Several men were standing around the carriage, clad in what she could only describe as knight’s armor. The only part of them that was exposed was their heads, as they didn’t have their helmets on yet. Elwen found it strange that they all seemed to have the same three or four haircuts. If you couldn’t see their faces, the only way to tell them apart was their hair color. They each had a sword hanging from their waist, along with several other accessories to which she could only guess the purpose.
“Ah, Mary. You’re finally here.” One of the guards spoke up upon seeing her, “Darrix’s back, so we were just waiting on you.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell us? We’re not late, are we?” Mary started rushing, anxious that they were holding everyone up.
“No, he just got back. Had to run something inside, should just be a couple of minutes.” The guard responded. He glanced over at Elwen. “John’s in charge. Talk to him about what we’re going to do with the girl. He should be around here somewhere… I just saw him a minute ago…”
Just then, another guard stepped out from behind the carriage. He wore similar armor to the rest of the guards, except his was a little more embellished. He had green eyes and red hair, a color she hadn’t seen among any of the other guards. “Did I hear someone calling? I swear, it better be… Ah! Mary! Good, you’re here.” The man spotted them and quickly walked towards them. “This the girl? Wait, why isn’t she ready? Mary, weren’t you supposed to take care of her?”
“Didn’t you read the papers I sent you? And you’re the one in charge of security! She’s supposed to be your responsibility!” Mary was annoyed that he clearly hadn’t read the notes she had sent him.
“Oh, right. The papers.” The guard captain remembered. “Scott. Distract her.”
Mary’s annoyed expression turned to anger.
“So, nice weather we’re having.” The first guard started talking.
“Be quiet,” Mary glared at the guard.
“Yes, Ma’am.” The guard decided her orders overrode his captain’s.
Her glare immediately turned to the captain, who started sweating seeing that his plan failed. Mary decided to quietly let him finish reading, but her eyes told him that he would not be getting away unscathed.
“Ahem.” The captain finished reading Mary’s notes, “Yeah, I don’t see anything we need to be concerned about, other than the magic. But you already have the magic bracelets, so I don’t think that’s an issue. Heck, I don’t think it would be an issue without them. She doesn’t have enough physical stats to pose a threat, and I don’t think we’ll have any issues with her running away. Reg could probably catch her.”
“Hey! Are you calling me fat!” A bear-like man complained, overhearing the captain as he was carrying a crate to the carriage.
“No, I’m calling you slow.” The captain responded, “Your size has nothing to do with it.” He rolled up the notes and stuck them into a little bag on his belt. “Still, I don’t think we can do nothing.”
“Why not? You said it yourself, she doesn’t pose a risk to anyone.” Mary complained.
“Well, I mean,” The captain scratched his chin, “We’ve never had a slave that can just… y’know, wander around. Usually, we have them restrained or secured so they’re not a problem, but this would be… I don’t know, weird? It just feels weird not to have her under control.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Another guard with black hair and a goatee popped up next to the captain, “You always gotta be careful, man! You never know when their gonna sneak cucumbers into your soup, or put little rocks into your shoes! Or, like, stab you while you’re taking a shower, man! That’s how they got Jeffries, man!”
“Who’s they? And we don’t know a Jeffries.” The captain retorted. “But yeah. Harry’s got a point. We can’t have her free to do what she wants.”
“So what do you want to do about it?” Mary asked.
“Well…” The captain thought through a couple of possible options.
“Why don’t we just tie her up and have her on a lead, or something?” Scott proposed, “Sure, we’d lose a man, but it’s not like we’re in a dangerous area anyway.”
“Good idea!” The captain agreed. “Harry, you still got that extra rope?”
Harry handed him a bundle of thin rope, grumbling something about not having something to detect gremlin attacks anymore.
“Hold out your hands, this’ll take just a second!” The captain said.
Elwen did as she was told. Blinking, she noticed her hands were firmly tied together, with the excess rope leading from the center of the knot to the captain’s hands.
“Here you go, Mary!” He said, handing the rope to her, “Now we have her secured and we don’t lose a man!”
“Wow, captain! How did you do that so fast!” Scott exclaimed.
“Heh heh. It’s all that practice from tying my girl up every night.” The captain’s smug face instantly paled as he realized what he said. “My Horse!” He shouted, “From tying up my horse!”
“Oh,” Mary’s face instantly formed a concerned expression, “It looks like I have to have a little talk with Sarah next time I see her…”
“Please don’t. I’ll do anything.” The captain begged.
“Well, anyways. I think it’s time for Elwen and I to get in the carriage. See, Darrix just came out!” Mary declared, pointing at the door behind the captain.
“Huh? It’s time to go?” The captain briefly looked over his shoulder, before swiveling back as he heard the carriage door opening. “No! Wait!” the guard cried. He tried to say something else, but the door slammed shut before he could.
Mary let out a content sigh from terrorizing the man, getting her just vengeance for his rude lapse in judgment regarding her notes.
“Are you done?” Elwen heard from the other side of the carriage, spooking her.
“Yes, everything is taken care of,” Mary responded to Darrix, who was waiting in the carriage the entire time.
“I hope we didn’t keep you waiting?” Mary softly inquired.
Elwen could feel Darrix’s eyes pierce through her at Mary’s question.
“A merchant is always patient when there is money involved. And that man… I smelled the potential for good business on him.” With that, the merchant returned to reading whatever report he was analyzing when they stepped into the carriage. Two taps on the wall sent the carriage moving forward, and the guards scurrying to get on their horses to follow.
