"Hey, you!" Valentin woke up from a strong push in the shoulder.
Valentin rubbed his eyes, a woman in military with a scimitar behind her back stood in front of him, she was about 30 years old. Next to her stood the village headman.
"Haven't you and your rabble been too long in this village?" she asked sternly.
"My stomach has been hurting for three days, and my lieutenant says the flora is amazing here," Valentin tried to justify himself. "And what's the deal? Where are you from, lady?"
"I'm Irene Fireman from Istanbul, was on the affairs of the Sultan in the Crimean Khanate," The woman said looking around and peering into our unshaven faces. "And now I urgently need to go to Kazan."
"Does the lady want to offer us a job?" Valentin asked hopefully.
"Nope, but I hope the gentlemen will escort me. Here, on the edge of civilization, it is dangerous for a lady to travel alone," Irene said.
"But my stomach," Valentine tried to dissuade.
"And my herbarium," I added.
"You will be wiping your ass with flora," Irene said to Valentin and looked at me with deep contempt.
***
And here we are going on the road how Nicodemus came running and said that some bandits had landed by the river. Maybe merchants, Valentin wave away, want to rest here for a couple of days. But no.
They ran at us with swords, and one villain was shooting from behind with a crossbow. Not expecting such a pressure, our detachment randomly began to retreat towards the village. Nicolas fought with two bearded men. And one young bastard, waving his sword, pressed Valentin and me to the bushes.
This disgrace was stopped by Irene. Having taken away a crossbow from one fool, she shot the leader of this gang. Then she took out a bow and methodically shot two more thugs. Together with Nicolas, she tied three of them, the rest fled towards the river.
Having driven the captives to the village, Irene ordered the village headman to put them in a pit.
"On my way back to Astrakhan I'll pick them up," she told handing him a handful of coins.