Helplessly waiting was the hardest part, Myron had to admit.

He and Hamond had awoken bound and kneeling in a cellar. From what Hamond had figured, someone had put something in their drinks at the tavern. It was hard to say what else had happened, since Myron could barely remember a thing.

He felt completely terrible about it. If he had thought, he would have considered that trusting someone in a village shown to be this hostile was a fool's idea. Now Edeline and Nela were who knows where, possibly in grave danger, and Myron was powerless to help them.

At least Hamond's magic gave them light to see by, but that was small comfort to Myron. They'd run out of anything to say to each other long ago. So the pair had nothing to do but sit in silence, waiting to find out what their captors had in mind for them.

And still waiting.

And waiting some more.

Finally, Myron could hear the sound of steps outside the cellar door. Hamond immediately put out his light. The resulting darkness did not last long, leaving Myron's eyes watering as the door swung open and let light into the room. Three men descended in, one after the other, all looking down at the captive pair.

The first among them was the one who had directed them to the tavern in the first place. Vaguely recalling what the man had said, Myron suspected they were face-to-face with that Lord Verdan. If not, it was a man who directly worked for him. At this point, Myron pondered, he should just start expecting anyone with the title of alderman to outright lie to them.

"I assume you had a pleasant time at the tavern," the man commented, leaning over to stare Myron in the eyes.

"I can't remember the last time I had a night like that," Myron answered bitterly.

"Oh, aren't you clever?" Hudde let out a humorless laugh. "We'll see how long that lasts. Now, do you mind telling me what exactly were you doing traveling around with a pair of elf wenches?"

"Avoiding folks like you," Myron said. Don't react, he told himself. That's what the man wanted.

"You really don't seem to understand the position you're in. Let me guess. You think you can handle whatever we do to you? That you can take it and keep silent?"

Myron didn't bother to dignify that with a response. That he resorted to threats like that showed just what kind of person he was. It also raised the question of how much Lord Kelshir knew. It would be dire indeed if the lord encouraged this of his men.

"I will put it this way," Hudde said, suddenly smiling as he produced a knife. "If you do not tell me, I will turn to those two elves for answers. And I will not be nearly so nice to them."

Myron's blood turned cold. He could see it in his mind, exactly what tortures Nela and Edeline would have to go through if he didn't yield.

And from the widening smile on Hudde's face, he knew it too.

"Thank you," Hamond replied, oddly calm.

The smile gave way to confusion, which was fair, given that Myron was also confused. "Thank you for what?"

"For exposing who you are." Hamond took a deep breath. "Tetra lithoistos!"

Four stone missiles, materializing out of the air over Hamond's head, flew across the room. Two struck Hudde, while each of the other men each received one. With garbled grunts, all three men collapsed.

Right, in the moment Myron had forgotten Hamond could do that. The threat to Nela had made him panic, something he knew he should have been better about. Myron just wasn't used to traveling with thaumaturges. Yes, he knew Nela was one, but she was a healer first and foremost. Spells for battle were not her specialty.

"You could have done that sooner." he told Hamond.

"I had to make sure...we could cut our way free." For some reason, Hamond sounded strangely out of breath. It was almost as if that spell had taken more out of him than normal. More than a little worrying. "Could you get that blade?"

Giving a nod, Myron pushed himself towards the alderman's body, awkwardly trying to turn as he did so. It was clumsy, but he managed to fumble his way over, getting one hand on the fallen knife. Slowly rotating it up, he started working on the rope.

Thankfully, the blade was good and sharp, and Myron was able to quickly free himself. A quick slice freed his feet, and then he was able to turn to aid Hamond. Once that was done, he pulled Hamond up with one hand, carefully keeping the other hand with the knife in it pointed away.

"Thank you," Hamond said, "Now we should-"

The sound of footsteps running outside interrupted him, as a man sprinted down into the cellar. "My lord, the other two have...escaped..." His voice trailed off in horror at the sight of them standing over the bodies. After a brief pause, he turned and sprinted back outside.

Letting the man go was risky, but Myron knew trying to pursue him while armed with a knife was even more foolish. Also, it sounded as if Edeline and Nela had gotten free on their own, so finding them was more important anyway.

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Hamond let out a long sigh. "Well, that answers that question."

Well, sort of. But voicing objections was pointless. To borrow Nela's own phrase, all they could do was shut up and push through.

After a brief pause due to Hamond stumbling on one the steps, they were outside. It was midday by his reckoning, a little later perhaps. They were still in Verdan, although no longer anywhere near the tavern. In front of them...

Myron's eyes widened as he took in the house in front of them. While not what he would consider luxury befitting a noble, it was larger than any of the other houses in sight. Of more significance was the fact that it was new, with the wood and roof and windows all in good condition. Myron doubted this house could belong to anyone other than one specific person, and that man's body was now in the cellar behind them.

Hamond had also stopped to study the house. "I suppose we wouldn't be so lucky as to find our things inside," he commented.

"We can check." While Myron would prefer to search for people above possessions, it would be safer if he was armed first. And even if his sword wasn't there, the blades of the other men had to have come from somewhere. A spare weapon being here was not out of the question.

Myron's one concern was that they were looking at the back of the house. Going around to the front would put them in full view of everyone. But they'd already been spotted, so they might as well take the risk. Besides, being out in the open meant they'd be more visible to Nela and Edeline too.

