Then without saying or doing anything else, the two new women left. Charlie at least allowed herself to feel that whatever it was about wasn't going to be something that could get her killed, or she would have expected them do to that without waiting. Although, she still couldn't be sure that it wasn't a bad thing either.
Then when the two women who had been running this 'test' seemed to finish up with whatever they had been doing while everyone baked in the sun, they were directed to start trying to fight each other. Each of them were paired up with another, which changed periodically. Although, while Charlie hadn't heard anyone of those who had started this 'test' with her leave, it felt like there were fewer people present. She couldn't say why, just that's how it felt.
As Charlie swung the zweihander at each person, she felt a little surprised at how off balance she was with the sword. In her mind, she never had this kind of trouble before. She might not be used to it's weight, but that shouldn't mean that she would be off balance.
Although, after the tenth time she nearly fell over from swinging her sword at her current opponent, she started to wonder if her height might be the problem. As in the 'memories' she had where she fought with actual weapons, it felt like she was somehow taller. She couldn't explain it, but she couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that that's where the problem lay.
Yet at the same time, it wasn't like she could change the weapons right then. All she could do was merely continue on like this, hoping that she'd be able to pass whatever test this was. Or at least not do so badly that it jeopardized the situation she had with the two children she was taking on to be the protector of.
Which then brought to mind another question she had: What part of this was a test? It was more like a training drill than anything else.
When they were told to stop, Charlie nearly fell over. She hadn't realized she'd worn herself out so much. Not only that, but she had a feeling that she should have dropped sooner than this. Though, she couldn't say why that was.
"You've all done very well. Once all of you have rested for the night, you'll all be brought back here so we can get all of you ready for the final test," the older of the two women who'd been with them through this 'test' informed them. "Those who didn't pass this test have already been removed. So, all of you should feel good that you've cleared the first step to being a fighter. Continue on and you might be able to earn your freedom someday."
While Charlie was happy that she'd passed whatever the test was, she couldn't help but feel the last bit of that woman's statement seemed more than a little patronizing. She shouldn't have to 'earn' her freedom, since she had only woken up as a slave, and so hadn't done anything to have deserved being one in the first place.
When Charlie looked around, she was surprised to see that the group that was there when she'd first arrived had been reduced by half. All of them were female, except one. Charlie wasn't sure what was going on, but as she spotted the healer, she refrained from using her magic to see what that 'something' was.
They were then directed to go back to the rooms that they'd entered the arena from, where they were instructed to replace the weapons they'd chosen. Which wasn't a problem for Charlie. Though, she couldn't help but drag the weapon along behind her.
She also couldn't help but notice how red her skin had gotten from being in the sun so much. She could only imagine how much it was going to hurt when Cithia and Haln decided to try and embrace her when she got back to them. Even just walking seemed to irritate parts of her sunburned body.
Though, it wasn't like she could do anything about it. All she could hope was that her body tanned quickly and found a way to stop getting burned so much by being in the sun.
While she felt worn out, she couldn't help but also feel satisfied that she'd somehow made it through whatever the test was. She didn't understand what those two women had been looking at, but she felt at least pleased that she'd at least avoided having been removed from consideration.
As Charlie put the sword back, though it wasn't until she'd put it back in its place that she realized she'd forgotten its sheath. Though, she quickly dismissed the issue. She doubted that she was the only one who had done that. Plus, she wouldn't be surprised if this was the first time it had happened. Plus, she wouldn't be surprised if the others who hadn't passed the 'test' had taken back the sheaths to the weapons they had, provided the weapons needed one anyway.
When Charlie reached the door she'd first entered in the first place, she couldn't help but feel rather uneasy with five people waiting for her. When she'd been brought there, only two people had been escorting her. So, she couldn't think of a reason for five people to be there.
She didn't see the point in trying to turn around, or even trying to resist whatever was going to happen, so she merely walked up to the door and waited for them to unlock it, willing to let whatever happen, happen.
"Look at this," one of the women Charlie didn't recognize said, holding a piece of paper-like material.
While it looked like paper, Charlie knew she shouldn't know what it was, since she didn't have any actual experience with it herself, but the word that came to her mind said that she might in the memories that weren't hers. That world was: parchment.
