Diane sat behind me as we rode Smokey towards the tall wooden palisade wall. It was bigger than the other three settlements I had seen. I shifted uneasily in the saddle, "How many people are supposed to be here?"
Diane's watchful and cautious eyes never left the gate that was opening up, "Dave figured roughly a hundred, give or take." Her eyes no longer shimmered and looked almost normal, just a brighter shade of blue than one would expect.
We were still quite a ways from the walls, but they had obviously spotted us and were coming out to greet us. Four men rode towards us and I once more tried to just blend into the background. Which was nearly impossible considering I was in the saddle with Diane behind me. Once Diane started talking, they would likely focus on her and somewhat forget about me.
They slowed their pace as they approached us and Diane slowed Smokey to a slow walk. The guy spoke again once we were nearer, "Hello, I'm Raphael."
Diane nodded politely, "I am Diane and this is Laura." I held still and I knew I looked somewhat shy. Hopefully they would overlook me.
He grinned, "Nice to meet you. Can we offer you some hospitality for the night?"
Diane nodded slowly with a polite smile, "Thank you for the offer, we will accept your hospitality for tonight. Our information is a bit old and from further east, but we can offer it if someone is curious."
Diane had said that settlements loved news since they got it so infrequently. Basic hospitality was to offer a guest a room and a meal free of charge, the guest often provided news and information in return.
He nodded, "Of course, please come with us." He turned his horse around and waited until we were alongside before matching our pace. All four men looked a bit older than my father. Diane chatted idly about the weather as we approached and entered the gates.
We put Smokey in a pen inside with a couple of other horses and unsaddled him as the gate was once more closed to keep zombies out. A couple of zombies had been slowly following us, so they closed the gates pretty quickly. I helped groom the parts of Smokey that I could reach. Two of the men brushed down their own horses despite the short ride.
Diane glanced over her shoulder. I turned and saw a big man approaching. He was built like a blacksmith, but was wearing very fancy clothing that was spotless. If he got any closer to the horses, he was going to get horsehair on that clean shirt of his.
He entered the corral and held out his hand to Diane, "Hello, pleased to see you here. I am Jason."
Diane kept a polite expression on her face, but I knew her well enough to know that she didn't really trust this man, "Diane."
He nodded politely, "Welcome to Eagle Holding. It is time for supper. Would you care to join us?"
This must be the man in charge, or the assistant to that man. Given his fancy clothing, I went with the former thought.
Diane nodded in acceptance, "Thank you."
We quickly washed up before following Jason inside. He led us up the stairs to a small dining room. Five people were already here and the three empty seats showed that they had been waiting for us. The one lady must have been quite warm as she was wearing something that resembled a black lacy bikini with a lace overshirt. It wasn't something I would have worn around hot soup.
I shifted my seat closer to Diane, nervous of the other men present. In a big mess hall, people often ignored those not at their table, so despite the crush of people, no one really paid attention to you. We were the focus of their attention here. I didn't like it.
People brought in plates of ham, eggs, bread, and garden veggies as they introduced themselves. They had been quite surprised to learn that we had been on the road alone.
The one man asked, "Where were you headed?"
Diane focused on the man and he blinked as she finally looked him straight in the face. I smothered a grin, I loved people's reactions to her eyes. They were often hilarious. "I am looking for a friend who is rumored to be at a larger base somewhere west of here."
I made a mental note of her cover story so I could play along later if someone talked to me. Lies were so much harder to keep straight than the truth, but no one would be happy if they found out about the scar on her wrist.
Jason shook his head, "There are several settlements west of here."
Diane shrugged, "I know it has a ton of medical and research equipment, if that helps any. Have you heard of it?" She was clever in narrowing things down to only one possible place without actually asking a lot of questions. I took more mental notes, such a skill would be handy in the future...
One of the other guys spoke up, "Ah, you are referring to Bethany Fort. Not much is known of its exact location, but yes, I have heard it is further west towards the mountains."
