"How long do we have to guard her?" The soldier asked in irritation. "Guarding a single prisoner, and a woman at that, isn't exactly the most dignified of assignments."
"Quiet, Mason. I heard she already escaped once. Pay attention. They say she's got magic in her." Said the other.
"What kind of magic?" Mason's voice turned sour. "She's too tall to be a halfling."
"They say she served the Void. I'm not sure about the rest, just that she learned stuff."
"Wait, is she the one that enchants men?" Mason asked.
"What are you on about?"
"You know, the legend. The pretty girls that make men fall in love with them and do their bidding. I heard a while back that there was a Rhone girl that could do it. She's Rhone, isn't she? Maybe it's her." Mason sneaked a look at the prisoner.
Brenna tucked her face into her knees, but immediately regretted it when the prison cart hit a bump and she knocked herself in the forehead.
"Ow." She said softly.
"What was that, woman?" Mason demanded.
But she remained silent. He sighed and went back to his conversation.
"Come on, Baker, you really haven't heard that story?"
"It rings a bell, but you shouldn't believe those stories. They're ridiculous." Baker said with disdain.
"As ridiculous as the Void attacking the city? The healing herbs the Rhone have? You know they're magical, why are you throwing this story away as impossible? A lot more has happened in the past few years than you would have thought." Mason continued.
"You're just trying to find intrigue at every pass so that this job isn't just guarding a boring female prisoner." Baker snapped the reins and urged the horses a little faster. "You saw the orders as well as I did. Take her to the nearest town jail and keep her there until further orders as the Council decides."
"'As the Council decides'. Such a vague thing." Mason complained. "What's there to decide? The Judge would decide any sort of prison sentence of a petty crime. This is obviously bigger than that. They're assigning Peacekeepers with us to watch her too. We should ask her what she did."
"Are you kidding? Speaking with prisoners is to be kept to an absolute minimum. And weren't you just suggesting she was some magical being that could enchant men? Want to risk your soul to a man-enchanter, Mason?" Baker was clearly mocking the man, but Mason nodded seriously.
"You're so right, Baker. She's pretty enough to have me enchanted in half a second if I let her."
Brenna would have been flattered if she weren't so deep in despair. She knew that trying to convince these men to disregard their orders and let her stay in Klain would be fruitless.
The wooden cart was roughly made, with metal bars extending like a cage up and around her. A prison cell on wheels. She hated it.
Why did she turn herself in? Why didn't she just try to sneak into Klain and live as a street urchin? She was small enough to pass for a child, albeit an older one.
She shook her head. Sneaking into the city was all but impossible. She knew when she became a fugitive that she would need to live outside of civilization for as long as they remembered her.
What she hadn't counted on was the fact that the Void could speak to its former followers in their dreams, if it chose.
So she had turned herself in to Klain soldiers, hoping that whatever magic they had used to defeat Titania could also be used on Brenna's behalf. She didn't want to be spoken to. The one night she had spent in the city's jail had been peaceful and quiet. The Void had not bothered her there.
Perhaps the magic they had put around the city before still kept the Void out, as she'd suspected.
Maybe it was over? She was still incredibly tired.
If the dreams were going to stop, she would find a way to escape again. Live free, as she had before.
"Do you think they'll execute her? If she's a Void servant like you said, they'll have to, won't they?" Mason spoke again.
Brenna tensed. She'd known that was a possibility, but hoped that mercy would win out. She could help them, after all. The Void talked with her, she could tell them everything she knew!
Which actually wasn't all that much. In the last dream, Titania's voice had whispered all about the great things they would accomplish together. Power and wealth and glory.
Brenna was once interested in such things, but no longer. All she wanted was a quiet life. Why couldn't she have that?
"That's not our decision," Baker responded to Mason's question.
"But do you think they will?"
Baker glanced over his shoulder, and Brenna kept her head lowered. Another bump made her knock her chin on her knees, jarring her teeth.
"I don't know," Baker turned back forward. "We'll just have to wait for orders to find out one way or another. They don't like executing women, but Void-followers get no tolerance if they don't turn away."
I HAVE turned away, Brenna thought miserably with a deep sigh as she rubbed her sore jaw. If only she'd been able to give a better demonstration of it. But no.
Apparently just about every move she made had been orchestrated by the Void. Even her escape from Ceto, if she believed the whispers of her dreams. Which she didn't, at least not entirely.
Still, the former queen's voice was incredibly convincing. Terrifyingly so. The dreams had been subtle, some even pleasant. Brenna dressed in a beautiful black gown, a crown of dark flowers on her head. She ruled over her people and they adored her, swooned over her, threw themselves at her feet.
"I will rule so many worlds, I will need you to look after this one," Titania's voice had gently coaxed as Brenna stood tall in a grand throne room. "Look how wonderful a queen you would be!"
"Your promises… are empty," Brenna had tried to concentrate, but it was difficult. The dream kaleidoscoped through several scenes of her dancing with the handsomest men, eating the most glorious food, handing down commands, and providing peace and security to the whole earth as its beloved ruler.
When she had woken, she was lying on the hard, cold ground with a tree root in her back. It was a difficult moment, and she cried for the loss of the beautiful dream, even while she knew, or thought she knew, that it was a lie.
Surely, it was a lie.
The cart continued to rumble along. Brenna glanced at her jailers, and then shifted slightly to lay down. She was wasting her energy trying to sit up in here.
"Prisoner's sleepy," Mason commented.
"She's gonna be. You never shut up long enough for a moment's quiet," grumbled Baker.
"That's not true and you know it, Baker. I bet you're tired, too. You're always cranky when you're tired."
"I'm cranky when I'm stuck on assignments with you." Baker's reply was a little heartless, in Brenna's estimation, but Mason seemed to take it well.
"Yup, definitely tired." He said. "I can take the reins for a bit."
"No." Baker responded.
"Why not? I'm a good driver." Mason defended himself.
"The horses don't like you," Baker replied. "Now will you be quiet for two minutes put together?"
"Fine, fine." Mason sighed.
Brenna used her arm for a pillow, curling up on the cramped floor of her cage. She wondered how long it would be until they arrived at the destination. Her head ached, She closed her eyes against the world that didn't seem to care much for her.
She opened them standing on a great cliff, looking out over the mountains, and foothills and beyond.
"Don't you want it all? Is it not beautiful?" Titania's voice asked her gently.
"They'll believe me. They'll help me. If I follow you, they'll execute me." Brenna turned away from the sight.
"They'll never believe you. They don't want you. Nobody wants you. But they will… follow me, and every person you've ever known will wish they'd been kinder. Treated you better. Loved you the way you deserve to be loved." The whisper was from all around, conjuring images of childhood bullies and rivals smiling at her with contrition and adoration as they bowed low.
"Someone will believe me." Brenna insisted. "They haven't executed me yet. That means someone believes me."
"They pretend to be noble. They pretend to hate the unnecessary spilling of blood… so they remove you from their sight and have someone else dispose of you for them as a way to pretend ignorance of it."
"That doesn't make sense." Brenna said. "I don't believe you."
"Believe what you will, Brenna. The day is coming soon when you will follow me with all your heart. When you realize I'm the only one who cares at all for you… besides Edmar, who loves you. Granted, not by his own will…"
"Leave me alone!"
"You are alone. Utterly alone, without me."