I had just closed my eyes for a moment when I heard footsteps in the alleyway. Someone was trying very hard to be quiet. I opened my eyes and saw him. He was staring right at my hiding place. He was hard to see in the dark, but he wore some kind of mask on his face. He carried a staff. I gripped my father’s sword.
Before I could move, I heard an animal behind me. Something large. With no hope now of remaining hidden, nor slipping away, I stood. I glanced behind me. A young man astride a horse was waiting. He looked from me to the man in the mask and they spoke. It was hard to make out their words, but I had learned enough to get the gist of their conversation. The masked man intended to take me back to the slave ship. The man on the horse argued with him. Another man appeared behind the masked man.
I made up my mind to run. If I could get by the animal, the rider would have a hard time turning it in the narrow alley. I turned and sprinted, but as I did I felt a sharp pain in my back. I stumbled and fell. My breath was knocked from me and I was dazed ; unable to move. My sight turned grey and my ears rang.
It passed within a few moments, but by then the mounted young man was off his horse, and very nearby. So too, the masked man. They continued to argue. The masked man needed to take me back to earn his own freedom. The young man refused to let him do so. Finally he threw some coins at the older man, then I felt his hands around my waist as he lifted me up to the saddle of his horse.
Suddenly, the other man, the one who had remained back, called out that there were slavers behind us. I would not go back! I used the height of the animal to climb my way towards the roof of the nearest building. I knew I could outrun them along the rooftops.
There were shouts from all sides, but my concentration was on climbing. Just as I was reaching the top, the young man grabbed my ankle and I could not break free.
“I can help you,” he insisted. I hesitated, but finally let him guide me back down. The two slavers at the end of the alley were dead. The three men spoke quickly, then parted. The masked man and the other heading back toward the ship. The young man put me on another horse, and led me through the city.
As the sun rose, I could see my surroundings better. We moved from the docks making our way from simple shacks to nicer and nicer stone buildings. Finally we came to a stop at very fine home. I could see the young man better now. He was very well dressed. We stopped by a stable and a servant bowed before he took the animals away. The young man led me inside, and was greeted with another bow from another man.
“Please find this lady some new clothes,” he said with some authority. I understood most of what he said. The servant did not look so confident, but nodded and indicated that I should follow.
I was lead to a room and asked to wait. I took in my surroundings and contemplated how I might escape, if need be. There was a window, and the door had not been locked. While I looked around, a young woman came in with water which she poured into a large basin. She smiled and left me. The thought of being clean after months on that filthy ship was too good to pass up. I got undressed and washed off as completely as I could. I even washed my hair. It was heavenly!
When I returned to get dressed, I found my clothing had been taken away. On the bed was a length of fine fabric. I hadn’t seen anything like it since... well, maybe not even at home. It was soft and supple, luxurious even. I held it up. How did one wear it? There was enough to wrap around me several times over. I noticed a tall, ornate mirror and moved in front of it. As I looked, I was shocked at what I saw. I did not recognize myself. My once long flowing hair was now just past my shoulders and shaggy. I remembered the day I cut it crudely with my knife. It had once reached my waist, but I had soon discovered it was a liability in the wild. I reached up and touched my face. It was not the face I remembered. It was thin, almost gaunt. My father always said I looked like my mother, but I saw nothing of her in my reflection now. My blue eyes had a hard edge I never noticed back home. As my gaze moved down my form I was dismayed. Gone were the soft curves of my body and in their place hard, sinewy muscles. I didn’t think even my brother Areth would recognize me now.
I shook my head and set about dressing myself in the strange garment. I experimented, trying to find a way to wrap the garment so it covered me, yet still let me move about. It was no easy task. I didn’t want to have to run in this. Escaping just became more complicated. I also noticed the large angry bruise on my back. It was still difficult take in a full breath. This was the work of the masked man from the ship. I frowned, and adjusted the garment to cover the bruise.
No matter how I arranged it, I felt very exposed. People did not wear such clothing where I came from. It was much too cold to expose so much skin. I finally settled on wrapping it around me, then draping the excess over my shoulders. It seemed to work, but I still felt vulnerable. Perhaps that is what was intended. I felt a moment of panic and I searched the room for my sword. With a sigh of relief, I saw it still lying where I had left it on the bed.
I took a moment to take in my surroundings. It was a lavish room. The bed was made of wood, with soft covers and pillows. It had tall posts at each corner and a sheer canopy overhead. The floors were stone or marble, the ceiling very tall and trimmed with ornate carvings. This young man was very rich, indeed.
