"Fuck!" She jelled,
kicking at the wall.
"Calm down Onida!" Siu whispered.
Mere sighed, still sitting in front of the door, "Definitely Libby."
The voice of the elderly councilor traveled through it.
"I can't do this!" Onida hissed.
Mere looked over her shoulder at her,
"Siu is right, you need to calm down. They might just end her, all of us for that matter, if they think they no longer need us."
Mere's face was starting to swell and bruise now.
Her left cheekbone was forming a nice crusty layer of dried blood.
"They won't kill you, " Said Siu,
"they enjoyed your fighting spirit to much, these men are sick like that "
Mere shook her head, " Yeah, don't even start."
She put on a heavy voice, "This one will birth strong babies" she mimicked.
One of the man had said it while another had put a knife to her.
Siu swallowed in reply, looking sad.
Onida saw it, "I'm sure he's alright."
Siu turned away from her,
" They were out to kill them, he had a sword to his throat. He's dead. "
" He's not only dead, you had like 3 decent conversations with him? " Mere sighed.
Onida hissed, " Don't be so... Mere!"
"Can we stop using the names and go back to the numbers?" Mere hissed back.
"You think that smart?" Said Siu, "you are ONE... "
Mere shrugged, "I volunteered to be. They agreed for a reason."
Siu rolled her eyes, "We can start with the numbers when you stop the self sacrificial bullshit!"
Mere growled and got up.
Kicked the door and went back to feeling around the walls of the room.
"You'd think they'd expect a room like this to be used for this kind of crap!" She mumbled,
"Any kind of secret escape! Seriously!"
Onida had touched every inch of this room already.
It was simply a room. To put stuff in.
No windows, one door, a bunch of walls.
Siu just stood there, staring at the door.
" You alright? " Onida asked.
" You think any of them are still alive? " Siu whispered.
Onida sighed,
Agnus had come crashing into their living area, from Aya's room.
He had climbed the balcony and had upset the invaders.
The other men had called him a traitor, he had returned the word with passion.
He had taken out several men, the five helping him.
She had taken out a man with a chandelier herself.
Mere had taken out several in that creepy assassin way of hers,
stabbing them quickly and numerous times.
Siu and Ivana had strung a guy up in the curtains.
And Aya had grabbed the pup, making sure they didn't get in the way.
But guards had come, opening the door to their room.
While being followed by the enemy, like a bunch of idiots.
They could have escaped via the balcony if they hadn't.
Teddy had been outraged at the guards as much as the invaders, once he had completely destroyed the door of the room the invaders had locked him in. He had been with Mere.
The guards and the intruders were fighting all around them, Agnus had bulldozered a way out of the room.
Told Teddy to get them to Kur and see if he could get to Morten once they did.
Teddy had protested as Agnus flung himself into a plains man, that had come after them, roaring his displeasure.
It was then that the largest man Onida had ever seen grabbed Agnus, they had struggled. But Agnus had lost, being dragged off with a rope around his neck.
Him being swallowed by the crowd.
Mere had tried to pull Aya along, but she had eventually slipped out of her grasp and back up the stairs.
Teddy had continued down the stairs and as they had stepped into the hallway where the men had been staying they had walked right into a scene, a wild fight between several men.
The intruders were simply murdering the man that had taken part in the whole shit show.
The plains man, that also participated, snapping the neck of one of the Ashes.
She had had issue with Mere, outright violently murdering their captors.
But it became horrifically clear that they had exactly the same plans for anyone here.
They had been stuck between two enemy parties.
The men in the hallway and the men giving chase down the stairs.
The participating plains had grabbed Ivana, while they had been dragged away.
The handsome Sand with a sword in his neck and a gleeful man sneering he was going to enjoy this.
"I don't know Siu.." Mere said.
"Two." She replied.
Onida smiled sadly.
The door of the small room slammed open.
A masked man stepped in, many of them wore them.
To hide their identity? Onida wondered.
Mere shot in front of them both.
"Get out!" She barked.
The mask was expressionless but a howling laugh came from behind it, muffled.
"Funny little girl!" he said and grabbed her,
yanking her out of the room and into another man behind her.
"Be careful with that one!" He pointed at his colleague.
Who in reply groped her waist and legs.
Mere screamed, "what are you doing!?"
"Checking if you have weapons up your skirts!" The second man returned.
Onida stepped forward, Siu was a busty and curvy woman compared to any of them.
