[b]Chapter 5: Family & Suspects[/b]

His boots hit the muddy ground with clattering armor, and a knight took the reins of the king's horse to lead it away. Leofric doffed his hood and swept his gaze along the gathering crowd of commoners, guardsmen and minor noblemen alike. Around him his men were in the process of dismounting as well, but several hundred still sat on horseback and tried to trot through the swarming locals. The king sighed and turned to one of his knights.

"Have the men set up camp outside the town, I don't want us overcrowding this place. Leave a few men here. The knights stay with me."

The soldier bowed his head and marched off. Leofric could hear a hollering command and the vast majority of his army turned to march out of the gates to raise their camp outside the town walls. As ordered, only the knights and a handful of soldiers remained - thirty or so men, all dismounted and grouped together not far from their king, their eyes were turned to the locals and adjacent rooftops. It was in their nature to remain vigilant, regardless of where they were. People were still flooding toward the crowd and Leofric put on a thin smile, his right hand raising to greet the excited commoners.

A group of people stood out from the rest. They were dressed in more delicate garments, for Lowburn standards, and Leofric quickly registered them as the local nobility, amongst them the town mayor. At the head of the group was a familiar face, and Leofric set his feet into motion to make his way over. The commoners behind the highborn immediately bowed their heads as soon they saw the king walk their way, and the nobility soon after followed suit. Leofric stopped infront of a woman and extended a hand within her view, gesturing for her to raise her head, which she obediently did - the rest of the people soon did the same.

"Sire." Louisa finally spoke up in a formal address and displayed a smile that Leofric had seen a hundred times before, and he was still convinced that it was false. Regardless, he returned the gesture and gave his cousin a brief hug, as was their way of greeting one another.

"Cousin. All is well, I hope?" Leofric finally inquired.

"Perfectly so." Louisa replied concisely, her smile widening. "And you, Your Grace?"

Leofric delayed with his response, his eyes trailed past Louisa to study each of the people around her, though they linger upon a young woman standing close behind her - close enough to be a servant or relative, but Leofric would have recognized her if that was the case, and Louisa was the only in Lowburg. A servant then, he concluded. Though he wasn't sure what she required a servant for. She's never had one before. His gaze falls back upon his cousin, nodding.

"Of course. I'll have to make this short though, I have matters to attend to. It's good to see you again, cousin."

Louisa bows her head again and then turns on her heels to depart along with the noblemen and her servant. The local guardsmen also spring back to life and exhorts the smallfolk to return to their work and daily doings, and the people begin to scatter, many were occupied with intensive conversations about the event they just witnessed and Leofric found the cacophony near unbearable. A woman's yelling and a dog's barking and whining reached his ears and he twisted around vaguely to get a glimpse of where it came from, if anything it was a welcoming distraction from the enthusiastic peasantry. A few lingering soldiers near the gate were occupied with dragging away a woman, crying out for her faithful companion, forcefully being tugged away by another of his men. He witnessed as the female took a gauntlet to her stomach and he shook his head, trudging through the mud toward one of his knights.

"Sir Arthur. What are those men doing?"

The knight kicks to attention and then looks over to the commotion. "That's the accused witch, sire. Not sure why they're separating her from her dog, though."

"Beat some sense into them and give her back the dog, then keep her under your guard. Find out if she truly is a witch." Leofric commanded and then waved the knight off. Sir Arthur bowed his head and marched off with brisk steps to resolve the commotion. Leofric trailed the knight with his gaze for a short moment before spinning on his heels to march down one of the streets, flanked by the remaining knights.