"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely
under conditions of absolute reality."
-Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
"…We could ransom them."
"Don't be stupid. They wouldn't pay much for the man, so what do you think they'd pay for the girl? Nothing. It's pointless."
"But we would get gold."
"And then they'd come back later and try to wipe us out again. Think ahead, dumbass!"
Why can't they keep it down…? I mentally grumbled, my brows twitching. Wait… patrol… forest… bandits… My eyes flew open. Bandits!
The light scalded my eyes, and I automatically squinted back against it. After a second, I forced my eyelids back again, and devoured what my gaze had to offer me. Bright orange light was covering everything. After a moment of haziness, I registered that it was nearing sunset, and I was looking at a clearing with several tents at one end, horses tethered at the other, and weapon stands closer to the tent end than the horse end. I moved to brush my bangs out of my eyes, and was caught by surprise once again—my hands were bound. Immediately after, my mind cleared enough for my consciousness to be assaulted by a slew of questions.
Why are my hands tied? Where am I? Why aren't I dead yet? Where's my horse? Is she alright? And do the other knights know about this? Wouldn't they have come to the rescue? Or does the Keep not pay ransoms for its subjects? Are they going to let the bandits kill me? I don't want to die. Wait… What happened to—
"—Rolith?" The last part of the most recent question came out through my mouth, but it was a disheartened mumble that I found difficult to match up with my normal tone.
"Yeah?"
The response came from over my right shoulder, and I twisted my head back and around, craning my neck to look. I saw a glimpse of dark, bronze-ish hair that seemed mixed with a little bit of gold… if you underlaid a bit of dark gold, edged it with dark brown, and slapped some light yellow highlights into a few parts. And maybe touched the underneath parts with a tiny bit of burnt sienna.
He turned his head then, and I caught a glance of his hazel eyes. Twisting my wrists a little bit again, I realized that my hands must be tied to his. Looking down at my legs from where we sat on the dusty edge of the clearing, they looked longer than usual, and there was a piece of rope tied none too loosely around my ankles.
"So… why didn't they just kill us?" I asked in a quiet murmur tiredly. I could easily fall back asleep again, given the chance, but now that I knew where I was, I wouldn't let myself.
"They're talking about ransom. Others are arguing that they should kill us," he told me in a low voice over his shoulder. He sounded irritable, frustrated, and just a little bit… defeated. "Then leave our heads outside the Keep's walls. And then there are two or three that think we could just be sold to slave traders in the Sandsea, make some extra gold, and leave it at that, but the rest think that's too much trouble."
"Well… what's the majority?" I hazarded quietly, my gaze zeroing in on the group of arguing masked men dressed in black and dark green. I felt the Captain shrug against my shoulders.
"It seems evenly split between killing us and ransoming us."
"You seem pretty calm about this."
"What good would losing my head do? No pun intended."
"Well-played… But aren't we going to try to… y'know?"
"Do what?"
"Escape or something. There's always a way out of things like this. You hear of knights, heroes, Mages, rogues, and Warriors getting into scrapes all the time, but they always get out of it," I told him softly with not entirely sound reasoning. Rolith made a noncommittal noise.
"That's just because you never hear about the ones that do get killed," he muttered over his shoulder. He was facing the woods, and we were back-to-back, but even though I couldn't see him, I could almost feel him look up in the hopes that the sky would give him some sort of idea. It seemed to be something he did often.
"Well…" I said slowly, "The sun's going down, and it's starting to get dark… any chance that they'll wait until morning?"
"There's every chance," Rolith replied. "These bandits… erm… they have a one-track mind."'
"Like me?" I felt his quiet chuckle rumble through both sets of armor, and it made me smile again.
"Like you," he agreed. "But they're a little less focused on the one thing they think of. It's easy to distract them, and they take the short route on things."
"They take shortcuts," I clarified. I was still learning about these guys—after all, I had only been at the Keep for about a week. I felt Rolith nod against the back of my head.
"Yes. They can only handle doing one thing at a time, and since it's getting dark, and they would really rather sleep than deal with this in the morning…"
"…They'll probably actually decide at dawn?" I guessed quietly.
"Close," Rolith answered. "They will—most likely—make the decision now, sleep on it, and execute the plan in the morning, but not at dawn."