If they were any kind of excited she was in for a horrific day.
There were only two men.
But he stepped into the room and grabbed Siu by an arm and her by her hair.
She winced in pain while he joked about her being too short to grab anywhere else properly.
They were nearly thrown into the council room.
The large round space usually had tables fallowing the curve of the room on both sides.
These had been demolished and the remains were burning in the middle of the room.
The smoke having a hard time exiting through the ceiling windows in the domed roof.
The big chair that stood where the two tables met, the chair where the One would be seated, was occupied by the gigantic man.
He looked nothing like she had ever seen before.
It looked like the bridge of his nose had been shaved off and the remains stitched together.
He had long but thinning hair that looked permanently wet from grease.
His body was oiled up, like the plains did, which made it shimmer and color red and orange in the glow of the fire.
He looked like the meanest thing, but at the same time the saddest remains of a man.
Sitting there, like he now owned the place.
Like he was king of the regions, because he had taken this chair.
A barbaric and backwards thought process, but one many would be afraid to discredit.
They were pushed around the fire.
Onida spotted Libby, seated on the floor next to the chair.
Looking no different than she usually did.
"Good. Good." Said the man in a throaty deep voice.
"Tell me, old hag!" He rumbled at Liddy, "Who of these is your granddaughter?"
Libby had looked at him with interest and now turned to squint their way.
"In this light?" She croaked.
Onida was pushed to the floor by the top of her head and blissfully released.
She wondered how much hair she had left.
Siu was put next to her, already knowing what they wanted she fell to her knees and avoided the need to be pushed and shoved.
Mere however,
struggled and snarled,
spat at the man holding her.
It wasn't until the big man stood up that she eased down.
Apparently even Mere wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with that man.
He sat back down and looked back at Libby.
" Yes, can you not see? " He echoed through the room.
Onida looked around as much as she could without moving.
There were many of them, plains. Some with masks, some with paint all over them.
She noticed their faces, the masked, had a deep dark red on them. Not contrasting much with the brown and black.
But it was definitely some kind of horse, in chains?
Slavers.
A family crest in chains, were slavers.
Of course, what the fuck else?
There were ways out of this place, they weren't even bound.
Secret escapes everywhere. But with this many man?
No way.
Libby had been silently squinting at them for a good 5 minutes before she replied.
"No. They look so much.. a like" she said,
sounding older than ever before.
She put up a hand and pointed with her old wrinkly hand, with those long nails at them.
The big man seemed excited for a moment, thinking she'd point someone out.
But instead she asked,
"Can I get closer?"
He sighed, a strange sound through his haggard nose, and nodded flailing a hand.
Onida actually had a hard time not snickering, Liddy was putting on a amazing act.
She very carefully slid of the chair, as if she was afraid the impact on the floor might break her hips. She then proceeded to take a decade to navigate the two steps down the plateau the chair was on.
The big man broke the silence,
"No wonder this council is making such good choices for its people!
Senile old people led by a gang of little girls!" He groaned.
The man around him laughed, whether or not they thought it was funny didn't matter.
Fear was a definite undertone.
Liddy sniffled, "Well,"
she croaked and to his horror she turned to him..
so slow that it almost seemed impossible,
"your stupid man forgot my walking stick!"
She said pointedly and returned slowly back to continue her travels towards the three women.
Libby shuffled her shuffle, but at minus 25 her usual speed, at them.
She started with Mere.
"Ah, number one!" Libby croaked as she grabbed her head and squinted at her.
The room gasped, including the large man.
"Is that your granddaughter? " He asked,
sitting up in his chair.
" No"
Libby said simply.
The man slumped back into the chair.
" This one, goes by the code name One." She said.
" You didn't think us stupid enough to make the actual one, number one? "
She said in such a slow pace Onida was wondering how much of this they would accept.
Libby mumbled, while shuffeling to Siu.
" What's that? " Asked the leader.
Onida was surprised by Mere answering, " Don't bother, she does that a lot. "
He sniffed like a bull, " Who said you could speak? "
Mere shrugged and put her hands on her legs.
Liddy spent a lot of time looking at Siu's face.
Turning and angling it.
"This one wasn't beat up!" She stated after a good 5 minutes.
Mere snorted indignantly at this.
The leader growled and rubbed his forehead, " but is she your granddaughter!? "
" Ooh, yes! " Libby said.
Again all the men in the room seemed to go ridget.
