Chapter 63 part 3

Embris was stunned as she was led to the hidden village in the Forest of the Lost. It was well enough away from the road that those passing by wouldn't likely notice it, but it was also close enough that they were able to travel most of the way using the road.

Five days on the road wasn't too difficult for Embris, though she was surprised at the difference having patrols move along the road made. It almost felt like they were near a city rather than deep in a place most people wouldn't care to even approach.

"Embi' where'd this come from?" Nymis asked in wonder.

Embris couldn't think of a response, so she just patted Nymis on her head, hoping she'd be fine with no actual answer. Sometimes she was, sometimes she wasn't. It wasn't something Embris had been able to figure out as to how to tell.

"We don't have much shelter, but we do have some tents over there that you can use for now," their guide informed them.

The guide hardly seemed interested in helping them out. In fact, Embris had the distinct impression that the guide felt escorting all of them was a waste of her time. Though, Embris wasn't sure if she had any real reason to justify her attitude, just that she was that way.

However, while she was here, she might as well make the most of it. Though, as she was making her way towards where the available tents were, she noticed several other children playing nearby.

"Nymis, Rephis, why not go play with them?" Embris suggested when she noticed their attention turning towards the children playing. She had to assume they were either siblings or actual children of some of the mercenaries that lived here. Although, she did notice that there were several who hardly looked like they were mercenaries in the village.

"Really?" Rephis asked, sounding pleased.

"We can?" Nymis asked at the same time as Rephis.

"Of course," she said. "I doubt you'll have much trouble finding me when you're done, okay?"

Her brother and sister nodded before running off. She was happy to finally let them play with other children again. While she'd been travelling with the merchant, she couldn't risk letting them out of her sight, since as far as she knew, the children she'd see playing were slaves and if she let Rephis and Nymis play with them, there would be a chance that they'd be made into slaves as well.

It might be an illegal practice, but it was something she knew did happen from time to time.

With one last look at them, she turned her attention back to where the tents were. She could see a line forming and quickly got in it. She had thought the tents would all be set up for them, so she was more than a little dismayed to find that they were each given a tent to set up themselves. Although, she was happy that she at least kept it from showing on her face.

"Thank you for joining," the woman handing the tents said to each person as she gave them a tent.

Embris felt a little uncomfortable with hearing that, so when it was her turn to receive a tent, she told the woman, "I haven't joined yet. I'm still considering."

The woman was about to hand Embris the tent but stopped when Embris told her that. The glare she gave Embris made it feel like she was wasting the woman's time. "Head to the end of the line, then," She snapped. "We'll see if we have any available after all the others."

Embris didn't see the point of that, but she didn't argue. If she did join, she figured it'd be best to not alienate any of the others, since she could potentially be working directly with her at some point. Although, she did notice Taesin in the distance, though she didn't try to talk with her. As she still had her tent to collect so she and her siblings would have some shelter for the night.

"What're you doing?" an older woman asked, startling Embris as she reached the end of the line, her gaze directly on Embris

"Going to the end of the line," she replied, not sure how else to respond.

"Why?"

Embris explained the situation, not sure what else to do. The woman seemed like she had some sort of authority here and Embris certainly didn't want to get on the bad side of any of the officers. Especially when she still hadn't decided to join just yet. As if she did, she had a feeling she might have to leave with her siblings that night without any shelter and have to make their way back to Ferusha on their own.

The woman sighed. "Follow me," she said, looking like she would rather do almost anything else at that moment, but was obligated to anyway. Which, in turn, didn't make Embris feel like this was going very well for her.

When they reached the front of the line, Embris felt like she should be hiding in the woman's shadow, just in case this was a case of internal politics. She certainly didn't need to get on the bad side of both sides of anything like that.

The woman handing out the tents looked startled to see the woman. "Lady Tchisa! What can I do for you?"

Lady Tchisa looked around for a minute, as if she was evaluating something before she spoke. "Why didn't you give her a tent when she reached the front? You know the orders that were passed down."

"Who?" the woman asked, looking around.

Tchisa looked startled and turned, but Embris felt scared about what was happening and did her best to hide, but Tchisa was faster than Embris expected. She had her arm in an iron grip in less than a minute. Then she was dragged into the open, as if she was evidence herself.

"Her. You told her to go to the end of the line. Why?" Tchisa asked, making Embris wonder if maybe she should have lied about her reasons for going to the end of the line.

