The other guards quickly followed suit, throwing their weapons down and begging for mercy.
“I’ll spare your lives,” I said, “as long as you swear allegiance to me.”
“I’m ready to do that,” the old guard said, “and I’m sure my fellow guards are too, right, boys?”
“Aye,” said one. “Good riddance to your uncle. He was a right bastard, he was.”
“Yeah!” another echoed. “He cut our pay after your father died and made us work longer hours. And we’d get flogged for the most minor infractions, sometimes for no reason at all.”
“And I always thought it was strange that all them girls started disappearing right after your uncle took over, my lord,” the old guard said. “Seemed very odd that the vampire and girl abduction business started up a few days after he took over.”
“I always suspected that he’d killed your father, my lord,” said another, “and now I’m bloody sure that your father’s death was no accident. He was a scheming scumbag, your uncle was.”
Well, it seemed that there were plenty of guards who weren’t too sad about my uncle’s disappearance. That was good news, at least.
“He was—is—a reeking pile of troll diarrhea,” I said, “and I’ll kill him for what he did to my father, to me, and to all of these poor women he abducted and sacrificed in these evil rituals. But first, I’ll have to find out where he’s fled to. That can wait for the moment, though. Right now, I need you all to help me with something, if any of you can.”
“Speak, my lord, and we’ll do what we can,” the old guard said.
“My uncle’s vaults,” I said, “do any of you know where he might have kept the keys?”
I probably could have used a corpse explosion spell, but I didn’t want to damage whatever he kept inside—not withstanding Xayon’s body.
“Aye, my lord,” the old guard said. “Well, I don’t know where he kept the keys, but I know someone who’d know. His head courtier, this slimy little toady called Shymmin. He ran all your uncle’s errands for him, knew all his secrets. I bet that foul turd knew about all of this evil too.”
“Is he still in the castle?”
“We can find out, my lord,” another guard said. “If your uncle’s fled, Shymmin won’t be far behind him, but perhaps, if he doesn’t know yet that your uncle’s gone, we can still catch him before he also flees.”
“Hurry then, all of you!” I commanded. “The first man to bring me this worm—alive of course, although you can certainly go ahead and kick the shit out of him for a bit if you want—gets 20 gold pieces.”
“Right away, my lord!” the old guard exclaimed. “Come on, boys, scour the castle! Catch that little rat Shymmin before he escapes!”
“And how about one of you bring me and my friends some wine and bread and cheese, too? I’ll give 10 gold pieces to whoever can do that. We’re starving after the battle we just fought. We’ll go and wait in one of the other chambers of the crypt, though; I think all of us have had enough of the foul stink of this one.”
The guards picked up their weapons and raced out of the crypts.
The old guard returned a few minutes later with some servants carrying a cask of wine, a barrel of ale, and a few trays of food from the kitchens.
“So, uh, the 10 pieces of gold, my lord?” he asked as the servants went around to my companions and offered them food and drinks. “I thought I’d take care of the food and whatnot, as my old bones are bit too weary to keep up with the younger guards. At least this way, I knew I’d get a lil’ coin for my efforts.”
I took 10 gold pieces out of my purse, as I’d promised, and handed them to him.
“Thank you, my lord,” he said, smiling gratefully.
“What’s your name again?”
“Bryn, my lord,” he answered.
“Bryn, what sort of opinions do the common folk have of my uncle?” I asked as I poured myself a mug of ale. “And of me? Don’t hold back now; I want to hear the truth. If they think I’m a shit, tell me.”
“Well, my lord,” he answered, “to be truthful, a lot of them do hate you, only on account of the fact that they think you’re a vampire and have been stealin’ their daughters, like. Once this actor comes and makes his confession, though, I’m sure they’ll love you again.”
“Again?”
“Well, right after your father died, many townsfolk were hoping you’d come back from your pilgrimage to Luminescent Spires and take your rightful position as lord. You were very well-liked among the common folk, especially the young women, I dare say, before this whole nasty business with your uncle. But your uncle, he managed to turn quite a few people’s opinions around with his lies, unfortunately. Even so, many secretly remained loyal to you and didn’t believe any of this vampire business. There are some who’ve been praying for your return every day, my lord. They suspected all along that your uncle was behind the disappearances of the girls, but nobody knew how to prove anything. And, of course, if anyone stuck their nose too deep into such affairs, they’d mysteriously ‘disappear’ once your uncle caught wind of it.”
“I see,” I said. “Well, I’m glad to know that at least some people in Brakith remained loyal to its true ruler, even in the face of my uncle’s lies and intimidation.”
“I’m sure the rest of them will come around when all of your uncle’s lies are revealed, my lord.”
Before we could continue our conversation, however, a guard came stomping down the stairs, with a small, weasel-looking man with a bald head, a very patchy brown excuse for a beard, and pinched, unattractive features. His gnome-like face was dominated by two
