What to Do with Belboz

"That's him?" said Isabelle. "He's pathetic. How did someone like that manage to keep us imprisoned for so long?"

"From what I've heard of him, he's a genius," said Astra. "But he's utterly mad. We should get out of here quickly before he wakes up and tries to imprison us again."

"I think we should kill him now," said Helena. "Once he wakes up, he'll try to track us down and imprison us again, and he'll be more prepared this time. Or else he'll try to capture and kill some other princesses. We have to stop him before he does."

"I see your point," said Sophie. "But... are you certain it would be just? He doesn't pose any threat to us at this moment. And if he is truly mad, how do you know he won't just forget about it?"

"I think I know more about him than the rest of you," said Astra, "because he has attacked Aqualaria in the past. From what I know of him, his madness is not a fog like that of Miranda, but it is the fixed and terrible kind. He will continue with this for years if we don't stop him. We would try to imprison him and try him before the White Hand or the courts of Aqualaria, but our only magic user is in no state to help restrain him..."

"He's not proficient enough to cast spells simply with his mind, is he?" said Maria.

"I don't think so," said Astra.

"So just tie him up and gag him. Fred has rope in his provisions, doesn't he? And he can tear off part of his clothing to use as a gag. Then we can all be satisfied. If he wakes up before we can tie him up, We'll take him before the White Hand of Allaria, as he is probably best judged by a jury of his peers and I don't think Aqualaria has any comparable institution among mages. But we should ask for the condition that any magical knowledge that the White Hand gains from him should be shared among all our nations."

"Sounds fair enough," said Belinda, "but what exactly would the Hespaniards do with spells?" Fred recalled that Aqualaria and Hespan hadn't had the best relations either.

"It never hurts to think ahead," said Maria. "What do you think, Lord Fred? It's my general experience that it's the one with the sword who has the final say."

"That sounds like a good plan," said Fred. He was uneasy about giving magical knowledge to Hespan as well, whatever Maria's personal character may be, and even if they couldn't use it. But even he knew that now probably wasn't the best time to mention this. He removed the rope from his pack and bent over to tie up Belboz, who was twitching and quivering happily in his drunken dreams.

1. Fred successfully ties up Belboz.
2. Belboz wakes up.

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree