Chapter 60 part 1

Hisith wasn't surprised to find the visitor in her home without having disturbed the locked doors or windows when she returned after her shift. This particular visitor never had bothered with those before, so it was hardly surprising that she hadn't this time.

What would have been surprising if her 'guest' had lowered her hood and allowed Hisith to see her face. Rather than keeping it in shadow, like she was right now.

"What is it that was so pressing that you had to speak to me in person?" she asked, glaring from beneath her hood.

"Good evening," she replied instead of answering. "Would you care for any refreshments? Or even entertainment?"

"Cut the crap and answer me," the figure snapped, clearly not in a good mood. "I don't have time for this. What is it that you have to tell me in person? I have other things I need to take care of. If what you have to say isn't any more pressing, then we're going to have problems."

"If you want to get down to business, then that's fine," Hisith replied, feeling a little annoyed at her 'guest's' attitude. "So, tell me, why did you approach Beth? What makes you think you can control her?"

"Hm? I didn't know that a commoner like her would be of any real interest to you."

"She's not. Not really. Though, while she isn't a noble in this country, she is hardly your typical commoner. For one thing, she's far too educated to be just a commoner."

"Maybe, but she could just as easily been a charity case for a noble somewhere. Much like Denshia might do."

Hisith merely shook her head. "Anyway, I thought you'd like to know that she doesn't fully trust you. She's considering methods to double cross you."

The woman laughed. Like she always did whenever Hisith brought anything to her attention. As if she'd already anticipated and expected everything. Clear arrogance that Hisith was confident would one day end up costing this woman her life one day.

"You think I didn't already anticipate that?" the woman asked mockingly. "I know how to keep my pieces in line. If she steps out, even a little, I'll know. Her first warning won't be one that she'll soon forget."

"If that's the case, then what did you offer her to get her to agree?" Hisith asked, mildly curious. Beth had mentioned it to her, but she wondered if her 'guest' would tell her anyway. Especially since her 'guest' didn't have any idea what Beth had said to her, or possibly even how she knew Beth in the first place.

"You're not thinking of backing out of our arrangement, are you?" the woman asked instead. "You know what'll happen if you do, don't you?"

"Yes, I'm fully aware," Hisith replied, feeling annoyed. Whenever she starts getting questioned, Hisith's 'guest' always goes to accusing her questioner of betraying the cause. "Just as you should be fully aware of why I joined in the first place. Not only that, but if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure that I joined before even you did."

Poking the griffin usually wasn't a good idea, but at this time, she didn't care. "You really want to fight me?"

Hisith rolled her eyes. Of course she didn't. She knew her own abilities and limitations. Fighting wasn't anywhere near her strong suit. Information gathering and dissemination was her primary task. Just as carrying messages and meting out punishments was this woman's task.

Which was also why only her direct supervisor was to know her identity. Otherwise she could end up getting targeted by one looking to betray the cause. Even if they were a founder.

"Do you want to take my job?" Hisith asked instead. Her own way of mocking this woman. "You could spend your days leisurely collecting pieces of gossip and news with merchants. Who's to say you might recognize a crucial piece of information that will allow us to move our plans ahead that much faster."

"So, what? You're saying that bringing Beth on board is a mistake?"

"Possibly. She's already aware that if she does kill the queen that she could be next. That we might use them as a scapegoat to keep from ending on the block ourselves."

The hooded woman scoffed at Hisith's remark. "Only fools and cowards fear the block. I've seen it plenty of times up close and not just at public executions. I've even participated in some."

Hisith struggled to keep her expression neutral. While this woman wasn't supposed to reveal her identity, it was clear that she wasn't used to hiding anything. In fact, the fact that she'd participated in some executions narrowed down the list of who she could possibly be. A lot.

Especially from the fact that most people didn't even like to get that close to the block when it came to public executions. Even most of the nobility tended to get a little green at the sight of a person's head being cut off. No matter what they'd did to deserve it.

However, pointing that fact out, plus what she'd learned from Beth about what this woman's hair color was, assuming it was the same messenger, then that would allow Hisith to potentially identify her and name her if their efforts ever failed.

If she had a name to give the provosts, then she'd be able to have a shot at escaping the block herself. After all, while she wanted to try and get rid of the queen for what she'd done, she at least would rather survive a failed attempt rather than die because the attempt failed.

"You know, I've heard it said that only fools and morons discount the ability to process information. It's always amazing what you can learn from what a person says without them even realizing what they shared."