"I'm really hoping that wasn't another pun," I grumbled under my breath, and I felt Rolith laugh quietly again. "But it could be worse."
"Oh?" he asked skeptically, and I shuddered theatrically, twisting my hands uncomfortably behind me.
"Yeah. There could be spiders." Just the thought had a shiver rippling from one side of my shoulders to the other, and I heard our armor rattle together as a result. There was a moment of silence.
"… Spiders… Really?" Rolith finally asked in that 'are you kidding me?' tone of voice. The same tone that questioned my sanity, and the same one I heard almost daily. In response, I nodded quite seriously, kind of like a child might when explaining to their parents why it was that the world turned, or why wood was flammable.
Or, as I had years ago, how babies were made.
"Yes, really. They're evil little bugs," I stated quietly. I took advantage of the stunned silence to look up at the sky, and realized how much I was relying on my so-so night vision right now. There were a handful of stars sprinkled across one side of the sky, and on the other side, there was a sort of burnt orange color staining the very edges of the trees on that side of the clearing. It slowly shifted into a deep, dark blue that was almost black, and it was rapidly spreading like ink over to the orange side. If it were a war, the blue side would be winning. I liked blue. Blue was a nice color.
Also, there was a half-moon out. This meant there was enough light to see by, but not so much that it was as bright as day—that just made it irritating, most of the time. But a half-moon is perfect. There's a beautiful silver sheen over everything, and you don't have to strain your eyes to see, though you still have to use your night vision.
Thankfully, my vision was still good enough that I could see two particular horses that stood out in the group of them that were tethered at the long horizontal pole. One was a silvery gray in the faint light, and the other—the one that was facing us—had a rather distinct bridle. I was glad to see that both had escaped injury. It would have been horrible if either of them had been harmed, and I didn't want to take responsibility for that having happened.
Looking over at the campsite part of the huge clearing, I noticed it had gone mostly quiet. I nudged my right shoulder back against Rolith's to capture his attention. "Is… that a big axe, or is it just me?" I breathed, indicating the seven-foot-tall weapon with a four-foot blade that had just been rested against one of the main tent poles.
"It's not you," Rolith murmured, his head drooping a little. "That's an execution axe."
My blood seemed to freeze in my veins.
"…What?" I managed in a slightly strangled voice.
"And they're probably going to kill us in the morning," he continued dryly.
"Are you saying I should take comfort in that?"
"Almost."
"Great," I muttered sarcastically. "That means we have… about six—no, seven hours… Alright. Rolith, I have something for you to do," I told him. I had a plan starting to swirl around in my head, and I wanted to set it into motion before consulting him so that he wouldn't have a chance to turn back. I was just immature like that. "First, do you ever carry a knife on you? Dagger, throwing knife, anything?"
"No," he said a little suspiciously. "Why?"
"I'll tell you in a minute. I need you to do something for me." This was going to sound strange until I explained it, but it could be fun to watch him squirm, so I might not explain. I took a quick breath, then continued. "I need you to reach under the skirt of my armor and feel around."
The long, potentially painful silence told me exactly what the Captain thought of that. He didn't even twitch behind me, and I could barely feel him breathing. I knew very well how that must have sounded, but it was fun to mess with his head. It was fun to mess with anyone's head, actually.
"Calliope…" he started slowly, sounding like he would slap me over the back of the head given the option. I couldn't help the broad grin that quickly spread across my lips. So I liked making people feel awkward sometimes, sue me. It was fun.
"Yes, sir?"
From the inarticulate sounds Rolith was making, I had a pretty good idea that he was having a great deal of trouble finding the right words to put to his thoughts at the moment. It happened a lot to most guys when they were put in this situation. After a solid two minutes, I decided that I could afford to spare him, and cut him off in the middle of one of those wordless mumblings.
"I keep a small dagger in a sheath strapped against the outside of my right thigh," I relented in a quiet whisper, tipping my head back to rest against the Captain's left shoulder so he could hear me better. I still wasn't going to risk being overheard by any of the bandits. Frankly, just the fact that they hadn't put us under guard was shocking to me. "As I'm sure you can figure out, we can use it to cut these ropes, and then we make tracks."
