Ana was as thorough as ever. She wrapped her ilthin around Irina with quick, smooth skill, forming a harness that kept her arms pinned to her torso

“I told you I would get her first,” she said in the middle of her task.

“Yes, yes,” Bors replied. “If you’re going to brag, do give some credit to that branch.”

Irina glanced to her left, at the broken branch in question.

Ana finished the harness by tying off a knot between Irina’s shoulder blades. What followed was a brief silence. Bors stood where he was, Ana still straddled her, and Irina lay completely still, defeat now added to the storm within.

They had her.

Ana then turned her over onto her back.

“Mm. You’re hurt,” the woman said.

She put one hand on Irina’s cut cheek and the other on her shoulder. Irina felt healing energy course into her, triggering a tingle in her various cuts as they closed.

“There,” Ana said soothingly and switched to stroking the cheek. “As pretty as ever.”

Irina could think of nothing to say, and the two chalu just spent a few moments taking her in. Her eyes darted between their faces and their collars.

“You know, it’s strange seeing you like this,” Ana said. “Cut off, and...”

Her voice trailed off and she touched Irina’s bare throat.

“Don’t,” Irina said and tried to shift away from the touch.

“All right, all right,” Ana said placatingly and shifted a hand to Irina’s other shoulder. “But let me ask you again: Why did you run?”

Painful emotion had never been much of a feature in Irina’s life as Lady Lumiara’s slave. But she tried to imagine her own reaction if either of the people above her had done as she.

She would have felt hurt, and guilt now warred with her desire for freedom.

“Who knows what the heart wants?” she replied. “It is a wild thing, and sometimes it comes into conflict with itself.”

“Yes,” Ana replied. “But wild things can be tamed, and it is for the best.”

She ran a finger along her collar.

“How did that happen, anyway?”

Irina hesitated. It seemed a sure thing they would chase after Jon if she told them about the knife.

Ana sighed at her foolishness.

“Irina, you know full well you will happily explain it once we deliver you back to our mistress.”

“Then show some patience, Ana.”

The woman just gave her an annoyed look.

“Do let her stand up, Ana,” Bors said.

“Fine, fine.”

Ana stood, then hooked a finger in the front of the harness and used it to pull Irina to her feet. The aches in her muscles were every bit as healed as the cuts. Lady Lumiara’s power had restored her to perfect condition... at the cost of captivity.

Bors put a hand on both their shoulders.

“Look, you two... we are companions. United in service and in standing by one another. Soon none of this will matter.”

Ana conceded with a nod.

The man then took a step back and Irina recognised the distant look that came over his face. His body stiffened, he slowly tilted his head back, and when he tilted it back forward his whole manner was very different. He gently took both her shoulders.

“Irina,” Lady Lumiara said through her slave, her ethereal voice imposed over his.

The power of her presence wasn’t fully on display through another body, but Irina still found herself transfixed, her shoulders slumping in an involuntary display of submission.

“I am glad you are unhurt,” the strange double voice said. “And glad that we will soon be reunited. Do not fear. You need fear no more than I need anger.”

Bors’s body language slowly went back to normal and he took a few moments to compose himself. Irina remembered how disorienting these direct channellings were.

“That is that,” Ana said. “Let us go.”

They each took hold of one of her upper arms and walked off with her between them. Irina suppressed any urge to dig her heels in. Carrying her wouldn’t tire them out at all.

They walked a short distance until arriving at a distinctive-looking tree. Placed at its roots were their travel packs. Irina’s own kayros stuck out of one of them and presumably her ilthin was packed away somewhere as well.

“I found your ribbon too,” Ana said and pulled up her sleeve. It was wrapped around her wrist. “I suppose I should hold onto it until you can be trusted not to throw it away again. It was clever, that bit with the ferry,” she added reluctantly. “But you’ve always been clever.”

“But how did you find me?”

They took her arms again and continued the walk.

“Oh, how does one find quarry, Irina?” Ana replied. “We felt you had to be keeping away from settlements. This area is the least populated way to the border. We asked about ruins, caves and other potential resting places along the way. All we could do after that was check them, look for tracks, and hope for the best.”

She turned to Irina and flashed a small smile through the irritation that clearly hadn’t quite left her blood yet.

“I really am glad we found you. Our mistress will take you in hand again.”

