A large room filled with grandiose furniture was dimly lit, unmatched by its theme. On the two chairs near the golden bed, the two most powerful figures in the dukedom were discussing discreetly.

  "Are you certain?" The Duke asked.

  "You know me, lord Ducan. Lies are I loathe the most."

  "Forgive me. My mistake. Ayeegyee." The Duke apologized, "What will be your action?"

  "I will have her executed in public."

  "Is there any other way, your holiness?"

  "None. The crime she committed deserves capital punishment. She disrespected the lord Mordu' with her impurity. No one goes unpunished after disrespecting him. Not even king. Remember that incident twelve years ago."

  "I understand, your holiness. But this is not about her. It is about me. Your old ally. Your devoted pupil. I named her the Lady of Rode in front of the crown and peerages."

  "So I heard," Ayeegyee replied nonchalantly.

  "I will be ashamed. My reputation will fall. People will not respect the castle anymore. The aftereffect will also hit the Temple."

  Ayeegyee chuckled. "The couple speak of the same. Your young bride also threatened me."

  "I dare not. I only speak in truth. This is a sensitive matter. We need to handle this delicately. Let's ask for his wisdom from the gracious lord first."

  "I have done. Lord Mordu' speak the same as me. He has no intention to tolerate any deceiver who assaulted the very foundation of the Temple. She will be executed."

  The Duke's head fell after his words. Although he had some feelings for his young beautiful bride, the impact was done by his agony. He hated how the others would laugh at him.

  Under the heavy rain, a man approached the temple, his head covered with a cloak, and kept his face down so that the servants did not notice him. He went to the side and entered the temple secretly from a small side door. As soon as he was inside, he took off the cloak. It was Mr Longbart.

  The door was used to take the food into the temple. It went directly to the kitchen. Since the temple bought the eastern spices from the Longbart store, a servant from the kitchen let him in immediately.

  "Sir, miss Longbart was detained in the dungeon. At the end, the left cell. Take this lantern with you. It is dark down there."

  Mr Longbart could not believe his ears. A dungeon? His precious daughter who was the duchess-to-be was detained in a dungeon like a filthy convict.

  He passed the hall and saw the stairs to the dungeon. Like the servant said it was pitch black. He went down and found only a flicker of light shining weakly in a very long hall. Water splashed as he stepped on the floors. He was startled by the coldness. The condition was worse than he imagined. The dungeon was flooded by the heavy storm. The level reached above his ankle. No one in the dungeon would be able to sleep in this condition. His heart fell as he imagined how much his daughter would be suffering now.

  He walked to the end and put some light into the cell. He saw Leila sitting on the water, trembling in cold, hiding her head between the knees. He heard her weeping.

  He came here to say many things, many questions to ask, many answers to hear. Yet he found himself lost the words. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to yell at her. But all he could do, in reality, was grit his teeth and close his lips so that he would not cry.

  "Leila, my dear. I will get you out of here. I will speak with his holiness and ask for forgiveness. I will talk with the Duke and beg for mercy. So stay strong. Don't give up. Do you hear me?"

  It was silent for a while. He knew she must be blaming him. He blamed himself too. 'It was my fault. If I did not force her to marry the Duke. If I never sent that portrait to his grace. If I ...'. With many if, he hit his chest with his fist.

  Suddenly he heard a very low voice. It was from Leila.

  "Father. I am sorry. I destroyed everything and endangered everyone in the family. I am sorry."

  After hearing her voice, he could no longer hold back his tears. The two cried for a while. And with tears, the sorrow went out, it changed into anger. The guilt was shifted. 'Yes, it was not her fault. And it was not mine. It was him. His fault.'

  "It was his fault. He is the one. Is he not? That bastard forced on you, didn't he?"

  "No. No, father. You are wrong."

  "No, I am not! Don't you try to protect him?"

  "It was consensual, father."

  "No. It wasn't. He forced on you. He did some spell or lured you with a portion. That must be it! I will tell his holiness. You are innocent my daughter. You are a victim."

  "No. I am not. And it is useless. Ayeegyee will not..."

  "He will."

  Mr Longbart left the room urgently with his newly found defence. He was too occupied by it that he forgot to say farewell to his daughter. He left her in the cold dark alone.

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  He rushed upstairs and went straight to his holiness room. He found the door was guarded so he walked past nonchalantly, pretending he was heading elsewhere. When he reached right in front of the door, he abruptly ran into it and slammed the door open. He caught the guards by surprise and successfully entered the room.