"Oh? How so? On foot, or did you have a better plan?"
"Well, I was thinking that our horses are right over there," I said mildly, jiggling my right shoulder just a little bit to indicate the direction. It made a faint clinking sound. That was another thing we would have to watch—the sounds our armor made. These suits weren't exactly designed with stealth and ambushing in mind. "These rock heads didn't even bother to put a guard on us, and they don't watch the horses. I'm assuming there's at least two or three guys around right outside the clearing, though," I murmured, jerking my chin to get my bangs out of my eyes.
"And how will we get past them?" Rolith asked skeptically, balking. He might have been the sort of guy to think everything through, but I wasn't having it.
"Look," I grouched, "You may be resigned to dying, but I am not. I'm not going to go out of this world without having tried first. So are you with me, or not?"
"It's not that," he tried artlessly. "It's just… I mean, it's a sound plan, hypothetically, but…"
"But what?" I demanded quietly. "I can't reach my knife. My arms don't bend that way! And I'm not leaving your sorry metal butt here, because nobody gets left behind." That was one of the many small things my father had taught me. No comrades are abandoned. If they turned to the dark side or whatever, then fine, they can be left. But if they turned back to your side, you went after them.
After all, my family takes after their own.
"Well… Calliope… you're a woman."
"… And I'm sure there was a point there somewhere, aside from stating the obvious."
"I'm not reaching under the skirt of your armor!" he protested in a low voice. "It-it's not—"
"Now is not the time for chivalry!" I declared quietly, throwing my head backwards to knock it against Rolith's. It hurt, but it was worth it. "Rolith, if you want to get out of here alive, you will get that knife." My voice lowered into a growl, and at the moment, I couldn't have been more serious. "If you don't get it, and we just so happen to get out of here, I swear to Lore I will find a way to kill you myself. Now reach!"
It seemed that did it. After a slightly pained sound, I felt cautious armored fingers tapping at the skirt of my armor, trying to find the part closest to the outside of my thigh and not a more… dangerous area. He was on a minefield full of Lim's stink bombs, and he knew it. But after a few moments of walking the tightrope, I felt the small dagger come loose of the sheath, and then a repetitive sawing motion. Since both of us wore the armor gloves that were a part of the suit, there wasn't much fear of someone's hands getting sliced (thankfully), but it still took almost a minute for Rolith to cut through the three thick pieces of rope.
When I felt the ropes go slack, I hesitantly moved my arms around so they were in a normal position, and I almost groaned out loud. My shoulders were beyond sore from being in that position for so long—hours, apparently. We had set out on the patrol about an hour after noon, and the sun had set not long ago. Pushing myself to my feet, I cupped the ball of my shoulder and shifted it around, observing Rolith do a similar thing. I smirked.
"Just because you're more muscular doesn't mean that you're immune to this kind of stuff, Captain," I deadpanned faintly. "Now let's go."
"Isn't that my line?" he challenged in a quiet murmur. I didn't take the bait, and instead jerked a thumb back at where the horses were all tied.
"Come on already!" I whispered impatiently. The horses that I didn't recognize—though well-used to human interaction—clearly weren't used to being disturbed once the sun had gone down, and I eyed them warily as I went around them all to get to my gray mare after pointing the bay out to Rolith. She pricked her ears at me as I pulled at where her reins were knotted around the wood, and I shushed her, giving her thick gray neck a quick stroke before starting to pick at the tie.
"They don't tie horses like this back at the Keep," I muttered under my breath as I finally managed to undo the leather, then gave the mare's girth a quick tug to check that it was tight. Since she hadn't been being ridden when the bandits brought her back, they had loosened the strap holding the saddle on. At least they had that much sense. Biting my lip and looping her reins around my left arm, I used both hands to crank the girth up a hole or two so the saddle was secure, then hurriedly slipped her reins over her head before giving a little hop to get my left foot in her stirrup.
Once in the saddle, I wiggled my butt so I wouldn't be easily moved, then tapped my heels against her sides to get her moving. I passed the place where Rolith's stallion had been, and he wasn't there. Neither was Rolith. Assuming they had already gotten to the entrance of camp, I clicked in a low voice to the mare to get her going just a little faster than a jog.
