Interview With The Elders
POV: Alexandra
I smiled down at the small girl, “Thank you for helping His Majesty today Lucy. I’m sure he appreciates it as much as I do.” She smiled back at me, “I am just happy that I can help you, Alexandra.” I patted the small girl on the head, “I will see if I can visit you later. Okay?” She nodded, “I know you’re probably busy so if you can’t, that’s okay.” I walked away over to the private room where Derek had been helping to pin down the General. I walked into the room as the General and Derek were whispering to each other. Edgar smiled at them, “How are you feeling now, General? That outburst earlier must’ve taken a lot out of you.” The General sat up in his bed, "Oh I think I'm doing okay but I think I need a little bit of rest. Derek here has just been letting me know what was going on with the investigation. Are there any updates?" I sighed and settled into this chair next to his bed " Yes I believe there is a significant update. The little girl Lucy has just told me that a person from House Ligidew Was seen leaving the house and she had cast magic that it sparkled to the ground and she ran off.” The General nodded as I spoke these words and he said, "Are there any other details of the woman?" I shook my head knowing that a little girl would likely not know details to give to an investigator in order for them to find the perpetrator, “Forgive me sir but I didn't ask because she likely wouldn't have known the details to give you.” The General sighed a heavy sigh, “ You did a decent job for your first time as an investigator but I believe that you could have gotten the description of the perpetrator from the little girl if you knew what to ask. I will have you go back and ask her the description of the woman but you will have to use words that Derek gives you or at least try to introduce him as a friendly person so that he can ask proper questions. I don't mean to demean your investigation skills but this is because Derek is far more seasoned than you are." The General then waved us out of the room and rolled over so that he could get some sleep.
As we left the room Derek turned to me and said, " I think if you make the proper introductions to Miss Lucy then she should be open to speaking with me. I think it would be best if you were to stick around and provide some level of comfort so that she's comfortable with being around me. If she sees that I'm friendly with you she might be open to me." I nodded at him understanding why he wanted to do it this way and I walked off towards Lucy's bed. She smiled as we neared her bed and looked up at Derek with a frightened look on her face. I walked back over to Derek and gave him a big hug and said to her, "look Derek is a giant Teddy bear he won't hurt you and he's got additional questions for you for His Majesty. Would you be willing to talk to him about that day?" She looked at him hesitantly and shrugged her shoulders. I smiled down at her knowing that she had some apprehension and told her "He is my guy best friend in the entire world, Lucy. You should be able to speak to him as you do me. He's really just a good person. Trust me I would trust him with my life and I do on a daily basis. He's my bodyguard, you see?” She stuck her lip out and looked over at me, “ I don't want to talk to Malone miss Alexandra. Would you be able to stay with me?" I walked over to an area where extra chairs were sitting stacked in the corner and pulled one out. I sat next to the side of her bed that didn't have a chair and I sat down and said, "I will stay here for you Lucy because I know that you will need my support for these hard questions that Derek is gonna ask you. Okay?” She nodded her head as Derek took his place in the spot where I normally sat. He pulled out a notebook and split the pen to paper, "Hello Miss Lucy my name is Derek and I'm good friends with Alexandra. How are you today?" The little girl pulled her Teddy closer to her chest and sunk into the bed, "I'm OK but I'm just glad Miss Alexandra is here with me because she makes me comfortable. How are you, Mr. Derek?"
Derek smiled at the little girl and then over at me, "I think I might be with the best-looking girls in all of Vellum. That would make this the best day ever for me. Now I understand that you saw a woman outside of the manor on the day that the earthquake happened. Do you remember what she looked like?” The little girl pondered to herself for a little while and then nodded, "She had blonde hair and she wore a green hooded Cloak. I remember she was very young but not so much younger than Miss Alexandra. I remember the look on her face. She seemed like she was really angry about something. Maybe her mama gave her a spanking that day and she was really cranky." I giggled, "I would be very angry too if my mother spanked me."She smiled and nodded at me, "Me too, miss Alexandra. I know that she was so angry that she cast a spell but I'm not sure what she did." Derek smiled at the little girl again, “I appreciate you letting me know that this girl was blonde with a green hooded cloak. Do you happen to know if she was short or tall?" The little girl looked around the room and looked at me, "She was a little bit smaller than Miss Alexandra and chubby but not much, just a little. She also didn't seem very nice. I tried to talk to her earlier when she came into town and she told me to leave her alone. I don't understand why she had to be so mean to me. I was just greeting her into Kastilidan Glade.” Derek asked a little girl, "Can you remember anything else about her, Miss Lucy?" The little girl shook her head vigorously, "I'm afraid that's all I remember I'm sorry. I wanna be more helpful to you because Miss Alexandra asked but I just can't. I have nothing else and I'm tired." I rubbed the little girl's arm and smiled down at her, "That's okay miss Lucy I think we're done here have a good rest a good rest."
