The Tattooed Woman Pt. 09

Ashunara took her hand out from her makeshift wrapping and looked at the dagger it held with mock surprise, "Why so I do! Isn't that strange? Still, seems rather prudent though, doesn't it?"

She pointed at the flask on the table, "Yon's metheglin, it's not awful, there should be a few swallows left, have some if you will."

"I'll not let you ensorcell me with your foul brew witch!"

The captain just stared at her and then laughed, "Seriously? Well, if you won't drink it, pass it here for I'm so thirsty you'd think my throat had been cut."

The Half-Elf twitched as Nyx entered the tent. The veteran regarded her warily, "Evening Captain, we have an unannounced guest it seems?"

"So it seems, I didn't catch your name girl?"

The scout had taken a half-step away and eyed the tent-flap carefully, almost like a trapped animal might view the door to its hutch, "I'm Dana of Elatha Duinn."

Nyx frowned and scratched her ear, "Elatha Duinn? Isn't that one of those islands up in the north? I think I raided a coastal village there, oh, a long time ago. I'd been pressganged by a clutch of sea-wolves at the time, nice bunch, bit murderous, but nice enough in their way. What we going to do with her Captain?"

Ashunara grinned, "Well, I doubt she'd tell us anything useful unless we flay her or something..."

Nyx frowned, "That sounds like a lot of work, makes a bloody mess too, AND we just got those damned kids abed, you'd wake em again with all that screaming and the like. I shouldn't bother if I were you."

"I suppose you're right, oh and she's definitely NOT going to be Azure's slave."

"Oh really? Why not? What's wrong with Azure?"

"I don't know, she hasn't said, I think it's probably something personal. Tell you what, why not take this girl and get her something hot to eat, and then, once she's rested, turf her from the camp."

Nyx frowned, "I don't really fancy waking Maggie though, but there should be some of that venison stew she cooked up left, I can heat up a plateful," she turned to the Half-Elf, "you hungry?"

Dana stared at the two of them, thoroughly bewildered, "B-but, I don't understand?"

Nyx frowned, "It's venison stew, what's to understand? Oh Gods, you're not one of those that just eat vegetables and grass, or something are you? Is that not what the Sunkissed do Captain?"

Ashunara sighed and shook her head, "I'm going back to bed. Dana, if you would tell Gorsini that Captain Ashunara would parlay with him, and I'll attend his camp on the morrow then I'd be most obliged to you. Now if you would, I apologise young lady for our failure to ensorcell you with human liquor or whatever it is you fancied I'd be doing, but I'd quite like to get at least some sleep while it's still dark."

Nyx turned to her, "Venison stew?"

She was about to lead the befuddled young woman from the tent when the Captain cleared her throat. Looking round she saw the Dark Elf nodding pointedly at the girl's sword belt and daggers, "Don't leave that lying about the place, that's how accidents happen."

Nyx picked them up with a wry grin, "Here, I'll carry them for you, for now, you can have em back when you leave camp."

As they walked to the campfire Dana couldn't help but ask, "I don't understand this at all. Why don't you enslave me, or at least kill me?"

Nyx laughed, "Are you trying to talk us into it or something? No, the Captain will have a purpose in mind. From the sounds of it, she seeks some peaceful accord with your master and killing you would be detrimental to her design. That's not to say it cannot yet happen though, so cross your fingers and if you're lucky you might yet wear a collar if that's what you really fancy."

"You know damned well that's not what I mean!"

Nyx grinned at the girl and spooned some stew into a bowl before walking over to a bedroll and toeing the form writhing about under the blankets with the toe of her boot, moments later a young human man poked his head out from the covers, "What?"

"If you're not too busy tupping yon nun could you heat this stew for me Master Wizard?"

The man almost growled at the Dark Elf, "I am an accredited magus from the unseen school and you want me to use my power to heat stew?"

From under the blanket, there was a distinctly feminine giggle and Nyx grinned.

"If it's not too much trouble."

The human gave an exasperated sigh, stared at the bowl for a moment and his eyes glittered in the darkness. Moments later Nyx felt the wood in her hand warm and its savoury contents began to bubble. She smiled, "Neat trick. My thanks, I'll let you get back to who you were doing."

Nyx handed the bowl to the Half-Elf, "It's good stew, you should eat before you head back, it's a couple of miles through the cold after all."

Dana was looking at the bowl, and then back at the bedroll, "You have a wizard."

