“He’s being held here,” Callida marked the rough map. “It’s a small, windowless cabin with a thick oak door. Only one way in or out. The door locks from the outside only. One of the guards has the key. I don’t know if there is a second copy anywhere else.”

Spahen sat down on the bed shaking his head. “That’s right in the middle of the camp. We don’t have the man-power for this.”

“What are you saying, Professor?!” Callida balked. “You think we should just leave him?!”

“This is the same problem we’d have with an elimination mission,” Ablenkung said. “I think our plan needs to remain essentially the same. A couple of us will head back to base tomorrow and return with back-up.”

“In the meantime,” Spahen made direct eye contact with Callida, “some of us will remain here to gather information and work on a plan. And you have some training to do.”

“You want me to actually train them?!”

“Play along until the army can get here,” Spahen nodded. “Shield, you and Parrot will summon the troops. Papa, you and I will stay here to provide back-up for Beta while we work on the details of a rescue and elimination operation.”

***

The next morning, Callida made sure her training was as brutal as possible, shaming everyone by being the only one able to get through the run, obstacle course, sparring matches and various other exercises without gasping for breath. The men were relieved when Callida told everyone to break for the day.

“Take me to him,” Callida demanded of an exhausted Drucken.

“Sorry…. What?” Drucken asked, holding a stitch in his side.

“Filoso promised that after training, I could visit Stetig. Take me to him.”

“Right…. He’s… over there.” Drucken led her back to the windowless cabin, and the guard unlocked the door.

“Stetig,” Callida walked in and immediately threw her arms around his neck.

“Sweetheart, I’ve missed you,” Stetig smiled at her.

“How are they treating you? Are they feeding you? Have they touched you?”

“Not the way you touch me,” Erkunden grinned, and Callida caught a glimpse of one of the guards shuffling away from the door uncomfortably. It was a good play and a good thing she was top of the class for lesson one.

“Mm,” she moaned softly, “and you know how much I like to touch you. I wonder if these bandits have a policy on conjugal visits.” Erkunden’s tongue toyed with his back molars as he stifled a laugh, and the guards all but shut the door so they wouldn’t have to listen to this cringey exchange.

“From the looks of things, I’d say they just gave us permission to do whatever we want in here,” Erkunden added, a little more loudly to be sure that his voice carried through the crack in the door.

“Gross,” they heard someone say as the door slammed shut the rest of the way. The key turned in the lock, and the sound of retreating footsteps seemed to suggest that the guards were trying to give them some privacy for… whatever.

“They’re just jealous,” Erkunden teased, and Callida sniggered.

“It’s kind of dark in here.”

“Yeah. No windows. But there are a couple of small cut outs near the rafters that provide fresh air and at least a little bit of sunlight,” Erkunden pointed at the two small holes on opposite walls and lowered his voice. “So, what’s new?”

“Shield and Parrot left this morning.”

He nodded. “Bringing back-up?”

“Sorry, you’re going to have to sit tight for a while. Professor and Papa are working on a plan.”

“I’ll be alright. Truthfully, I’m not being treated too horribly. The cuisine could stand to taste better, but I’m being fed, they let me out for the occasional bathroom break, and they’ve left me alone since last night.”

“‘Sounds lonely.”

“I’m a hunter, remember,” Erkunden grinned. “I’m used to being alone. My biggest complaint is these four walls.”

“Sorry I can’t do much about that,” Callida chuckled, glad to see Erkunden in relatively high spirits and unusually chatty, almost like he was making up for his time in isolation.

“So, about these conjugal visits,” he teased, and there was just enough light for him to make out Callida rolling her eyes. “Really though, they are expecting us to look a little, uh, disheveled when they open that door. If we want to be left alone again, we need to meet those expectations.”

“Oh! Right! I brought you a change of clothes,” Callida said, handing him a small gunny sack she’d left forgotten by the door. “I’ll turn around.”

“Done,” he informed her a couple of minutes later, returning the sack full of his dirty clothes. “Now, about your hair.”

“What about it?”

Erkunden pulled the tie out of her hair and ran his fingers through it, though not in an effort to detangle it. On the contrary, he seemed to be trying to add snaggles. He picked up a handful of straws from his prisoner bedding on the floor and wove a few strands into her hair. “There. Looks as good as the way Parrot does it!”

She snorted. “If we do this too many times, you won’t have any straw left to sleep on.”

