The sounds of the early-morning birds chirping were drowned out, rather quickly, by the toll of the death bell. Valerie, who had been up since before dawn, looked towards the inner city. The cool morning air hit her face in the window, as she took in the smells and sounds of the city, a place she had not been for some time. She didn't necessarily miss the people, and while she preferred the early morning dew of the forests, there was a certain nostalgic charm about the city's morning life. The bakers, who had been up as early as her, were just now cooling their morning pastries, a few smells wafting past her open window. It was, in her mind, going to be a good day. Since this was the city where she was born, she had spent the previous day, as well as the night, catching up with her mother and father, enjoying their company for the first time in several years. It was nice to see they were both still doing fairly well, especially considering the general disdain their coupling had garnered them. Irrespective, all the pleasantness of the early morning air had been removed by the stale reality.

Something had happened in the night. Something bad.

Just as Valerie was leaving her parent's home and store, she was interrupted by a frantic messenger, who had informed her that not only had the King been murdered, but that her Knight-Sergeant was calling forth everyone in his unit to come to the castle immediately. Almost disappointed in demeanor, she gathered and donned her armor, ensured that both her weapons were set, and began to make her way towards the inner city. She didn't necessarily care that the Human King was dead, in fact, one less horrid racist in this world would have even made her day a bit better, but, it made her job, and Draxis's life, as well as the rest of her team's lives, much more difficult than before. More than likely, they were going to have to find, hunt, and kill the person who killed the human king, or, worse, bring him back alive. Those were always Valerie's least favorite adventures, especially when the target got preferential treatment.

She made her way, quickly, to the castle itself, putting her duty before her unwillingness to participate. She didn't take a horse, but, instead, used the alleys and roof-accesses to get there quicker than any steed without wings could take her. Despite this, though, she arrived even after Gale had, blaming the fact that she was the farthest away. The order didn't really matter, though, as she made her way past the grieving servants and soldiers, ignoring them all, and started getting a feel for the situation, and making a mental map of every route out of the castle that the assailant could have taken. What's more, as she entered the king's chambers, following the scent of death and blood to the place of the murder. Without saying as much as a word, only giving a nod in indication to both the Knight-Commander and the Knight-Sergeant, she made her way over to the body, and began to do her job, inspecting the wounds and the blood splatter of the king's body and wound, as well as the weapon of choice, or, more-so, the weapon of opportunity.

Something wasn't adding up.

[b][color=00FFFF]"This was not premeditated,"[/color][/b] she spoke, finally, saying, [b][color=00FFFF]"and it certainly wasn't a hit. That's the same prod from the fireplace in here, and, given his injuries, he was dead long before the assailant stopped. Whatever caused this was either rage, or someone trying very, very hard to make it look like rage. The king even made it some ways before being bludgeoned to death, though, what I don't understand is why the king, after smashing the assailant with a wine bottle, didn't go for a better weapon. More importantly, a single shout from the king would have had his guards in here immediately. Why, then, didn't he scream for help? Bruises along his neck indicate that strangulation was attempted, but, it clearly wasn't successful. Have you had a healer in here to check to see if he was poisoned, either by magic or by some sort of herb?"[/color][/b]

It was only then she looked up to see, and understand, that she had forgotten to factor in the human equation, her synopsis, probably, causing more pain amongst those present. She paused, and bowed her head, half in shame, and half in respect.

[b][color=00FFFF]"Forgive me. That was brash of me."[/color][/b]