"What if the plague struck the Marquis' and Beth is the only one trying to keep everyone alive?" Hannah suggested, sounding like she had a dark imagination. Not that Ralph was surprised at her imagination being dark, just that she'd imagine such a dark scene involving those they were trying to be on good terms with.
"Well, if that's the case then we'll just have to treat everyone, no matter how long it takes us," Amelia replied without missing a beat, as if she'd expected Hannah to ask such a question.
"I've had enough of treating people, so I'll be happy to stay out of the way," Ralph remarked. "If anything, I'll be in charge of making sure that we always have something to eat ready."
"Wow, getting responsible in your old age, are you?" Tim teased.
Ralph merely rolled his eyes. He couldn't say that thought of his suggestion as an indication of anything age-related, just that it was the only thing he could say that he was actually willing to do. After all, if the entire castle was down with the plague, then so would the cook. Which in turn meant that they wouldn't have anything to eat until they replace the person in charge of cooking. Maybe he wouldn't be the best choice for being the cook, but he didn't really feel like doing anything else. Primarily because he'd rather just spend time with Lily and hope that she'd start talking more than the little she had already.
"Well, regardless of that, I think that we're not going to find anything really different since we've been gone. Maybe Beth's gotten supplies for us to head to the capital once we're close enough to the three month mark of whenever it was that she'd last met with that person at night. Uh, I think she mentioned how they were in the shadows, so why don't we call her 'Shadow Girl'?"
Ralph thought the name wasn't bad, but with the way this world considered things, he thought that maybe using the word 'girl' might be making it more offensive to whoever it was if they ever learned that they were using such a title for her.
"No, I think we should go with 'The Shadow'," Amelia replied.
"Come on, we're not naming her after a hero in that old radio program," Hannah replied, rolling her eyes. "They might have made a movie with 'The Shadow' but that doesn't mean we should use it here. I'd say 'The Shadow of the Night'."
"No way. We're not making a reference to the Bonnie Tyler song," Wes stated flatly. "I'd rather go with 'Shadow Woman' than 'The Shadow of the Night'."
"While I like your suggestion, Hannah, I have to agree with Wes on this one. That's pushing it a little too much in my opinion. Though, I think we could just call her 'Shadow' in place of anything else. It might be like calling her after the Sonic character, but at least it'll be something that we can work with and sounds more like an actual name rather than a title."
Ralph nodded absently to Tim's suggestion. Though, he couldn't help but look at Aerbris and Raeys who were as quiet as ever while carrying some supplies with them. While Ralph wouldn't have expected it to be possible, he realized that neither of the two had said anything the entire trip. Not even asking if they should be doing something or another, such as collecting firewood or water but instead setting about completing tasks regardless of what was needed.
Even now they were quietly watching. Which made Ralph wonder if they felt that they needed Beth's permission to speak or if it was only around her that they'd actually saw anything.
As they entered the castle, he only gave half an ear to the debate over what to call the woman that Beth had met who had set them down on the course of planning on killing the queen. Which they'd instead turned into a plan of how to make it look like they'd killed the queen without actually killing her.
Which Ralph was also wondering if they were needlessly complicating that plan, given how they couldn't be sure that they'd actually get called in to make an attempt or if they were wasting time when it came to making elaborate plans about the whole thing.
Even as he thought about the theatre ship idea, he wondered if he was complicating things beyond what they needed. Though, he had planned on using the ship to help speed up their efforts to search for the griffin canyon that they'd been looking for since they arrived on this world, but at the moment, that was likely going to be quite a length of time away, since they'd first need to get the ship built first before they'd be able to even think about using it like that and Ralph really would like to be done with this world as soon as possible.
While he'd enjoyed the last night at the settlement with Embris, he didn't want to stick around and see what turned up as a result of that liaison.
As they were directed towards the marquis' office, Ralph couldn't say that he was surprised the man wanted to see them. After all, that's almost what it seemed like was happening each time they returned from wherever they went.
However, this time as they arrived at his office, Ralph could feel that they were there for a different reason than all the times in the past. In large part due to the woman that was in the marquis' office, discussing with his about her being a bodyguard for his daughter.
"…told you, I already have two to protect my daughter. In fact, here's the other one now," the marquis said, as Ralph and his friends, and Aerbris and Raeys, entered the office.
The woman glanced at Amelia, Hannah, and Aerbris, clearly not sure which one the marquis was referring to, but also clearly not getting impressed by any of those she was looking at. Which Ralph couldn't find surprising.
The woman had black hair so dark it almost seemed like it could be made from darkness itself, eyes that were a bright amber as if they were the moon shining from the dark sky of her hair. She also wasn't wearing the typical tunic and leggings, but rather a brown leather shirt that almost looked like a second skin on her with matching leather pants and had sheaths for weapons that were all currently empty that seemed to cover almost every inch of her leather shirt and waist. Her boots even looked like they'd been used for a while, but also still had a ways to go before they'd need to be replaced.
