Inquisitor's Promise (Act Two, Chapter Twenty-Eight)

Aeneas has to keep his promises. His father's mission will be completed. And while he's at it, he will become Galatea's lord and Inquisitor. But love and politics are an explosive combination.

---

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Galatea’s Doubt

Riddle me this, Dame Galatea,” Omaha began. “How did you get this far without learning of Sir Fernando’s rebellion? Surely you might have learned about it from some of the villagers or monks.”

“I actually didn’t spend much time in the monasteries. There were the monks who nursed me back to health and the nuns who needed help with bandits, but otherwise I didn’t spend the night there. I always camp out in the wilderness with Sancho Panza. As for the villagers, I didn’t talk with many of them,” Galatea explained.

She had, of course, left out the part where Fernando de Andalusia had instructed her to only talk with people that he had hand-picked, ensuring that she had remained ignorant of the truth.

“I can tell that I’m missing a lot of important details, but I suppose I’ll learn of them soon enough,” Omaha said.

Galatea couldn’t help but sigh in relief as the princess left. She hated having to withhold the truth. It may not be a lie, strictly speaking, but she still felt dirty. Especially since she considered Omaha to be a close of friend of her lord Aeneas.

Regardless, the lady knight was glad that she was given a clean bill of health by Giulia. The same applied for Sancho Panza who had sustained so many wounds in defense of her. She felt bad at how things had unfolded and knew that she needed to step up.

But those thoughts were put to the side when she saw her beloved approaching her.

“Lady Galatea,” Aeneas said.

“Greetings, Lord Aeneas,” Galatea answered.

The two would have been content to simply beheld one another, but Aeneas knew that he had an important task at hand.

“I need your help,” Aeneas said.

“With what?” Galatea asked. Inwardly, she was beaming that she could be of use.

“I’ve been trying to talk to the bandit leader, but he rebuffed me. He really took issue with Kunoichi,” Aeneas explained.

“Because she’s a dark felinid?” Galatea speculated.

“Has to be,” Aeneas said. “But when he learned that you were just fine, he agreed to talk provided that you come with me.”

“Interesting proposition. I accept, Lord Aeneas,” Galatea declared.

And so, Aeneas and Galatea went into the tent that held the bandit leader captive. The leader was guarded by a Venetian soldier, one of the ship’s security guards.

“You are dismissed,” Aeneas said to the guard, who acknowledged the order and promptly left.

“We meet again, Lord Inquisitor,” the bandit leader greeted confidently. “You should let me go. I’ll have you know that I give twenty percent of my plunders to the Church.”

“A man of faith such as you should know that the Our Lord desires mercy, not sacrifice,” Aeneas countered.

The bandit laughed heartily. “You Inquisitive types always know what to say, don’t you?

“Enough of this!” Aeneas said sternly. “What do you want from us?”

The bandit leader shrugged. “Eh, I just want to see for myself the lady knight who had set the stage for my downfall.”

The one-eyed man then looked intently at Galatea, causing her to shift uncomfortably.

“Yes,” the bandit said. “Your eyes are so innocent.”

“Excuse me?” Galatea asked in confusion.

“I can see that there isn’t a hint of cunning within you. A woman without guile,” the bandit declared.

“I, I see,” Galatea said hesitantly.

Next, The bandit leader studied Aeneas. “And yet somehow, I see the same thing from your eyes. I don’t understand! I refuse to accept a man who brought in a black cat to be without guile. What is it, then?”

Aeneas did not know what to say to the bandit’s demand, and so he remained silent.

“Perhaps it was my lord’s meekness that you saw,” Galatea spoke up.

“Galatea?” Aeneas said in puzzlement.

The bandit leader grinned. “Tell me more.”

“My lord Aeneas is the meekest man I know. You can always count on him to remain gentle even after enduring all manners of insults and adversities,” Galatea said cheerfully.

Aeneas couldn’t help but smile as he listened to Galatea singing his praises; he was overjoyed that his beloved had approved of him so.

Meanwhile, the bandit leader chuckled. “You may be right, girly. Fine, y’all can ask away.”

Aeneas was glad that he was finally getting somewhere with the bandit leader, all thanks to Galatea. The Inquisitor knew exactly where to start:

“Why are you and your bandits here?’ Aeneas asked.

“Perhaps I just like to pillage for the sake of it,” the bandit said smugly.

Aeneas shook his head. “I don’t think so. I know that you come from the south, the Nusantara isles.”