Charlie looked at it, not seeing what the point was. It have shapes and other drawings on it. It didn't mean anything to Charlie at first. However, as she started to look away, she couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. Not only was it like the doodles she'd drawn in the dirt, but somehow there seemed to be a pattern here that she recognized. A pattern that was starting to make sense to her.
What the hell is happening to me? Charlie wailed in her head, unable to make sense of what was going on. It was like who she was, wasn't her anymore. Or at least like it was only a fraction of who she was now. It didn't make any sense to her. Not only was she unable to think of how this happened in the first place, she couldn't think of how she wasn't going crazy with it.
"What do you see?" the same woman asked, pulling Charlie out of her thoughts.
Charlie looked at the woman, not sure what to do. She had assumed that this woman would at least be aware that she didn't talk, but it looked like she expected Charlie to say something. Which she wasn't going to do. At least not while she was still a slave. Once she was free of this, she planned on unsealing her voice as one of the first things she did. Not being able to talk was getting really aggravating for her.
What she saw on the paper was the written language for these people. Somehow she even knew that it was read from top to bottom, left to right. Which certainly wasn't how any written language she knew of on Earth worked.
"What do you see?" the woman repeated, sounding a little impatient.
Charlie sighed, not sure what else to do and did her best to communicate what she saw, though all that came out when she opened her mouth were moans of varied volume and intensity.
While everyone else that had heard Charlie 'speak' since she'd sealed her voice had realized that she 'couldn't' speak, this woman was different. She seemed to find Charlie not answering the woman verbally an insult or something. Charlie wasn't sure exactly what it was, and was a little afraid that they had someone nearby who could tell if she tried using magic, so she refrained from peeking inside the woman's mind to see what her problem was.
"Do you think this is funny?" she snapped, swinging her fist into Charlie's stomach.
Charlie wasn't expecting to be attacked, let along like that. So, she was completely caught of guard and couldn't help but feel her stomach trying to expel contents that it didn't have.
She dropped to her hands and knees as she gagged, trying to get something to come out, as if that would make her feel even a little bit better. Even though she knew it wouldn't affect anything about how she felt at that moment.
"Now, what is it that you see?" the woman asked again.
Charlie could only assume that this woman either had a good amount of authority here, or there were more slaves present in this place than she'd thought. She wasn't sure which to think it was, just that she could tell the others weren't even trying to offer a token defense for her. Such as trying to say something to ease the woman's wrath.
So, Charlie put out a shaking hand and started tracing what she could think of on the ground in front of her. The words in the language that she didn't know how she knew, just that she somehow knew it fluently. She wasn't sure what else to do about it and hoped that this would be enough to get her out of this whole mess. All she could hope was that this woman would recognize what she was trying to do.
Charlie hoped that she was doing it correctly. She tried tracing the words that what was on the parchment was that it was merely a document reporting about the levels of supplies that someone had. She could only assume that it was for the slaves here, but if that was the case, it wasn't listed on what she could see of the document.
When Charlie finished, she pulled her hand away from the ground and looked up at the woman. She hoped that the woman wasn't going to be even more upset with her. Largely because she got the feeling that this woman could kill her without getting in trouble if she so much as felt like it.
The woman looked at Charlie like she was looking at an insect, which made her bristle for some reason. She definitely didn't like being looked at like that, but she also knew that it wasn't the place to let these people know not only that she didn't like how they were treating her, as well as Cithis and Haln, but also all that she was capable of. Or at least what she knew that she was capable of.
"Why aren't you talking?" the woman asked, the anger still clear in her voice, but sounding more patient than she had a moment ago.
Charlie felt a little relief that she wasn't pushing on the document again. Which she could only assume that the woman understood what Charlie was trying to 'write' on the stone floor.
So, she traced her response to that question, that she couldn't speak. That she just wasn't able to. Although, she left out what the reason for it was. She just hoped that this woman wouldn't catch on to the fact that she was holding something back about it.
When she was done, she withdrew her hand, hoping that this would fix everything, though she couldn't say what would happen if it didn't. Though, if it didn't, she was confident that she'd just need to endure whatever came of it. As it wasn't like she had much choice in this matter to begin with.
The woman then looked at Charlie and sighed. "Get her some chalk and some slate. That should at least making things easier with her," she said, turning and walking away, like she was looking for someone to vent her anger on.
