Chapter 62: Question Game (I)
Three Days Ago
"What happened? Give me an explanation, Simon."
Ser Aris, bound like a trussed pig, demanded impatiently upon seeing his brother Simon approach him in a cellar of the abandoned fishing village.
They had been ambushed last night, dozens of enemies arriving under cover of darkness. Before they could react, they were surrounded.
After brief resistance proved futile, Aris surrendered and was bound and thrown here, where he'd remained until now.
"Speak! Simon! Answer me!" Ser Aris's face was grim. He'd been wondering why Simon hadn't warned him of Wilder and the others' attack last night, but it wasn't until Simon and Wilder walked in together that he realized he'd been betrayed.
"Why? Why would you betray me?" Ser Aris roared at his brother with all his strength.
The violent movement had reopened the wound on Aris's face, causing a trickle of blood to seep from the still-hardened scab. But Aris ignored the pain and glared at Simon fiercely.
"I had no choice, brother." Ser Simon lowered his head, not daring to meet Aris's eyes, and answered tremblingly. "They caught me."
"Wilder caught you?" Aris was stunned, and looked up at Wilder beside Simon. "Seven hells! Didn't you say before that this old man trusted you absolutely? Where did you reveal yourself?"
"I don't know," Simon shook his head blankly, with fear in his tone. "I don't know! They discovered the truth. They seized me as soon as I walked into the Ward family's castle the afternoon before last. They beat me, they threatened me, Aris—they said that if I didn't cooperate, they would cut me into a thousand pieces while I still lived."
"You also discovered the truth?" Aris didn't let Simon continue, and turned to Ser Wilder. "It's one thing that Morgan of the Black Falcons could discover the truth, but what makes you think you could?"
"It wasn't me," Wilder shook his head, a hint of weariness in his voice. "I was far more shocked than you are now when I heard the truth. To be honest, I didn't believe his conclusion at first. Even though he gave me a very detailed explanation, I still found it hard to accept. It wasn't until Simon confessed everything that I realized he was right."
"So who was it? Did Morgan crawl back from the Seven Hells?" Aris muttered, feeling this tale was stranger than any Old Nan might tell.
"It was me," a voice came from behind Ser Simon.
Aris finally forced open his eyes, which were difficult to open due to the swelling around them, and looked at the young man in the shadows behind Wilder, whom he had initially ignored.
"Who are you?" Aris had assumed this person was merely one of Ser Wilder's new squires.
"It doesn't matter who I am," Ian took two steps forward with a smile and crouched before Ser Aris Rivers. "Shall we talk?"
"What is there to discuss?"
"Of course, some matters your brother doesn't know about. There are some questions I haven't resolved yet." Ian said, glancing at Simon, who was so frightened he quickly shrank into the corner.
"Something Simon doesn't know?" Aris's eyes flickered for a moment. "Simon is my brother. I don't believe there's anything I know that he doesn't."
"It seems it's a bit difficult to communicate with so many people present," Ian said, turning to Wilder. "Can I speak with him alone?"
Wilder frowned deeply. This was a truly discourteous request. He should have been the one leading the interrogation of Aris. He'd already made a significant concession by yielding the right to this 'Ser Lucien'. Now this young man was asking him to leave?
"The next caravan is our main concern, ser. They could arrive at any moment. You need to personally design our ambush so we can capture all the Whitewalls ghosts. Combat is your domain. Leave these other trivial matters to me, agreed?" Ian said earnestly.
This... it was truly difficult to refuse. "Very well, tell me everything you discover." Ser Wilder glanced at Aris's empty right forearm, finally nodded, then seized Simon and left the cellar together.
"Even if you sent him away, I won't tell you anything," Aris leaned his head against the mossy wall behind him, his expression as indifferent as a man beyond caring. "Robbing the Kingsroad was just a notion for Daeron and me, hoping to make our fortune. It has nothing to do with our house."
"No connection to the house? And yet you were able to use your family's lands to hide your bandit company? Taman Village, the village that actively cooperated with Ser Wilder and his men in their pursuit of bandits from the beginning—who would have thought it was actually the headquarters of the Whitewalls ghosts?"
"Simon and I are both bastards. Darry will be inherited by our trueborn younger brother. Father felt guilty about us, so he gave me a village." Aris paused, as if considering. "But I wasn't satisfied with the income from such a village, so I did this. That's all."
"You're being evasive," Ian began, but Aris interrupted him.
"It's always you asking me questions, not 'talking'. Now it's your turn to answer me," Aris said suddenly, as if struck by a thought.
"You are my prisoner now, ser."
"But you cannot pry my mouth open, so long as I refuse. If you don't believe me, you can try."
"You want to know how much we've discovered, so you can craft a perfect tale that doesn't implicate your house before any trial, correct?" Ian guessed Aris's intent with a smile, and seeing the other man's face darken instantly, he agreed. "It's a fair trade. Just ask."
"Don't look at me with that doubtful expression—I have no quarrel with House Darry. If you can truly clear your house of involvement, that's your skill. Well? Want to play this question-and-answer game with me?"
"How did you discover the matter was connected to us? Did the Black Falcon tell you?" Aris didn't hesitate and began asking questions directly.
"Those are two questions, my friend. I choose to answer the latter... When I first encountered the Black Falcon, he was already a corpse, and I don't believe he ever told anyone about your secret, not even his adopted son."
"Impossible! Before his death, 'Mountain Weasel' swore he'd only tell the secret to the Black Falcon! If the Black Falcon hadn't told you, how would you know the truth?"
"This time it's my turn to ask, ser. Those are the rules of the game you established." Ian extended a finger and wagged it.
Ser Aris grumbled, then nodded.
(End of Chapter)
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