Sado and Diana’s return went unheralded and unannounced, they exited the carriage, and an iron collared teenage boy, that neither had seen before, stood at the entrance. The lad was exceedingly well dressed, in a rich deep blue fabric, and armed with a single short sword, that he held the hilt of with one hand. “Name and purpose of visit?” He demanded authoritatively.
“I am Sado, this is Diana, here to report on the status of our assignment to Hanak’sen.” Sado replied, and the boy relaxed his grip on the short sword at his side.
“Lady Solution said for you to report to her immediately,” the young man said and opened the door for them.
The pair inclined their heads politely and passed into the estate, “New faces.” Diana said.
“We’ll have a lot more before long, unless I miss my guess, this will be something of a preparatory ground before anyone goes to Komestra or any of the villages.” Sado proposed the thought as they walked down the long hall leading to the monster’s office.
“What makes you say that?” Diana asked, turning her head to look at Sado with a sudden interest.
“Rebuilding takes time, and she’s not going to just start rewarding people for existing. The Lady Aiwenor is shrewd, everything has preparation, this last assignment taught me that much… I don’t think it likely that sending people to farms and villages either before things are ready, or before people are loyal, will be in her plan. Do you disagree?” Sado asked.
“No, it’s just…” Diana managed a little huff, “I’ve never seen you think ahead about something like that before.”
Rather than laughing, Sado’s voice became serious. “I’ve been learning how stupid that was since the day our walls fell… if I had any doubts about it, you explaining what you were there for on the way back here… robbed me of them. So… I’m trying.”
She fell silent at his self recrimination, and stayed that way when they reached the office of the monster and Sado knocked for them both.
“Enter.” They heard the clipped voice of the monster in a maid outfit, and came in together. They approached the desk the maid was working behind and knelt, then prostrated themselves.
“So, how did it go?” Solution asked, without giving them permission to raise their heads, she did, however, stand up and go to the wall on which a whip hung on a hook.
They relayed the events of their visit, and when they were finished, Solution gave the whip a practice crack. “I see, well… that is all within the realm of expectation. It might have been good if you could have gotten a few sales first but, maybe it is better this way.” Solution shrugged, “My student will have her own plans when she gets back. She’s finished her business with the emperor and is on her way…” The sudden looks up to her without permission made her stop.
“Lady Solution… how do you…?” Sado asked, then stopped when Solution laughed.
“I marked my student with a tiny part of myself. I’m sure it hurts a great deal… for most. But it’ll be nothing to her. It may take her a little more time to get back, but she will return. Now… Sado, you should have something to show me.”
Sado took up the sacred text of his translation and showed it to Solution, who took the translated words of the Dark Savior and sat behind her desk again to read. “Every mistake, earns a mark this time.”
He didn’t argue, he simply waited.
Reading through the text took very little time, and in the end, Solution marked off three points.
“Three mistakes. Almost perfect.” Solution said in a voice without any hint of wrath… or mercy.
“Now… before we get to this… one more thing first.” She stood up and cracked her knuckles.
Solution walked a few feet past Sado and turned to face him. “Now, let’s see if you remember anything… or if you’re still barely worthy to lick the boot of someone I taught to be a magnificent assassin.”
Sado didn’t hesitate, he attacked, his single sword and open fist blended the arts of his birthplace with those Solution had passed onto him… or rather… beaten into him. “Not bad… not bad…” Solution remarked as she avoided his sword and deflected the back of his fist as it came toward her face. As she deflected the blow, he activated [Flow Acceleration], evading the followup blow he knew was coming. He twisted his body beneath it, catching Solution’s wrist, and attempting to land a blow at her core… only to take her knee to his face that sent him flying into the wall to fall with a thud.
He was on his feet again in an instant, ‘She pulled her blow… but damn, it hurts…’ He thought, as he used two more martial arts to increase his stamina and speed.
“Better”, Solution said indifferently, as she caught his sword arm and landed a blow beneath his armpit, followed by three more blows to kidneys and solar plexus, and dropped the Prince of Dreams to the floor with a heavy thud. “You lasted two more blows and three more counters than last time.”
“But it isn’t good enough, is it, Lady Solution?” He groaned out, wincing through the pain to get the question out from his place on the floor.