"So, all you had was your concerns about Beth?" the woman asked, sounding rather annoyed herself. "Then that means you wanted me here to waste my time."

Now it was Hisith's turn to scoff. "In your dreams. You're the one who wasted most of your time here. I merely brought to your attention that this person and her group of friends are more dangerous than you're taking into account. Not only are they smarter than most people you deal with, but I'm pretty sure that they're more resourceful than you give them credit for."

"Just because they have wild magic doesn't mean that they'll be able to escape if they try to back out at any time. You know what I'm capable of."

Technically, no, she didn't. She'd heard rumors, but she'd never seen firsthand, or even fifthhand what was done. It always came through rumors and even those Hisith couldn't be sure weren't exaggerated to any extent.

"So, how long was it before Beth left here?" the woman asked. "I might as well check up on her while I'm in the area."

"A little over a week," Hisith replied. "Eight days to be exact. She and her friends were heading back to Denshia's to meet up with her other friends."

"That'll be fun," the woman remarked, sounding a little crazier than Hisith had ever heard her. Which didn't sit well with her. "I've never tried breaking into his castle. There'd never been any need to."

"Well, if you're going to do that, would you let me be then? I need to make myself something to eat because I'm on the early shift tomorrow."

Hisith felt like she didn't need to bother with her last sentence. She merely blinked and the woman was gone. While she suspected that the woman could use something magical, she also couldn't deny that she just might be skilled at hiding in the shadows.

There were any number of possibilities that Hisith really didn't care to think about. For one thing, she didn't care to know. If she did learn that, then there was a chance she'd give something away at the wrong time and end up getting killed herself.

_

Jenn couldn't believe how good it felt to have finally gotten everything squared away with her people. From rescuing the scouting party from the ogres to relocating everyone to the village. In addition to recovering all the resources that they'd stockpiled in the settlement, such as food and spare lumber.

It had taken eight days from when she'd made an agreement with Derek of the ogre tribe that had held the scouting party hostage. Which Jenn felt a little annoyed that it took that long. Although, part of it was because of a blizzard that struck the settlement when they'd gone to retrieve other supplies, such as the lumber.

Now, however, Jenn just wanted to relax. At least until it was time for her to take her position as the guard of the Blue Rose. Or whichever of her stand-ins it was that day.

Which, if she recalled correctly, it should be Roesadra.

Jenn also hoped to really begin to teach all of her stand-ins to use their magic. As she hoped it would help lend them more authenticity when it came time to have them displayed as the Blue Rose when their numbers started to increase to a sustainable level.

Tchisa had left to register their mercenary company before Jenn had even returned to go deal with Derek. Which Jenn hoped would also mean that they'd return with a job for them to do. One that she hoped would begin to cover some of the expenses she was expecting down the line.

Such as buying metal, since Derek didn't know anything about what metal was, which surprised Jenn. Though, she hoped it wouldn't be long before she was able to show him what it was, as well as some of the uses for it. Which, in turn, she hoped would inspire the ogres to improve their living conditions.

If only to care things in the walls of their caves. Even if it was merely their history or something. Anything to add to the atmosphere in those caverns.

Jenn was laying on her straw mattress, trying to ignore the pieces of straw poking her all over as she dozed. She couldn't think of anything that she was supposed to be doing right then, but she wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be another opportunity to relax that would get denied. If only because she wanted it so much.

"Mother!" Cithis called out as she rushed in to the room. "Come quick! They said they saw the escaped slave in the area near us!"

Jenn wished she could just pretend to be asleep and wait for Cithis to leave, but she knew that if what she reported was true, that she'd need to find out who that person is. It was possible that the slave might be able to train the rest of them in ways to escape if they were caught again or even help them figure out what could be done to escape, no matter what conditions they found themselves in.

So, she got up unhappily. While she hadn't wanted to be the one in charge, she certainly hadn't expected that it would have been so much work for her. Or that she'd end up in this kind of situation. Especially when she'd rather sleep. Or that she wouldn't have someone she could delegate the task to, like her friends had suggested when she'd done that dream conference.

However, this was a matter she knew she'd need to solve herself. If only so she'd know what kind of person that she was dealing with. Such as where this escaped slave would fit in best with her people, assuming the slave decided to join them and stop living alone out here.

As Jenn made her way to the entrance of the village, she noticed a few faces already gathering. A few were younger at about maybe ten to twelve, but most were at Jenn's age or older.

