---Indigo---
"That's not true! Don't listen to him!" Nathan scrambled up from the floor. "Lillian, he's lying to you. I do business honorably!"
"Oh really, Nathan? Then why did you sell me that huge import of tea, telling me it will fetch a great price on the market, when you knew the price of tea was going to plummet? I spent my entire fortune on that cargo! My wife, my young children—they're all starving! If you ask any of these men here, they will tell you similar experiences. We are all victims of Nathan's trickery!" Sneaky Joe shouted, his eyes red. The group of bandits shouted in agreement.
I looked down at Nathan from atop the horse. He was paler than ever, and sweat beaded on his forehead. His fidgety hands and darting eyes told me that Sneaky Joe wasn't lying.
"Well, you shouldn't have spent all of your money!" Nathan finally yelled back. "Why were you dumb enough to spend all of your savings on my cargo?"
"You knew we were desperate!" Sneaky Joe grabbed Nathan by his collar and yanked him close. "There was civil unrest, and famine, and rumors of Lord Victor's army closing in. You knew we just wanted to make some money to feed our families! And you played us!"
More victims of Lord Victor's regime. Now that I examine the bandits more closely, I noticed how their clothes were near-threadbare and how hungry and tired they looked. They weren't bad people; they were just villagers trying to survive in a time of turmoil.
"Sneaky Joe, I understand that you are all just trying to survive, but if you take the lives of others and steal their livelihood, you're not any better than Nathan." I said slowly. Sneaky Joe released Nathan and stepped back, turning to focus on me.
"Well then, you give us a solution, little girl. If we don't seize his cargo, our families are going to starve and die. We need to get money. Nathan has plenty; taking this cargo won't kill him."
"Do you even know how much these fabrics cost?!" Nathan yelped. "You're going to have to kill me first before you can take my cargo!"
Sneaky Joe glared back at Nathan with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Well, if you insist, I'm happy to oblige." From his belt around his waist, Sneaky Joe produced a sharp dagger. Nathan took a couple of steps back.
I spurred my horse forward so that I was in between Nathan and Sneaky Joe. Both of them looked to me in surprise. "Stop. No one is killing anyone. Nathan, give me my gold coins," I ordered.
Hesitantly, Nathan reached into the folds of his robe and took out a small drawstring pouch. He counted out five gold coins and handed them to me. I noticed that the bandits' gazes, including Sneaky Joe's, followed the coins.
Sitting on top of my horse, I looked out at the group of bandits and addressed them. "This is how much Nathan was going to pay me if I made sure his cargo arrived at his destination safely. It's not an exceptionally large sum of money, but I hope it is enough to buy you all some food for your families." Under their shocked gazes, I tossed the coins to Sneaky Joe, who caught them in one hand.
"Are you sure? You're trading your paycheck for this weasel's cargo," he said cautiously while looking at me with disbelief. "You sure you won't regret it?"
I shook my head. "I, too, have experienced the terrible deeds Lord Victor's army has done, so I greatly empathize with you. We are all just trying to survive. It's clear you all need the coins more than I do. So take it, and let us pass."
"You can have my paycheck too," Rachel piped up. "Nathan, please give my share to Joe."
"Include mine also," Lucian added. "Go and buy some food to feed your families. We can do without the gold."
The bandits stared at us disbelievingly. Even Sneaky Joe was at a loss for words. Then suddenly, one of the bandits fell to his knees. "Thank you, kind heroine! You don't know how much this means to me! You just saved my newborn son from starvation."
"Me too! Now my eighty-year-old mother is going to have something to eat for the first time in days." Another one knelt down.
"Thank you, kind heroes!"
"Thank you!"
A chorus of grateful thanks rose up over the dirt road, where the group of black-clad men knelt. Some even touched their foreheads to the ground, a sign of the utmost respect. Sneaky Joe's eyes softened, and for a second, I thought I saw tears.
"Thank you, dear children," he said quietly. "You have not only saved these men from a criminal path, but also their families from starvation and death. You saved many lives today." He motioned for his men to let us pass. "May Fortune smile upon you, little girl. We will always remember your kind deed. If we cross paths again at a time when you or your friends are in need, my men and I will do whatever you ask."
I bowed my head slightly, acknowledging his proposal. "Thank you, Sneaky Joe. We are all citizens of Crystallea, and the only thing I ask of you is to defend the land from Lord Victor."
Sneaky Joe bowed his head too. "That does not need to be requested. We will never work with that monster. We were all honest, hardworking farmers, and we do not like seeing a tyrant ruining the land. We will do our best to fight back, and if the Rosewood Seven ever pass our way, we will aid them to the best of our abilities."
Another mutual bow, and Sneaky Joe turned to face his men. "Let's go!"
I watched as they retreated into the forest, disappearing within minutes into the dense trees. If only they knew who we were…
* * * * *
Nathan was less jittery the rest of the journey, but he was careful around me. When we arrived at Casewick, he paid Sam, Keith, and John, and then turned to Lucian, Rachel, and me. "So, um, thanks for protecting my cargo," he said awkwardly. "What you three did back there was impressive."
"We weren't doing it for you," Lucian growled. "We were doing it to protect innocent lives from being harmed." He glanced back at Sam, Keith, and John, who were walking off toward a local tavern.
"I knew there was something fishy with you," Rachel stated. "I can't believe you would do such an awful thing! Cheating those poor men out of their fortunes. We should've made you pay them all back."
Nathan gulped, eyeing our swords nervously. "I'm really sorry, I really am. I promise to not do anything like that again. I promise to do business honestly from now on. Just please don't hurt me!"
"We wouldn't hurt you," I smiled humorlessly at him. "I don't want to waste my blade on such a worthless opponent. But now we're at our destination, I do want to make a proposal."
"Wh-what kind of proposal?"
"Since we saved your precious cargo and escorted it safely to Casewick, we want something as compensation, especially since we gave our paychecks to the bandits to save your fabrics." I said in an even tone. "Would you be so kind as to give us some horses so we can get to our sick grandmother faster?"
"Horses? Um, uh…" Nathan seemed reluctant to give them to us. "I can only spare two, max, and, you know, horses cost a lot…"
"Fine. We'll pay you. Two gold coins per horse." Lucian offered. Nathan raised an eyebrow. Normally, horses like his would cost at least a hundred gold coins.
"That's all we can give you, because we spent our paychecks trying to save your cargo." I placed emphasis on the last part of the sentence.
Nathan finally relented. "Fine. Two gold coins per horse. Give me four gold coins, and the two horses you were riding on are yours."
We made the transaction and parted ways, with Nathan off to do his business and us to look for a place to stay for the night. "Were we too mean to him?" Rachel fretted. "I felt like we were forcing him to sell the horses to us."
"Don't worry about it," Lucian reassured her. "We did save his sorry ass and his load of precious fabrics. Besides, the loss of two hundred gold coins isn't going to make him go bankrupt. He deserves to feel cheated after he cheated all the villagers out of their money."
"I suppose you're right," Rachel sighed. "I hope those villagers are doing okay."
"I hope they keep their promises," I said. "They said they would aid the Rosewood Seven if they ever passed by. We need all the help we can get in trying to defeat Lord Victor. If we ever meet them again, I think we would definitely need the assistance of Sneaky Joe and his men."