Victoria's hands paused. 'I wasn't dragged, I came willingly', Gabriel had said. She looked into his eyes for a moment. Blue, and pure. Sincere.
Though his wrists were already mostly tied, his hands caught one of hers and squeezed it. Her heart took off as if it were in a race.
"Like you would do for a sister," She said, trying to calm herself and diffuse the blush creeping up her neck. He frowned.
"We're not related," The old refrain fell from his lips, an old habit that made it more of a reflex than an actual statement. "But I came for you."
"And the others," She whispered, tying the ends of the rope and moving away. She needed to focus, and not draw too much attention to the way she and Gabriel interacted. The halflings were strangely hung up on 'mates', and it would not serve Victoria's purpose to be mistaken as Gabe's… would it?
Her hand still felt the warmth of his, and she flexed it slightly. That was strange. As children they'd held hands to play games and dance and do any number of things without any particular effect. Maybe she was coming down with a fever.
Her eyebrows drew together. What was it Papa was always saying about medical things? Triage. Prioritization of the most dire needs. She needed to make a mental list of the most important goals.
First, obviously, was to get Simone free! The bandits might harm her terribly, and that was unacceptable in every sense.
She also needed to get herself and Gabriel freed from the halflings, or get them on Klain's side of things. How that interacted with the first goal, she wasn't entirely certain. She supposed both needed to be worked on in tandem; if she wasn't free, she couldn't do anything about Simone.
Even if she managed to get Simone into the possession of the halflings, that was a step above what her poor friend must be experiencing right now! Those men were awful!
Gabriel was regarding her steadily, and she realized that he'd also requested food. She glanced at the halflings, who were still whispering amongst themselves. There would have been ample opportunity for her to free Gabriel and flee with him by now, she realized. Tom and Bran must have a lot of confidence in their ability to subdue the humans.
Still, as long as the pair were being relatively ignored, she could make something to eat! That had to be better than whatever he had left in his pack after who-knew-how-long on the road. A cookfire with something sprinkled into it to make the smoke colorless and undetectable burned amidst the little camp, with the spoils of the halflings' thievery stacked around. Quietly, she began to gather supplies from to cook a meal for them all.
She'd learned long ago that those who were well fed were easier to convince of just about anything!
The halflings had been fairly free about sharing information about the portals, clearly expecting the humans to know as much as they did about the phenomenon. It was a flattering, and humbling, assumption for them to make. Victoria tried to pretend she already knew most of the things they had told her.
She stored away much of the knowledge as she tried to convince them to do business with Klain for profit instead of stealing. Apparently even the sparkle-sized portals were large enough to let airborne seeds float through on a breeze.
That's where their herbs had originated, though they didn't have enough to sell for a living, only what they could scrape together to keep themselves hidden and help with highway robbery.
The halfling-huddle dissipated after a few minutes, with the one female, who stubbornly refused to let Victoria know her name, pouting off to one side. At least, that's what Victoria assumed the small woman was doing. The distance she put between herself and the others bespoke disagreement.
For once, the young woman refrained from comment. For some reason, Gabriel's presence made her hold her tongue more firmly. Putting herself in and out of danger was one thing, but risking his wellbeing was quite another. Particularly as he was still tied up on the ground.
Very soon, a tasty stew was ready. Victoria wished she could bake bread to go with it. No one could be grumpy with fresh baked bread in front of them. The halflings would certainly be on her side then!
Silently, she offered some to each of her captor-hosts. The female initially rejected the offer, until she saw how her cohorts were devouring it. Unfortunately, that meant that poor, self-proclaimed 'starving' Gabriel was left for last.
She brought him a bowl, and set it in his hands, which were tied. He studied it dubiously, and she frowned.
"You doubt my cooking, after all this time?" She asked, a little offended, then realized the silliness of the question. He'd eaten her food without complaint, and with ample compliment, ever since he began apprenticing to Dr. Sherman. There was no reason for him to balk at it now.
"Not the cooking, just the method of eating it with my hands tied," He continued to stare at the bowl, and Victoria flushed with embarrassment.
"Ah. I'm sorry. Shall I feed you?" She asked.
"My pride would have me refuse, but I really am very hungry. I spoke to Gwen this morning and have been riding hard ever since." He gave a half-smile of apology.
"I see," She said, picking up the spoon and blowing on a mouthful of the stew before offering it to him. He leaned forward and gratefully ate. "What exactly did she say to scare you badly enough to ignore your stomach? That's not like you."
Victoria glanced at the halflings, who didn't seem to care one whit about their captive guests chatting.
"A portal opened, like before, and she asked if I needed help. I asked where to find you. She replied 'Victoria, or the others?' and nearly sent me into a panic." His gaze was focused on the spoon as she offered him another bite.
"And you picked me?" It wasn't really the question she wanted to ask. She wanted to ask why he chose her, but something held her back. He answered it anyway, once he swallowed.
"Of course I did! Kyler and Shayn can take care of themselves. You were never trained for survival out here."
The answer left her a little disappointed. It was logical, and she couldn't fault it, but another part of the Fae's reasoning slipped into her mind.
"How long ago was this?" She asked, pausing before feeding him again.
"About midmorning, why?" He leaned forward, clearly very hungry, and she put the food into his mouth.
"Can Fae see the future?" Victoria squinted at him.
"Yes, I think so. Not all of it, or maybe it can change from what they see, but still, enough to make them pretty helpful," He replied thoughtfully.
"And those were the words she used? 'Victoria, or the others?' Not 'Victoria or Simone or the men?'" She pressed.
He stared at her for a moment. "Yes, that's what she said. It didn't occur to me to think anything of it until you said Simone had also been taken."
"But the Fae…" Victoria inhaled, not sure she understood the elusive beings well enough to make these kinds of assumptions.
"Yes," Gabriel's face scrunched in thought. "Her statement did indicate that the others would all be in one place, together. I think we have reason to hope that Simone has already been rescued."
Victoria exhaled a deep, relieved sigh. "I'm so thankful. I hope those evil men are brought to justice."
He looked at her as he thoughtfully chewed the next bite, and then glanced significantly at the halflings.
"Oh, them? They never intended for anyone to be kidnapped. There was quite the argument about it. The halflings only ever wanted things to be stolen." Victoria explained with a slight smile.
"I suppose robbery of essential supplies that could cause a person to starve or freeze to death isn't quite tantamount to kidnapping." Gabriel muttered under his breath.
"I'm sure they were desperate to resort to such things," Victoria defended them, though she wasn't quite sure why. They were, after all, still holding her and Gabriel against their will instead of simply letting them go.
"Of course," The man replied dubiously, eyeing her before turning back to the halflings.
"So, Tom, right?" He asked brightly. "What's the consensus? Do Victoria and I get to go free? We'll find our friends and head back to Klain. If you want to come with us, we'll put in a good word on getting you a nice trade deal."
The female harrumphed, and Tom glanced at her for a moment. She eventually ducked her head, and he addressed the humans
"Your offer is intriguing," Tom replied, "and since this part of the world is becoming less stable by the day, we have tentatively decided to accept."