A thought suddenly occurred to me. He had paid the masked man a handful of gold coins, and the masked man had gone away. Did he think he now owned me? Though he had seemed friendly, I would have to disabuse him of that thought as soon as possible. Though I had spent months as a prisoner, and my fate was made very clear to me, I was no man’s property; especially in the manner which they intended. I understood my situation was different from the other prisoners on the ship. I had been treated differently from the start.
I looked again at the bed then almost jumped away from it. I would have to make them understand that I was not going to be anyone’s slave. Or I would have to fight to escape again. I took up my sword and moved toward the door.
I wandered a bit through the halls until I heard voices. I slowed and listened.
“I’m not sure this is a wise idea, Your Highness.” This was the servant that had taken me to my room. I moved closer to see into the room without being seen myself.
“Please just show them in, Yassat.” This from the young man I had ridden in with. Highness? The man was a prince?
“As you wish, Your Highness.” Yassat left the room and moments later returned with two men. The men that had tried to take me back to the ship! The prince welcomed them and sent Yassat away. Again he returned shortly, this time with a tray full of breads, fruit, and cheeses. My stomach rumbled.
“I am Aldiss,” the prince said. He waited, then sighed. “And you are.....?”
“Najat,” answered the younger of the two. He helped himself to breakfast.
“Cosmir,” replied the other as he stuffed his mouth, not to mention his pockets, with bread and cheese. This was the masked man. In full daylight I could see the mask covered thick roped scars that extended down his neck and disappeared beneath his tunic. I could not even imagine the beast that must have done that to him.
Aldiss was blunt. “How did you come to be working for slavers, Cosmir?” Yassat just about dropped the second tray at the mention of the word.
“Slavers? You Highness, I must strongly advise.....” Aldiss cut him off.
“It’s fine, Yassat, thank you.” Yassat obviously did not agree that it was fine, but he held his tongue.
Cosmir shrugged, and answered with his mouth still full. “I was blown out to sea in a storm. Boat capsized. They pulled me out, brought me here.”
“And sent you chasing young women through the city.... and you agreed?”
He shrugged again. “She was cargo. A slave. Not my place to judge. I owed them a debt. I wanted my freedom.”
I should have kept quiet, but I could not. I stepped out from the shadows.
“I am not slave!” I stated.
Aldiss stood as I entered. The others did not. Cosmir stole a piece of cheese from the Prince’s plate.
After staring long enough to make me self conscious, Aldiss invited me in. “Please, m’lady, come in. Join us.”
I paused for a moment, now wishing I had not made myself known. But I tried to remain composed, and struggled to remember manners long unused. I gave the Prince a slight curtsy.
“I am Aldiss,” he said again.
“Uh... Erien,” I replied. “I am Erien.”
“Pleased to meet you, miss Erien.”
“May I.....,” I hesitated. “May I eat?”
“Of course, of course! Please, help yourself!”
I must admit my first inclination was to stuff food in my mouth much in the way Cosmir was doing, but I refrained. I thought of what my father would think if he could see me. I took a few pieces of cheese and bread and forced myself to eat slowly.
“So, where are you from, Erien?” Aldiss asked.
“Uh.... the mountains,” I replied between bites.
“Your people live in the mountains?
“I.... I have no....” I really didn’t want to explain my situation to a room full of strangers. “I live alone, in the mountains.”
Aldiss frowned. “How did you end up.... um.... on a slave ship?”
It was my turn to frown. I really wasn’t too sure. “I was hunting; I come down the mountain following game. I do not see them, do not hear them. Then I wake up in ship, chained to wall. Long journey here. Then I escape, until this one,” I pointed to Cosmir, “come for me.”
“Not personal,” Cosmir answered. “If I return with white slave girl, I earn my freedom from working off passage on ship. I do not want to work on ship. I want to return to Deadlands.”
I glared at him, but before I could speak, Aldiss interrupted.
“You’ve been to the Deadlands?”
“I come from Deadlands.”
Aldiss paused. “No one alive comes from the Deadlands.”
“I do,” Cosmir replied indifferently. “And you promised to help me get back.”
“There is a way. The city is giving writs for groups to go into the Deadlands on missions. You have to meet certain qualifications though.”
I interrupted them. “What is there in Deadlands if nothing lives there?”
“Monsters.” Cosmir said matter-of-factly. “The dead.”
That made no sense to me. “The dead? There is little to fear from the dead.”
“You have not been there,” Cosmir said, and his voice frightened me. “The dead walk and feed on the living. They are what did this to me.” He pointed to the terrible scars he bore.
“Then why do you want to go back?”
“To kill them, of course.”
“There is also money to be made,” Najat added. “Or even just found. Untold treasure and gold left behind after the Great Destruction.”
“Perhaps,” said Aldiss slowly, his eyes brightening, “perhaps we can form a group and get a writ. Think of the adventure!”