She would. Lady Lumiara would take her back and objections would get Irina absolutely nowhere. The Bright Lady would simply smile tolerantly, as one might at a small child, and slip a collar around her neck. And arguing with these two would be every bit as effective as trying to escape them with her hands tied.

She was caught, and her inner war of emotions simply would not let up.

Dismay at having gotten a taste of forgotten freedom and then being taken again. Shame at having fled in the first place. Relief at seeing her two friends again, coupled with despair at having lost her other friends a second time. Sadness for Jon and Elseth, but also joy at the prospect of seeing her mistress again. Then of course there was a certain relief at having choice simply taken off her hands again. How could she agonize over decisions when she could not make any?

A part of her wanted to be angry at the two of them, even as reason reminded her that they had no more choice than she currently did. And then there were the little moments, such as when Bors gave her a simple reassuring look, clearly noticing her turmoil.

“Where are we going?” she asked after a little while. She needed a distraction from it all.

“Our mistress has decided on a slight change of plans,” Bors said. “She will make an unannounced visit to Vyslak, on the river.”

The town we circled to avoid.

“We will pass through there and meet with her on her way,” Ana said. “You should see her again in a mere three days.”

Three days. Three more days of her thoughts being entirely her own, for better and worse.

She briefly thought of Jon and his special knife and the possibility of a second rescue. But no. The first one had been a fluke. How were they to find her within three days? They didn’t even know for sure that she’d been taken. And once collared again she herself would be on alert for them.

It was so tempting to simply give in. To accept that she could do nothing and just relax into that fact. Just let herself be walked back to Lady Lumiara and spend the rest of her days in induced satisfaction.

“I could do with a rest,” she said.

“It does seem that you could,” Ana said.

They found a log to sit on and lined up on it, with Irina in the middle. The two chalu opened their packs and took out their modest provisions. They didn’t untie her, and since Ana had caught Irina it was the woman’s job to hand-feed her.

She was glad to have her belly filled out better and embarrassment at the whole thing contended with camaraderie. There was a bit of mockery in Ana’s manner, but it was playful.

After a quiet while of sitting the two of them stood up and pulled Irina to her feet. Bors sent a bit of healing energy into her, and the mild discomfort that had built up due to having her arms fastened in place vanished. There were several reasons why no one ever escaped her situation and one of them was that there was never any need to loosen bonds, not even for the sake of kindness.

Irina couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“What is it?” Ana asked, looking confused.

“I have to admit, this is all a perfect metaphor,” Irina said. “Comfort, safety, direction, kindness... at the cost of tight control.”

Ana looked annoyed with her again and tugged on her arm, starting the three of them walking again.

“We are going to share a big laugh over your complaining once you’re wearing a collar again,” she said dismissively.

“Are you saying that is a poor trade?” Bors asked Irina more sedately. “We serve something bigger than ourselves; something better than human beings who claw and grope for power. We help maintain order and all those good things you mentioned. Mid-Melgen is a better land than ever before and us servants have direction and purpose. Would you say all of that is worth less than an abstract notion of liberty?”

Irina had no good reply.

They reached an edge overlooking the area’s main road. A bird’s flight between Vyslak and the ruined village wasn’t actually that long, but walking the distance required going around a steep ridge. Unless one had the strength and speed of a chalu.

Ana picked her up in her arms and Irina clenched her stomach. The two of them leapt down, skipping on protruding ledges and bumps, until they landed on the road. Ana put her back on her feet, Irina let out the breath she’d been holding, and their walk continued as if nothing had happened.

She thought about Ana’s words. Yes, she was clever. It had always been her greatest strength in the adventuring life, before she was turned into a channel for otherworldly power. She’d always had an eye for solutions; those narrow cracks in problems that one could slip through.

There was never any use in wasting time wishing for unavailable means. She did not have the means to break free, nor to talk her way out of this. So what means did she have? There was the double issue of escaping her bonds and the two chalu. What could possibly achieve that?

She went over it all in her head, taking advantage of the silence of her captors to examine the facts one by one. The two of them were on alert as it was. Any show of defiance or an ill-conceived escape attempt would only make them more so. If she worked out some opportunity it would be her only one.

In time an awful idea struck.

“Did you encounter the bandits?” she asked.

“Bandits?” Bors asked.

“We met them in a ruined village east of Vyslak. They were a few dozen strong. Gathered from here and there about the land, as if someone was trying to form a large band out of what is left.”