“No. No, it isn’t. But you have years to try to catch up to her… assuming you don’t break first. I hope you last a little longer at least.” She giggled and pointed to Diana, “Now you, get him out of the armor, he’s got several strokes of the whip to his back, and you’re going to take care of him afterward, but no healer… the Prince needs scars to match those of… his people.” Solution chuckled and went to take up the whip.
Diana obeyed mutely, assisting him in getting out of the armor, assisting him in standing up after her savage blows, and then assisting him again until his sweat soaked body was laying on his belly in his quarters, so that she could look after him properly. “You really are a strong one, Sado.” She said with a note of respect when she ran the wet cloth over the bloody stripes on his back. She wrung out the bloody water into the porcelain basin, wet the cloth again, and wiped his powerful back down again.
“Thank you, Diana.” He grunted out and sighed with relief at the cool feeling of clean water over flesh. He didn’t say what for, and she felt no need to ask.
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After days of travel in the slow moving wagons, days of the drab and bland food that the Lur’gin company’s copper pinching accountants paid for to feed their stock, Tir heard the sound of many voices outside. It took a little time to discern what they were saying.
‘Pas’en. We’re here.’ Tir took a deep breath, and for its span, forgot her chains, and forgot her collar of silver. She forgot everything, and just enjoyed the feeling of being at home. One of the most powerful of the great cities, wealth from north and south flowed through it, and even the Centaur tribes, east of what had been Komestra, had Pasenian goods, finished products made their way everywhere. She poked at a tiny hole in the wagons’ tan fabric and widened it a little, with her eye pressed to the hole, she could see the great walls that testified to its power among the city-states.
Orcish soldiers walked the walls,good half-plate armor, and bright red clothing protecting their bodies, each one paired with an elven archer. The weather being warm, they wore fairly short pants, and good strong helmets that stopped at the bridges of their noses.
The wagon stopped while the guards at the gate went through and inspected the cargo. The flap opened at her own, exposing them to daylight, and after a quick peek, the guards moved on.
With the sun just peeking over the horizon, there was ample time for her to look around. The wagons drove through the familiar wide streets of the upper district, and from a hole in the fabric, Tir saw the palace of the Prince, ‘Is he there? Is he thinking of me? How many nights I lay awake in that bed… happy, lazy after our lovemaking, the two of us… or… or the three of us…? Maybe… maybe my letter reached him, not that it will do any good. I’m ‘Tir’ now, a slave of noble heritage and training but of a house that wishes to be anonymous. Though what if someone else among the nobility buys me? Most of the wealthy know me…’ Tir shook her head, and hung it low, the happiness of her return briefly brought down by the sudden oppression of her reputation.
‘Nobody believes me… nobody will believe me… only the Prince… and now I’m a liability…’ She reminded herself again.
‘But your friends…’ She had the brief thought and it made her laugh as soon as it formed. ‘You don’t have any friends now.’
It was the last thought she had before the wagon finally stopped.
A rough looking man in bright blue and green clothing approached her wagon, unlocked the back gate, and extended a hand. He had a muscular body and was armed with a heavy looking truncheon along with a cheaply made short sword. He took out neither, just waved his fingers from out and back again toward himself.
“C’mon, we’ve got to get you all bathed, fed, an’ ready for sale.” He said with a rather cheerful disposition.
Chains rattled as the slaves all stood and began to slowly get down, to Tir’s surprise, he actually helped them down one by one, he was shockingly polite at every step, despite his armament, he treated them almost like ‘guests’.
When Tir was out, she found herself at a familiar spot, one she’d spent quite some time at, in the past, watching the sales go on as entertainment. ‘I did wonder what the inside of that building looked like, I guess we won’t be stored for long… though if the pattern holds, I’ll be up there at the end.’ She looked up at the block, where the convicts were being sold to repay their victims.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
However, what was most notable of all to Tir was, ‘There are no Komestrans… I don’t see a single one in that line… could be a coincidence… but did she really do it?’
“Come on, we wanna have at least some of yah up there t’day. An don’ worry. This’s Pas’en. Even if yer a common laborer, prices been goin’up lately after that crash on the market, so y’can expect ta not be treated too bad.” He had kind of a jaunty walk as he spoke to them, leading the chained people toward the double doors at the side of the building.