Charlie let out a breath of relief, feeling like she'd somehow escaped a dangerous situation without even realizing it. Especially with how she still felt like there was something dangerous around her.
Though, if there was, she knew that she'd have to deal with it when it became apparent. Just like everything else she'd had to deal with so far. Although, she wasn't sure that her nerves would be able to handle it, if it kept going on for much longer.
_
Beth didn't see why she and Hannah had to join the Marquis and his daughter for dinner, while Ralph, Tim, and Wes were directly told not to attend. She felt like there was something going on, though she couldn't say what it was.
As it is, she felt like they should already be heading out to figure out where the griffon canyon was. Yet, while they waited to iron out a few of the details regarding the marquis' help, it felt like they'd pretty much entered a pause in their preparations and Beth couldn't say how long it might last.
Although, she didn't mind dealing with Kystia. She was almost as headstrong as Hesha was, but with a lot more energy. She even seemed to take a quick liking to Hesha, which seemed to please Hesha more than she seemed willing to admit.
Then when they sat down for the dinner, Beth was surprised to see another woman sitting at the table. She wasn't anyone that Beth had seen before, and got the sensation that she was taking note of every single detail. Almost like she was expecting to be graded on everything she saw.
While the woman didn't seem hostile, Beth definitely got the sense that she wasn't friendly either. Like she wasn't looking for a fight, but expecting one anyway.
Beth was confident that whatever she was here for was what the marquis wasn't telling Beth and her friends. Which meant that she was a problem in and of herself, even though it wouldn't be as simple of a problem to solve as running her out of the castle would be. In fact, Beth was confident that would only make the problem bigger.
"So, who are you and why are you here?" the woman asked while they waited for the marquis and his daughter.
Beth had the feeling that she should say something, but couldn't say for certain what would be the right thing to say. She wasn't sure what was going on, and her journalistic instincts said that there was more than met the eye with this woman.
"Oh, we'd like to tell you," Hannah said cheerfully, much to Beth's dismay, "but we really don't want to spoil the big reveal I'm sure the marquis has planned."
Beth glanced uneasily at Hannah, who merely wore a big smile.
–Relax, Beth.– Hannah said with her magic. –Don't look like you're up to something. You're only making us look more suspicious.–
–I'd like to relax, but how can I when we don't know what the hell is going on here?– Beth retorted. –The marquis didn't even give us a hint as to what we should say in response to that question.–
–And that's why I said it like I did.– Hannah replied bluntly. –If we don't know, it's best not to let her know that we don't know.–
–I still don't like it.– Beth grumbled.
"Your friend doesn't seem very talkative," the woman remarked. "Is something wrong with her?"
"Beth?" Hannah asked, as if she just noticed her there. "Oh, she's probably just more on edge because we don't know who you are. I'm sure she'll lighten up once we know."
Beth glanced at Hannah, wondering what game she was playing at here. They both knew that what Hannah said was a load of bull, but she said it anyway. While Hannah did seem to sound rather convincing, Beth couldn't help but worry that this was merely going to come back and bite them hard.
"But what is it that you two do?" the woman pressed. "I'm sure you have several talents for being invited here while both of you are still so young and…" the woman trailed off as if she noticed something odd before picking her statement up again. "…and childless."
Beth didn't like how the woman sounded when she finished her statement. Yes, she understood that this world had a rule that women needed to have given birth to three children before they were allowed in battle, but she couldn't say what that had to do here. Especially when it was clear that Beth and Hannah weren't fighters who would try to enter combat at some point.
"What's us not having kids of our own have to do with anything?" Beth blurted before she could stop herself. She wasn't sure she liked what this woman was saying, but she also knew that losing her own temper wasn't going to help their case out any.
"Beth, enough," Hannah said to Beth, as if she was the more mature one. Then as she looked back at the woman, she smiled. "Sorry about that. That's just been a sore subject for her."
Beth couldn't say how Hannah was able to pull this bull out of thin air and sound so convincing, but she was. It made Beth feel like she was learning a whole new side of her friend that she never knew existed. A side that she never had any reason to know existed.
"Why's that a problem for her?" the woman asked.
Hannah deliberately looked at Beth for a moment before turning back to the woman. "Well that's-" Hannah stopped as if she just noticed something. "I'm sorry. I don't think we caught your name. I'm Hannah McKenzie, and this is Beth Howard."