“No, we did not encounter any such thing,” Ana said, looking thoughtful.

“When we would not join them they meant to murder us for being witnesses,” Irina went on. “Some of them were quite well equipped and their leader seemed intelligent. It is... worth keeping in mind, I think.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Yes, we should pass this along,” Bors commented. “Thank you.”

They started encountering traffic; ordinary folk moving produce to or from the nearby trade centre. Bors and Ana greeted each person briefly but respectfully; the right-hand agents of the Bright Lords were duty-bound to make a good impression.

Irina supposed chalu weren’t commonly seen in this part of Mid-Melgen. In her earliest days as a slave, some people had reacted to her with a certain awkwardness. It was on plainer display here. People clearly didn’t quite know how to treat them or how to conduct themselves. A mother quietly hushed a young boy who pointed at the collars. A man who led a donkey next to them for some distance fought a long and visible battle with himself over whether to speed up to leave the trio behind, slow down and fall behind, or just stare ahead.

Irina herself mostly elected to stare ahead, feeling very self-conscious about being a bound captive in public. The irony wasn’t lost on her; that she’d walked with ease and pride while bound in a far more fundamental manner.

They stopped twice more on the way and Ana fed her again, completely heedless of the farm folk who passed by as she did so. The sun was reaching the horizon when Irina again heard the din of the river.

Vyslak was a pretty little town, big only by the area’s standards but clearly doing well. The light was turning dim and the day’s trade had mostly ended, but the houses were in good condition and the air smelled rather clean.

Bors addressed the first person they encountered and asked for a resting place. The woman he spoke to looked taken aback for a moment, but stammered out a direction and then said she would notify the mayor of their arrival.

They crossed the whole of the town, drawing considerable notice as they went. It was safe to assume that everyone would know of the three of them before evening turned to night.

The inn stood by the river’s edge, next to the bridge. A small marina for rowboats stood nearby, but Irina kept her eyes off it. Bors and Ana were watching her quite closely enough.

A middle-aged man in a mayor’s cap awaited them, looking short of breath and slightly flustered.

“Ah, good evening, honoured chalu of the Bright Lords!” he blurted out through a smile.

There was no officially mandated way of greeting them, and the formality on display was yet more evidence that they were a rare sight here.

“Good evening, Mayor,” Bors said cordially. “We are merely passing through, and seek lodgings and food for the night.”

The mayor’s eyes shifted to Irina for a moment and she kept her face entirely still.

“Why, of course,” he said to Ana and Bors. “Our new inn was built only two years ago. You will not find it lacking.”

He cleared his throat.

“I wish to make a request of you, if I may.”

“Speak, mayor,” Bors said.

“A family has been stricken by fever. There are five of them, and herbs are not helping. I understand that you... you have some power of healing.”

Bors shared a glance with Ana.

“We do, mayor. Please, lead the way.”

Bors followed the man and Ana tugged on Irina’s arm.

“Come.”

The inn was new indeed and was in good condition even by that measurement. Irina was glad to see that it clearly didn’t double as the local tavern. Much of the space was taken up by two halls on opposite ends of the building, much of the rest consisted of the kitchen in front of the main door.

The couple who greeted them were surprisingly young, but considerably less awkward than the rest of the locals.

“Good evening, chalu,” the man said as he walked over to greet them.

His southern accent explained his relative ease with Ana and Irina was rather relieved to find herself simply ignored.

“Good evening, innsman. There are three of us and we will be staying a single night.”

“I am honoured,” he said. “The west hall is empty. I can reserve it for your party if you like.”

“That would be good. Thank you.”

Ana walked her into the west hall. The floor was covered with neatly packed bundles of reeds and a thin table ran the length of one of the walls, with a bench set up against it.

“This looks comfortable,” Ana mused idly as she moved Irina to a corner.

“It does,” she agreed as Ana finally undid the rope harness. She then turned Irina around.

“We did agree to spend an evening at the tavern after that little demon search,” the chalu went on.

She held the blue rope up and Irina offered her wrists.

“We could still make good on it, but somehow I don’t think you’re going to be much fun tonight,” Ana said as she secured Irina’s hands in front.

“Be kind, Ana,” Irina said in reply, but kept her tone pleading rather than angry, gazing earnestly into the woman’s eyes.

“I am being as gentle as a nursing mother, Irina,” Ana replied with a sigh and undid the makeshift ribbon in Irina’s hair.

