Julina awakened the girl with a couple of firm taps on her face.
Let's get on with this, she thought, glaring at the girl. Keyon and Aaelett had bound her to a chair, and tied the rope extra tight after the little stunt the girl tried to pull off earlier. They had taken the young noblewoman to one of the lair's chambers that sat underneath the large watermill. It sat separate from the main living quarters of their crew. Maldur initially planned to house the noblewoman in a frequently used chamber, but Julina persuaded him to find an alternative location. Barely.
Most Salarosstian settlements possessed underground passages and bunkers, now untouched and forgotten, had been built for people to take shelter in during the Bestial Wars. Maldur made sure he had used them to his advantage, securing and adding additional passages and various rooms to the old subterranean paths with the help of some of the crew's Earthchanters. He took measures to hide and guard them effectively.
"C'mon now...wakey, wakey!" Julina clapped her hands in front of the noblewoman's face in hope to wake her up.
"So, yer think that this'll work?" Aaelett asked, looking at Julina and Keyon. He was sober when they brought the girl to the room.
"I have a feeling this girl will be a lot of work...rather irritating, if I may say." Keyon sighed.
"We ain't got a choice but for it to work." Julina replied, returning her attention to the noblewoman.
"Says you! I'll pack mi crap and move back to the Eastern Region should things go tits up!"
Julina ignored his comment. "C'mon, I ain't got all day now." She ungagged the girl and tossed the cloth they used to the side. With a groan, the young noblewoman slowly raised her head. With a dazed expression, she gazed at the three marauders, her head swaying slightly. From where she had been hit. Her eyes soon met with Julina's. She could see on the girl's fatigued face, glints of fear, confusion...defiance.
Interesting, Julina remained a couple of feet from the girl, while Aaelett and Keyon remained by the door. There's somethin' weird about this one.
Her eyes scanned the room, darting up and down.
"Mi eyes are 'ere." Julina snapped her fingers to grasp the girl's attention.
"Where...am I?" The girl croaked.
"Somewhere where no one can 'ear ya scream." Julina replied.
The girl's eyes returned to the room again.
She's studyin' the room? "Oi! I said mi eyes are 'ere!" Julina snapped her fingers again in front of the girl's face.
The girl hesitantly turned her violet eyes to Julina. She was clearly exhausted and needed tending to, not that she could not focus.
"Who are you?" With another croak, the girl's eyes roamed over Julina's appearance.
"People who can make ya scream if yer don't cooperate." Aaelett replied.
The girl paused for a moment before replying, still eyeing Julina and Keyon and Aaelett. A look of fear soon began forming across the girl's face.
"Marauders...thieves and killers...godless, and damned."
"Oh c'mon. Even the damned believe in the Former, just not in the same way nobility such as yerself do," Julina chuckled. "But let's talk about you, m'lady, or whatever your noble lot like to call ya."
The girl stiffened at the comment. "I...I do not know what you mean."
"Well..." Julina directed the girl's eyes to her dress with a pointing finger. "I've encountered enough noblewomen to know an expensive dress when I see one. Based on its material, I'd say you're from one of the Chosen Houses."
"I could have stolen it for all you know."
Liar. Julina thought, rolling her eyes as she reached into her back trouser pocket and retrieved the girl's diamond ring.
"Did ya steal these as well?"
The girl's face paled at the sight of her jewellery. Julina began feeling memories of her last interaction with a noble resurface, memories of the last time she was with Kailer.
"Give that to me!"
"Nope!"
"But it belongs to me!"
Julina scoffed. "Ya really think that half of stuff I 'ave is mine?"
The girl paused for a moment. "It's precious to me."
"Well, it's mine now. Dependin' on how things go 'ere, I may just give it back to ya."
The girl fell silent again as she looked around the room with mousey eyes. "What...what are you going to do to me?"
Julina could hear the fear in the girl's voice, but also a touch of boldness. It was faint, but it was there.
"What's ya name?" Julina asked.
The girl remained quiet, her eyes fighting to look up at Julina.
"Name!" Julina asked again, this time more than a demand.
The girl hesitantly returned her eyes to Julina. "R...Renna."
"Well, Renna...what we choose to do to ya depends on what ya can do for us." Julina replied, leaning a little forward. "And if I were you, I'd be 'opin' it can be a lot. The Former knows it." She at this flicked out one of her glass knives from her belt and showed it to the noblewoman, seeing the fear rise upon the noblewoman's face. She slowly sliced the space in front of the girl's face with the glass blade, deflecting the square room's lantern lights and dispersing it into thin, pastel strings of orange. The girl cringed at the sight of the glass knife, quivering slightly as she pulled her face away from it.
"Take a good look, m'lady." Julina said, as a request. She grabbed the girl's chin and brought the tip of the knife closer to her face.
"I said look! Because this could be what ya noble friends find sticking out of ya back if ya don't play with us, clear?"
The girl nodded, in which Julina let go of her chin and moved the knife from her face. Julina contained her astonished feeling as she gazed at the girl for a moment.
She's cooperatin...but not cryin' or beggin' for her life? She shrugged at the thought. "Now we've established an understandin' of some sort, I'm just gonna get straight to the point...so pay attention," She said as she slipped the knife back into her belt, "Even as a strong and resourceful guild, we've been strugglin' to rob the nobility without complications arisin.' We've tried to mimic ya uptight bunch, but it's quite difficult to do so for us damned lot. But, if we could gain a noble of our own, and use 'em to infiltrate the nobility, why, we'd be able to empty their pockets, treasuries, vaults, keeps, and whatever else they store their wealth in with little to any effort. See where I'm goin' with this?"
Renna remained quiet as she gazed at Julina. Her eyes went to Aaelett and Keyon again, her face battling to remain composed.
"Like I have any other choice?"
"Everyone's got a choice, Kitten." Aaelett grunted.
"What if I say no?" Renna asked.
"Stupid questions like that...are rather irritating." Keyon added.
"Do I need to show mi knife again?" Julina replied, unamused by her question.
The girl shook her head.
"Great!" Julina clapped her hands with content. "Since all that's sorted...mi name's Julina. Aaelett is the big guy on my left, while Keyon is the grumpy guy on my right. Maldur will be glad to 'ear that you're good to go."
"Maldur?" Renna repeated.
"The boss," Keyon replied in his same unbothered tone, stepping from the door and joining Julina's side. "If he's not keen on you, then he'll have you killed. If he likes you though...then he'll still possibly have you killed, but not straight away."
Renna's face flushed at his words.
"And on that note, we've gotta start showin' ya 'ow to work the ropes!" Julina said.
"Sorry?" Renna asked.
"What? Did you really expect to just sit by while we do all the work? Na, yer not in ya fancy keep anymore, Renna. You're in the presence of the damned!"