She had been on her way out of Matrons Hollow, having wrapped up a fairly standard investigation of a local 'faith healer' fraud -- this one, unfortunately,
not a mage but using an enchanted amulet in the stead of real magic, having allowed the phony to pass the test of a fair number of Mordecai before finally being revealed in the presence of Kasna Vel Telshear. Even those magics that could elude the presence of an elite Mordecai, after all, would have no place before a Knight of the White Lily. For his heretical acts the man was put in stocks, his enchanted trinket shattered to pieces in front of him, and handed over to the local enforcement for summery execution. It had gone well, which was why she had been leaving the area.
However, a story she overheard whilst eating at an inn in the next town made the brown-haired swordswoman change her plans. Now, instead of leaving Matron's Hollow she was riding back into it, to Valdasta City nonetheless. In this haven-city was a boy, the son of a knight... and she had every intention of finding him at once.
Even as she rode in past the city gates, the setting sun gleaming on her armor, she was already making her intent clear to those she passed on the streets. "In the name of the Order of the Knights of the White Lily, I have come looking for a young man recently bereft of his father, slain by renegade magic-users. The lad's name is William Galahad," Her eyes swept across those who'd turned to look the moment she spoke up, which was pretty much everyone nearby and several who were barely within earshot. "And I would have words with him."
Silence fell for several long moments, the gate guards and people of Valdasta exchanging quiet but meaningful looks. Kasna quirked up an eyebrow, irked by the delay. She was used to being obeyed at once when she made a direct inquiry... but what she saw in their eyes wasn't defiance. It wasn't fear.
It was sadness. It was regret.
"My lady," One of the gate guards stepped forward, bowing his head out of respect. "Pardon us. Much of the city has been speaking of the lad you seek; we know where you may find him."
"Where? And why the cold response to my request?"
"It's just... sudden, m'lady. You see, his father's funeral pyre is to be made today, at a place just outside the southern wall called the Hill of Laments." The guard paused, solemn. "The departed, Sir Galahad, was a great, pious, noble man -- Valdasta owes him much. Many families in the city now go out out to mourn his loss."
Kasna's stern expression softened just slightly as the news was delivered to her. Hardened warrior as she was, she was not entirely immune to the emptiness and sorrow of loss. The thought of the funeral procession brought back bitter memories...
... memories of a little girl crying, tears burning hot on her cheeks as knights in silver-white armor lowered caskets containing only charred skeletons into the earth.
She was quiet for a moment, contemplative, before dismounting her horse and turning back to the guard. "I see. The situation is like that, then." Kasna paused again, thinking. "Can you direct me to where I might purchase a black cloak... and a flower?"
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It was no small funeral procession; the guard's description of Sir Galahad's touching many lives was not an understatement. Quietly joining those black-clad mourners in a black hooded cloak pulled up around her and over her head, the Adhara walked along towards the Hill of Laments. She could see it just over the heads of the people ahead of her, not too far in the distance. They had made every preparation to send the departed knight off into Angsar's embrace; wood for the pyre had been piled high, a priest quietly performing final sacraments over the body.
The boy would almost certainly be here somewhere. Kasna kept her eyes open; the family of so respected a man wouldn't be hard to spot, even with all these dozens of people about.