Some of those in irons wore relieved expressions, however for Tir, it meant nothing, a kind of arrogance came over her, a certainty and confidence that came in part from knowing how well she could manipulate almost anyone with a sense of hunger and desire about them, something she proved to herself with that poor innocent clerk in Shog’nai.
‘May my siblings choke on the gold my body got them…’ She cursed them and gently closed her eyes, her feet shuffling over wood she could not see, all she had to do was follow the short steps in front of her and listen for the faint rattle of chains.
‘You’re the beastman this time!’ Her older brother had said.
‘But I don’t want to be!’ Her sister had answered.
‘I’ll be the beastman, as long as I get to wear the red thing!’ Tir recalled her life as little Lodira, volunteering to be the villain in their children’s games as long as she got to wear the only bright piece of cloth they had. They’d rolled their eyes and gone along with it, not minding that she couldn’t catch her older, faster siblings, because she got to wear something she thought was pretty.
Despite it all, her heart swelled in a way that made tears pool in her eyes, before the layers of pressure over power and succession… ‘I loved you all… once, and you sold me out… all of you… for a little extra gold, some cows, chickens, and goats… you left me to this punishment. You know I didn’t do it… but Anton was right… it doesn’t matter.’ Tir wiped her eyes again and snorted hard, then swallowed as she followed the turning motion, the room was hotter than the hallway, and she heard the sound of water flowing nearby, and buckets pouring.
She shuddered once, shaking off the reverie she’d cast herself into, and focused on the moment, ahead of her, chains were being unlocked and people led away.
She took that memory of love, of familial affection, and locked it into a box in her heart. ‘Lodira was the beastman in our games… Tir will be the beastman in their lives. I will fuck… them… ALL!’ Tir vowed, and when her chains fell away, she opened her eyes, and stepped forward.
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When Nua woke up, it wasn’t quite bright outside. On her stomach, the blue haired girl slumbered soundly, and for a moment, alarm raced through the elven assassin, until the memories of the prior day came back to her. ‘Number Four… I’ll have to give you a new name… that won’t do. Or maybe I should let you pick one… I’d probably choose ‘Sobella’ but… I don’t have a right to use her to unburden myself.’
‘You didn’t have a right to get all those people killed either, but that didn’t stop you.’ She said to herself, and lay there for a while longer, stroking the blue haired girl’s back. ‘I saved one… I couldn’t have saved more, and at least they won’t suffer, and that is mercy enough. Maybe they even brought down a few beastmen along the way.’ It was a small consolation, but it was all Nua had.
She stirred the child slowly from her rest, sitting up and folding her arms around Number Four’s small pudgy body. She laid the girl down on the board with some regret, long enough to gather her things and put her pack back on, before the girl mewed and stirred, her big wide eyes began to stare around her.
Alarm appeared intuitively, until she too began to recall the prior day’s events, and allowed Nua to pick her up. “Hold on.” Nua ordered, and Number Four obeyed. With [Endurance of Unlife] and [Speed of Death] the sprint began. She tore over the ground of the ruined fort, circled behind it, charged full tilt away from the border, and ran toward the rising sun until she saw a road.
The woods on either side of the road had been cut back, but not too much, and the road itself was more like a wide dirt path, not even hard packed as the Tlalmok roads were. The earth was loose, and her feet sank easily within it, the sun overhead was warm on her skin and hair, in other circumstances it would have all been a profoundly pleasant feeling. She found herself moving about the road from one side to the other with her steps as she sought the harder surface, weaving about like a drunkard, her feet kicking up clods of dirt every time she pulled herself free from one step to the next.
Nua clung to Number Four quite firmly, though she took care not to hurt the girl, it was clear she was tired and uncomfortable from being carried for so long.
She, however, made no complaints either. If anything, despite the faint shifting of her small muscles and body, she seemed to gaze around her with exceptional fascination. Nua could feel her eyes following around a buzzing bee that seemed intent on flying beside them for several minutes before it found a flower more interesting. An interest Number Four obviously shared as she stared at it until it was well out of sight.
Nua smelled the village before she saw it, or rather, she smelled the paddies that the village no doubt worked. The distant smell of what she could only describe as a constant ‘fart’ wafted toward them. “What’s that smell…?” Number Four asked, crinkling her nose before pinching it tight.
