Heartstone

Collars Off

Arwin approached the work camp with great caution, taking care to stay out of sight and making as little noise as possible. The sounds of the camp came to him: axes hitting wood; pick axes and hammers hitting rocks; the grunting of the blue-collared workers and the scathing commands of the white-collars. Hiding behind some bushes, he studied the scene.

A blue-collar man hacked at the base of a tree not six paces away. His clothes were sweat-stained and covered in dirt. He moved with the slow, measured pace of someone exhausted yet forced to go on.

"Faster! Faster!" a short, white-collared man shouted from behind the much-bigger blue collar. "No, not there, hit lower. Lower. No, swing harder. You simple-minded buffoon, that's not how you swing an axe. Higher over your shoulder. No! More of an angle! Are you stupid?"

A micromanager. Arwin shuddered. Sneaking up behind the man, he threw an arm around the manager's neck and dragged him back into the bushes. A couple of punches to the chubby gut and another three to the face had the man reeling in a daze. Arwin ripped the manager's clothing off and used it to bind and gag him. Then he returned to the blue-collar.

The sweaty worker finally seemed to notice the absence of the micromanager. He let the head of the axe fall heavily to the ground and stood semi-straight with a deep groan. He was of middle age and well muscled. Dark hair was streaked with gray on the sides.

Arwin saw his face and recognized him at once. What luck! He was about to say the man's name when he realized that for the other person, this would be the first time they met. "Ahem. Hey there."

The blue-collared man turned. "Yeah?" He looked around, confused. "Where did...?"

"Forget that guy. He's all tied up at the moment." Arwin smiled. "My name's Arwin. Yours?"

"Uh, Jacque." He looked around nervously, glancing at the axe, then the tree, perhaps feeling like he should be working, not talking to strangers.

Arwin wondered if he could straight up talk to the other man about freeing himself or if that would just lead to trouble. It was hard to predict how someone would react while wearing those collars. Arwin had an idea. "Looks like part of your collar is damaged."

Jacque's blue face paled. "It is? Am I in trouble?"

"No, not at all! I'm here to fix it. Don't worry, nothing to it, only take a second." Arwin pulled out a blue tooth. "Here, let me just put this into that hole there." He reached up and pushed the tooth into the hole on the collar. The device snicked open and fell to the ground.

A look of revelation dawned over Jacque's face. He staggered back, then shook himself. Looking up at Arwin, he spoke in awe. "You freed me!"

"How do you feel?"

"Better," Jacque admitted. Then he frowned. "Angry, too."

Arwin grinned and pulled out a handful of blue teeth. "You feel up to freeing all the others wearing those collars?"

Jacque looked at the teeth, then over at the busy work camp. "Damned straight." Then he turned a suspicious look Arwin's way. "Who are you? Why are you so interested in helping?"

"I'm a friend. I want to help."

"You aren't blue."

"Nope. Traveller. I met a couple of beautiful young women just over yonder and learned about your situation here."

"Women? Who?"

"Bleu and Aoi."

Jacque's brows rose. "You met Bleu?"

Arwin was surprised at the strength of the man's reaction. He must know the belle. "Yes. They were both rather sad at the time, pining over bluebells. But I liberated the flowers for them. They seemed much more cheerful when we parted."