“Every day, baby,” he teased, pulling her into his arms. “I plan to die a happy man.”

“Then don’t call me ‘baby’.”

***

Callida got into a rhythm of brutalizing the bandits with her training in the mornings and then spending a couple of hours with Erkunden locked in his small cabin, elevating the ridiculousness of their displays of affection for entertainment purposes more than anything else, and Erkunden certainly didn’t mind getting kissed regularly. With each passing day, Erkunden was becoming increasingly talkative, to the point that Callida almost couldn’t get a word in edgewise two weeks into his confinement.

“You’re expecting Shield and Parrot in the next day or two, right?” Erkunden asked, the cabin fever making him sway anxiously from side to side.

“Yeah. Professor said ‘any day now’ just this morning.”

“Good. I’m not sure how much longer I can stand the sight of these four walls.”

“Drop and give me one hundred,” Callida suddenly ordered.

“What?”

“Push-ups, Stag. Give me one hundred push-ups. It will help. You’re going stir-crazy.”

“Alright.” Callida counted out his one hundred push-ups.

“Now, on your belly.”

“What, why?” But he followed instructions and was confused when Callida dropped to her stomach as well to face him.

“Give me your hand.”

“What are we doing?”

“Arm-wrestling.”

“Seriously? Right after I did a hundred push-ups?!”

“I’ve been training all morning,” Callida smirked. “The push-ups were an equalizer.”

“Rude,” he exclaimed through a grin, but he gave her his hand.

“On the count of three. One, two, three!” There was no question which of the two of them was stronger. Erkunden, even after doing push-ups, almost immediately dropped Callida’s arm to the floor. “Ugh! Rematch!”

“Your funeral,” he teased as they reset.

“One, two, three!” Callida gave it all she had and then some, adding her other hand to the mix in a futile effort to make his arm budge. “Oh, for crying out loud,” she grunted through the strain. “You bears are ridiculous! Ouch!” Her hand hit the floor again, rapping her knuckles painfully against the rough wood as her entire body rotated ninety degrees.

Erkunden sat up chuckling. “It’s not our fault for being naturally bigger and stronger.”

Callida sat up, wringing her hands and wrists out. “Next time, you’re doing two hundred push-ups first.”

They heard the key scraping in the lock of the door indicating that visiting hours were over. Callida and Erkunden quickly assumed an affectionate position. Already on the floor, Erkunden laid down so Callida could rest her head on his shoulder.

“Alright, love birds,” it was Drucken, and he clearly wasn’t thrilled to be the one interrupting their snuggling, “Filoso wants to see you. You too, charming,” he added when only Callida budged.

“What does he want with both of us?” Callida asked.

“‘No idea,” Drucken shrugged, his ignorance seemed honest enough. Erkunden certainly wasn’t upset to be leaving the cabin, and the pair followed Drucken to Filoso’s cabin with their fingers entwined, Erkunden occasionally lifting the back of Callida’s hand to his lips. “Before we go in, I’m sorry, Aria, but I was instructed to take your weapons belt.”

“Why?” Callida immediately recoiled, clutching the hilt of her sword defensively.

“Like I already said, I don’t know,” Drucken repeated. “I’m just following orders.”

“I won’t surrender my sword.”

“I figured you’d say that,” Filoso said, appearing in the open door of his cabin, a large group of men exiting behind him. Filoso gave his entourage a nod, and the men surrounded Callida and Erkunden. “You can surrender your sword peacefully, or we can take it by force. No promises that your boyfriend won’t be harmed in the process.”

Callida’s blood began to boil. Once again, they were blackmailing her with Erkunden’s safety, but, then again, they’d made it too easy posing as not only business partners but also extremely intimate lovers. She undid the buckle of her belt, letting it fall off her hips with a clatter. Drucken cautiously leaned down to collect it from off the ground.

“Very good, Ms. Mendacium. You’re getting better at taking orders,” Filoso taunted. “Now, on to other matters. What have you decided?”

“Decided? Decided about what?” Callida met his cold eyes with nothing short of hatred.

“Have you decided whether or not you’d like to stay on as a trainer and join the resistance?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Callida almost laughed. “It’s been two weeks! I was promised a month to think about it.”

“Time’s up,” Filoso said, a cruel smile twisting his mouth.