  There he saw two powerful figures. The Duke and the Great Ayeegyee. The guards came running to drag him away. However, Ayeegyee signalled them to let him be. He welcomed Mr Longbart inside.

  "I knew you had come. Sit."

  Upon his invitation, he entered as humbly as he could with his head down and his back bent. He checked the situation. Although he could not read Ayeegyee's face, he could tell the Duke was angry.

  "Your holiness. Your grace. This faithful servant of yours knee before you for his foolish daughter."

  "You dare show your face here. I will have your head first." Duke Ducan barked.

  "Don't be too harsh on him. Let's hear what he had to say." Ayeegyee interrupted him.

  Mr Longbart carefully moved forward on his knees and touched his forehead to Ayeegyee's feet.

  "I humbly praise your wisdom and your benevolence. I apologize on behalf of my daughter for troubling your mind. However, my daughter was a mere victim of a hideous crime. During her return from the trip, her convoy was attacked. Only my daughter and a warrior from the temple survived. It was then that evil man forced on my daughter and took her purity away."

  The more he talked, the more he felt sorry for Leila. How scared she might have been? His lips trembled and his voice cracked as tears fell.

  "He soiled my daughter and destroyed her life just to satiate his lust. My Leila was an unfortunate child. Please forgive her foolishness and show mercy on her."

  He grabbed Ayeegyee's leg and begged.

  The Duke also stood up from his chair and took out his sword. "My bride was raped? Tell me Mr Longbart. Who is that warrior? Name him and I will have him executed. Is that bastard here in this temple?" said the Duke angrily.

  The great Ayeegyee looked at the two and sighed heavily.

  "Calm down lord Ducan. Sheath your sword and sit. I understand you are upset. But hear me first. Also Mr Longbart. I know you are in agony. But tell me. Is that what your daughter told you?"

  "No. Your holiness. How could my daughter reveal herself as being disrespected? But that is the only possibility for a clever and dignified lady like my Leila."

  The Duke nodded. Ayeegyee also accepted the possibility. But it did not matter to him. How did Leila become impure? He did not care. For him, it was not Ethanial who tricked him. It was Leila. His anger was on her. He must punish her for deceiving him.

  "She may be an unfortunate girl. However, she need not lie to me. Yet she insulted me and the very foundation of the Temple. Her sin is inexcusable."

  After his answer, the Duke also concurred with Ayeegyee. "It is a pity that such a beautiful girl ended like this. She should have come clean with her condition. But I shall have justice for her. I will find that man and behead him. Mr Longbart, name that warrior."

  Sympathy from the Duke and his promise to find justice for his daughter did relieve some of his agony, although he still could not accept his daughter soon to be executed. But at least he must avenge her and make Ethanial pay.

  "Ethanial. He is a captain in the army of the temple." He told him his name.

  "Was." Ayeegyee corrected him, "he is a fugitive now. The Temple is searching for him too. He was last sighted near pilgrim trail."

  "Then." The Duke said farewell and went back to his castle.

  As soon as the Duke was out of the room, Ayeegyee approached Mr Longbart slowly. He was glaring at him.

  "You dare try to pit the castle against me?"

  "I dare not."

  "Then why insisted Ethanial is from the Temple."

  "I .. Because it is the tru... truth, your holiness." Flustered, he stuttered.

  "Humph* fine. Considering you were a faithful servant, I will let you go this time. But know this. Do not tread on the dangerous ground again." He warned Mr Longbart.

  "Your holiness." He left carefully so that he would not bother his holiness more than now.

  "Wait! Before you go, you need to know something. I did not tell this to Ducan because I took pity on you, my faithful servant. If I had told, his wrath would befall on her and you. ... But it must be too agonising for you that your daughter's life was destroyed because a man forced on her. So let me relieve some pain of yours. Your daughter has affection for that man. She longs for him. She yearns for his name at night. They were in love. No one forced her. It was her choice."

  Hearing those words, Mr Longbart stopped in his tracks and clung to the door. His holiness was right. He tricked his own mind because he did not want to believe Leila fell in love with a commoner. He thought the lies would make him feel better. But it was not. It was more painful.

  He let go of everything and accepted the reality. Leila made her own choice and doomed her fate.

  He bowed to his holiness and returned home under the heavy storm.