"Does he suspect anything?" a voice asked from behind Lorshish as she left the stables. The voice always sounded high pitched and masculine to her, but she could never tell if they were making themselves sound different somehow so she couldn't point them out if she encountered them elsewhere.
She didn't try to look behind her. She knew the drill. If she did, they'd kill her, even if she didn't actually see anything. She'd already lost two friends who made that same mistake. Although, it wasn't like any of them had wanted to get involved in this anyway.
"Not as far as I can tell," she answered. She kept her gaze straight forward, not even looking to see if anyone else could overhear. They wouldn't have approached her if there had been anyone else in the area. "The marquis' daughter is still there, so whether it was a false report about her being successfully taken or if the attempt was a complete failure, I can't say. I did see the one who lured her out was still there, so she can still be made use of."
"How sure are you that she'd not just a double? A decoy while they search for her?"
Lorshish shook her head slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements that they could misunderstand. "I wouldn't know. I don't know how to recognize a double. You should know this." Whether they did know this or not, she knew it didn't matter. If they expected her to do something, she had better learn fast. Otherwise she'd be one of the many others she was aware of that they'd killed.
They didn't respond right away. Lorshish did her best not to seem tense. She'd lost another friend because they didn't like the way that she acted while they were 'debriefing' her after one of these 'assignments.' If she could, she'd take out these people altogether. The only problem was that she didn't even know who was behind all of it. As far as she knew, it was one of the slave brokers rather than one of the nobles. Especially since some of the slave brokers were more powerful than most of the nobles.
"Is there anything else you think we should know?" the voice asked, sounding like they were testing her and Lorshish couldn't put it past them to be doing just that.
"Possibly," she answered. "Marquis Denshia has two mercenaries who're guarding his daughter now. Both have wild magic and have mastered using it."
Lorshish suddenly felt a blade on the side of her neck. "No one can master wild magic. Everyone knows that," the voice said, the threat clear in their tone. "Why would you say they 'mastered' it?"
Lorshish couldn't help but wonder if this was how she was going to die. In a way, it would be a relief. Working for these people was exhausting enough without the threats and worries about what they'd do to her if they didn't like how she so much as answered their questions. Even the cold sweat she could feel sliding down her back right then kept her from sleeping some nights.
"Because they seemed to be able to use it as they wanted," she answered succinctly. "They could make noises come out of thin air and even claimed to be able to talk with each other from a distance with their magic."
The blade left her neck like it hadn't even been there. Only the slight dripping of her blood down her neck said otherwise. "What else can you tell me about these mercenaries?"
Lorshish wished they'd just leave her alone already, but she completely understood why they were asking this.
"They seemed like they might be from a family. They each gave me two names. I believe the first was Hannah McKenzie and the second was Beth Howard."
"Where did they come from? Those aren't any family names from around here."
Lorshish shook her head, a tear escaping her eye. She felt like her doom was at the door now. She didn't want to die, but she also knew that death would be the only way to escape these people.
"They wouldn't say. Though, they did have a friend who seemed to know how to treat the Spotted Plague."
"And you didn't think to mention this earlier?"
Lorshish didn't react to that. She'd started resigning herself to her fate, so it wasn't like anything she did would help her anyway. All it would do would make it more likely to prolong her suffering.
"I only just remembered about it," she answered, her throat suddenly feeling completely dry. "They also seemed rather interested in the rumors about the slave girl who had done the same thing. I don't know if that's relevant or not. I only remember-"
Lorshish stopped speaking as she felt the blade return to her neck. This time on the other side.
"We don't care what you remember. What we want to know is what importance this slave girl had to them."
Lorshish swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in her throat, the dry sensation hurting almost as much as these people would if they so much as felt like it. She knew this from firsthand experience.
"They never said. They only asked where the events in the rumor occurred."
The blade left her neck again, leaving another light cut. "Go and try to have a kid with the twigs downtown. See if you can finally get pregnant. If you do that, you might be able to get a break for a while. If not, we'll be in touch soon enough."
Lorshish felt like her legs were about to give out from under her as she heard them laughing as they left. She knew if she didn't remain standing that they'd just be worse towards her next time. She also couldn't help but feel the need to use the privy at this time as well. Why she was always left feeling that way with these meetings was always beyond her.