"Aye, we do."

"A fire wizard."

"Amongst other things yes."

The Half-Elf regarded Nyx with a shrewd expression, "You wanted me to see that."

"Mayhap."

"Now when I go back, and he asks I tell Gorsini what I saw, and it gives him pause for thought?"

Nyx grinned, "How's the stew?"

Dana blew on the bubbling concoction for a moment before gingerly tasking it. Her eyes raised in appreciation, "That's damned good. You have a skilled cook."

"I'll let Maggie know you appreciated it; she pretends otherwise but she enjoys it when folks compliment her cookery."

"Maggie does not sound a Dökkálfar name?"

"She's a slave. She sleeps over yonder."

Dana stared into the campfire as she ate her stew and said nothing.

The Dark Elf regarded her a moment, "You do not approve?"

"Not of slavery, no."

"Yet you yourself are a slaver?"

Dana shot the woman a hot glance, "I work for the man is all!"

"Semantics, and I think you know it. If you feel so strongly why do it?"

Dana drew a breath, "In truth, we needed the money. It's not so easy for my kind, mixed-bloods that is, to obtain gainful employment that does not involve whoring or menial work for we are not well-liked. Gorsini is no angel, but he treats us fairly enough, asks no more of us than the others under his command, and he's not overly cruel to those he takes. One of the red nuns asked about me once and I heard him tell her to go fuck herself with a bastard sword. I think he hates them more than he loves me, but I appreciated it nonetheless."

Nyx gave the woman a strange smile, "A good Captain is worth their weight in gold, or so I've been told."

Dana nodded thoughtfully, "And your Captain?"

The Dark Elf glanced back at the tent, "I'll not tell tales, but you met her yourself, albeit briefly. What do you think?"

"I think I saw how she spoke to that sneaky scout you have and the exchange between them. And I saw the easy way you two talk, with none of the stiffness of a Commander to a mere subordinate. You're friends, and that's no common thing."

Nyx gave the girl a look of approval, "Shrewd, you see a lot Dana of Elatha Duinn. I think you might be one to watch in the years to come, "she laughed, "assuming we don't end up killing you that is."

"Or I end up in a slave collar?"

"Oh, there are worse things than that Dana, truly. You could learn a lot from my kind, and we don't care about your mixed blood for we treat everyone with equal disdain."

Dana was finishing the last of her stew and Nyx passed her a flask, the girl paused as she saw it was the same one from the Captain's tent and the Dark Elf grinned. The Half-Elf took it with a sigh and downed a swig, "Happy?"

"Always. For I am a very font of good cheer, just ask those under me."

"Have you really visited my home?"

Nyx frowned as she thought, "If it's the place I remember then aye, but this was probably some five hundred years before you were born girl. Wasn't much there back then if I remember, some creepy standing stones, a couple of sunken wrecks and a few poor fishing villages. We took a couple of young fishermen captive and stole a haul of fish for supplies. Not a mighty adventure."

"What happened to the fishermen?"

"Oh, the ships Master and First Mate shagged them senseless, and we dropped them off on the next island."

Sana choked on the drink, "Seriously?"

"Aye, we only took them because the steersman was so drunk, she crashed us into their boat and sunk it, they would have drowned otherwise. She was flogged for her drunkenness if I recall."

"Why let them go?"

Nyx laughed, "What use were a couple of young fishermen to us, apart from the obvious that is? They were worth no coin, they were just poor folks, so nobody would pay a ransom for them, and we'd just sunk their damned boat, I think we'd done them enough harm for one day don't you?"

"And did you take a turn with them?"

"Me? No, I was just a young lass back then, barely older than you are now I would think. I'd been pressed into the crew after getting shifaced after a night of carousing in a dockside bar where a youngster like me really shouldn't have been. Anyway, the officers kept them for themselves and after they'd had their sport, they dropped them off with a few extra coins in their pockets, and we set sail looking for richer prey."

"It still sounds cruel."

Nyx grinned mischievously, "They didn't look that unhappy when they got off the ship, walked a bit funny perhaps, but definitely not unhappy."

Dana finished her stew. Looking at the Dark Elf she swallowed nervously, "Are you really going to let me go?"

Nyx passed her sword and daggers back and nodded towards the edge of the camp, "The Captain doesn't lie, it's a flaw of hers, I've been trying for years to break her of it but so far, no luck. Be safe young Dana of Elatha Duinn."

