Her knees scrapped the floor as she was violently dragged by her hair. Her hands clutched at the thick wrist to lessen the pain but it helped only a little. But even if she could, she didn't pull back nor tried to escape the grip.
Nina hadn't been prepared for this, usually the first one to wake, she thought she would be ready. She opened her eyes but all she saw was dark blur. The morning bell didn't ring today, a skip in duty Tristan wasn't known for. Yes, she remembered the boy and wondered if he too remembered and told others about what she had done
No, she told herself, it couldn't be.
The spell she had used had been strong, almost too strong, enough that it had left her empty even now. And because of this she had overslept, too much exhaustion from the day before and without the bell she failed to wake up in time. They came to her as she had been sleeping, and dragged her out of her cot, only barely she managed to not scream in shock and fright and give a hint that she could indeed talk.
What else could be the reason?
Olean, Nina cursed in her mind. She had lied to get some time alone with the girl, too tired and desperate to think of any other way then. If she waited, she would probably have found a safer time where no one would have had a reason to suspect her. But then, it could also be that she wouldn't have had any chance at all.
She was taken through the basement corridor of her chamber to upstairs. She recognized Kolte dragging her. Hard not to with his massive form. He was the Elder's dog- like many called him behind his back. And Nina agreed. He looked like an animal too. A beast, a giant, hairy and always angry. How could he have fathered someone like Laanimere really confused her. At times she let her mind wander to an idea containing a very common case of an unfaithful wife. But Laanimere was his daughter, regardless of the mother and there was no two ways about that. The two had too many similarities between them, just not physically.
Holes in the upper corner were still dark to suggest that it wasn't even morning yet.
Was Tristan on it too? Why did he not ring the bell?
Questions, each one promising a worse answer but Kolte seemed to be in a hurry, whatever it was, she would know soon.
***
Nicola was there looking much worse than Nina ever saw her as. Folks were usually afraid of that woman, rightfully so but it seemed the fear had snapped finally. Six men were around her, lynching her. Couldn't have happened to a better person but why now?
Nicola's eyes fell on Nina and the resentment she saw through the gloom in that older woman's visage made her choke. Nicola barked at her with her lungs out, "SHE! DID! THIS! GET HER! Nina knew they were going to punish her again without hearing her side.
What it would be this time? The branding? Test her concoctions? Or something more...Vile?
There were wounds on Nicola, fresh bruises and a thick stream of blood dripped down her lower lip, completely coating her chin maroon red, like her tongue had been sliced off. But Nina was certain it was not something that extreme. She looked like a cornered cat, nervous and trembling, and every so often her eyes snapped side to side as if expecting someone to jump at her from the darkness.
Never had she seen her like this before, afraid of her own shadow, almost pitiful. Yet Nicola was trying her best to keep straight despite her position and keeping her dignity. She tried to hide it, her fear but was failing miserably. Her one hand was clutching at her dress around her chest, like holding onto something precious. Not just the beating then, Nina thought, someone had apparently used other means to take care of their frustration.
Nina turned to look around her, still and dark silhouettes... it could be anyone. And then doubted it was just one. Nicola was a beautiful woman, easily the most beautiful in the village. And a lot of men had her in their mind as they went to sleep every night as she made sure keep it like that. Always wearing a little less, showing a little more, the smile, the challenge Nicola posed on others. It was not always natural, she also had her brews and knew how to use them well. Taking pleasure in driving the men mad, even breaking few households. But she herself had no desire for them, any man or woman. It lied on somewhere darker, something ...raw.
Was this what she deserved in the end then?
Nina asked herself and found no answers. She didn't know how to judge someone like that, but her mind didn't agree to what had happened.
This place... it only got more frustrating!
She though back to when she first came here. Following after a legend and losing its tracks here. Her partner and she decided to wait for tit o turn up. For a break, for a lead to turn up in time. Even then they knew the village hid something darker in it but decided it was just the nerves. This close to two demigods unsettled them both.
Folks were friendly and used to outsiders who came seeking to go across the mountains. Also, Nina and her partner's cover story was solid like always. Four months they waited before the attack and her partner died to it when it happened. Leaving her alone in the situation to finish their task, her task. But it was all gone now, only goal was to get away which until yesterday seemed unlikely. Now that her guild had sent support which she was still not sure if it was for her. When she asked Olean who had sanctioned this job for them, she knew nothing.
A shadow shifted and someone stepped closer. A shorter man, roundish due to his clothing, balding head and large hooked nose. Nina recognized Lepin even in the darkness. His shifty steps and smug stance hard not to see. She hated him even more than she did Nicola and she wasn't the only one.
Again, Nina turned around to see and failed. No one had bothered to burn a torch. They wanted to hide themselves, to be as far away from guilt as possible. Lepin was standing closer to them than the others, a center speaker. Wearing his smug face he looked down on Nicola who opened her mouth but only rasping voice came out. The blood on her mouth was more serious than Nina had thought. He stepped toward the kneeling woman with purpose but a quick glance toward them, toward Kolte stopped him.
From her bare feet on the stone floor Nina felt around her, the weights of each person in the room like a touch of fingertips on her mind. As she couldn't see this was the only way to know how many there were. She was still recovering but this much she could do easily without backlash. This entire damn village could go to hell, ...except for the kids.
Kolte pushed her on the floor, rock hit the knee and pain flashed inside her. She laid near Nicola's kneeling form, groaning she sat. In the rough circle of shadowy figures that was formed around them, someone sat in a chair, leaning on his arm on the armrest. The Elder, the wiry thin man, old and ashen cracked skin that looked as if any moment he would crumble. But somehow he was still alive when many less affected ones had perished from their illness.
"For the last time, what did you tell her?" It was that slimy Lepin, the rat, another one who deserved the worst. Nina always found it funny how similar these two were and how much they hated each other. But from what she was able to find, he lived away for years before returning to R'qsar. Lepin had been a soldier, which Nina couldn't see no matter how much she tried.
Lepin demanded respect he didn't deserve, complained when he didn't get them, seeing everyone below him and as if that they owed him for his service to the king. The king didn't think so, why should the others? But more than anything, he wanted to show his dominance over Nicola. And as he did that now, his smug grin threatened to break his face. Suddenly the hate she felt radiating for Nicola made sense, Nina had been the reason the older woman was in that position. For that she didn't much feel bad but in doing so she had given so much pleasure to Lepin. And though it was indirect, it was also bile rousingly disgusting. She felt soiled from the inside and an enormous need to scrub her skin clean.
No, no. she needed to rectify it. Nina couldn't be the reason to have someone like Lepin his time of the day. She needed to do something...