Lenah walked beside her sister with slow but steady steps. In each of their hands was a basket full of clothing belonging to the vast household staff. The soldier’s clothing had taken up the better part of the day. It stank of sweat and frequently of the many cumulative drops of blood. But neither chose to complain. As they walked the long halls of expensive art, the innate smallness of themselves was given physical form in the nature of the estate that surrounded them.

Straen’s white hair stayed firmly fixed in the bun her sister had put it into, and beside her, Lenah’s bun swayed a little. ‘Lenah did a better job, I need to fix that soon,’ She reminded herself and crinkled her nose as they approached the drop point for the laundry. “At least we’re not in the washroom.” She muttered when they came to the alcove and tipped the first of their baskets over the chute.

“It’s better than…” Lenah closed her eyes tightly, “At least we’re with the one to… well… he’s gone.” Lenah finished the sentence. It was more words than she usually spoke in an entire day.

Straen reached over and touched her twin sister’s shoulder. “She’s nice to us…”

“But she’s not mother or sister…” Lenah finished the thought.

“But there is nowhere else to go…” Straen finished in turn.

“But maybe… we can learn?” Lenah asked the question largely rhetorically.

“Sweat or clean sweat… yes. When she comes back, we ask.” Straen agreed, and the twins carried their empty baskets away.

“Lodira… are you serious?” Prince Rasgen asked her with a voice so soft that he knew he had to draw his face closer to her ear for her to hear him.

She gave a frightened nod, “I bore Minister Ulmin… I bore my husband… no children so I have no claim on his estate… when they dispense with these things? The best I can hope for is to get back my dowry, and… I think I spent that…”

“But your father…” Prince Rasgen stopped in mid-sentence.

Lodira gave a tiny, loving smile up to him that trembled only a little. “You know how he feels about me, and besides, even if he loved me dearly, my house was never one of the great ones even in that small city. I doubt very much he’ll even believe I didn’t do it. Even if he does, you know that sour old man, he won’t care. It’s enough that I look guilty. No children, murder, no dowry… you tell me… Rasgy… you tell me… what’s next for the beautiful Contessa Lodira?”

Prince Rasgen didn’t have an answer that could make her happy. Only a few options ran through his mind… ‘She could be used as a tribute to the Tlalmok, a woman and a royal tribute might save many. She might find a future as a high class courtesan with her training… but with the suspicion of not just murder, but massacre over her head? If she had a military background she might throw herself into adventuring, but she’s past that chance to be more than an embarrassment. If her father has debts, she might be disowned and sold as a maid to a high class house…’ The possibilities ran through his mind and they ran the gamut from poor to very poor ones.

Lodira’s musical voice was bitter and cracked, cold and realistic, “Right. Despite my frivolity, My Prince, I’m not as stupid as people think.” Lodira covered the hands that covered one of hers when she rolled over to face him. “I know how these things go. Unless you find someone who doesn’t care that I’ve failed to produce an heir, and who doesn’t mind that I’m suspected of slaughtering my husband’s family? I’m done for. Is there enough money in all the world for that?”

“I don’t know… I just… I don’t know. I’ll pay your dowry though, out of my own pocket, and send a letter to your father explaining that you’re innocent and offering to pay your dowry for you. I won’t just let this happen… I promise. I lost… I lost Sobella, I couldn’t do anything for her. I couldn’t help her. But I can at least do this… if I have to lose you too, then I’d rather it be that way. To some other city, to some other man if that’s what it takes.” Rasgen whispered to her and pressed his lips to hers, it was not a passionate kiss, not one to inspire bards or songs, but it was sincere, and in that moment, it was all Lodira wanted.

“I’ve actually heard stories about this…” Sobella answered Nua’s commentary, “The Tlalmok Empire tightly restricts travel. You have to get a pass from one of their official enforcement stations to go anywhere beyond your requirements for work. Merchants get special passes, but there aren’t many of those.”

Nua took that in for a moment as they spurred the horse forward, “How did you learn about that?” Nua asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Captured smugglers, mainly. They learn a little bit from their contacts over the border. Sometimes smugglers get caught ‘without’ having to hire uncommon mercenaries.” Sobella managed the ghost of a smile when she answered, but Nua only grunted out her acceptance of the reply.

