A spark of fear struck Dem’s heart, and he hesitated opening the door, his hand hovering over the lock. What would this be about? If they were truly hostile, they would have already attacked right? If they were coming here to seek him for some sort of questioning, it could be just as bad for him as if they had attacked directly. He was exposed here, without the aide of his beasts or his soulbound.

  As he stood in front of the door, thinking about his options, and how he might escape into the Wilds, he could hear Greer pad up behind him. He turned to look at her as she reached out a hand to open the door. He didn’t try to stop her as he was distracted by the fact she still wore nothing more than her usual smile. Her hands deftly unlocked the door and pulled it open. Dem’s eyes left Greer and looked at the people who had come for him through the doorway.

  They wore gear similar to a settlement guard, but more worn and designed for heavier duty. The armour was thicker, and covered more of their body than a normal guard. He could see several men, and one women who appeared to be standing in the back. This gear, he vaguely recognized it, it was the armour and kit of a Classed soldier. If he had to guess the women was in charge, just going by her demeanor and the more complex insignia on her armour, though she did not speak. The armoured woman gave him a quick up and down. The men were his height, but broader and clearly of a melee oriented combat-class, judging by their solid frames and scarred jawlines.

 Dem looked back toward Greer. She seemed fine, standing there in the nude, in front of these soldiers. He knew she was shameless, because of the outfits she had liked to wear during their time together, but this was a bit much. Her small smile had waned slightly, but she still seemed confident. Her back was straight, and her eyes did not waver.

  The soldiers, to their credit, hardly gave her much of a look, except the soldier in front, who eyed both Geer and Dem in equal measure.

  Greer was the first to speak. “Good cycle to you. What brings soldiers of the Breaker here to my home?”

  Dem was utterly confused. Who or what was the Breaker? He turned towards Greer a question on his lips.

 The soldier in front answered Greer’s greeting, and Dem looked back towards the soldier before his question could slip out. The soldier in front was the smallest of the three soldiers and had especially bushy eyebrows, but otherwise was almost indistinguishable from the other two men, as their helms covered much of their faces.

  “Merchant Greer, I presume? We are here to see your uh.. companion. I assume this is Tamer Demneh?” The man waved in Dem’s direction, almost dismissively.

  Dem turned back again toward Greer, hoping she would explain what was going on. Greer seemed to predict his ignorance.

  “Dem, these are soldiers of the Breakwater Wall. The wall that separates the settlements from the rest of humanity, and humanity from the Wilds They serve the person who commands the wall. The commander is always titled the Breaker.”

  Dem responded in a quiet voice, “Ah.. Why..”

  The confused look on Dem’s face made Greer roll her eyes at him. She continued to question the soldiers.

  “What need have you, of my young lover?” Her arm entwined with his, and she pulled him closer, bringing his chest close enough to touch her right breast. Her nipple was hard against his arm. He wondered briefly if this situation excited her, or if it was the breeze from the open doorway that had given her such a reaction.

  Her words registered in his mind suddenly, as he found the strength to ignore the hard protrusion poking into his arm. Greer’s declaration forced a blush on his face. Had she no shame? Her ‘young lover’? Really? He signed inwardly.

  The soldier at the front spoke again, a grimace beginning to appear on his rough, unshaven face.

  “Merchant Greer, your.. lover, is to be conscripted into the service of the Breaker. He has a cycle to prepare, and then we head towards the True Wilds.”

  For the first time, Greer’s expression fell. Had she assumed this would be a problem she could solve with money? He didn’t know what it meant to be conscripted by soldiers of the Breaker, but the True Wilds was a frightening place, far beyond someone such as himself, or at least the person he wanted people to believe he was.

  Greer tightened her grip on his arm.

  Greer spoke again, “Surely you don’t need a mere Tamer. There are Rangers who..”

  The front soldier cut her off.

  “There are none. At least, in this settlement there are none. All of your Rangers and guides have all already gone north to the True Wilds with parties. There are only amateurs and freelancers left. We were referred the Tamer by a local source. He will do, and if not, we are also conscripting a few others from this settlement.”

 Dem considered the man’s words. They needed a guide? Was that what this was about? Greer had caught on right away, but it had taken Dem a moment to understand what they were looking for.

  Greer spoke quickly again, a look for thoughtfulness coming across her face. He knew that expression well. It was the same expression she used when evaluating a deal or a profitable tip.

Stolen novel; please report.

  Greer hammered a number of questions into the soldier, “So this isn’t the only settlement you’re conscripting from? You don’t look like scouts to me, but rather infantry. I take it this isn’t a scouting mission. You’re doing what? Moving supplies? Hunting something specific?”

  “Ah, Merchant Greer, I’m not at liberty to say..” The soldier sounded contrite, and his grimace grew deeper. Was the man upset that he said too much, or was he unhappy that Greer had guessed too much? Dem wasn’t sure.

  “You’ve said enough. You’re taking my my lover to a incredibly dangerous place, without much explanation, because the best you can find for guides are amateurs and freelancers? Where are your own scouts?” Greer didn’t sound truly angry to Dem, but she had put more steel into her voice.

 “Ah, that is.. accurate, Merchant Greer, I.. Our scouts are already…” The man began to wilt under Greer’s scrutiny, clearly not used to having to answer questions. Suddenly the woman in back spoke over the soldier in front.

