Not only would she get woken up repeatedly from the wagon running over larger rocks, but the noises of the drivers talking to the donkeys was typically enough to make it hard for Embris to even fall asleep, no matter how tired she was.
Although, she would be interested in knowing what it was that had the merchant's interest in this place. While no one, even the drivers, had been allowed in to see what it was that they were doing here, Embris was pretty sure that it was a quarry of some sort. She couldn't imagine what was so valuable that would require so much secrecy, but it wasn't like she cared either. She didn't know what it was, but at the same time, she didn't see a reason why she should be interested in it in the first place anyway.
Which she supposed was why everything was kept so quiet about it. Whoever was in charge of this didn't want word to get out. Though, Embris couldn't be sure why that would be, but she also couldn't understand why the village she'd lived in had been attacked in the first place either. She could only accept that there were some things that she just wasn't likely to understand the reasons for.
The time slowly moved on, the light on the horizon continually getting brighter, which almost felt like it was an indicator about how tired she was feeling. As by the time the sky had been fully lit up, Embris felt like she was ready to fall asleep where she stood. Despite the fact that she new she'd lose her chance at breakfast if she did that.
It wasn't until the sun started to rise above the mountain that her watch was over anyway. Despite the fact that others were waking up and getting started on cooking well before then. Though, Nymis brought her a plate to eat, even though Embris had told her multiple times that she shouldn't do that, since it was well understood, and occasionally enforced by Laurise. The reason being that the person on watch should be keeping their focus on what might happen and occur outside of the camp, where if they're eating, their full attention isn't where its supposed to be.
However, at that particular moment, Embris didn't care. Not only would she be able to get something in her stomach now, but later when her watch was over, she'd be able to get to sleep that much sooner. Which her weary eyes were looking forward to that.
"Before we get dispersed to our various tasks for the day, I just wanted to let all of you know that I'm sorry this has taken so long. I know that it hasn't been easy waiting here all this time," Nuem announced about the same time that Embris got a plate of food from her sister. "That said, the business I came here to conduct has been accomplished. We'll be heading out sometime today, though, there area few final details that will get ironed out before then. At the latest, we'll be heading out at noon."
"Will you tell us why we stopped here to begin with?" Jueniaes asked. "I mean, what's with all the mystery?"
"I'm sorry, but at this time, I've agreed to not speak about what it is. What we're transporting isn't to be known until it gets delivered to the queen. After that, I will be able to tell you what it was and why I was asked to keep my mouth shut about it. I'm sure all of you will understand once you learn what it is," Nuem answered.
"Nymis," Embris whispered, knowing her sister too well. "If you even think about trying to find out what that is, you might have to walk back on your own the rest of the way."
Embris wouldn't leave her sister behind, and she was aware that Nymis knew that. However, whenever she got tired, she'd always been able to ride in one of the wagons. However, Embris was also aware that her sister would be scared that she'd lose that opportunity, especially with how long the trip had taken so far in the first place.
"I won'," Nymis replied, though Embris couldn't say how long it'd be before she started poking around to find out what it was that was so secret.
While she wished that she could know that her sister would remember, she also had to face reality that her sister was likely too young to really accept that there were things that she just wasn't supposed to know. Nymis was a curious person and didn't like being aware that she didn't know something. Especially something that was 'secret.'
Embris wished she could think of a way to use that curiosity to keep her sister out of trouble. Or at least keep it from getting her into trouble at this time.
"So, are we heading straight for the capital from here?" Laurise asked. "Or do you plan on sticking to the planned route once we get back out of these plains?"
"The plan is to continue on as we planned for the most part. However, we will be making a more direct path to the capital when we do get back into the queendom. We'll just be moving at our usual pace, rather than going as quickly as we can to the capital. That way it won't raise as many suspicions."
Embris looked at the Stone Mountain. The sun hadn't risen above the horizon of the mountain just yet. The Stone Mountain was a single mountain, although Embris had heard some speculate that it really was several that made it up and it was really a mountain range, that took months to walk around, if not a year or more. No one lived on it because it was riddled with cracks, crevices, fissures, and the very surface of the mountain was supposed to be rather unstable. As such, not much was really known about the mountain itself. Just that it was more of a landmark that was used to aid in navigation.