"…to be here to join us already," one of the people in the gathering crowd was saying when Jenn walked up. "She has to know we're here to free all the slaves, right?"

"I keep telling you Dishah, that's not going to be what the Blue Rose is going to do. She's going to establish a place where we can live without worry about being slaves. Where any slave who comes to us will be able to enjoy the same," another person said.

While Jenn would like to do both of what they had said, that really wasn't what she had in mind in all that she'd done for her people. What she really wanted was to get things to calm down and allow her to create a secure future for them, no matter what else happened down the line.

"Quiet, she's here!" another said, though Jenn didn't care to try and discourage their dialogue. After all, if she told them not to talk about it, she was fully aware they'd talk about it when she wasn't around, no matter what. Plus, she might hurt some feelings in doing so. Which she couldn't see a positive side of doing that.

"I heard that escaped slave was seen nearby?" Jenn asked, hoping she wasn't coming across as stiff. "What can you tell me about the situation."

"Nothing really," the oldest said, a young woman who looked to be about eighteen. "We were keeping watch at the other end of the entrance and we saw something move in the shadows. Then before we could do anything, we saw someone running through the trees. We only had a brief glimpse of someone as they ran between a tree and a bush."

Jenn nodded. "Okay, I'll head out myself then,' she said, confident that it wasn't dangerous to do so. Though, she did wonder if she should bring some people to try and flank this slave to keep them from escaping. Though, she suspected that she wouldn't be able to do it effectively in an efficient manner. Not if this person was as on alert as she suspected they were.

However, she first had to deal with the protests that she knew were going to come. Protests that were from a mix of not wanting Jenn to go out where there could be any possible danger and wanting to go themselves.

"We don't know what this escaped slave is capable of!"

"You could be captured and sold as a slave yourself!"

"Tell me what to do and I'll do it! Just bring me along."

"I'm good at tracking! You'll need to bring someone like m along if you want to find her quickly!"

"What if something happens to you! You know we'd be lost without you!"

"Send one of the others! One of the other Blue Roses. You established them for just this purpose, right?

"I'll do whatever you need me to do if you'll let me join!"

The requests kept coming in until Jenn finally raised her hand. While she appreciated their resolve and enthusiasm, she couldn't say that she agreed with the sentiment. Especially with how they were directly treating her as the Blue Rose without her having the ensemble she'd created to indicate who they should be treating as the Blue Rose.

The only consolation was that the only people in the village currently were those who already knew that Jenn was the Blue Rose. As Tchisa had taken all of the ex-bandits with her, to show that there was indeed a mercenary company.

Which might have been part of the reason those who remained didn't consider that they should try to keep from outing Jenn as the one in charge. Though, Jenn hoped that it wouldn't out her when others who weren't already aware of that fact were present.

Although, as she thought about it, she figured she'd be able to use this as an object lesson. One that would help remind them what she'd already made clear to them: that they weren't to treat her as the Blue Rose unless there was an emergency or she was wearing the attire she'd created to identify 'the Blue Rose.'

"Well, since all of you were willing to consider me the Blue Rose without what you know I should be wearing if I was her, then I guess all of you need some extra work." Jenn knew she had them where she wanted them with the expressions they gave her at that moment. "So, report to the Blue Rose and tell her what happened and that you need extra work."

While it technically was her using her position as the Blue Rose to do that, she felt lit would at least help them think of who was wearing that hooded tunic and mask before just turning to Jenn herself as the Blue Rose.

As they slowly shuffled off, she reached out and grabbed the shoulder of the youngest. "You can stay and keep an eye on the entrance until you're relived. After which, you can as for extra work yourself, okay?"

The young girl looked at Jenn in alarm then helplessly at the others, as if she expected one of them to help her out. It almost made Jenn relent, but she was confident that if she did, that she'd have an even bigger mess on her hands with the others seeing Jenn give this one young girl special treatment for no apparent reason.

So, she could only watch as the others slowly walked towards where Roesadra was, leaving Jenn and the young girl behind.

Jenn turned and smiled comfortingly at the girl. "Don't worry, I have an idea of what I'll have the 'extra work' be, okay?"

The girl looked at Jenn blankly for a minute before she blinked, life returning to her eyes, and nodded as she gave Jenn a big smile of appreciation.

Then Jenn started to head out. Though, she stopped after a moment and turned back to the girl. "Oh, and don't let the others know about that, okay? We don't want them complaining even more, right?"