I perked up slightly, Diane's original guess had been right. That was good to know. We even knew that it was called Bethany Fort now.
Jason shrugged, "That is a long journey, and there is no guarantee your friend is even still there. You are most welcome to stay here. I have arranged for you to have a small guest house during your stay."
I saw a faint flicker in the back of Diane's eyes. Something Jason had said had triggered a faint reaction. I wasn't sure why, but his tone had been somewhat dismissive. That might have been enough, since Diane didn't like rude people. We only planned to stay one night and I knew Diane would decline the offer to remain longer, so I wasn't too worried.
I was proven right as Diane declined, "I will still check it out. Thank you for your hospitality tonight, we will probably be on our way first thing in the morning."
Jason frowned somewhat as he finished the last of his bread, "Let me show you to your guest house."
Diane was watching him with an evaluating gaze. I began to wonder if his hand was on a knife hilt or something I couldn't see from my angle. She was watching him like she watched most armed strangers in her presence.
He also seemed to be getting grouchy. Perhaps he had indigestion, that chicken drumstick he had eaten hadn't looked the healthiest. I wouldn't have eaten it at any rate. He guided us down the stairs and back outside.
He shook his head and spoke into the silence, "No sense in leaving since it will just put the child at risk. You two will be staying here where it is safe." He sounded like the decision wasn't up for discussion. I stiffened as he brought me into the conversation, I hadn't said anything all evening.
Diane stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes flashed for a second, "Excuse me?"
She did not sound impressed. The man stopped as he turned around to finally look at us. He scowled, "You are not leaving."
Diane raised her eyebrows incredulously, "Why not and who made you king?" Uh oh. I hadn't heard her use that tone of voice before. Her body language was also starting to show her growing anger. I remained still, keeping an eye on her hands for any signals she may give.
The man was not as observant as me, or perhaps he didn't care since he was larger. He grinned wolfishly, "Because I said so and because I am the strongest here. My men need a lady to entertain them."
I hated to break it to him, but he wasn't the strongest. Besides, Diane didn't dance that well. They didn't want to put her up on a stage while others played music. I could do a children's round dance, but that was about it.
The one time Diane had plucked a few strings on Nick's guitar he had immediately reclaimed it. Diane had cheerily confessed she couldn't play any instrument to save her life. It was odd though, Diane had never said that we were dancers or singers. Did he assume that all women could dance and sing?
His tone and demands had put Diane in a dangerous mood. Her body language had shifted to a full-blown warning stance. She leveled the fiercest glare I had ever seen at him, "No. We will not be staying."
He didn't seem to appreciate her tone either. He gritted his teeth as he stepped towards her. I carefully backed up several steps, I knew she needed a bit of room to maneuver and she hadn't signalled me to stay put or drop to the ground.
Jason rubbed his knuckles together like some of Diane's sparring partners did before a session of hand to hand practice. He raised his fist, "It may take a while to teach you who the boss is around here, but by the end of the week, you won't be so stubborn."
I knew that wasn't going to sit well with Diane. I glanced down the street, but there were no nearby hiding spots. I quickly realized that I couldn't move away too much more, it looked like most of the town was on the streets watching their argument.
Diane's muscles tensed as he took another step forward. He looked like he was about to punch her. This didn't resemble any of the training sessions I had attended. I wrung my hands nervously, I knew he was no match for Diane, but the thought that he was going to try and hurt her made my stomach turn. And I hadn't even eaten any of that oddly colored chicken.
Diane glared at him once more and her voice held a clear warning, "Don't you dare."
Anyone with any sense would have backed away. Diane hadn't drawn her sword or her knife, but her warning was clear to anyone with eyes or ears. Jason swung his fist at her head. Even I knew that only amateurs attempted such a move.