"Come on, sweetie," I whispered to thin air. "Let's get out of here."
Sure enough, Rolith was going with his bay at a quick jog through the woods. He was sticking to where he could see grass and avoiding leaves, so I did the same. Getting out of here would be easy, but making sure they didn't hear us would take a little more concentration. Also, it wasn't that we would be covering our tracks—it didn't matter if they knew where we were going—but it would matter if we could get back to the Keep before they realized we were gone. And that was the kicker here. That would be the turning point. It was the difference between slipping away without a ripple, making a clean getaway, and having to make a run for it. But the further Rolith and I got from the bandits' camp, the faster we went. But unspoken agreement, within ten minutes of our leaving, we were both at a flat-out gallop on our steeds, ducking low branches and jumping fallen logs. My heart was hammering about as hard as my mare's was, if her breathing was any indication. By the time the forests gained some sense of familiarity, we were shooting out of the deeper woods and back onto the track that led to the Keep.
Now that the danger was past, I allowed myself to resign to exhaustion… to the disappearance of the adrenaline that had helped us keep going to get out of that stupid camp. And whenever adrenaline fades, it leaves you an empty shell, feeling absolutely drained.
Was it a daring escape? I wonder as Rolith bangs on the gates, calling for the night watchmen to open up. Hardly. But we got away alive, and it wasn't our fault that we were ambushed. We were paying attention. Or he was, at least. A handful of knights surround us as we re-enter Oaklore Keep, all chattering and asking questions. Rolith might have satisfied some of them, but I know that for once, I didn't open my mouth. So it's true, I mused. For some people, shock comes after the fact.
I could be content with that.
Especially since not much else mattered aside from faceplanting into my mattress, having just stripped off my armor and left it sitting on my floor.
Hello again, my freaky darlings!
Funny thing about this chapter is, I finished it in four days flat, despite having to play professional at a school career fair our class is hosting. I get to be a graphic designer, since a classmate is an author/writer, but I don't mind. :) Those of you who have my deviantArt account know that I'm not exactly lacking in the right-brained part of life.
Anyway, reviews! Y'know, from all that shameless fishing for reviews last chapter? ;D
MusicalPoetess: *high fives* Schwester-friend! Danke, danke, danke! *bows* I shall! B) You may or may not enjoy the coming chapters, depending on your POV. ^^
And I already know how to curse in Russian... I believe I'll pass that on to you! :D
Arieta41: Calliope has a simpler, brighter look at life, and I had to really alter my writing style transitioning from Magiya to Calliope. :) I'm glad you liked it, I really am, cause that means I did a good job with that!
And yes, the mare will definitely have a name in the future. Here's hoping it's one of the ones you liked. Tango was really close, I have to say.
Bahahaha, here's your proof that they're fine! :D
Ellexinda: Hi there, nice to meet you! :D You're right... for the most part (except for us loving fangirls/boys), Dragonfable is left alone. D'x It deserves more love!
Also, thank you so much for taking my "poor me" comments to heart! *glomp* I think that, in our own way, everyone's a bit of a romantic at heart. ^^ Somewhere in that cold, barren wasteland or tundra, y'know... right there. And of course I'll go back and fix that typo. :) Thanks for bringing that to my attention! To be quite honest, I've come across so many of those while reading many other fanfictions that they almost completely escape my notice sometimes. ^^ I might go check out your fanfiction- I'm in the need for a dark, slightly angsty fanfiction because I've been playing martyr for a week. :) Looking forward to talking to you again!
Thanks so much if you're reading this, I'm really thrilled that you've read this far. :) I can't even begin to describe how much of a little thrill it gives me to see the little "New Review" message in my inbox. :D Thanks so much! GLOMP TIME!
*massive uber atomic glomp*
If you've got questions, feel free to PM me or leave a review asking! :) I'm perfectly happy to answer any question put to me—as long as it doesn't involve any of my real information or story spoilers. X3 I'm not going to ruin the story for anybody. It would alienate so many users on Fanfiction…
And I had a thought! Yes, I know, always a dangerous thing, but this is a good one! Do you think I should post bloopers up in the A/N? :D
See you next time!
Juliet