“You caught me,” the bandit said with a shrug. “My name is Jaya Satria. I’m from the Northern Borneyo island to be exact.”

“Sir Jaya,” Galatea began. “Why did you invade my country? The Knights of San Felipe had done nothing but help the people of the Nusantara.”

Jaya looked down in shame, afraid to look at the lady knight in the eye. “I was hungry. There was no food back in my home.”

“How is it possible that such a bountiful land like the Nusantara could see such a terrible famine?” Galatea asked.

“It was the Zaibatsu, they held so much debt over us. One day, they forced us to import our food for money. Only a portion of that debt was paid off and the people starved,” Jaya explained.

Aeneas nodded in silence. He knew of this tragic story; a reminder that even though the situation in the Zaibatsu had been resolved, the consequences still remained. CEO Honda Nintendo had much to atone for.

Jaya continued his story. “Order broke down in my town and my family was murdered in the ensuing anarchy.”

“I’m sorry for what you had gone through, Sir Jaya,” Galatea said. “I had thought you nothing more than a no-good malcontent. And yet you’ve gone through so much.”

“Hah!” Jaya barked. “You have nothing to worry about, girly.  I’m no innocent man. I’m a murderer and a thief. I have no right to invade your lands. I should thank you lot for putting a stop to my evil deeds.”

 Aeneas nodded in agreement. “I think we’re done here.”

Jaya grinned. “You know what to do.”

Aeneas was ready to leave and instruct his men to turn the bandit leader over to the nearest town authority, but Galatea stopped him.

“Lord Aeneas, please give him a chance,” she pleaded.

Jaya fell over from his seat in response. “Say what?”

Galatea then turned to the bandit leader, who was getting back to his feet. “Sir Jaya, I know you to be a penitent man. Will you not join our cause to defeat the Grey Globe? You can atone for your evil deeds!”

Jaya was baffled to hear this offer from Galatea. Tears fell from his face. He had fully expected to be deservedly executed. The former bandit leader would like nothing more than to accept this offer. There was one problem, though.

“What does the good Inquisitor think of all this?” Jaya asked.

Galatea yelped as she realized that she had just done all this without asking for Aeneas’ approval first. “Lord Aeneas, I didn’t mean to…”

But Aeneas smiled, taking no offense. “No worries. Welcome to the team, Sir Jaya.”

The Inquisitor then extended his hand towards Jaya. And the two shook hands.

Aeneas knew that the recruitment of Jaya and his former bandits would be met with some pushback within his army. Thus, he held a quick meeting with the members of his inner circle.

Everyone gave their thoughts: good, bad, and in between.

“Not the most prudent of decisions,” Omaha said, giving Aeneas a look of disappointment.

“I must disagree, the man is a skilled soldier judging by what Shaka and Kunoichi had told us,” Nikolai countered.

“But the Lepanto isn’t just some warship. We are the Inquisitor’s army. We should have standards!” Omaha declared.

“He seems to be a man of faith,” Pep interjected. “And most of his bandits surrendered because they did not want to fight the Church. They meet the standards.”

“I can’t believe this nonsense!” Lavinia snapped. “Since when do you take advice from some girl, especially one who’s obviously in way over her head?!”

Everyone in the room grew nervous upon hearing Lavinia’s outburst. But Aeneas remained calm despite the insult to his beloved.

“I gave Lady Galatea a chance, Lavinia. Just as I wish to give Sir Jaya one too,” Aeneas answered.

“But surely you see the dangers of bringing in actual bandits to our ranks. What if they turn against us?” Lavinia asked.

“Vinia,” Aeneas said, shaking his head. “If I took advices like yours, you wouldn’t be in the Lepanto.”

“That is true,” Giulia chimed in. “My papa was not happy when Aeneas decided to use the stern of the Lepanto to accommodate the Swarm.”

Aeneas nodded in agreement. He had taken a huge risk in giving de facto control over part of the ship to Lavinia and her swarm. But he trusted his cousin and he did not regret it.

“Gah, forget it!” Lavinia cried angrily before she stormed out.

But while Aeneas was discussing the issue of Jaya’s recruitment with the others, Galatea was helping the former bandit leader organizing his cohort. As it turned out, Jaya had been very meticulous with his bandit crew. In fact, he had a habit of killing the bandits who offended his moral sensibilities.

“We may be bandits, but we’re still civilized men,” Jaya told Galatea.