She smoothed out the brown locks and tied them more firmly in place.

“I just dislike feeling as if I’ve suddenly become your enemy.”

“You are... not my enemy,” Irina said, feeling awkward.

“But our mistress is?” Ana said.

The woman was silent as she wrapped the other end of the ilthin around her own wrist.

“Look... I understand it when other people object to being put to service,” she then said softly, keeping their conversation private. “Because they don’t know what it means. But you? You know the peace that comes with the guidance the Bright Lords offer. I don’t understand your resistance. Do you remember Lady Minni?”

“I remember, Ana.”

Irina looked away.

“I’m sorry.”

Ana sighed again.

“I am not being kind, am I?”

She tugged on the ilthin.

“Come. As Bors said, soon none of this will matter. Let’s both take comfort in that.”

Ana brought her to the bench and Irina was relieved to sit down and lean the small of her back against the table. They sat in silence until the innswoman brought three bowls of bread, peas and fish, followed by three mugs of mild beer.

Eating with her wrists tied was a slightly clumsy affair, but simply taking her time let Irina avoid a mess. At least the beer and cooking were both good. Bors arrived once they were both about halfway done and plopped himself down unceremoniously.

“How are you two doing?” he asked and started off with a swig.

“We are doing fine, Bors,” Ana replied. “How did all that go?”

“It was just a simple fever. Nothing our mistress’s power couldn’t treat.”

“Did anything else happen?”

“Just considerable interest.”

Visits by chalu to communities often included at least a peek into the state of local affairs, but with Lady Lumiara herself on the way there was little point.

They finished their meal in silence. There was muted conversation among the few guests on the other side of the building but the innsman kept the three of them separate, as promised.

With nothing to do and clearly nothing more to say there was no reason not to simply lie down for the night. Ana walked her to an outhouse and after that they simply lay down in the packed reeds with blankets. Ana shortened the slack between the two of them and silently directed her to lie in the corner, with herself and Bors hemming her in. There would be no slipping away in the night. Others had tried.

Finding a comfortable position took some effort, which was then followed by the battle to calm her mind enough for sleep. However much her body wanted rest, her spirit insisted on fluttering this way and that.

“Ana?” she wound up whispering.

“Yes?” the woman whispered at her back.

“Could you...”

Her voice trailed off.

Ana’s hand touched the side of Irina’s head. A fraction of power flowed from Lady Lumiara, through her bond with Ana, and into Irina. Her spirit stilled, her body went slack and she felt her mind pushed into oblivion. Her last sensation before sleep was Ana lightly stroking her cheek.

# # #

Irina’s wrists and shoulders were sore as she awoke to Ana’s stirring, but yet another healing touch made it all go away.

“Good morning,” she muttered.

“Good morning.”

Breakfast consisted of porridge, bread, and peas. The innswoman provided a tub of warm water, and Ana allowed Irina to wash her face, hands and feet, before wrapping her back up in the rope harness.

With nothing to wait around for, the two chalu took hold of her arms again and left the inn.

The morning bustle was just starting up and their little group drew great attention. Irina envied the calm of her companions as she was again on display. The people at least kept their distance and spared them any observations as they crossed the bridge.

There was more traffic on the road than there had been north of the town, and Irina again simply stared forward, neither focusing on nor responding to anything.

She waited to speak until their first stop, beneath one of the simple shelters that dotted Mid-Melgen’s roads at ever briefer interludes.

“Maybe we should just carry her,” Ana suggested as they allowed her to sit down. “We would move faster.”

“I would... appreciate it if you didn’t, Ana,” Irina said, looking up at her captor.

“There is no rush, Ana,” Bors said. “We should intercept our mistress next evening.”

“Patience, patience,” the woman muttered under her breath, then set aside her pack and sat down as well.

Irina looked at her kayros, sticking out of the pack the way it did.

“I take it you have my ilthin as well?” she asked.

“Of course,” Bors said. “In my own pack.”

“And my tunic?”

“Where did you leave it?” Ana asked.

Irina feigned surprise.

“Right where I left the rest.”

The two chalu looked at each other.

“It was dark and we were in a hurry to find you,” Bors said. “We didn’t see it.”

Irina looked ahead at nothing. If they suspected something then this would be the end of it all.

“Might we go and fetch it?” she asked demurely. “It should be a minor detour at the most.”

