way to come anyway. If there were even people who could use magic there. For all she knew, they'd been found and driven out. Given the reaction ... she wouldn't have been surprised to find that was the case. Exhaling softly, she let her eyes drift over the rest of the soldiers before she fixed her gaze ahead. By Thursday night, they'd be home. She could hardly wait. |