At least, he hoped so.

As it turned out, there was no one in front of the house either. Myron supposed he ought to be grateful, but he would have expected this village to at least have someone outside. He couldn't even hear the sound of anyone talking, working, anything at all. Well, if this had to do with Hudde - or rather, Lord Verdan - that would no longer be a problem for the village.

Trying the door and finding it unlocked, Myron stepped in with Hamond following silently behind. The decor was a little more fanciful on the inside. Paintings in rough-cut frames hung on the walls, while all of the seats had cushions stuffed to almost bursting. It was like whoever lived here was trying to pass themselves off as wealthy, even though they were clearly not.

Rising from one of those seats was a stout woman with unkempt hair, face pale on seeing them. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you," Myron said, studying her. If his guess that this was Hudde's house was correct, that would make the woman Hudde's wife. Perhaps she would be more reasonable.

"I am the Lady Verdan. And you, you're bandits, aren't you? Get out, or I'll call for the lord and his men." Right, maybe not all that reasonable after all. "And you better believe you won't get off lightly."

"Ah, so you're married to him," Myron said.

"If you know of him, you know what's about to happen to you." It was false bravado, as she was backing away step by step.

Myron exchanged glances with Hamond. How exactly were they supposed to tell her that the man was dead? The last thing they needed was her starting an uproar. Aether, if only Nela was here now...

"What's going on here, Mother?"

Myron spun at the young voice. Standing across the room was a dark-haired girl, looking around two hex years of age. If she was the woman's daughter, she had the opposite reaction to them, looking not at all surprised.

"Jelinia," the woman said, "Run for it. Now."

The girl didn't move. "It's those two, isn't it? The ones Father brought in this morning."

The woman's face reddened with anger. "I told you to never mention that!"

The girl's face paled, but she still held her ground. Myron could respect that courage. If she was the daughter of Hudde and this woman, then Jelinia was certainly a better person than the two of them put together.

Also more observant, since it seemed the woman had forgotten he and Hamond were there. "You little shit! Get moving now, or I'll whip you twice as hard later! You hear-"

Her enraged rant was interrupted by Myron's fist, right in the middle of her face. He'd heard enough.

The woman groaned as she fell over. "You...monster. Lord Verdan will have your heads." With her voice sounding muffled due to a broken nose, her threat was not intimidating.

"Lord Verdan...is dead," Hamond told her, stepping up beside Myron. "I killed him."

"What? You...what?" The woman stammered, stumbling backward against the far wall. Sliding along it, she stumbled through the doorway into the next room.

As long as she stayed out of the way, Myron supposed they had no reason to bother with this Lady Verdan. He disliked thinking of her as such, but he didn't know her actual name, and he didn't care enough to want to ask.

"Is...is he really dead?" Jelinia asked, staring at Hamond.

"Yes," Myron said. He would have preferred to spare a child this news, but it was too late now.

To his complete surprise, she actually smiled. "Good. He...he deserved it." Myron could fit the pieces together. What an awful pair, to treat their own child so badly that she preferred them dead.

"If you saw us before, did you see where your father put our things?" Hamond asked.

"He stores them over in the other room," Jelinia said, pointing. Myron looked over in that direction, the same way the woman had fled. And emerging from that doorway was that woman, now holding a sword aimed at them.

It would be laughable, if she wasn't trying to kill them. Myron stepped to the side, grabbing the woman's wrist with his free hand. A quick twist, and she dropped the sword with a pained grunt.

"That's not how you use a blade," he told her, bringing the knife around to her neck. "Now, are you going to-"

The woman threw herself sideways against Myron, trying to break free. So be it. Myron flipped the knife around in his grip, and drove it in under her chin. He then shoved her away.

Falling into a seated position, she stared up at him, defiant up until her strength gave out.

Turning back to face them, Myron instantly regretted what he'd done. He'd acted on instinct, forged into him by years of practice and training with swords, and in doing so he'd forgotten about Jelinia. Making a young girl watch her own mother get stabbed and killed...shameful. Just shameful.

Jelinia's response was to walk up and kick her mother's body.

Myron had the feeling he didn't want to pry further into just what she'd been through.

"Isn't that your sword?" Hamond asked. Startled, Myron looked down at the dropped blade. Aether, it was. Getting killed by his own sword would have been humiliating.

It confirmed that Jelinia hadn't been lying, so their things really were there. "Let's go."

Hamond didn't answer. Looking over his shoulder, Myron saw his companion was now seated in a chair, slumped over.

Myron hurried over. "What's wrong?" If he had been paying attention, he might would have noticed. He should have noticed.

"Whatever they gave us...it's hitting me...worse than I thought." Hamond managed to say.

Could it be a drug that worked more strongly on thaumaturges? Myron was no expert, so he couldn't say. Regardless, Hamond did not look in any condition to go anywhere. And honest or not, Jelinia couldn't be counted on to protect Hamond should some of the so-called lord's men came looking for Hudde.

He'd just have to hope the house stood out enough for Edeline and Nela to come investigate it. They weren't fools, after all. They'd have to spot it at some point, if they looked around Verdan. Reluctantly, Myron took a seat to once again watch, and wait.

As before, helplessly waiting was the hardest part.