THE SERPENT'S TOOTH, Part 10
After the Creed broke and ran, my body and spirit ached with the need to pursue them. In fact, to pursue them until they were all wiped from this world. The other Blood in our caravan felt the same - I could sense it within them. However, we had a larger responsibility. After all, we could not abandon our Wilder and Folk comrades. So I aided the caravan-captain in restraining the more impetuous Blood, and together we sent them back to their task of defending the caravan.
Some of the Folk and Wilder members of the caravan were experienced battlefield medicae, and they were doing their best to deal with casualties. Fortunately, we also had an actual healer among our number - a Folk woman who was a passenger with the caravan. She began aiding the injured Folk and Wilder, letting the medicae deal with lesser wounds while she dispensed spells of healing for more severe injuries. She even took the time to save Jeffrey's horse. Jeffrey was grateful, but when he tried to give her some coins, she merely waved them away and went on to the next of the injured.
Meanwhile, I had a problem within my own band.
"I thought I told you to protect Samantha and Sophie," I told Jessica.
Jessica bowed so deep that for a moment I though her hair would brush the dust of the trail. "My lord, please forgive me, but the best way to protect them was to help break the Creed charge."
A chuckle rumbled out of Gant's chest. Benjamin considered Jessica's words, then wryly shrugged his shoulders. Samantha and Sophie stared at me with alarm. They obviously feared that I would do something dreadful to Jessica. They had spent too much time in the clutches of their former mistress.
For a moment, I considered Jessica's words before replying.
"I really don't want to discourage initiative," I eventually said to her, "but I likewise don't want to ponder the exact phrasing of every order I give you."
"I'm sorry, my lord," Jessica said contritely.
"You'll be punished," I replied, "but I'll defer that until later. The horses still need to be watered. Take Samantha and Sophie and tend to them."
In the silence after I spoke, Sophie let out a long sign of relief. Then she clapped her hands over her mouth in reaction to the sheer inappropriateness of what she'd done. Gant laughed, reached down, and tousled her hair.
Jessica grabbed the girls and they quickly turned away.
"Jessica!" I called just before she vanished from my sight.
Jessica turned and bobbed a quick bow towards me.
"Where did you get the daggers from?" I asked.
She hesitated before answering. "The were on the belt of a Folk teamster. I borrowed them. He had a sword and didn't really need them."
"Remember to return them," I told her.
"Yes, my lord," Jessica replied with another bow. Then she and the girls turned back to their task.
Once they were gone, I let out a long sigh of my own. I suspected it would not be my last when dealing with Jessica.
Gant leaned against his club. "Beating her will do nothing," he warned me.
I nodded in agreement. "Actually, it would be counter-productive. I'm sure the cell-mistress did her best to deal with Jessica's rebellious spirit - and obviously failed."
"I warned you that she has a mind of her own," Benjamin said with a shrug. "She's going to be a handful."
Gant grunted in agreement.
After taking the time to reorganize, the caravan limped on. It was still two hours until sundown and Christopher obviously wanted to put every mile that he could underneath our wheels.
The Blood among us healed quickly, of course. Meanwhile, our injured Folk and Wilder did the best they could with the aid of our healers. We had lost a half-dozen of our number, and we carried the bodies of our slain with us. Nobody likes to bury their dead in territory haunted by Creed. After all, why should we feed the animals?
After sundown, we continued for another hour as the moon rose ahead of us. We eventually made camp on a defensible hilltop that overlooked the trail - arriving at that location was obviously the reason that Christopher had decided to push on into the early evening. Christopher decreed that we would have double guards that night. That meant none of his people would get a full night's sleep, but nobody complained. An encounter with the Creed always has the effect of making everyone very practical.
Christopher visited me after he gave out his assignments for the night.
"You and your people did well," he said politely. He looked tired - I hoped he would allow himself some sleep that night.
"As did yours," I replied. "That was an unusually large raid."
Christopher nodded. "They've been getting worse over the last few months. I'll have to increase my guards - and my rates in order to pay for them. The caravaneer's guild has been resisting that, but I'll have words with them when we get to Roche."
Then Christopher held up a pair of coin-purses. "I saw what your spider-servants did. They broke the Creed charge and should be rewarded."
Actually, I had the right to claim any reward as my own. Christopher was clarifying what I wanted done. I nodded in the direction of our small camp. We'd built it next to the wagon that was our position in the caravan. The two teamsters from the wagon - a Blood female ronin and a orange-haired Wilder male - were cooking a simple meal with us.