Embris tuned out what was being said, since she really didn't care that much about what was going on around her. She was just interested in seeing the sun crest the edge of the mountain so she could be done with her watch and get some sleep. She didn't know why she was so tired, but that didn't matter for her. What mattered was the fact that she do what she was supposed to do with her job and not show any weakness whatsoever.
She wanted to have a family of her own someday, and if she wasn't able to do what it took to take care of her brother and sister when they needed her the most, she doubted that she'd really be able to manage that when she found someone that she was interested in raising her children.
Although, she didn't understand why she suddenly had Ralph flash through her mind when she had that thought. While he was reliable enough, she couldn't say that she had much faith in his ability to care for children himself. Despite the fact that she had a feeling that he'd eventually become a father someday. After all, that was the main purpose that the church said that men had in life. To raise and care for their children.
Embris just wished she could understand why the thought of him doing that with someone else annoyed her so much.
_
On the morning of the third day, Jenn stopped the others with her. She could sense that there were others hiding in the clearing ahead of them. They'd already left the Forest of the Lost and entered another forest. Though, this one felt like it was a forest of oak rather than o the giant trees.
Though, Jenn did like the sight of sunshine shining through the leaves, as well as the feeling that accompanied it. She couldn't say that she disliked the Forest of the Lost, but she felt like the mist inside the forest felt a little confining. Almost like she was a plant that craved the sun itself and was able to finally breathe a sigh of relief about having left that mist behind.
"What is it," the mint green haired girl, Yaelish, asked.
Jenn was pretty sure that whoever was waiting in the clearing wasn't aware of them nearing the ambush spot just yet. All she could think of was that they were very lucky to have found what they had been trying to find so quickly. The only problem was that she couldn't be sure that it wasn't going to be a problem in a different way. Though, she wasn't sure what way that might be just yet.
"There's an ambush ahead," Jenn said.
"So, we keep you back here and once we spring the trap and subdue the bandits, that's when you'll come in and give them your offer, right?" one of the young women in the party that Jenn hadn't gotten the name of asked enthusiastically.
"Uh…" Jenn started to say when another made her suggestion.
"No, the Blue Rose will go in and hold all of them down with her magic and any who don't join will be killed like those who kept us in those cages."
After that suggestion, two others started saying what their thoughts were on what would happen, and Jenn could see that not only was this quickly getting out of hand, but soon they'd lose the element of surprise. Primarily because the volume was increasing and Jenn was pretty sure that if she didn't stop this quickly, that their location, as well as what their general plans were, would be known to anyone within at least a mile or two of their location.
–All of you stop.– Jenn said using her magic. She hadn't wanted to resort to this, but since they weren't used to it, if she used enough force with her magic, she had been confident that it would get them to shut up and to listen up. Which worked almost better than she had imagined.
If nothing else, she was happy that it had gotten them to quiet down and to be in a mode where they'd be more likely to listen. Though, Jenn opted to verbally tell them what her plan was rather than using her magic. If only so that she wouldn't rely on it as much. Though, she wasn't sure what the problems might actually be down the road if she continued to use her magic like that.
Plus, she hoped that by doing so, that they'd be more receptive to taking anything she said with her magic more seriously. Which would give her something to work with if an emergency or the like occurred later on.
"Here's the plan," she said, looking at each of the young women around her in the eye as she spoke. She wasn't going to allow them to do whatever they wanted on this. If she did, she knew that she might as well ceded any actual authority she had to those who were looking to her to be their leader. After all, what is a leader who has can't get their subordinates to follow simple directions?
Jenn laid out the plan she had in mind: Yaelish would be in charge of a small group of them who would walk into the ambush, who would be considered 'the bait.' When the ambush gets sprung, Jenn would lead the others to locate the leader, who Jenn was certain was nearby. To sweeten the bait, Jenn planned on having 'the bait' carrying all the packs, in order to make it look like they were carrying more than they actually were.
Or at least Jenn hoped that's what it would appear like.
There were too many 'what ifs' for this to be a foolproof plan, but Jenn wasn't able to come up with anything better, not to mention how she had a feeling that there was something off about the situation. She wasn't able to put her finger on it, but it felt like she was overlooking something or just that there was something she wasn't noticing that she really should.
However, since there wasn't anything that she could see that would indicate that she was. She could only assume that the feeling was caused by nerves. While she didn't think that it had to be that, she didn't want to overthink this and lose this chance, since she had no idea when there might be another one to come up.