  The woman’s voice was deep, and full of gravitas. “Your lover will be fine. I personally, will ensure he is taken care of and brought safely back to you. The conscription will only last the duration of this mission, unless your lover should wish to remain in the service of the Breaker. We cannot reveal anymore about our current mission, Merchant Greer.” The armoured woman finished her sentence by removing her helm, letting loose her long golden hair to flow down her shoulders. She smiling broadly, as if to emphasize her point. Greer’s eyes narrowed at the woman’s face. Dem could only wonder why the woman would leave her hair so long, despite being a professional soldier.

  Dem gave the armoured woman a more serious look as she had spoke. She wore the same armour as the men, but with a slightly different chest piece to accommodate her bust. The rest of her was covered in hardened and spelled leather, with pieces of chain mail in key defensive locations. She had the same thickness of the men who accompanied her, making her obviously of a similar Class. He did note that, despite her Class and armour, she was still quite shapely, though he had little interest in finding out what was actually under the armour. He was a little sick of flesh at the moment. Her face was.. not beautiful, nor was she pretty like Greer, but rather she was.. handsome? Her chiseled features and scars made her more androgynous than anything else.

  Greer spoke again, sneering at the armoured woman, “I see. Who are you? Officer? I must know your name should my goo-, I mean, my lover come to harm. I will hold you personally accountable.”

  “Merchant Greer, I am Officer Sumisi. I am the vice-commander for this mission. You needn’t worry, we will keep him quite safe. Right men?”

  Her soldiers grunted in unison, in a practiced manner.

  Speaking to Greer, the officer continued, with a predatory smile on her face, “Now that I have given my word, I will say again, we leave in one cycle. Do I need to leave men behind to ensure he is ready to leave on time? Perhaps, instead you prefer I stay here with you? If you would be willing to entertain me..” Dem was stunned at the woman’s blatant threat, and then strange offer she made. Dem could see the officer woman’s eyes roam across both Greer and himself, lingering in a way that made Dem uncomfortable. Did she mean for them to...

  Greer spoke immediately, “I will not have you, or your soldiers, in my home. If you leave soldiers here, they can stand outside. I am a Merchant of the Tower. I am under no obligation to allow your soldiers into my home. The Breaker has no authority over what is mine. A Breaker may conscript freelancers and adventurers, but they cannot command Tower Merchants.”

  The officer merely shrugged at Greer declaration, but the soldier in front, with the eyebrows, spoke then, in a congenial voice. A smile was plastered on his rough face, as his eyes were glued to Greer, “Ah, but Merchant Greer, surely you wouldn’t deny hospitality to a soldier far from home..” The man’s hand reached out to touch Greer shoulder, but was stopped dead. Another hand had caught it mid-air, arresting its motion entirely.

  Dem mind raced. He was angry the man would touch Greer, surprised by the quick response of whoever had stopped the man’s hand, and then doubly surprised when he realized it was Dem himself who had stopped the soldier from touching Greer. Dem’s recent changes had clearly been for the better. He doubted he was as strong as the soldier with buff spells, but still, normally a low-class Tamer wouldn’t be able to compete at all with a Classed Soldier in terms of physicality.

  Surprise lit the face of everyone, including Dem. None of the other soldiers moved to intervene though, much to Dem's relief. The soldier responded by pulling his hand back, and Dem let him go, not wishing to escalate the situation.

  Greer and the Officer Sumisi spoke in response, at the same time.

 “You will not touch me, or I will have words with your commander. The Tower will hear of this.” Greer’s voice was now nakedly angry.

  “Soldier Stass, do not touch the Merchant again, or you will be on forward duty the entire mission.” The woman officer’s tone only contained a slight edge. If anything, Dem could swear the woman was amused.

  Stass angrily eyed Dem, but grunted his acknowledgment. Dem was relieved to see that, while the man had his fists clenched, his hands did not move toward the sword resting at his hip.

  Officer Sumisi continued, “I apologize for my soldier’s rudeness. If I can have your word, as one of the blood, that the Tamer will be on time next cycle, we can leave you peace.”

 Gree spoke quickly in response, “I give my word.”

  “Good, thank you for your time Merchant Greer.” said the officer. She turned to look at Dem and spoke again.

  “We look forward to working with you Tamer Demneh. We meet at the Wilds-Gate. Make sure you’re there at least an eighth earlier. I don’t want to send soldiers looking for you, yes?”

  Dem spoke, annoyance in his voice, his dark blue eyes meeting Sumisi’s pale green eyes, “Greer gave her word. I will be there, Officer.”

  The armoured woman merely laughed, and turned away from them, beginning to walk away. She spoke over her shoulder as she left.

  “Good cycle to you both, let's go men.”

  Of the three soldiers, Stass was the last to turn around to leave. His eyes stared daggers into Dem, even as he left.

  Dem exhale a long breath after the soldiers were out of sight. The blood? Greer was some sort of nobility or a clan member? How had the officer known? The way both the soldiers and Greer had treated him, during their conversation, reminded him he was merely a low-level Tamer to them. He needed to not forget that. He also needed to chastise himself. Infuriating a Classed soldier was a terrible idea, especially because Dem would have to spend an unknowable amount of time with the man, possibly in dangerous situations. Dem would have to be vigilant. What would they even be doing out there? Why would they need his help? Where were their own scouts?

   Greer spoke to him then, her voice practically a command.

   “We must talk, Dem.”