However, she knew that their direction for her to go downtown wasn't merely a suggestion. If she didn't do that, she wasn't going to live to see the sun rise in the morning. That's just how these people operated. They only allowed one warning for those who didn't do what they were told when it came to this.
While she could get pregnant from the prostitutes downtown, she knew that they took something to keep from getting their clients pregnant. Otherwise they'd possibly have more children to take care of than they could handle at once. Though, Lorshish couldn't help but hope for that to occur to her as well.
Not only would it give her a reprieve from these people, but it would also allow her to move up in the ranks as a royal messenger. Not that she expected it'd help her live any longer than these people would allow.
Still, rather than reporting to the queen like she typically did at this point, to give her the information she'd been sent to collect, she instead went downtown. Even though she disliked going to the prostitutes, it wasn't like she'd met anyone who had been interested in her.
Still, she could always hope that if she did get pregnant, that she'd be able to have things in her life change to the point where she could possibly get someone in her life like that.
_
Embris didn't understand why Nuem seemed so nervous as they moved along that day. While they'd been in the Forest of the Lost for almost a week, which, while it was unnerving in and of itself, this didn't seem like it was because of the same thing.
"Is something wrong?" she asked the merchant. If there was something different about this place, she would like to be aware of it.
Nuem however, shook her head. "No, it's just that it almost feels like we're being followed, but who would be in the forest here?"
Embris nodded, understanding what Nuem was getting at. "My mother said that there used to be people who lived in this forest," she said. "Maybe it's someone from those people."
Nuem shook her head. "No, they were killed off," she said firmly, but the froze for a moment. "Uh, well aside from those who were taken to be slaves, that is."
Embris nodded, not wanting to argue or push the matter. It wasn't her business to debate things like this with her employer. The darkness had already fallen over them, so aside from the lamps along the wagons, there wasn't any light to see with. Which also meant that they'd be stopping soon for the night.
"Who's to say that they didn't miss anyone? Of course they'd say they got everyone. Otherwise it'd look and sound like they couldn't do what they were supposed to do."
The merchant laughed. "I guess it's possible. I just would have expected to at least hear rumors of anyone living in this forest since then."
"Maybe. I've heard of some people who dismiss certain rumors because they don't want to admit they failed in something or that they might have missed something."
"People like that should be sold as slaves, if you ask me," Nuem remarked sourly.
Embris didn't argue. Mostly because she couldn't help but worry that doing so would create a more awkward return trip. She didn't think that just because someone refused to acknowledge something that it meant they should be made into a slave. If that was the case, then almost everyone in the world should be a slave.
That was also merely one of the things about the merchant Embris had found that she didn't like. One of the other mercenaries that had accompanied Nuem, the oldest mercenary of the group, had suggested to Embris that she learn to ignore those sorts of things, as it's not out of the question that she's going to have clients down that road that she has disagreements with about various things. She can't really be picky about which clients she accepts jobs from.
That was the biggest downside with being a mercenary.
At this time time, however, it was Embris' turn to be on guard. The other mercenaries were all asleep, or at least acting like it, which meant Embris had to deal with the merchant's opinions and whims on her own. What helped Embris the most was thinking about her brother and sister who had accompanied her, since she certainly wasn't going to leave them in that city without her there to keep an eye on them. Even if she was the captain of a prominent mercenary company, she knew the guild certainly wouldn't bother with them since they weren't registered as mercenaries themselves.
Sighing, Embirs turned her attention to their surroundings, not wanting to make a big deal out of the merchant's thoughts. If there was someone following them, she doubted they'd be able to keep themselves hidden forever. While Embris couldn't think what anyone would want to be following them for, she couldn't deny that she'd encountered some strange things in this forest before, and that was before she'd gone this deep into the forest as well.
While her mother had insisted that if they hadn't gotten taken by the Lost when living so close to the forest already, that they didn't need to worry about getting taken by them, Embris doubted that she'd have been so willing to go as deep into the forest as she had. She had felt rather surprised how much this forest seemed to be the same deep into it as it was along the edges.