“I understand that, but we can’t simply kill those who offend us. God frowns on murderers, too,” Galatea pleaded.

“Aye, girly. You’re right,” Jaya said in shame. He knew that if he was to atone for his actions, he must start with how he conducted himself as a leader.

As Galatea watched Jaya barked at his men, she could not help but be pleased with her handiwork. She was finally becoming useful for her Aeneas. It was at this point that she spotted Lavinia. The deep one girl was clearly upset.

“Hi Vinia,” Galatea greeted, hoping to cheer her up.

But the lady knight’s presence only served to anger the deep one girl. “What are you really doing?”

“Pardon?”

“You’re playing pretend to be a knight!” Lavinia cried.

Galatea was taken aback by Lavinia’s hostility. This was something that she did not expect given what she had read of her. “But Aeneas…”

“Aeneas is a good man, but he’s naïve!” Lavinia snapped. “He’s also blinded by…”

The deep one girl stopped. She did not want to admit it but it’s true, she had denied it for far too long.

“Vinia?”

“He’s also blinded by his feelings for you,” Lavinia said with a pained look.

“Lord Aeneas is neither blind nor naïve,” Galatea protested. “He just sees the best in others, he always does. He even forgave his father’s murderers.”

Lavinia shook her head. “But he sometimes went too far. Sparing the Zaibatsu was one thing, we need the Corporatists’ help. But there was no reason for him to take you as his knight.”

“But…”

“And when are you going to tell people who really knighted you? Because I know for a fact that it wasn’t your uncle,” Lavinia said sharply.

Galatea gasped upon hearing Lavinia’s accusation. She knows. Perhaps Lavinia might have a point after all.

By this time, Lavinia had calmed down considerably. Perhaps ranting at the target of her anger had given her some catharsis. Or perhaps it was just the passage of time. Regardless, she was able to think clearly once more.

“All I’m saying is this, maybe you’re not the one for him.”

Those were Lavinia’s words to Galatea before she returned to her own tent. Try as she might, the lady knight could not dislodge those words from her mind. She was right, no way around it. Aeneas deserved someone better.

Wracked with doubt, Galatea rushed towards Aeneas’ tent. She knew that this was something that she needed to discuss as soon as possible.

“Lord Aeneas!” Galatea cried as she entered the tent. She could see that Aeneas was sifting through his paperwork. She hated to interrupt her beloved’s work, but this was urgent.

“What is it, Galatea?” Aeneas said warmly.

“W- we need to talk.”

Aeneas looked on curiously. “What’s wrong?”

“Do I really deserve to be your knight?” Galatea asked. “It’s just that, I hadn’t done anything to merit this position.”

Aeneas paused. He had suspected that someone’s hand might be at play here, but he remained calm. In all honesty, this was not an unreasonable question.

“I believe you do, Lady Galatea,” Aeneas said in assurance. “I can tell that you’re quite the heroic woman.”

“I tried to be, but it seemed like everything I’ve done had been nothing but disastrous. While you were out there uniting the Holy League, I’ve gotten into all sorts of trouble here,” Galatea responded. She then looked down in shame. “I’m no hero, Lord Aeneas.”

Aeneas was ready to give his answer, but he was interrupted when Shaka entered his tent.

“Sir,” Shaka greeted. “We have a crowd outside wanting to see you. You and Lady Galatea.”

“Me?” Galatea asked in shock.

“Let’s take a look,” Aeneas said.

The three of them thus exited the tent. They were greeted by a crowd of about thirty people, villagers from Pahlawan.

“That’s her, that’s the lady knight Galatea,” one of the villagers cried.

“What’s going on here?” Aeneas demanded.

“We want to say goodbye to Lady Galatea before she leaves with her lord Inquisitor,” another villager answered, he looked to be the leader of the lot.

Another villager spoke up. “We also want to thank her for dealing with the undercity spiders.”

“Spiders?” Galatea asked in puzzlement.

“Yes, those monsters from below had been preying on our cattle, and even our children. We’ve been trying to find out where they live but the bandits kept harassing us. Turns out, they’ve made their nest in our abandoned windmill. By burning it down with your wyvern, you’ve saved us from them.” the village leader answered.

“Bless you, Lady Galatea,” a villager woman cried out.

“Thank you,” another villager shouted from the back.

Galatea was stunned, not ready for the praises given her way. But Aeneas smirked as he saw the scene unfolding before him. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Nope, not a hero. Not even close.”

---