...

The morning was bitterly cold, but at least it was crisp and clear, and the snowfall had stopped. Ashunara took in the chill air as she surveyed the camp. She saw the sentries were being changed and Maggie was up and at her cookpot already. Most of the slaves were still wrapped up warmly in their blankets though a few had been roused by the cook and were scouring the edge of the encampment for winter berries and the like. A trio of the more energetic young ones had engaged themselves in a snowball fight with a couple of Orcs and she shook her head muttering to herself at their happy screams, "Scary greenskin monsters my arse..."

Tallis and Nyx were waiting for her at the cookpot, though there was no sign of Azure and the Captain assumed the woman was already abroad.

Maggie handed her a bowl of hot porridge and nodded to a few handfuls of berries, "There you go Mistress."

Ashunara took a taste and nodded in appreciation. She looked at the portly woman as she bustled about her pot, "How are you this morning Maggie?"

The cook seemed startled at being spoken to by her, "Er, well enough Mistress. Is the porridge to your liking?"

"Good as always, and it warms the bones on a cold morning. I hear Leftenant Nyx made an offer to you girl, to mayhap speak on your behalf to the owner of the Raven's Nest, a tavern she has on occasion frequented. Have you given the offer any thought?"

Maggie flushed, "It's good of her to make the offer Mistress, but in truth I've no idea how this works. I thought slaves just, well, you know..."

"Did as they were told?"

"Well, aye. I didn't expect no job interview as such, why it's almost as if I'm askin to be sold."

The Captain laughed, "Well you are, after a fashion. An unskilled or troublesome slave is a cheap slave, and a cheap slave is all the more disposable."

Maggie went pale, "You mean I'd be killed?"

"Oh, Gods no Maggie! I'm sorry if I scared you like that. No, I mean it's a more easily disposable asset, they're not so valuable an investment is what I meant. But a skilled slave, one who is recommended, known to be trustworthy, hardworking and amenable, well now, such a slave would be worth a considerable amount of coin. It would be in the interests of anyone paying such a sum that the investment be looked after, no?"

"But Captain, if I'm cheaply bought will it not be all the easier to buy my freedom one day?"

"You'd think so, but no. Certainly, the price to buy your freedom would be less, but then you'd be in some cheap dive, treated as a disposable creature that is easily replaced. You might not be actively abused as such, but it's far more likely your treatment might be harsher, and certainly, the pay would be less."

"Pay? I thought I was a slave?"

Ashunara grinned, "Slaves are paid, not much to be sure, but they also get a stipend, a portion of their sale price. It's often paid to them upon their release, though it can also be paid earlier at their owner's discretion if, for instance, the slave seeks to marry or has a child or whatnot. Why Maggie if they were not paid how then would they work towards buying their freedom?"

"It sounds like a job," mused the cook.

The Captain chuckled dryly, "In a manner of speaking it is. Just not one you can quit I suppose."

"Er, Mistress?"

"Yes, Maggie?"

"Do you know this place?"

"The Raven's Nest? Aye, I've drank there, the ale is cheap enough and the food is... well, it's cheap. But I do know that it has recently been bought by a new owner who's trying to increase its reputation."

"You know this new owner?"

"Oh, we've met a couple of times, I've had a drink with her on occasion. She's young, and a bit temperamental, but her heart's in the right place. She would be an honest Mistress, and I wouldn't think she'd misuse you, though I don't doubt you might find her a touch abrasive until you get to know each other for she's as stubborn as a rock, and just as hard-headed."

"You sound like you know her well."

Ashunara smiled, "Well enough."

Maggie looked at the pot and Ashunara could see she was troubled, "What ails you, Maggie, I won't see you sold to a cruel Mistress I promise."

"It's Cassie, I worry for the lass is all. I've known her since she was but a toddler when the priest's wife handed her over into service with the innkeeper for a handful of coppers."

"Oh? What is it about Cassie that troubles you so?"

"Well Mistress, it's yon painted woman, she's just... strange."

"You think she would hurt Cassie?"

"Oh, Gods no! It's as clear as day the woman dotes on the girl, and I would think that anyone seeking to harm the lass, be she a Dark Elf mistress or no, is like as not going to get their ears boxed. But I have to wonder what kind of life she can offer her. Will she keep her safe from danger, or would she drag her into some queer troubles that might one day torment the girl? My da, he was a soldier and went off to war, when he came back, he was as hale and hearty in body as he'd ever been, but he'd seen some things that hurt him... inside if you know what I mean. I wonder if that woman will show Cassie a world where she might see such things as my da did."