" I forgot, " Libby continued,
" you wanted me to identify my granddaughter. "
Siu spoke, with he head still in Libby's hands.
"I'm not, it's me ma'am, three." She said softly.
"I know it's not you! You think I'm too old to remember my own grandchild?" She protested.
She continued on to Onida, mumbling more.
But the mumbling wasn't exactly mumbling this close by.
"Playalongwejustneedtime, cups of tea with mint petals, youarenumbertwo" Libby chewed like the toothless old women she was acting to be.
She turned and looked at Onida and smiled.
"Oh, dear child!" She said..
The leader didn't sit up anymore but he did look up hopefully.
His man still seemed to go ridged.
"You don't look anything like the others!?" Libby said.
Onida blinked for a moment.
"Or is it the hair?" She continued and brushed her hair flat with her hands.
"No, it's the freckles. You probably didn't have those when they picked you."
Liddy turned, "I remember, this is number two. Not the one." She said softly.
For a moment Onida was confused, did the number matter? Why give her a different number?
The man stood up,
"Where is my brother!?" He boomed around the room.
"He can confirm!"
This made Liddy stop in her tracks.
"Who?" She called, sounding like a deranged owl.
He looked down at the elderly women, "My brother, he was competing for your granddaughter."
Onida looked around at Siu and Mere at this.
Did he mean Agnus? Or the other?
Surely not Agnus, but where was the other?
Siu whispered, "they must know the Sand had figured it out."
That's why the number mattered!
She had been attacked by the Sand, who had decided she was the one! Number four was the one they were looking for. Somehow they had decided that information was good.
In truth it was.
Onida felt nerves spike, what would they do to Libby finding out she had lied?
That it had been all an act?
She cursed under her breath, bordered on letting them know.
To tell them her grandmother had been mistaken, her old age affecting her memories.
She took in a breath to say it,
but then one of his man spoke in such a small voice it shut her up trying to hear it.
"What did you say?" The big leader growled from his chair.
"Your brother... " the man swallowed.
" He was found... mauled by a- "
"WHAT?" He stood up.
His mass so big it sounded like a tree falling.
"A... a big.. animal?" The man ended the line as if he was unsure if that last word would upset him.
The leader roared,
"You're telling me he goes out to torture information from that whore spawn!
And was attacked by an animal in the process!?"
The man nodded, looking scared.
"Where is he now!?"
"Your brother or the.." the man tried to ask his leader.
"My brother of course!" He called exasperated.
"He... died?" The man did the same careful questioning thing with died.
Onida wasn't sure what she expected, maybe crying?
Maybe a moment of silence?
But instead he seemed to fume.
"Find out, " He said with clenched teeth, "what kind of beast killed him so I can hunt them into extinction... "
The man squeeked, turned and ran out of the room.
"And someone get a burial sorted!" He bellowed through the space and several man jumped up and started moving to the door.
He rubbed his face with his hand.
He seemed exhausted and human for a moment, especially covering his nose.
He turned towards Libby and stepped down to her.
Onida clenched her fists.
" You are certain she is not here? " He asked as he stood next to her.
Libby squinted up at him, " No my dear boy."
"What number is she?" He asked.
"Four, my granddaughter is number four." She smiled up at him.
Libby was smart, she had figured out they knew of the assassination attempt.
That they believed the sand had been right in their assumption this was the true one.
Even if she hadn't been sure they knew her cover number, she had assumed.
He nodded.
"She must have gotten away."
"Do we know where the other two are?" He rumbled.
A man from beside his chair spoke now, "One of them was last seen when you captured the whore child. The other was last seen by your brother."
Their leader grumbled at the word 'brother'.
He couldn't check the information as his brother was dead.
He looked at the women, stepped up to them and stopped in front of Mere.
" This? This is the snappy one? " He asked.
The men behind them, who had taken them out of the room nodded.
He stepped on and halted in front of Siu and looked over at Onida.
"So, one that struggles, one that is shapely and one that's tiny." He said in a low voice.
"Do you need them for something?" Libby asked.
He snickered, a horrific sound through his remaining nose.
"I am trying to figure out which one I will take to bed."
Onida looked up at him at this, perfect chance to kill this fucker.
Mere seemed to think the same, only Siu stayed still at the announcement.
He turned, took a few steps towards his throne then softly spoke, "Generals?"
The two men behind the women moved around them to join him.
"Tell me your opinions .."