In a way, it was almost enough to make her feel at peace with this forest, while in a way, it made her feel more uneasy about being in this forest. She wasn't sure if her unease had more to do with her own preconceptions about the forest or if there was something else. She hoped it was just her own preconceptions. She wasn't sure what she'd do if it was something else.
Embris was about to turn her attention back to what lay ahead of them when she saw something that made her freeze. In the distance, she couldn't be sure if she saw someone. If she did, their skin was so black as to almost melt with the darkness around them. It was early evening, so with the mist overhead, the light was starting to fade.
While in theory it could be one of the descendants of the people who lived in the forest, those people were supposed to have white skin, so that it seemed like they were ghosts who floated through the forest. Not skin so dark as to merge with the darkness.
A cold sweat broke out over her. She wasn't sure what she saw, but she couldn't say it was anything pleasant. She didn't know if what she saw was just her imagination or if she really saw someone there. She didn't know what she should do if it really was a person.
She also couldn't dismiss the idea in her mind that it was one of the Lost. Supposedly, no one had ever seen one of the Lost before, but as far as Embris knew, that just meant that no one had ever lived after seeing one of the Lost. With that in mind, if what she saw was one of the Lost, then she worried that her own life might be in danger.
When she looked again, she didn't see anything, although that didn't ease her racing heart. Maybe it was the forest getting to her, but she tried to push that fear out of her head with limited success. She wanted to believe that it was just her imagination, running wild with the darkness of the early evening and the merchant's worries that they were being followed, but she wasn't able to dismiss that thought so easily. Unless she could find what made her think that she saw someone in the darkness, she doubted that she'd be able to settle her nerves completely.
Yet, since they were still moving on until it was too dark to move, she knew that they weren't going to be able to allow her time to investigate the matter. After all, it wasn't like she could go take a look on her own at this time anyway. With her the only guard awake, she couldn't leave her post. If something happened and she wasn't there to call out the alarm to wake the others, she couldn't say that she'd forgive herself if anything happened to her siblings if nothing else.
When Embris looked around again, she felt a scream stop in her throat as if it had encountered a clog. Not only did she see someone, but they were a lot closer to them. In fact, she could see them move separate from the darkness.
They weren't wearing any clothing, nor did they have any weapons that she could see, but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous. Especially if they were in fact one of the Lost.
She lost sight of them as they move around some of the wagons between where she was and this stranger was.
She was pretty sure they hadn't seen her noticing them, but that didn't mean much. Especially since she didn't know what their intentions were. As far as she knew, this person was merely a scout for a group of bandits that were brazen, and desperate, enough to be operating in the Forest of the Lost.
She drew her sword, not sure what else to do as she moved where she saw the person heading. It worried her that they were close to the wagon where Nymis and Rephis were, but she couldn't let that affect her judgement. If she did, she knew that she wouldn't be able to effectively guarantee their safety.
Which was the most important thing to her. Despite having been told by her fellow mercenaries on this trip, as well as the guild itself, that her job with her client should be the most important thing to her on this job. While Embris understood their sentiment, she couldn't bring herself to agree with it. Not when it came to the only brother and sister she knew she still had.
While Feon, Cinder, and Lyshean might still be alive, she couldn't be sure of that fact. She only could be certain about Nymis and Rephis. She also didn't want to think about if the others were alive, simply because she didn't want to imagine what they might look like if they weren't. Which plagued her mind whenever she did think about them.
As Embris approached where she knew the stranger was, she kept her sense on alert in case they weren't alone. She didn't feel the need to call out the alarm, mostly because she didn't want to spook whoever this was and give them a chance to flee. If they were with a group, she felt that it would be best to try and capture them to see if they could get any information about who might be looking at their small caravan.
If nothing else, she was confident that the other mercenaries would appreciate her efforts.
Although, she hoped that they wouldn't escape either. She couldn't imagine what the reaction would be if she failed in her objective here, but she doubted it would be favorable.
As she rounded t he wagon that had their food supplies, she almost ran into the stranger. While she hadn't been able to see much about them from a distance, she could see that it was a man, but one who had more of a feminine build. He had black hair and brown eyes. While he looked like he had well developed muscles, he didn't carry himself like a fighter. She could also see something in his arms, but she didn't want to focus on that in case he tried something.