“It’s eerie.” Nua said after an hour, there were various roads that led out of sight, some into woods, some around hills, some seemed to stretch toward endless mountains.

“You’re right.” Sobella said over the sound of the trotting horse, birds flew past and occasional small animals went scurrying by, deer, wolves, and other creatures occasionally bounded through some of the higher grasses they passed by.

Nua peppered Sobella with questions about her life, and deflected those asked of herself. “My life isn’t terribly interesting. Never married, no children, no lovers. Just work and work and more work.” Each time she was asked, she just turned it upon the demon-elf she was escorting.

It went this way until the long empty road brought them to within sight of a village. Sobella reached into the saddlebag and drew out a small skull shaped object with a tube protruding from the top. The skull was black, and not ‘quite’ like that of a human or elf, but it was a close approximation of the same. The demon-elf placed her lips delicately around the tube that came up near the back of the head, and blew it for as long as her lungs allowed, and from its opening came not a cry of battle, but a wail, like a lost soul. A death scream like a woman being murdered.

A thunderous drumbeat reached them not long after, and Sobella ceased her blowing, then put the small object away. “Their stories say the sound it makes, is the one the tribute makes when they die.” Sobella answered the unasked question, and then went back to having her arms wrapped around the wood elf escort for support.

Nua’s sharp eyes caught the assembly of beastmen, they held up a great yoke over the entrance which Nua would have to pass under to enter. There were a variety of beastmen this time, not just bearmen, but catmen and ratmen and hyenamen and birdmen of various types. She rode between the line they formed up to allow herself and Sobella to enter, and got her first look at beastmen architecture in a living situation. The buildings were all in all, fairly simple. They were large stone blocks, each roughly waist height, smoothed and fitted together almost perfectly. The homes were large, befitting the size of the occupants, making the village even at a glance, several times larger than a human one, though she noticed that even with the wide open roads, the area was very clean. Very well organized. ‘Even a village is this organized?’ It caused her to rethink her initial impression of the brutes.

Atop some homes there were what appeared to be ‘extra’ homes, ones made of combined materials, wood and mud that folded together to a point at the top. The line of villagers ended with a birdman, he was a proud, preening eagleman with sharp eyes and a long, hooked beak. He moved very slowly, walking toward them in a steady ‘bobbing’ fashion on his clawed feet.

He stopped just beyond the end of the line, so that Nua confronted him at the same moment he stopped. “I am Nua Calen Aiwenor, mercenary Commander, native of the empire to the west, serving in the employ of the Prince of Pas’en, carrying his tribute to the Tlalmok Capital.”

The bird let out a caw that might have been a laugh, an expression of pleasure, or just something it ‘did’ before speaking. Its wings were folded tight against its body, it had a humanlike torso with long, muscled arms and the torso was covered with black feathers that contrasted to the white head. The arms were human in appearance, and yet ended with talons rather than traditional hands. When it spoke, it spoke with a rich high pitch to the end of every word. “Welcome to Fawstin Village, tribute to the emperor.” Its sharp, hard eyes said the spoken welcome ‘wasn’t’. “You may buy what supplies you wish or accept the ‘gift’ of the village’s food. You must arrive at the emperor’s presence in a pleasing condition. However, you are forbidden from leaving until sunrise. You will stay for the feast, residing in the quarters allotted to you. You are not required or expected to attend, but you will remain in your room. Then you will leave tomorrow. Have you questions?”

“Given the circumstances, you’re… very polite, no threat to eat me, no threat to tear me apart or offer to take her in my stead?” Nua raised her eyebrow at that, the golden brow glinting in the fading light of the distant sun.

“You’re going to die anyway, it costs me nothing to be polite. Don’t judge the rest of us on the basis of your experience with those stupid bears at the border, they’re an exceptionally idiotic people. I for one will count them lucky if they’re not one day reduced to the same status as the cow people.” The eagle cawed humorously, and those who heard the mockery, joined in, in their own ways.

“I see, well we need nothing, so have us shown to our room for the night.” Nua answered while Sobella only looked with solid red eyes wide open, though she had no pupils, and Nua could not see her face, she could feel the darting stare behind her.