Diane took the action seriously though. She blurred in her speed, her anger clear in her expression. Before he, or anyone else for that matter, realized what was happening, Diane knocked his feet out from under him. She grabbed his shoulder and pushed him to the side, throwing him off balance while bringing up her knee in a solid blow to his stomach.
He collapsed to the ground, the blow had clearly knocked the breath out of him. Diane wasted no time in pinning him. She swiftly twisted one arm up behind his head and twisted down while she pulled the other arm down and twisted it up.
The way she twisted his arms with no resistance was deceptive considering his muscles were bulging as he tried to resist. Her one knee pinned his back, while her other knee was anchored in the dirt. I recognized the position as a rather painful one that Ace had taught her. With his arms twisted in different ways, it greatly reduced his strength.
I blinked as I noticed that Diane's eyes had started glowing in her anger. She was angry enough that she couldn't completely control the glow. This wasn't good, I had overheard Ace once mention that she had to take care to not lose control with her amount of fighting training. He didn't give idle warnings either.
I heard several gasp behind me and heard them draw their swords. I glanced back nervously, I wasn't sure I was fast enough to evade several full grown men despite the amount of practice I had with dodging Diane.
Diane turned to level a glowing-eyed glare at the offenders. Her voice was fierce, "If you two approach, I will use my own sword on you."
Her threat was clear. They stopped dead in the tracks and dropped their swords to the ground. I wasn't sure if it was because they took her threat seriously, or if her glowing eyes had startled them that badly. Several of the closest moved back a bit as if scared that she would turn on them next.
Diane glanced at the gathering shocked crowd before turning her attention to Jason as he started to struggle in her grasp. She twisted her knee so it dug into his kidneys and he stopped his escape attempt with a gasp of pain.
Diane spoke loudly enough for all present to hear clearly, "Holding women prisoner is completely wrong. You said you were in charge because you were the strongest. Now the tables have turned. Any woman who does not choose to remain here is free to leave if she wants. Any man is also free to leave."
He had been holding women prisoner? Or was Diane referring to his refusal to let us leave? I looked around and noticed that even though at least 80 people were watching, only three were women. One lady was dressed like Jasmine from Aladdin's Lamp. I hated to break it to her, but we had a long time to go before Halloween.
Diane looked towards the three women, "You are free to leave if you want. I can also escort you to another village if you wish."
The lady in the lacy bikini snorted in disdain, "Why would we leave when we are treated like queens? We don't have to do any work. We ask for something and they compete to see who can get it to us first. We would be fools to leave."
A look of surprise crossed Diane's face before she shook her head in disbelief, "Then that is your choice."
They were pretending to be queens and princesses? I guessed that it explained why the one woman was dressed like Jasmine. Diane looked back down to the man she had pinned and her threatening expression partially returned, "Jason, in the future anyone who does not want to remain shall not be forced to stay. Do I make myself clear?"
He gritted his teeth stubbornly. Diane leaned down to jab her elbow into his back. He gasped in pain, "All right! All right! People are free to come and go if they wish!"
Diane loosened her grip and warily stood up as she took a step back. She sounded like she had doubts about his promise, "I bind you with that oath. Remember it and practice it. If I hear word saying otherwise, then I will return and make you pay in blood for breaking your word."
Her glowing eyes also said that she was not in a good mood. She turned and headed towards the horse pen. I swiftly followed just behind her right elbow, I knew that none would dare come close to her at the moment. I also knew that she would never hurt me regardless of how mad she got.
She quickly threw the saddle on Smokey as I dragged our saddlebags over. She swiftly attached them before scooping me up and putting me in the saddle. She grabbed his reins and led Smokey towards the gate. She leveled a wordless glare at the gate keeper and he opened it without a comment.
She glanced back before jumping up in the saddle behind me. She sent Smokey into a gallop down the road. I peeked around her and saw Jason still in the dirt as he tried to sit up. It looked like he was in serious pain. The gate closed and I focused on the road ahead of us.
I never wanted to enter another settlement again after that.