"We don't have enough tents," the woman replied, as if that explained everything. "I was prioritizing those who are joining us over those who were just passing through. Seeing what kind of place this is, you know?"

"No, I don't know," Tchisa replied, her tone sounding rather dangerous. If Tchisa didn't have an iron grip on Embris' arm, she'd have been running back to collect her siblings and leaving this village just so she didn't have to be in the middle of this. "Why don't you remind me what the orders I gave you last time were?"

The woman swallowed, looking like she would rather be anywhere but there right then. However, Tchisa looked like she wasn't letting the issue go. Which only made Embris even more uncomfortable.

"You said that anyone who came by, regardless of the reason was supposed to be given a tent," the woman said finally, looking like she was about to faint.

"Yes, and was it mentioned if that person had to be joining us or not?" Tchisa asked, like she actually didn't know.

The woman shook her head, looking like she would rather disappear than remain under Tchisa's gaze a moment longer.

"So, since you said there isn't enough tents for her, I'll make arrangements personally, so continue on with what you were doing," Tchisa said, turning away.

Embris blinked. She'd be certain that something else would have happened. Or at least directly after that. The woman looked rather shaken and certainly didn't look like she was feeling very well at this point.

Which made Embris wonder if that's enough of a punishment around here or if Tchisa was going to come back later with whoever was in charge and deal with that woman then and that the woman's complexion was because she knew what was going to come down later. Which made Embris feel like she never wanted to get on Tchisa's bad side if she could help it.

She just hoped that whoever was in charge of Tchisa wouldn't be worse.

_

While Embris had been ready to stay in a tent, due to the lack of space in the buildings, she was surprised to be brought to a small building with only a single straw mattress in it. Embris had a feeling whoever stayed here might either be important or was like her and got brought here as an apology of sorts.

"The person who was staying here isn't in right now, so you should be fine here," Tchisa explained. "If you do decide to join, we can give you different accommodations, though if the other person does return, I doubt she'll be too upset."

Embris couldn't help but notice how Tchisa avoided saying 'the person's' name. Almost like she was trying to keep herself from saying something wrong. While she didn't think that it was too big of an issue, it still felt like there was something there to take note of.

"I'll send someone to bring you straw for a mattress," Tchisa continued.

"Um, actually I came with a brother and sister," Embris interjected. "Would it be too much trouble to give them a mattress as well?"

Tchisa gave Embris an evaluating gaze for a moment before shaking her head. "Sorry, we might be low on tents, but we're low on straw too. You'll just have to share."

Embris nodded, but couldn't help but think: Low on tents and low on straw. Is there anything this mercenary company isn't low on?

Out loud, she said, "How long will I have before I'll need to make a decision?"

Tchisa waved her hand as if to dismiss the issue altogether. "The mercenary company is just to gather funds to buy slaves and free them with these people," she said. "So if you don't want to join as a mercenary, you're still welcome to join these people in whatever capacity you'd like. As long as it's something that's productive, I think."

"You think?" Embris echoed without thinking. As the words left her mouth, she suddenly felt like she'd made a mistake and said the wrong thing.

Tchisa, however, just chuckled. "Yeah, 'I think.' I'm more involved with the mercenary company, but others would be involved in the other things. Although, if you're up for the mercenary company, we can find a place for you, regardless of your experience as a mercenary."

Embris nodded, remembering how she was still pretty new to being a mercenary. Which meant while she felt a little stung by the comment, she couldn't honestly complain about it. Not when she knew that she was still pretty green herself.

"Tchisa, who's this!? You know only mother is supposed to be in here!" a voice sounded from the entrance.

Embris turned to see a girl that looked like she was close to Feon's age. There wasn't anything specific about her that stood out, other than the glare she was giving Tchisa without reservation. Which surprised Embris a little, given how fierce Tchisa was earlier.

Yet, rather than getting angry or upset, she merely laughed. "You should know your mother would be fine with it, since we're running out of room."

"Then she should have been given a tent! That's why we purchased them instead of the slaves we had planned on!"

"Yeah, we're running low on those too," Tchisa replied, almost sheepishly like the girl had more authority than her.

The girl sighed, as if she was the one who had to pay for them in the first place. "The others aren't going to like this, you know?"

Tchisa nodded. "I know. That still won't change the fact that we're low on the tents and space all around."

"Yeah," the girl replied, sounding rather dejected.