“Gorgus.” The eagleman who seemed to be in charge uttered the name, and a ratman broke line and shuffled to his side. It knelt with its long face turned down but glanced up at the mounted pair with one beady black eye. “Get them to their room.” The eagleman ordered, and Nua inclined her head politely, if without thanks, and followed from horseback as the ratman scurried ahead of them.

The scent of saliva and the sound of it dripping told both Nua and Sobella that the feast ahead was much anticipated, and the feel of eyes piercing her back, chilled Sobella to her core, that they envied the emperor her flesh.

She did the only thing she could, she clung to her escort.

The building they were led to was nothing of note, just simple cubes of large stone stacked atop one another, and curiously, a small hole cut straight through the thick stone cube that served as a window. A heavy door sat in place, it was not lost on Nua that the steel door had a lock on the inside, but not the out. The roof of the building formed a pyramid shape, with single cubes of stone stacked over the gap. The inside however, was large enough for far more than just the two of them.

So large that Nua chose on dismounting, to simply lead the horse inside, passing by the chittering ratman that wrang its small hands together in front of its body.

It eyed her up and down as if she were a meal, but Nua chose to ignore it, the smell of the large room was musty and frankly a little damp, like a great deal of sweat and other bodily fluids had been expelled within and never fully cleaned.

“Door locks inside, come out in the morning. Otherwise, stay in during the feast.” The ratman reiterated the last orders of the eagleman, and scurried off. Nua slammed the door behind them and slammed the bolt within shut.

The sounds outside reached them easily, logs, wood cutting, the pouring of water, the sparks and lighting of flames. Numerous voices were raised in good cheer. The high pitched sound of what must have been the beastmen young reached their ears. It was like any other village festival.

Sobella huddled in the corner farthest from the window. She wrapped her arms around her legs and drew them close to her breasts. Nua felt the red eyes on her when she showed her back and looked toward the light that passed through the window into the longhouse. The smell hit not long after.

Roasting meat, boiling meat, spit roasted meat, and some of it just straight raw. The scent of blood in the air was thick, and the smoke from outside filtered in. ‘The wind wasn’t blowing this way before… this is no accident, they’re using magic to blow the scent of it all this way, to torture her.’

The understanding of their intent was frankly clinical. Nua stared toward the window however, and the memory was stark and as real as if it were present. Her rage was cold, and she committed everything to memory, folding her hands behind her back, she could feel the demon-elf there in the corner when the scent hit her nostrils, and the only thing she could do was break her gaze and bury her face into her dark hands.

When Nua was sure the memory was locked into place, she turned around and went to the Demon-elf hiding in the corner. Nua crouched down in front of Sobella and held out a comforting hand. “It’s awful, it’s worse than I thought… those are our people out there, some of them at least, and others… from their ranches… grown and young alike… is this what the stars made our people for? Is this what the maker of demon-elves desired for us? To be food for monsters and nothing more?”

“No… that’s just how things turned out… and… I’m sorry it’s happening to you.” Nua said and pulled the slender demon-elf into her arms, she stroked the woman's back over and over again. The softness of her flesh was undiminished beneath the thin double layers of cloth.

“Nua… you’re my friend… right?” Sobella’s voice caught, “Please… please I can’t take it… the smell, the smell of roasting and blood… I’m a courtesan… I’m a whore for Princes and nobles… not a warrior! I can’t! I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t! Please do something… Ple-e-e-ease…” She sobbed and begged, every word a pitying stab into the heart of Nua Calen Aiwenor.

“Alright… alright…” Nua whispered into her companion’s frantically twitching ear. “I’ll help you… this is all I can do… but do you trust me?”

Sobella drew back a little. She stared into Nua’s sky blue eyes, the feel of Nua’s hand caressing her cheek was warm and comforting. “I do… I do, do whatever you want but please… no more…”

Her eyes popped open with shock, when Nua’s hand closed around her throat, and started to squeeze.

Her mouth fell open, and she had a moment of terror and surprise on her face as she was yanked forward, it happened too fast for her to understand just what Nua was doing to her other than the pain, she clawed hopelessly at steel like fingers and felt the wood elf mercenary noble shift behind her.

“It will be over in seconds.” Nua promised with a rough voice, her other hand wrapping around Sobella’s head and pulling her back, the demon-elf felt everything fading, sight, sound, everything… and then blackness.