I Am Not Cinderella

Chapter 41

Barrie crawled through the thick grasses ahead of Derek.  Her shapely rear end bobbed enticingly in his face.  He tried to focus his attention elsewhere, but it was hard.  Derek followed Barrie through the thick grass as they sneaked up on an ancient race of people who had been allies with the Warrior Queens of old.  

"There they are."  Barrie whispered as she stopped.

Derek slid up beside her and peered through the grasses.  A row of huts stood less than 8 yards away.  Women walked back and forth while men sat drinking and children dashed around screaming in pursuit of a ball.  A of stakes stood between them and guards paroled the perimeter.  Derek's eyes narrowed as he studied the village before them.  From their vantage point several miles back the village had looked like a cluster of tightly packed houses.

"Who are they?"

"Thesians."

Derek stared at the village for a long time before he spoke.  "Well, shall we go for it."

Barrie turned and flashed him a big smile before she stood up.  Derek cussed as Barrie stood up and waved her arms above her head.

"Yoo-hoo!  Over here!"

"What are you doing?" Derek hissed as he climbed to his feet beside her.

Barrie grinned at him as a dozen or more Thesians left the village armed to the teeth.  Derek placed a hand on his sword as he squared up ready for a fight.  He looked down at the hand that covered his.  His eyes flashed up to Barrie's.  She shook her head at him.

"Don't.  Trust me on this one."

Derek sighed as he relaxed his grip on his sword.  "If we die..."

"We won't," Barrie said before she stepped forward and greeted the armed villagers in a language that Derek had never heard.

Derek watched amazed as the villagers relaxed their stances and rested their spears on the ground.  The villagers were short with thin graceful limbs.  They barely came up to Derek's chest and he stood just shy of 6 feet.  The men wore their long hair loose while the women bound theirs in some sort of corded braid.  The thing that struck Derek the most was that each villager had hair the color of fire, skin as pale as snow, and eyes as dark as the moonless night.  Each villager had intricate emerald tattoos that curled down one side of their face, over their shoulder, and down their arm.  Derek quickly realized that the men had the tattoos on the left side of their body and the women's tattoos were on the right side of their body.  He'd never seen people such as these.  They were an anomaly to him.

Barrie smiled at him and motioned for him to follow as the villagers led him and Barrie towards the village.  Derek kept his eyes peeled as he looked about him.  The village was set up strategically with an eye towards defense.  The women had knifes tucked away in their dressed and the children seemed to know how to use the weapons that they were playing with.  The men moved with an easy grace that spoke of a lifetime of training.  

Derek smacked his head on the low doorway as he followed Barrie into one of the bigger buildings.  He grunted and rubbed his forehead as he took a seat in a chair that was way to short for him.  Barrie looked a little more comfortable than he did.  She at least could fold her legs to the side in a ladylike pose.  Derek knew that he'd look ridiculous if he tired.

A steaming drink was handed to him.  Steam curled off of the brown liquid.  He raised an eyebrow at Barrie.  Barrie laughed and took a drink.  Derek followed her example and tried not to choke on the stout drink.  He was a little more careful as he bit into the gooey piece of piece he was given.  Barrie hid a giggle as she shared pleasantries with the Thesbians.

Derek sat quietly through several long hours of chit chat that he couldn't understand.  He was jolted out of his bored state as Barrie stood up.  He followed Barrie as she bowed to them before she walked out the door.  Barrie didn't say anything as her long legged stride carried her away from the village.  Derek had to lengthen his stride to catch up to her.

"Did it go well?"

Barrie let out a sigh and stopped to face him.  Her face was very solemn before she broke out into a face splitting grin.

"They have agreed to join forces with us if we agree to give them the same gift they received last time."

"What's that?"

"The freedom to devour the dead bodies of their enemies."

Derek made a face.  "They're cannibals."

"Yes and they are some of the fiercest warriors we will find.  They fight with wild abandon."

"How many warriors have they promised us?"

Barrie smile grew even bigger.  "They have promised us every man, woman, and child who has passed their rite of passage.  The only ones exempt are the very old, the very young, and those who are pregnant or nursing.  If I have to guess to their number, I'd say that they are offering us around 1,000 warriors."

Derek nodded as he followed Barrie.  "That's a good starting number."

Derek was rewarded with a smile from Barrie.  "Just wait till word of this gets out.  We will have several groups of people offering to be our allies."