“A rice paddy, they use bodily waste to help rice grow, and it makes the area around it smell foul. Nobody likes it, however people need to eat.” Nua answered and crinkled her own nose, “But yes, it does stink. Don’t worry, we won’t be long.”
The village was immediately familiar. “I’ve been here before…” Nua said quietly.
Number Four pushed her little hands against Nua’s shoulders so that she was leaning back to look at the adult’s face. “Have you seen the whole world…?”
“No, I haven’t, not even a small part of it really… but what do you know about the world, little one?” Nua asked as curiosity about her upbringing thus far got the better of the assassin.
“Some of the old numbers used to make new numbers, talked about other places, places they called ‘home’. Komestra, Pas’en, Kai’sen, Hanak’sen, and lots of other places. I guess they must have been nice places, because the ones from those places cried a lot.” Number Four answered with little sadness for someone else and a pensive look on her face when she looked back in the direction that she’d come from.
“How old are you… Number Four?” Nua asked finally.
“I don’t know what you mean.” She answered, furrowing her little blue eyebrows.
“How many summers have you seen?” Nua changed the question.
“What’s a summer?” Number Four asked in return.
Nua gritted her teeth, “Did your mating pair have other numbers after you?”
She nodded, “Lots.”
The knot twisted in Nua’s stomach, her eyes closed as she felt her heart racing, and chose to abandon the question. ‘She’s at least eight, maybe nine… it doesn’t matter anyway.’
“Never mind.” Nua said as she approached an old man brushing down a horse.
He was dressed in relatively new clothing, possibly almost brand new. Though his body was dirty from working, he also had a clearly full stomach and was humming contentedly while he brushed a horse. It was obviously young and well cared for, a new acquisition no doubt. "Old man." Nua said while she approached, shaking the dirt of the poorer road away from her feet when she spoke.
He turned around and recognized her immediately. "Duchessa!" He said and sank to one knee, "You're alive!"
"I am, last I checked, should I not be?" Nua asked in a joking manner, relief coming over her that she'd come across territory of her own. 'Thankfully my slaves should have been investing heavily around here and from the looks of it, they did.’
Her laugh was genuine when she gave it to him, as the knowledge was still fresh in her mind that had someone gotten their way, she should be quite dead.
“Well…” He said from down on his knees with his head bowed, “Your Majordomo and her assistant were here, they told us about how you went into the Tlalmok Empire for Lady Sobella. So… I assumed, we all assumed, you were already dead.”
‘Poor Kaiji… and probably, poor Priceless, that must have been hard to hear.’ Nua thought sympathetically before she carried on.
“Nice to see you remember me from my last trip through here… a few months ago I suppose, returning with Bracer. I see that my investment in this place has already offered much to you. New horse, new clothes, you’re looking well, and so is the rest of the place. Normally I would love to stay and find out how my servants performed their duties, but I must get back to Pas’en.” A warm smile flooded her face.
“That is quite a run, Duchessa.” The old man sounded quite impressed even with his head bowed.
“It is, or would be… but… I’ve been running for days, minus some sleep, and I am afraid I am quite near my limit. I must get back to Pas’en. I have this one to tend to, and I must report to the prince… I have so much to do and… I hate to ask, but can I borrow your horse, old man? I swear to his swift return as soon as I have reached home.” Nua replied urgently.
The old man’s skin went a little gray. “Duchessa… I, well… that is to say…”
“Raise your head.” Nua ordered and laid a hand on the weary old shoulder.
The old, gaunt features of the scraggly white bearded human raised up to look at her, he was the definition of old age, so she spoke as she would to a favored grandfather, her gentle voice alight with fiery sincerity, “I must get back to Pas’en. I just want to get home… will you help me?” She asked.
‘How under the stars did I spend my whole life with no luck at all, only to end up first with coins from a couple of slaves, ‘then’ to end up with a chance to nip a few spare coins from a noble woman, and a rich one at that…? It’s like all my life’s luck got pushed to the back end!’ Old man Midsa thought with equal parts annoyance and happiness.
He turned bright eyes up to the noblewoman who reeked of gold… treasure, and an urgent… ‘Is she desperate?’ He wondered about her need for his help.