Callida looked around at the men surrounding her. She was dumbfounded. Drucken, it seemed, was similarly surprised. At least someone here is honest, Callida thought dryly. “So, let me get this straight. First, you invited me here under the guise of an information meeting. Then you blackmailed me into training your men, holding my boyfriend hostage, and now you are reneging on a promise of more than two times the amount of time granted to consider my permanent decision? Are you insane?! Have you no honor?! At a minimum, you are shameless. Why would I ever join you if this is how you treat me?”

Filoso gave the men surrounding them another little nod, and Callida’s hand was ripped out of Erkunden’s as the pair were separated and Erkunden was forced onto his knees with a man holding each of his arms. “Perhaps you’d like to reconsider your answer?” Filoso said, his finger tracing her jawline in a subtle secondary threat.

“Do you remember my promise?” Callida said, her voice suddenly low and icy.

“You’re outnumbered and unarmed, Ms. Mendacium. Now is hardly the moment to be making threats.”

“Now is the perfect moment to be making threats,” she hissed. “First you, and then every man who touches him.”

He laughed, clearly not intimidated with his own men in control of the situation. “Last chance, Ms. Mendacium. Will you join us?”

“Over my dead body.”

“Have it your way then.” Filoso turned back to the men holding Erkunden and gave a final nod. Erkunden was thrown to the ground, the circle of men surrounding him converged to kick and hit him wherever they could.

It took a few moments for the collection of men to register the source of the gurgling cry. It wasn’t Erkunden, curled up on the ground, bloodied and already showing fresh bruising on his face and forearms. Those critical moments were enough time for Callida to whirl into the middle of Erkunden’s attackers and slit a few throats with the dagger she’d pulled from Filoso’s belt. The rest of the men scattered, pulling back to draw their own weapons and reevaluate the situation.

“Come any closer and I swear I’ll kill you,” Callida declared, brandishing the scarlet weapon in her hand like a holy oath, the seven bodies already on the ground a testament to her sincerity. It wasn’t the gore or body count that made the men hesitate; it was the cold, emotionless timbre of an experienced killer.

Finally gathering the nerve to rush her, Callida cut down the bandits as quickly as they came. They were clumsy fighters when compared to her own finesse. She barely had to move from her protective stance over Erkunden. The bandits regrouped. The next time they rushed her, Callida prepared herself to fight the men in front of her, oblivious to Drucken entering the fight behind her. She hit the ground, the dagger knocked out of her hand, and Callida wrenched around onto her back, landing a sharp kick in Drucken’s gut that winded him and only narrowly missed his groin. In a desperate attempt to subdue her, Drucken let himself fall on top of her. It was enough. For all the hits he was taking, Callida was pinned beneath him long enough for his comrades to snatch at her limbs. She was forced back onto her stomach, her arms and shoulders pinned to the ground.

“What do we do with them?” someone asked shakily.

“I don’t know,” someone else replied. “She-she killed Filoso.”

“Maybe put them back in the holding room,” Drucken eventually suggested. “We don’t have to decide right now.”

With that, Callida was hoisted to her feet. She looked behind her to see Erkunden being dragged on his knees behind her, his body limp between the two men holding him beneath his arms. That’s not good. She struggled against the men holding her own arms in a weak attempt to get to Erkunden. “Stetig?!” Without a response, Callida started thrashing against her captors to get to her comrade. “Let go of me!”

“Aria, stop,” Drucken ordered gruffly, catching her chin to force her to look at him. “You can check on him back in the room.”

“Why did you do this?!” she yelled, angry tears threatening to fall. “I was doing what you asked of me. Why would you hurt him like this? You promised! Filoso promised!”

Drucken shook his head dumbly and gestured for the men to continue dragging the prisoners to their cell. They set Erkunden on the floor before shoving Callida through the door after him, quickly shutting and locking her in as though afraid that in the few seconds it would take to imprison her, she’d rip someone’s head off. Well, they weren’t wrong, exactly.

“Stag?” Callida knelt down next to him, at a loss for what to do. He wasn’t bleeding super heavily anywhere and he still had all of his teeth, but he was unconscious and his face was becoming puffy with bruises. He probably had a concussion. She opened his shirt. While there were definitely plenty of bruises to find, his bones, most notably his ribs, were all intact and Callida didn’t find any indications of severe internal bleeding. That was a relief. She gathered the blanket from off the straw pile and tucked it around Erkunden’s body as best she could before lifting his head off the cold floor and into her lap. She leaned back against the wall, her fingers mindlessly teasing Erkunden’s hair as she waited and listened to his breathing.