Edgar came up to us after we finished with the girl and put his arms around us, “That was a wonderful way of going about questioning that little girl. I commend you for your patience and understanding and understanding in her fear of Derek. And Derek I can I commend you for your gentleness with the little girl. Now we must get to my tent so that way we can have the interview with what you promised us. Shall we?" I nodded at the elder and said, "yes please lead the way. I look forward to this Interview with you and Enzo.” The elder nodded at me and walked towards the opening of the tent. Derek and I followed closely after and we finally came to the elder's tent shortly after leaving the medals cold tent content. It wasn't very far from where we were so this was convenient in making up for time lost. Edgar turned to Derek and said to him, "You need not wait outside for your lady. You can come inside if you so wish." Derek straightened up and cleared his throat, "I don't know if I will be comfortable sitting in on this interview and not chime in. I'm very outspoken when it comes to my friends and I feel like if any of the questions get too harsh I might speak up so, for the best interest of my friend, I will remain where I am." Edgar chuckled, "you act like we are going to interrogate the young lady. I assure you that this couldn’t be further from the truth. We are merely questioning The lady about how she would go about certain situations, that is all." Derek sighed, "Just the same I think I shall stay out here."
He nodded at the stubborn soldier to acknowledge his wishes and beckoned me inside of the tent. The tent wasn't much larger than the quarters that were set up for me and my friends. In the center of the tent lay a table with two notebooks and two chairs on one end and one chair on the other. I immediately knew that this was where they would interview me. Edgar offered me a glass of water while we waited for Enzo to show up. I politely declined because I just wanted to get this interview over with as fast as possible. I somehow felt that if I were to accept a glass of water, This would prolong the process. Just as that thought swirled in my mind the tent was occupied suddenly by another elder and it was Enzo. He sat in the chair in front of me and smiled, “Your Grace, it is nice to see you again. It is nice to see you looking so well in the conditions that we are stuck in at present. I can't say as I could attest to the welfare of the other women. I just saw Melody and she was looking worse for wear. I don't want to take up too much of your time since it is around dinner time but I would like to get started now if that is okay.” I nodded slowly at him, "Yes, that is okay Elder Enzo.” Edgar had joined us at the table and sat down in front of the empty notebook to the right. Enzo flipped open his notebook and wrote something down. He looked up at me, “Now, Your Grace, I am going to pose a few questions to you and I ask that you answer them truthfully for we will know if you are faking your answers. Do you understand?” I pulled in a heavy breath through my nose and let out a sigh as I exhaled, “I understand. Please ask away.”
He nodded and asked, “As Queen, you will be often asked by the Elder Council to speak on behalf of the King in situations where he cannot be present. Do you find that that will be an obstacle for you?” I folded my hands on the table, “In truth, I cannot know. I have addressed crowds before with no issue but it is quite different to address the people for who I am directly responsible for their health and welfare. I would like to think that this would be no problem though.” Enzo looked at Edgar who was writing down my answer and Edgar nodded at him. This went on after every question they asked and I answered truthfully knowing that Edgar was essentially a lie detector. The questions consisted of situations like the earthquake and diplomatic trips to the other realms. They also asked about my relationships with the Citadel specifically about the General and relationships with the church specifically with Seraphia. Finally, it came time to ask the final question but there was a pause from Enzo. He rose from his seat and excused both him and Edgar. He pulled Edgar aside where they had a lengthy chat about the last question, at least I presumed this was the case. They both came back with a smile that showed a little bit of mischief and this made me nervous that I was going to be asked a rather difficult question. Enzo cleared his throat and asked, “If it came down to rescuing your family or saving Vellum. Which would you choose?”