Nua extended her hand out to him.
He still looked uncertain, but in his eyes she saw the darting look of the opportunist calculating what he could get for what was being asked of him.
“Well, I’d be privileged and all, but… see this horse cost quite a bit, and… well the risk being what it is…” He rubbed his palms together, then caught himself and wrung them instead as if concerned. “See, there’s, well there’s the matter of coin.”
“Coin?” Nua asked, one of her legs stepped back as if struck.
“Well, it’s just, I know you need it and all, but that’s my horse and, of course, I… well if you want to get back faster, I don’t mind selling him to you… for say…” He looked her up and down with covetous eyes as if appraising a prize turkey.
“Five gold coins.” He finally said and thrust his hand out toward her expectantly.
Nua felt her blood boil. She reached for her coin purse, “Very well, I ‘must’ get back…” She muttered, Number Four sniffled in her arms.
“I don’t like this place…” She was darting her head around and holding her nose.
“We’ll be gone soon…” Nua swore when her hand reached for the coin purse and found it gone.
“Damnit…” She cursed again. “Damnit, damnit, damnit!” She swore repeatedly and looked down at the empty hand, his fingers curling toward himself, eyes brimming with expectation.
“My coinpurse is gone, I can promise you your gold when I return… but I have no money with me.” Nua admitted reluctantly.
“You could… you could just give up your weapon or something, you’ve got a lot, you can always buy another knife, and I’ll bet that would cover the horse, My Lady…” His eyes darted to the expensive looking sheath, she could see him practically undressing the blade’s covering to ponder the wealth her treasured possession might bring him.
“I have… nothing I can part with but the last of my supplies, and those are not worth what you want for the horse.” Nua admitted begrudgingly.
“Then… well I am sorry my Duchessa… but I can’t help you.” Midsa shook his head, and slowly drew his hand back from her.
“I see.” New drew herself up straight, “I will make it back, not to worry.” She clutched Number Four a little more tightly, and began a long steady jog that could not carry her far enough from that village for her liking.
Number Four shook with fear, “You can buy eatmen?” She kept her eyes over Nua’s shoulder, back toward the village where she’d seen the curious creature they referred to as a ‘horse’.
“Eatmen… you mean beastmen? That wasn’t a beastman, it was just an ordinary beast, a horse. Lots of people ride them.” Nua replied, but tensed her hands around her back
“Why are you mad? Ah… what number is duchessa?” Number Four asked, clutching the oversized cloak around her body, her eyes darting about the world with equal parts fascination, excitement, and renewed fear recalling the unfamiliar animal.
“That isn’t a number, that is my title. But my name is Nua Calen Aiwenor. You can call me whatever you want, I suppose.” Nua replied, then looked over her shoulder back the way they had come.
“I’m angry… I’m angry because I sent help to that village, my most loyal servants, I have no doubt that they were quick to distribute money, learn their needs, and do what they had in their power to do.” Nua felt her fingers tighten and drew them away from Number Four’s waist to make a fist rather than risk her injury.
“His horse might have even come from the coins I provided. But when I came to him in need of help, help to get you back to the city faster, having just left the depths of the Tlalmok capital, what happened? He refused me.” Nua muttered curses as she ran onward at her steady jog.
“He cared nothing for me, nothing for you… and did not care about what might happen on the road. Anything, nothing, if he couldn’t profit, he did not care.” Nua shut her eyes against the present, but could not forget the memory of begging a human for any kind of help… and getting nothing from them.
She was talking to herself as she ran, Number Four had long since become lost in her own confusion. “He just had to have more. He saw you were naked, and left you without, he had a horse and saw me walking, and would give me nothing when he could take from me first… perhaps I shouldn’t resent his wanting money, he knows I’m wealthy, I can afford it. But withholding aid after I have twice enriched that village?” It was a bitter pill to swallow, and it went down hard into Nua’s gut.
Number Four looked up behind her over her shoulder. “I don’t understand.” She blinked her bright hazel eyes to her companion, wanting to know more, but Nua shook her head.
“It isn’t for children to worry about.” Nua replied in a quiet little voice, “Hold me more tightly, we’re going to go a little faster now, alright?”
Number Four’s small hands held close to those of the assassin, and Nua began a dead run down the downward sloping portion of the road.