Post by Seren Vaughn on Jul 14, 2016 8:59:11 GMT -5
Inconsistencies were troublesome. Seren might even go so far as to say that they were irksome, though she rarely allowed such emotions to dominate her thinking. Nonetheless, the storehouse operated under peak efficiency when everything was consistent, organized and accounted for. At the moment, this was not the case and it felt to Seren like a persistent itch in the middle of her back. She would not be at peace until the matter was resolved.
The inconsistency pertained to the stores of certain grains, particularly barley. According to her meticulous records, six hundred sacks of the grain had been stored, but during her morning count, only 592 bags were found. Where were the missing eight sacks? Indeed, whomever took them was clever enough to shift the remaining sacks so as to look like every sack was present. Seren was not so easily duped. The investigation would begin forthwith. The first destination was the city watch barracks.
“Who was on watch over the storehouse last night?” The question was posed to Tomas, who was in charge of the nightly watch.
The captain scrunched his nose in thought. “Ioan. Why?”
“Where is he?”
“Probably inside sleeping, but- Hey! You can’t just-!”
Without another word, Seren had marched with determination into the barracks, entered the main room lined with bunks and quickly located the berth holding a sleeping Ioan. “Guarda Ioan,” Seren stated loudly. When the man didn’t move, she merely arched a brow and roughly kicked the bunk, startling he man into a waking state.
“You were on guard at the stores last night. Yes or no?”
“Wha?! Huh!? Uh. Ya. So?”
Such eloquence. “Yesterday, I counted six hundred sacks of barley. Today, I counted 592 sacks of barley. Explain.”
Ioan blinked at her dumbly. “Uhh,” he furrowed his brows and his gaze quickly shifted away from her. He started to get up from the bed. “I dunno. I didn’t see anything.” Once he got up, he attempted to brush past her. That was when Seren picked up on something.
“You smell like horse.”
“What?” The guard seemed agitated at the question. “What’re you-“
“You smell like horse. You don’t need to ride a horse to guard the storehouse. Guards are to watch the storehouse from sunset to sunrise.”
“I went for a ride after.”
“When?”
“What?”
“When?”
“After!”
“After what?”
“I was off!”
Silence was his answer, aside from an intense stare.
“I went for ride after! Clear my head! I swear!”
Silence continued to be his answer.
The man grew increasingly nervous under the gaze from the woman. “I dun’ need this. Piss off!” With that, he turned on his heel to leave the barracks, but Seren followed him. The man quickly turned around in anger. “I dunno where your damn barley went!” As he flailed his arms in anger at her, something came tumbling out of his sleeve.
It was a barley seed.
The man’s eyes widened before he suddenly turned tail and fled from the barracks with Seren hot in his tail. She managed to grab hold of the neck of his tunic, suddenly yanking back with all of her might. This startled Ioan, his eyes almost popping out of his sockets in surprise and fright when his precious air was suddenly cut off. The man stumbled as Seren suddenly released him, intending to shove him to the ground.
Ioan whirled around with a blind roundhouse toward the woman, but Seren had seen the move coming, having already ducked under the man’s large arm. She returned the favor by delivering a small fist as hard as she could right into his flank, feeling the floating ribs give under them. Ioan let out a cry and fell on his knee.
“Where is my barley?” The question was asked with quiet intensity.
@meical , Cordelia Vaughn , Morganne Vaughn
The inconsistency pertained to the stores of certain grains, particularly barley. According to her meticulous records, six hundred sacks of the grain had been stored, but during her morning count, only 592 bags were found. Where were the missing eight sacks? Indeed, whomever took them was clever enough to shift the remaining sacks so as to look like every sack was present. Seren was not so easily duped. The investigation would begin forthwith. The first destination was the city watch barracks.
“Who was on watch over the storehouse last night?” The question was posed to Tomas, who was in charge of the nightly watch.
The captain scrunched his nose in thought. “Ioan. Why?”
“Where is he?”
“Probably inside sleeping, but- Hey! You can’t just-!”
Without another word, Seren had marched with determination into the barracks, entered the main room lined with bunks and quickly located the berth holding a sleeping Ioan. “Guarda Ioan,” Seren stated loudly. When the man didn’t move, she merely arched a brow and roughly kicked the bunk, startling he man into a waking state.
“You were on guard at the stores last night. Yes or no?”
“Wha?! Huh!? Uh. Ya. So?”
Such eloquence. “Yesterday, I counted six hundred sacks of barley. Today, I counted 592 sacks of barley. Explain.”
Ioan blinked at her dumbly. “Uhh,” he furrowed his brows and his gaze quickly shifted away from her. He started to get up from the bed. “I dunno. I didn’t see anything.” Once he got up, he attempted to brush past her. That was when Seren picked up on something.
“You smell like horse.”
“What?” The guard seemed agitated at the question. “What’re you-“
“You smell like horse. You don’t need to ride a horse to guard the storehouse. Guards are to watch the storehouse from sunset to sunrise.”
“I went for a ride after.”
“When?”
“What?”
“When?”
“After!”
“After what?”
“I was off!”
Silence was his answer, aside from an intense stare.
“I went for ride after! Clear my head! I swear!”
Silence continued to be his answer.
The man grew increasingly nervous under the gaze from the woman. “I dun’ need this. Piss off!” With that, he turned on his heel to leave the barracks, but Seren followed him. The man quickly turned around in anger. “I dunno where your damn barley went!” As he flailed his arms in anger at her, something came tumbling out of his sleeve.
It was a barley seed.
The man’s eyes widened before he suddenly turned tail and fled from the barracks with Seren hot in his tail. She managed to grab hold of the neck of his tunic, suddenly yanking back with all of her might. This startled Ioan, his eyes almost popping out of his sockets in surprise and fright when his precious air was suddenly cut off. The man stumbled as Seren suddenly released him, intending to shove him to the ground.
Ioan whirled around with a blind roundhouse toward the woman, but Seren had seen the move coming, having already ducked under the man’s large arm. She returned the favor by delivering a small fist as hard as she could right into his flank, feeling the floating ribs give under them. Ioan let out a cry and fell on his knee.
“Where is my barley?” The question was asked with quiet intensity.
@meical , Cordelia Vaughn , Morganne Vaughn