Colette's Covenant

Feast of Celebration

Colette's limp body sagged to the floor. She remained there, staring at the grain of the wood on her floor, for a few hours. No one needed her until there was a decision to be made and the soldiers would know how to operate once given one without constant oversight.

The morning was more than half over when Guilbert knocked on her door.

"My lady? We've captured the scouts you asked for."

Colette's stormy gray eyes lifted. She got slowly to her feet, her body fluid and strong despite the terror she felt in her heart. She turned and opened the door.

The look on her face must have been ferocious, and she felt bad because Guilbert immediately flinched back, his spine straightening again. She didn't mean to scare him like that. She tried softening her face but she didn't know how well she did because he didn't ease up at all.

"Where are they?" She asked, her voice calm.

Guilbert stepped back to give her room to exit. "We've got them tied up on deck, my lady. We found two of them. There might be more, so I've some other soldiers continuing to scour the area."

"These two will be fine," Colette nodded, stepping out of the room.

She walked across the deck, her boots once again loud on the wood. Guilbert stayed a step behind her on her left side. He wouldn't stand on her right, that was where Nicolas belonged. He didn't even stay with her the full trek. He stopped short of the scouts even as Colette continued forward until she was standing directly before them.

The two men were nondescript, almost waifish. Not malnourished, but intentionally kept thin and small so that they were less likely to be spotted. There were spots on their belts for weapons, but her soldiers had already removed them. Their wrists and ankles were bound with rope, but two of her soldiers still stood behind them, swords bared just in case.

Colette wasn't worried. She smiled.

"Evening, gentleman," she welcomed them brightly. "I'm sorry for your rough treatment, I'm sure this wasn't how you anticipated your day progressing. Then again, neither did I. So, disappointment all around, I'm afraid."

Neither of them said anything. They were both staring at the ground.

Colette kneeled down, looking between them. Their faces were closed off, their bodies tense. They didn't appear defiant. More like... resigned. They were ready for whatever she was going to do to them and they weren't going to say a word.

Colette frowned, leaning her head against her hand, propped up on her knee. "General Didier must be a wonderful leader to inspire such loyalty even in the face of an enemy that, for all you know, might torture and kill you."

They didn't move.

"I hope he's worth it."

The man on the right's eye twitched. It was a tiny muscle movement, barely perceptible. At least, to a common eye. Colette's gaze narrowed in on it immediately.

"I hear that General Didier is a man of few words, and the ones that he does speak are quite fearsome. He rules with an iron fist, made all the more painful for being soft spoken."

No movement.

"He's captured my soldier, hasn't he?"

The one on the left's eye twitched. Just a tiny bit.

"Has he killed him?"

Nothing.

Colette's heart hardened. "Is he torturing him?"

Both of their eyelids twitched.

Colette let out a long breath. "Do you know where he's being held?"