Chapter 50 part 1

Emily felt like she might as well have been made into a slave with how she was being treated. Not only was she expected to care for the mules that were pulling the wagon, but also help with the cooking, any chore the soldiers who'd been sent to accompany her asked of her, and even gathering firewood. Now, if those were shared by everyone, Emily wouldn't complain.

However, the guards seemed to feel like their only task was to keep Emily safe and from 'escaping.' Other than that, they seemed to act like everyone else there was for their benefit and should be thankful that they were 'allowed' to be given orders by them.

She couldn't say if that's what the duchess had in mind when she'd sent them along, but it was getting old. Fast. Though, she had to at least be happy that they hadn't demanded anything from her like waiting on them hand and foot or their laundry.

To get through the day, most of the time, she had to keep reminding herself about what it was that she was hoping to accomplish here. To secure a way to try and save those she'd accompanied to the world where everyone else had been captured, and apparently made into slaves, she were leading these people to try and discuss something with Heathcliff. She would like to know what that 'something' is, but the one in charge of the soldiers refused to tell her anything, other than what she wanted Emily to do.

Though, she couldn't help but wonder what they would think about Earth when they arrived. Or at least as close to Earth as Emily would be willing to get, since she didn't want the enchantment that Heathcliff had put on them to end. Which would occur if she even stuck her hand through a gate that led to Earth.

Aside from Heathcliff, she was fairly confident that the others didn't know much about enchantments, other than the basics. Such as how permanent enchantments were dangerous to try and typically only someone who was a natural enchanter could reasonably manage it without the aforementioned dangers.

While that was the case, there were a few workarounds. Such as the enchantments put on their tents to make them invisible were more of an incomplete spell. That when they directed their magic through it, that it would then activate. If the incomplete spell was removed from the fabric of the tent, then it would have to be redone or it wouldn't work again.

In regards to the enchantment that kept Emily from aging, it merely tapped into her magic itself. It didn't pull much, but if she lost complete access to her magic, such as getting it sealed, the enchantment would end. Not that she planned on having that happen. Though, from what she was able to learn from side comments some of the soldiers with her had made, they had some items that could prevent her from using her magic, but she got the impression that it was more of something to dampen her ability rather than sealing it.

Not that she expected that it would afford her much protection. The soldiers seemed to have their own ideas of what following the duchess' directions were, and Emily couldn't be certain that there wasn't other directions that she hadn't been made aware of. Though, she wished things could be as simple as she felt they should be. Rather than with all this intrigue and politics instead of just open and upfront dialogue.

It had been a little over a month since they'd set out, and Emily was already wishing they had some motorized transportation. Not only would it have made this trip complete before it had really even started, but she wouldn't have had to deal with the treatment she'd had to endure so far.

"Pet! The captain wants you!" a voice called out from outside the wagon Emily had taken refuge in for the night. 'Pet' was the nickname they'd given Emily. Not that she liked it, or even responded to it the vast majority of the time.

She'd already done the cooking and had finished all of her usual chores. As such, she felt like there shouldn't be a reason why any of the soldiers would be calling for her, but apparently there was a reason. At least right now.

Emily knew that if they couldn't find her that they'd tear the camp apart looking for her, like a time when she'd been sent out to look for firewood and someone hadn't realized that. Which meant that if she'd want to keep her hiding spot from being discovered, she'd need to keep them from feeling the need to resort to that.

Not that she planned on giving her hiding spot away. She'd only become aware of this a couple weeks into the trip, and she didn't feel like having to look for another one if she really didn't have to. She'd really only found this one by accident and she knew there were very few possible locations for any replacement hiding spots to begin with. The loss of this one could potentially make her become miserable for the rest of the trip.

So, she waited until whoever was calling out for her. After which, Emily carefully exited the wagon and yawned. She really had been hoping to get some sleep, but couldn't let that be the excuse as to why not only did they search through everything in the camp because she had been more interested in getting some sleep or because she was getting tired of them in general.

Waiting for another minute, Emily kept an ear out for others, hoping that she hadn't guessed the time in order to do climb out of the wagon. As she knew if she'd been caught, they'd have wanted to know what she'd been doing in there in the first place.