Ashunara looked across to the small fire where the tattooed woman sat. She was whittling at a piece of antler with Cassie seated beside her struggling to learn a few more Elven phrases. The woman paused in her tuition and looked up as if sensing the Captain's gaze, her lips curled slightly and her green eyes glittered in the firelight.

Ashunara shivered, "Aye, she's creepy enough, that's for sure."

The Dark Elf turned back to the cook with a smile, "Fear not Maggie, if Cassie is of a mind to go with you, I'll see it done. I'd not see you parted in misery, but only if the girl wants to go mind, I'll not get in the middle of a tug-of-war between you. Is that fair?"

Maggie gave the woman a broad smile, "It's more than I could have asked for Mistress. Here have another bowl of porridge, I think I might have a bit of honeycomb left someplace."

"You'll make me fat woman."

"Ha! I've seen more meat on a butcher's apron!"

As she was turning towards Nyx and Tallis an Orc stepped into her path, she looked up at the grizzled warrior and waited, patiently. The creature gazed down at her for a moment before gesturing with its chin towards the two Half-Orc children who were engrossed in their bloodless but hotly contested snowball battle, "They are ours. Will you take gold for them?"

Ashunara ate another spoonful of porridge as if carefully considering the offer before looking back up into the thing's eyes, "No."

The Orc growled slightly, "What then?"

The Dark Elf grinned, "Blood, of course, what else is there?"

The old Orc sniffed, "Hurm, how many?"

"Six."

The Orc's bellow wasn't quite loud enough to start an avalanche, "No!"

Captain Ashunara shrugged, "Five then."

"No, only four! Three for those lost and one more for your profit!"

The Dark Elf paused, considering the offer, "Only if one is a good archer."

"How good?"

"As good as Azure!"

The old Orc threw back his head and laughed, "Ha! Not that good, but almost."

Ashunara spat on her hand and held it out, "Almost is good enough for me, I accept."

The old Orc took her hand in a bone-crushing grip and watched her intently. The woman simply stared back, looking unperturbed. Eventually, he released her and walked off laughing.

Nyx sauntered over, "Is your hand broken?"

Ashunara groaned quietly, "Fucking felt like it for a bit but no. I swear he just does that to annoy me."

"What's the plan then Captain?"

"Simple enough, I'm going to go down and talk to the man, if there's trouble Azure shoots his caster and then we kill them all. But in truth I don't think there will be any problems. My guess is he came this way for the same reason as us."

Nyx nodded, "He's running."

The Captain grinned, "I suspect so, there will be dwarves after his blood, and while they may not be as swift as us the bastards don't tire, they don't give up, and if they catch him they'll split his skull open for sure. So, I think he'll be happy to let us pass in peace. In fact, my guess is he'll be worried we just sit here and bar his passage."

The older Dark Elf gave a snort of amusement, "And here's us worried he does the same. It's a funny business we're in sometimes."

"No argument there."

It was only a couple of hours later when Ashunara and Tallis came into sight of the shrine. The humans were emplaced before the structure and the Dark Elves could make out the tent and cooking fires of their encampment, as well as their sentries and the area where the captured slaves were being held. The shrine itself looked to be an ancient acropolis of crumbling stone pillars, well hidden by trees. There was a roofed temple building at one end and a flickering light reflecting on the inner walls indicated the presence of a fire within. A strange number of crows could be seen in the boughs of the nearby trees, silently watching.

Tallis had felt pride at being selected by the Captain to accompany her, but as she drew in sight of the human slaver camp she began to feel a trickle of fear running down her spine and her mouth was suddenly dry. She glanced at her commander who smiled back calmly, looking for all the world as though they were out for nothing more than a pleasant stroll and she didn't have a care in the world. "Some of that has got to be an act, nobody is that resolved, she must have some doubts, surely."

As if sensing the young woman's trepidation Ashunara broke the silence and began to speak.

"Some commanders like to keep things to themselves Tallis, but I've found that you get better results when your troops know what's what. Now that doesn't mean telling them everything all the time, but unless there's some good reason for secrecy, I think it's best they know as much as possible, especially in a small company like ours. It might be different in a larger cohort, but even then, you would let your subordinate officers know the score and trust them to disseminate the necessary information to the troops."