Ah, she... she should have asked more questions. She'd been so caught up on the ambush and ensuring it wouldn't be followed by another that she hadn't even thought about pressing her interrogation. Now she simply felt foolish... and the Knight-Captain of the Iron Rose Knights wasn't supposed to be acting in a manner that could be considered foolish. That wasn't how things should be. With her performance tonight already-no.

Fanilly had to keep pushing on. If she was to be the Captain, then she had to do everything she could. Next time she would remember to question a prisoner far more thoroughly. For right now, at least one of her knights had recalled to do the same and had taken over.

There was another matter to attend to all the same.

Fanilly's fists tightened slightly.

"We are the Iron Rose Knights," she said, after a few moments. "No matter their crimes, these bandits have surrendered and been divested of their arms. Their fate is now in the hands of the law, and that is what will judge them. We do [i]not[/i] slay defenseless, surrendered prisoners."

The young girl was surprised, for a moment, at how sharply she had spoken. But this was something she felt rather strongly. The Iron Rose Knights were an order founded by a saint, were they not? They were an order founded on both Justice and Mercy, were they not? Certainly, these bandits were likely to die. That much was true. But they had surrendered, laid down their arms. They were defenseless with their hands and feet bound. Their fate was now left to be judged by the law, not to be slain in this forest after their surrender. No matter their crimes.

"This is no great distance from Aimlenn, and a pair of footmen can easily handle the job of watching over them if they must," she responded. On this issue, she would not budge. "We stand for justice and mercy, and so the prisoners that have surrendered will live to face the law."

She tried not to get angry. At least, not visibly. But how could someone suggest killing surrendered prisoners and then call themselves an Iron Rose Knight? That flew in the face of every single tale she'd heard, of even her research into the history of the order. A formal execution as judged by the law... if the Iron Rose Knights had to carry out such a thing, then they would. But killing those who have surrendered on a battlefield, just because it would take effort to have some of the footmen watch over them to ensure they don't attempt escape?

It was something she would never, could never, allow.

Fanilly turned away, her cape fluttering behind her as she did.

The bandit being interrogated was, by this point, trembling in terror.

"F-f-first the little girl now th-this... ahh damn it my day has just gotten worse and worse!" he moaned, "Kaleb spilled my soup 'n now... er..."

He trailed off after a few moments.

"... Camp has sentries posted 'round it..." he said, finally, averting his eyes. It was clear he at least felt some shame in divulging the answers, though not enough to stop himself from speaking, "Spikes, too, stoppin' horses from chargin'... Some prisoners, last I checked. Rivik was plannin' on some ransom or some such 'n King Jeremiah didn't seem to care... couple girls 'n a lady. A man, too, caught him snoopin' around... Haven't touched none of them. I would never, at least."

He seemed fairly confident that none of the prisoners had been harmed, but if that was true or just him trying to get in a 'good word' in hopes that his chances of execution would be diminished remained to be seen.

For a few moments he let the question of Jeremiah hang in the air.

Then...

"... He's a monster. Never seen anyone like him... K-King Jeremiah, I mean. Never seen anyone kill so many people so fast..."

He gave a nervous glance towards the bloody battlefield.

"... P-present company excluded, I m-mean."

Fanilly took a deep breath. While it was important to ensure the prisoner was interrogated, they were also operating on a rather short time scale.

They had to keep moving.

"As soon as the prisoners are placed on the cart, we must keep moving," she asserted, as best she could, towards her knights, "When the bandits have been defeated, we'll..."

Fanilly hesitated for a moment on this note. Her eyes cast themselves around the battlefield. There were a great many dead bandits, and... it was still difficult to be in such a place for her. The blonde girl-knight hadn't seen so much death ever before, even if she had caused a portion of it.

"... We'll... we'll burn the bodies and the camp together. But for now, we'll simply get closer before proceeding with the attack as planned."

Of course, Fanilly intended to reiterate her plan of attack once they were at an appropriate position, but she felt it best to wait before splitting the knights into multiple groups as she intended. She had to try and take the best possible path at every moment. Especially given her mistakes with the injured farmer and the interrogation.

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