As the plan started to get implemented, Jenn waited until the ambush had been sprung. Then while 'the bait' kept the main forces of the bandits occupied, Jenn then took those with her around to where she could sense the leader was with her magic.
However, what she hadn't considered was how much noise travelling in the forest would cause. As when she saw the leader, she stepped on a twig, which brought the leader's attention to Jenn and those with her. The leader had purple eyes and long, stringy silver hair.
"This is rather unexpected," she commented. "Though, I guess that would explain the buzzing I kept hearing."
Jenn wasn't sure what the woman meant by 'buzzing,' but sent out a thread of her magic to see what could learn about this woman. Yet, as her magic touched the woman's mind, what she picked up on was that she had magic just like Jenn. This woman was a thought mage.
The thought had barely registered in Jenn's mind when she felt her mental defenses penetrated. She could only assume it was by the woman who she was facing now, but couldn't rule out the possibility that there were other thought mages around.
While thought mages were rare, that didn't mean that there couldn't be multiple ones around. It just went towards the laws of probability rather than having a set allocation for how many thought mages could be in a set area at a time.
Yet, while the exchange took less than a second in the real world, Jenn felt like she and the woman shared knowledge gained from years of experience. While she had become hesitant to use her magic to show others her past because of how she would feel diminished in some way a while afterwards, this felt different.
While she could feel that the woman was learning about Jenn's past through her mind, she was also learning about this woman's past. As well as details that she hadn't expected to learn. Details that felt like she was somehow gaining something from this exchange.
Kind of like the exchange that occurred when she was helping with the Lost, though she couldn't be quite sure, since she wasn't exactly conscious of it happening at the time.
Jenn wasn't sure what was going on, but she felt the hostility leave the woman, even as she looked away and Jenn was left confused as to what she was witnessing before her.
"Tell them to stand down and escort those young women to me. Plans have changed," the woman, Tchisa, told the other woman.
Jenn wasn't sure what the other woman's name was, but she had a feeling it was because Tchisa didn't know her name. She wasn't sure how she knew that, but had a feeling that it had something to do with when they touched each others minds at the same time with their magic.
The only thing that Jenn could think of was that it was some kind of resonance effect that would only occur when they used their magic to try to read the mind of someone else who was trying to do the same to them. Although, she could be wrong about that, she just hoped that she didn't somehow make things worse for herself and her plans. Especially since she had a feeling she was at the other woman's mercy at this particular moment rather than how she had originally wanted it to be the other way around.
"So what is it that you want with us?" Tchisa asked, her tone indicating that she was confident that her people had the upper hand over Jenn's, though Jenn was pretty confident that Yaelish could handle herself if it came to a confrontation, despite the fact that none of them had any real decent weapons.
"I was tasked with seeking out a band of bandits to join our settlement and to help us start a mercenary band," Jenn replied, speaking louder than she normally did, just to try and create a dramatic flair to catch the attention of the bandits, as she was pretty sure that Tchisa knew what it was that they were there for.
"You want bandits to join your mercenaries?" Tchisa asked in a mocking tone, her expression rather amused.
Jenn nodded. "Yes, our leader entrusted me to take care of any negotiations on this matter."
Tchisa looked around her, her expression no longer amused, but rather calculating. If Jenn hadn't been able to get a peek at Tchisa's past, she suspected that she'd have been getting rather nervous. However, she was pretty sure that the expression was more of a show she was putting on for the other bandits. Which Jenn completely understood, though it was more from what she'd learned from Tchisa's mind than anything she knew either firsthand or through anything she'd read or seen on any TV show or movie.
"What kinds of things are you offering?" Tchisa asked. "Give me a taste and we'll see if I'll be interested in even considering your offer."
While she understood a good amount of the woman before her, she suddenly felt at a loss. She had no idea what was meant by 'give me a taste.' Though, she wasn't sure if she should ask, but couldn't think of anything else to say. Not when she felt like it was such an important detail to ignore.
"Uh, what do you mean by 'give you a taste?' A taste of what?" Jenn asked, feeling like just asking that was treading on dangerous ground.
Tchisa looked at Jenn for a moment with an incredulous expression before bursting out in laughter, the bandits around her at the moment joining in. While Jenn was uneasy about how entertained they were about her question, she was also conscious of how her people with her were bristling at the reaction to Jenn's question.
If she didn't so something quick, Jenn was pretty sure that she was going to have a fight on her hands. One that she doubted would help her purposes out. Not if anyone was killed in the fight.