"We'll have to discuss this soon," Tchisa remarked, almost as if now she was the one who had more authority than the other.

The girl merely nodded and walked out, looking rather dejected about the whole matter. Though, Tchisa turned back to Embris looking rather cheerful. "So, you should be able to hear when the meals are being served, though if you're not quick enough, others might get everything before you."

Embris nodded, not really surprised about that. Not with how many people she had seen around. Although, she suspected that the primary reason for the food running out would be those getting it first would probably finish it quickly and get back in line for more. She'd heard about that happening a few times from her mother in her mercenary company. Although, she hadn't seen her mother in a few years, so she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she'd been around when the bandits had attacked the village.

"I'll just leave you here to settle in," Tchisa said, merely a buzz in the back of Embris' mind. As she ruminated about what 'could have been' if her mother had just been present. She knew it probably wasn't good for her to do that, but right then that's all she could think about. What might have happened if they hadn't been left on their own.

Further making her wonder if she should really try to be a mercenary herself or if she should try to find something else to do. After all, she'd became a mercenary to take care of Nymis and Rephis. Now that she had found a place where she could do just that, regardless of what she did, she could easily find something else to do that wouldn't risk her leaving like her mother had.

Although, on the other hand, being a mercenary would at least give her a chance to learn how to fight, since it wouldn't help to fight against bandits if she didn't know how to fight when her opponent did. All that would do would be to make it to where she'd be useless in that situation.

Embris had sat down on the ground near the farthest place from the entrance to the building, letting herself get dragged under by her thoughts and worries. She wasn't sure how long she'd been that way when a voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, I didn't realize anyone was there. Uh, did you need something?" the voice asked.

Embris looked up, startled to have been caught so off guard that the person had entered the building, dropped off some things by the other straw mattress and only when she'd spoken did Embris even notice her.

For some reason, she couldn't help but think of Beth and her friends when she looked at this girl. For some reason, she felt like this girl seemed rather similar in some way to them, even though she couldn't quite place it or even describe how. Just that she seemed like she might have a connection to them somehow.

"Uh, I was told that I'd be staying her for the time being," she replied sheepishly. "Though, if that's a problem, I can sleep outside with my siblings."

She didn't want to create problems where there weren't any, especially with someone who hadn't been expected back so soon. Which is what she had to assume with her putting things by the only mattress that had already existed at the time Embris had first entered.

"We're that short on space, huh?" the girl remarked to herself, apparently not put out by the fact that she didn't have this building all to herself anymore.

Embris wasn't sure if she was expected to answer that or how to answer, if so. All she knew was that she wasn't sure what to do. Although, at that moment, two young girls, who looked about the same age as Rephis, brought in bundles of straw.

"Tchisa told us to bring this here," they announced, dropping the straw by the door before leaving.

Embris started walking to pick up the straw, not sure where exactly to put it, but was surprised when the other girl started picking up the straw before Embris had gotten there. While Embris had experienced kindness, she hadn't really expected to see it among a mercenary company.

"Where would you like this?" she asked, looking directly at Embris.

Embris looked around, and pointed to the corner she'd been resting in for the past while. The corner farthest from the entrance. Embris wasn't sure what the other girl thought of that, but for some reason, she couldn't help but feel rather embarrassed about the location she wanted it in. As if she should be willing to sleep closer to the door or something.

"Over there," she said quietly, wondering what this other girl thought of the location.

However, the reaction the girl gave Embris surprised her. "Sure thing," was all she said, and her tone didn't hold any judgement on the choice either.

Embris hurried over to help, but the girl had already picked up all of the bundles of straw and it didn't look like it'd be easy to take any of them without having some set down or causing a few to drop.

So, Embris was left to watch as the girl dropped the straw down and turned to face Embris.

"So, spread out the straw as you'd like but remember, no matter how good or bad it is, that's all you're likely to get," she told Embris, as if she was reminding Embris of something that had already been said. "Oh, and if it rains, try to keep it dry. It'll last longer that way."

Embris knew how true that was, but didn't say anything about the straw. It brought up memories of home, which in turn reminded her of the letter. She hadn't had a chance to see if anyone could read it yet, so she didn't know what it said. As while she knew some around here were supposed to be able to read, she hadn't found an opportunity to seek someone out like that.

"Um, do you know anyone who could read?" she asked, feeling a little self-conscious about this matter. After all, she was seeking a service without expecting to pay for it, which just felt weird to her.