Benjamin accepted the money and exchanged some courteous words with Christopher. Jessica seemed a little lost, but bowed politely to the caravan-captain. Once Christoper left us, she immediately handed her purse to me.
"This should be yours," I told her as I weighed the purse in my hand, "but I think it's time to invoke your punishment."
I gave the purse to Samantha and Sophie. They were completely astonished.
"It's ours?" Samantha asked, just to be sure there was no misunderstanding. Meanwhile, Sophie had dumped the coins into her hand and was busily counting them.
"Yes," I replied.
"We've never had money before!" Samantha said excitedly. "What should we do with it?"
"Buy something," Gant suggested from off to the side.
"Right!" Samantha said enthusiastically as Sophie handed her half of their new-found wealth.
Then Samantha frowned and asked, "But what should we buy?"
"This is a merchant caravan," I pointed out. "I'm sure somebody will be happy to sell you something."
"I don't suppose I can convince you to save at least some of your money?" Benjamin asked. He had the air of a man who knew his question was purely rhetorical.
"No. Money is for spending," Samantha responded immediately. She said that as if it was an immutable law of the universe. And perhaps she was right.
Then, clutching their coins, she and Sophie ran off.
"They're going to get along fine with Anna," I muttered to myself, "but there might be trouble with Emma."
Gant grunted in agreement.
Samantha and Sophie eventually returned with a mixed hoard of food and clothing. The food - pickled eggs and fresh vegetables - became part of our evening meal. After we ate, the two girls eagerly modeled their new dresses for us. As was perhaps predictable, their tastes tended towards the loudly colorful.
They'd also purchased a bundle of small daggers. They didn't do as good a job of hiding that from me as they thought, but I saw no reason to object.
Benjamin and I took the first watch. Everyone else dug out their bedrolls and settled down for what would surely be a poor night's sleep.
I walked to the back of the caravan, hoping to have a word with Jeffrey. I was wondering if he had any insight into the recent increase in Creed activity. However, Jeffrey was already asleep and I didn't want to disturb him.
On the way back to the others, I encountered the caravan's Angel. She was perched on the tarp-covered cargo of one of the wagons, peering out into the darkness with her bow in her hands. She was quite pretty - with short-cropped black hair that matched her dark wings. Like most Angels, she was slim but muscular.
She gave me an awkward sitting bow when she saw me.
"That was good shooting today," I said quietly. Which was true. I never saw her miss.
The girl smiled proudly. "Thank you, my lord."
I intended to continue on, but then something caught my eye.
"What's that?" I asked, pointing towards some kind of charm or amulet she was wearing around her neck.
The Angel took it off and held it up. In the moonlight, I could see it more clearly.
"The captain had us behead all of the dead Creed," she told me. "I took this from one of them."
The amulet consisted of a fine chain from which hung a tiny stylized figure of an exotically armored woman who was wielding a huge sword. It was too finely made to be of Creed manufacture - they're barely able to even cure the hides they wear as clothing. The dead Creed had obviously taken it from someone he'd murdered.
"Do you know what that is?" I asked.
The Angel shook her head.
"It represents Illyana the Mad," I told her.
The Angel gave me a long look. Then she suddenly heaved the amulet away. For a moment, moonlight glittered on the chain of the necklace as it spun through the air. It landed in some brush a good thirty yards away.
"I didn't know," the Angel told me desperately. Her voice was shaking. "I swear I didn't know, my lord!"
I could see fear glittering in the Angel's eyes. If I told anyone that she had been wearing the symbol of the demon mistress...
"Beware of anything you take from the Creed," I told her, "and we will never speak of this again."
The Angel slid from her perch and knelt before me. She was about to kiss my boots when I put a hand on her forehead to stop her.
"Get back on watch," I ordered.
Back with the others, I stared up at the stars. Because the moon was up, the night sky didn't have its usual dark depth. Only a few of the brightest moving stars were visible. The scholars who claim those stars are ships circling our world say that they are the ships nearest to us.
Gant was snoring - a deep rumble that always reminded me of an avalanche. The orange-haired teamster was wrapped up in a cloak as he watched over his sleeping friend. Samantha and Sophie were tangled up in their blankets, still wearing their just-purchased finery. Jessica was next to them, an arm draped over the girl's bodies.
"Is everything all right, my lord?" Benjamin whispered from the darkness. He and I were still on watch and would be for some hours to come.
"I think I just saw a sign," I responded.
I could sense Benjamin's startled reaction. I was no longer a seeker, and the half-mad world of signs and portents was not supposed to be a part of my day-to-day reality.
"Was it a good sign?" he asked.
"I'm not sure."