They looked at each other again.

“Well... the branching path is only a short distance to the south,” Bors said to Ana. “There really shouldn’t be any delay. What do you say?”

“Hmm.”

Ana touched Irina’s chin and turned her head around to face her. Irina let the helplessness of her situation show in her bearing.

“Well, if there is a risk of delays I do get to carry you,” Ana concluded. “What do you say?”

“I would say that’s fair.”

“Good. Then gather your strength, because I expect you to walk faster from now on.”

“As you say.”

They rose shortly after. Doubt plagued Irina as they walked.

Her ongoing show of submission was making it hard to not simply yield for real. The temptation remained to simply give in to the seemingly inevitable. No one would ever know she’d eyed a chance for escape and left it untested, and she could go back to a life of service, control and those occasional bouts of vague discontent with the collar.

The plan felt weak, predicated on things working out in a very particular fashion. And if she understood the situation correctly every step was taking her closer to Lady Lumiara, even as the chalu took her along the eastern path.

Lady Minni started occupying her thoughts as traffic faded away to nothing. It had been on a trail much like this one that she and Ana had captured the young noblewoman. Their orders had been to bring her to the capital and the journey had taken eight days. Looking back, the lady’s development over those days was rather interesting.

She’d started with outrage, invoking her status and her family’s age-old right to the lands seized by the Bright Lords, as well as the peasants who called them home. She’d made two escape attempts, which they’d foiled immediately. The lady had then switched to impotent rage, lashing out at them, calling them leashed dogs and the like. After Ana threatened to gag her Lady Minni had borne the walk in silence, with an air of proud martyrdom.

But as the capital grew nearer over the last two days the lady’s demeanour had changed. She’d tried to keep the mask up, but despair had seeped through it.

And why wouldn’t it? She’d been perhaps all of twenty years old. She’d had fierce passions and dreams of retaking the family lands through her own wits, strength, and force of personality. It would have been the kind of feat to make it into legend. And if she’d been dealing with ordinary usurpers she might have succeeded. Instead she was marched into slavery. And she’d known perfectly well that a collar awaited her.

Irina and Ana had met the lady a second time this winter. She’d worn the red tunic and carried a kayros and an ilthin same as any of them. She’d greeted the two of them with a hug and Ana had wryly reminded her that she’d predicted just that during the walk.

Lady Minni was right now as happy as Irina had been, in service to Lord Yahnewas. But before that there had been that awful walk. That march towards a life of control.

The afternoon wore on and Irina did her best to keep up with Ana’s demand for greater speed. They did stop once to eat and relieve themselves, both of which Irina again had to do with Ana’s help. Then they continued onwards.

The sky had begun to darken as Irina started to recognise her surroundings. The general lay of the land and the types and size of trees... they weren’t far from the village where the three of them had originally split up. The time had come and Irina slowly clamped her inner lip between two eye teeth and bit down.

The adventuring life didn’t breed weakness and she was able to keep from making a noise or showing any outward sign of the pain. She forced blood from the wound and then simply kept it in her mouth. Then she started breathing through it, rather than her nose.

It seemed that they had to have mentioned the demon by now, if they had encountered it. Surely when she brought up the bandits they would have made mention of a more serious issue. So surely it still lurked in the area. And now she was breathing out the scent of her blood, which the demon had caught when it clawed her face.

Shame, excitement and fear mixed as she simply continued to walk and breathe. And then she heard it: Something large moving amidst the trees. Bors and Ana heard it too, and both drew their kayrosi.

“Hello?” Bors said.

His response was that awful rattling noise they all recognised. Bors moved in front of them and Ana pushed Irina back. It didn’t play games this time. It simply walked directly towards them, snapping branches, bushes and small trees as it came. The grotesque, elongated figure came into view, radiating violence in its movements.

The runes on the two kayrosi came to life, casting out white light that sent the monster into an immediate rage. It roared and charged. The two chalu reacted with inhuman swiftness. Bors intercepted it and swung his kayros. The demon fell back an instant and Bors unfastened the ilthin from his waist with his free hand.

Ana took hold of the knot between Irina’s shoulder blades and it seemed to melt in accordance with her will. The rope flowed off of Irina like a hand being unclenched and her arms were freed. The woman launched the ilthin at the demon as Bors circled around it.

Irina ran. She dove into the forest and ran.

Behind her the demon roared.