When she was confident that she'd given them long enough so her suddenly appearing here wouldn't create more problems. So, she called out to them, despite how much she hated that nickname.

"Were you looking for me?" she called out, walking forward in the direction their voice went, if only so they wouldn't be as likely to suspect where she had been hiding from them.

Emily heard a startled noise when she called out, making her smile in amusement. They could be rather excitable sometimes. Especially when they found they weren't as superior to others as they seemed to think they were.

It only took three of the soldiers a minute or so to get to where Emily was, their expressions towards her not very friendly, though Emily couldn't help but be amused at that. Which she was careful not to let that show. It was kind of like finding a teacher being angry at her amusing. Letting that teach know you were amused would only hurt you. These soldiers wouldn't be any different, Emily was sure.

"Where were you?" one of them demanded.

"I was in camp," Emily answered, not inclined to explain any further. She was in camp, but she wasn't going to tell them where in camp she was. The rift between them was of their own making, so she felt no inclination to help them bridge it. Besides, she was sure they weren't looking for her because they needed her help with anything, but rather because they wanted her to do something they didn't want to.

"The captain wants you to help warm her bed," the soldier told Emily.

Emily felt appalled at the statement. Not only was that something she was aware of some of the slaves that they'd brought with them were directed to do, which invariably led to other activities in bed, but none of them interested Emily in that way that would make her even want to do anything like that. Least of all the captain.

For Emily, if it was just using her own body to help keep the bed warm through her body heat, that'd be fine. The problem primarily lay with what she knew the captain would expect from Emily. She'd heard enough from the soldiers joking to know they'd been expecting this sooner or later.

However, if she said what she was thinking, including what she thought of the captain, she was sure the rest of the trip for herself would be miserable. Whether she was able to get out of it this night or not. Then there was the fact that there was only one person in the entire camp that Emily would have even considered sleeping with, and that was one of the slaves. Yet, she wouldn't have felt right doing that with her, since she really wouldn't have been allowed a choice in the matter. At least not any that she would have been aware of. Emily was confident in that part, which eliminated the viability of that option.

The only option left was to go to the captain's tent, and work her literal magic to change the captain's mind. Something that she hadn't cared to do up to this point, largely because she didn't want to go to that effort, and she merely wanted to get through this trip as quietly as possible.

The captain's quarters was the only one in a tent. The others were left to find what shelter they could if there was any inclement weather. Which none of them seemed to complain about, even though Emily was confident they weren't happy with that, or at least not enough to say anything about it. Most holed up under the wagons, though Emily couldn't help but wonder if there was a better option that she just couldn't think of or just hadn't thought of yet.

So, as Emily entered the camp, she immediately began pulling on her magic and with her voice, began weaving the web that she knew would direct the captain's own desires to what she wanted. Which was for the captain to let go of whatever she had in mind to do to Emily's body first and foremost. Next, would be to get the captain to at least tone down her treatment of Emily. As she didn't mind helping out some of the more basic chores, such as cooking and gathering firewood, as it gave her something to occupy her mind during the trip.

"Would you like something to drink?" Emily asked when she first entered, using her voice as the catalyst to get her magic to start adhering to the captain. "If you don't have it in your tent, I can go quickly get it for you."

"That won't be necessary," the captain said, her eyes roaming over Emily, making Emily feel more uneasy than when she had made her way over. The captain was clearly already drunk, and really didn't look like she needed to drink anything more, but Emily thought it would be useful if the captain did drink more. Maybe enough to knock her out.

She couldn't say if her magic would influence the captain and work how it used to if it ran directly counter to the kind of person she was targeting, but she also knew that she didn't have much choice at the moment. She just hoped there wasn't anything to this enchantment she was fairly good at working, that wasn't yet aware of.

"Then what would you like me to do?" Emily asked, half expecting to be told to just crawl under the covers of the 'bed' the captain had clearly just unrolled. Which To Emily, looked like it was a single person size sleeping bag, although the sides didn't connect the way a sleeping bag did.

"Well, you could either undress for me before we go to bed, or you can slide in as you are now and let me take my time undressing you," the captain answered, her eyes roaming over Emily's body, making her feel like throwing up.

"Really?" Emily asked, not moving from where she stood while doing her best to act like she didn't notice the captain's behavior at all. "You don't want to talk, or anything first?"

