16 A Soul Scrutinized

Governor Rothgarr now seemed to be out of the grasp of his strong alcohol, sober well enough to behave himself and stay put in one place. Several soldiers, some patrolling the perimeter, were standing on guard outside the panic room. Beyond the metal door leading to its interior, each three of the knights and barbarians, including Gael herself, were there to protect their VIP in person. Rothgarr was sitting on a decorated couch, within a half-transparent veil, with purplish tone of color, surrounding his vicinity. There, whatever he spoke inside could not be heard to the others beyond the purple veil; such was one among the splendors of ancient technologies hitherto discovered by tech-scribes. On the outside, Gael was paying close attentions to every tiny movements or feint sounds within the safe haven. Her enemy, Glen-gohr, could appear anywhere unexpected, for the beast was even more cunning and manipulative than any other strategists ever born into the Holy Empire. The rest, too, were feeling the same, each thus keenly staying on their guard. Nevertheless, Rothgarr, the VIP himself, did not seem to care any of these dire concerns out from his servants and allies. Yet this was not of her concerns as long as he stayed still where he was, without pulling out anything funny just like he had done many hours ago. As soon as Gael felt relieved, and satisfied, at VIP's such docile attitudes, however, he then called upon her to draw near. She stepped inside the veil, which separated the royal, private realm that of the Governor's from the other part of the room.

"Aye, Governor. What shall be your bidding, then; shall I go fetch you some iced water, or play you a flute to your liking?"

"That, my insolent friend, was quite amusing, considering your mindless, savage-like nature which do not know any of the fine art nor the courtesy in this sacred kingdom of mine. Truly a music to any ears in this terrible, suffocating place, indeed!"

"I once too studied the canons and wisdom of our great ancestors along with my liege, Prince Aelthred."

"The writings and whole other bunch of manuscripts out from the barbarians' mind, ha! I have no other choices but to respect such of your kind, then. I could, as well, hopefully assure myself that you shall at least make some meaning out of whatever, either straightforward or confusing, I tell you hereupon."

The Governor continued. "To hell with these meaningless chatters; I shall get to the point just as you wish. Whenever I look into your eyes, both full of the earthly filth and desires, I myself, in many occasions so far, can see something out there, an image, some visage that I could not make out for certain, but still something yet quite familiar..."

"Make it quick, for I do not have time for any kind of nonsense, nor do I have a taste in old, withering men as you are."

"I insist you to listen to me; this shall be a warning for you and your master alike. Yes, I could see my own image inside you, albeit too blurry to figure it out for sure, which is full of greed, lust, desires for eternal glory, and many others more. Now pray tell me; you, a good tech-maiden from a distant land, have been itching, and twitching, to see yourself some bloody actions out there, away from your current duties to protect me, is that correct?"

Gael snorted. "I only carry out the very orders of my master, an old, good friend of mine ever since the youth. I do not obey any others, even my miscellaneous wants and desires, unworthy to command my honorable soul, yea, including you, of course."

Now was Rothgarr's turn to laugh at her. He might be old, barely having a physical strength to lift one of his two heirloom swords, but he yet had his wits around him. Even now he could still pierce through one's eyes; he could see what was lying there beyond a person's surface. Inside her, there was more than just a loyalty sworn to her lords and her own causes. Should this be no other thing but her mere greed and wants, he would have got no reason to tell her so. Nevertheless, he was sure, there were surely more than just those within the barbarian named Gael.

"Believe whatever you wish, young warrior. However, I encourage you to bear in mind what I have told you so far, for you and your master's sake. I see the same as mine in you; I get to look at my own visage, complexion, shape-something I truly do not wish to see very often-inside your rugged, brutal soul. My good friend, do you want to know where this might lead you? Yes, I am also getting a glimpse of your fate, the very future of yours, out of all these images I see within you! You shall have no escape from these, I assure you. Unless you carve up, mutilate, and then create your own inside anew, you, an insolent brat of mine, cannot escape your horrid future approaching thee. Yea, I dare prophesy you..."

"If these shall be all you wish to talk upon me, then I will be leaving. I shall mind my own business from here on, and I certainly do not wish to be interfered any further while I endeavor to obey my master's bidding." Gael interrupted him.

With her words spoken upon clearly, she left the Governor and headed back to her post. Behind her, though muffled because of the veil's effect, Rothgarr was laughing aloud by himself. Not anyone in the room did know the reason for his doing so; everyone else thus kept minding their own duties. He continued laughing to himself, then picking up the jeweled goblet near him, full of iced water. He made a toast to her upcoming, terrible future that would be the same as his. She would have no other ways around her own fate. Truly, she should eventually know what he meant by his words back then, he was certain. Oh yes, it shall be inevitable.