"I… uh…" the captain stammered, letting Emily know that her magic was taking effect. Either that or the captain really had drank enough to fall unconscious on her own. Not that Emily thought she'd be that lucky.

Emily didn't say anything more, but merely stood just inside the entrance of the tent. She was surprised at the strain it was putting on her, since she'd done this several times before. This time she couldn't help but wonder if the alcohol the captain had drunk would affect her enchantment more than a little. Especially when the captain was already in a much different mood than everyone else Emily had used this enchantment on.

It was possible that the alcohol was making her use more magic than she usually did with this enchantment, since all the others she'd used this on weren't old enough to drink. At least legally, anyway.

"Something wrong?" Emily asked after a minute, casting another thread of her magic out, doing what she could to force herself to keep her eyes open. If she fell asleep, she was certain that she'd wake up in a worse position than she'd been in so far on this trip.

Possibly even a slave.

"…not… what's…" the captain mumbled, almost incoherently, stumbling on her way to where her 'bed' was on the ground. Which really was just a collection of blankets for the mattress and a single blanket over it.

"You really don't want me, do you?" Emily asked quietly, throwing another thread of her magic at the captain, doing her best to cement her enchantment on the captain. To influence how she looked at Emily.

A method that Emily considered to be closer to hypnotism than anything else. Where she couldn't make the person do anything they wouldn't be willing to do otherwise, but at the same time, influencing their perceptions. Such as making the captain look at Emily as something other than what the captain was attracted to. Emily didn't care what she looked like in the eyes of the captain, so long as she wasn't trying to continue to get in Emily's pants.

Emily remained by the tent entrance, watching the captain laying on her bed, hoping she would fall asleep. Emily would like to leave the captain's tent, but she couldn't help but worry that the other guards would get the wrong idea, that Emily had been spurned by the captain, making her fair game for them.

Which would essentially be jumping out of the frying pan an into the fire. Which wasn't a situation she felt would be good for her to deal with. Not with how weakened she felt from using her magic on the captain. So, Emily walked over to a chest that likely held clothing for the captain, sat on it, and rested her head in her hands with her elbows braced on her knees.

It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it was at least away from the captain. What the others thought Emily was doing with the captain wasn't important. What was important was the fact that they weren't doing anything Emily didn't want to her.

Whether she'd have to repeat this process later on or not was yet to be seen. However, Emily was confident that she'd at least won this round. She hoped that this would be the only round she'd have to go with the captain here, but she doubted she'd be able to get out of it that easily.

If she had to go another round, she knew she'd need her rest as well. Though, she doubted she'd be able to get much in this position, but it also wasn't like she had any other option, but to slide in bed with the captain. Which Emily was not going to do. Not even if she had to stay up all night and try to find another place to hide just to get some sleep the next day while they traveled.

_

Jenn thought back to earlier in the morning when she, Cithis, and Haln were pulled out of her pen. Both Cithis and Haln were scared, and Jenn couldn't blame them. She'd been worried herself and worried that the two children would get hurt as they struggled.

However, Jenn was confident that they weren't being pulled out for anything bad. It was the day for them to be auctioned off anyway, so it wasn't like she hadn't expected them to stay in the cell all day. Although, she did feel that these people were being unnecessarily rough with them. Making her wonder if they were doing this just because they enjoyed the look of fear in others.

If that was the case, Jenn was certain she'd pay these people a visit some time later. A time when she could let them know just what it was that they were inflicting on others for their own pleasure.

They were pulled to a place that almost looked like it was a kind of showroom of sorts. Jenn, Cithis, and Haln were put in chains that were secured to the floor. The chains had been made so short that Jenn had to keep her knees slightly bent in order to keep from having the cuffs on the chains dig into her wrists painfully. If she wanted to stand that is. Mostly she stayed kneeling, with her arms around Cithis and Haln, doing her best to keep them calm.

What was going on here was various people, all very wealthy were examining each person in chains. They would open the mouths of each person so they could look inside, poke them in various places, not that Jenn understood what that last part was about. Such as how one person was jabbed rather painfully in the stomach, while another was poked in the side, just above the hip. Maybe the person poking knew what they were looking for, but Jenn certainly couldn't figure out what that was about.