In all, even without her weapons, she didn't strike Ralph as the type of person he'd like to meet in a dark alley at night. At any time, even if they weren't enemies.
"And I told you, I was hired by someone who has an interest in the two you've hired to protect your daughter," the woman replied, her gaze returning to the marquis. "I can assure you that I'm one of the best there is in this world."
"I have no doubt about that, but that's not the issue. It has to do with whom I can trust to protect my daughter. Because as far as I know, one of my enemies hired you so you could take my daughter to them the first chance you see."
The woman nodded, not bothering to deny the accusation in the marquis' voice. Which made Ralph wonder how accurate the Marquis' suspicion was. While he wouldn't be surprised if the woman just wasn't bothering to say anything about his suspicions, Ralph wasn't sure if there really was something there that he just wasn't seeing. Or maybe it was the fact that they were only coming in during the middle of this conversation rather than at the beginning.
"Would a demonstration of my abilities help?"
The marquis shook his head. "No. I need people I can trust to protect my daughter."
The woman nodded as if she wasn't surprised, but Ralph had a feeling she wasn't going to let this go. Not that easily, at least.
Plus, it almost felt like they were part of the furniture here, with how much acknowledgment they'd received so far. Though, Ralph knew he didn't want to be an actual part of this conversation. If only because it was clear that it was something he wouldn't be good at competing in.
"What if I offered to let you put That collar on me?" the woman asked, the words she used making it seem almost to Ralph like she was invoking something that carried exceptional weight, even though he hadn't a clue as to what 'collar' she was referring to.
However, based on the look the Marquis had, it was clear that he knew precisely what the woman was referring to. His eyes had gone wide and it was clear that he was shocked by the offer. While Ralph wished that someone would explain what was being offered, he couldn't say that he was interested in voicing his ignorance on this matter. Not with how stifling the 'conversation' between these two people seemed right then.
"You're serious about this?" the marquis asked, looking as if whatever collar they were talking about was enough to change his mind.
Which made Ralph wonder if he should see what he could learn about it. After all, unless he knew what exactly it was about, he couldn't say if it wouldn't be useful for them at some point.
"Of course. Who isn't when they make such an offer?"
Ralph wasn't sure why the marquis glanced at him at that particular moment or if it was just his imagination. All he could say was that the marquis didn't respond right away. Instead, he sat at his desk, looking rather pensive. Something Ralph couldn't say he'd seen the marquis looking like very often.
–Should we see if there's anything that we can do about this matter?– Ralph asked, feeling like they should at least say something, even though he really had no idea what this whole thing was about.
–I think we're not going to get much of a say in this matter.– Hannah said, looking a little pale in Ralph's estimation. Something that made his stomach feel like it should get ready for a sudden drop.
–Maybe we should get Beth and see what she thinks about this matter.– Tim suggested. –Something tells me that this woman might not be coming to protect Kystia but rather use her as a hostage.–
–So, what'll we do if we manage to avoid killing the queen but save her instead? Do we rush here to get Kystia out of this woman's grasp or do we fake our deaths or something?– Amelia asked, sounding more like she was getting ready to create a book rather than offering a serious suggestion.
–We might need to consider being able to do just that.– Tim said before the woman gave a slight bow to the marquis and walked out of his office.
"What was that about?" Hannah asked before anyone could get a word out, even before the woman was out of earshot from the office.
"That? Well, that woman said that she had been sent here to act as a bodyguard for Kystia because all of you are needed to take care of something for the person who sent her," the marquis answered, sounding as if he was conflicted on the whole issue. Which Ralph wouldn't be surprised about. As he certainly didn't like the look of that woman in the first place.
"Well, is there anything that we can do to help?" Amelia asked, causing the marquis' head to jerk up at the sound of her voice. Something Ralph would place money on he'd do if Amelia was talking quietly in a crowded room where it should be hard for him to hear her speaking.
The marquis shook his head after a moment, making Ralph wonder if he'd given up on Amelia being his dead wife. Which if so, he couldn't help but feel a little relieved himself. As it did feel weird in the first place, in his opinion.
"No. While I'd like you to be able to do something, I think the best thing is for all of you to go take care of whatever it is that whoever sent her wants you to do. That way I can be rid of her as fast as possible."
Ralph could see the others nodding and while he agreed for the most part, he couldn't help but feel like there should be something else that they could do. Something that would ensure Kystia's safety while they were gone. In addition to not having to worry about her, Ralph was confident that it would help the others relax as well if they were able to come up with something.
"What was that collar that woman mentioned?" Ralph asked, wondering why he had to be the one to bring it up. After all, they'd heard what she'd said just as well as he had and it was clear none of his friends were going to bring it up on their own.
"It's a type of slave collar. One used to force slaves to obey orders that they really don't want to do, even to where they'd rather be whipped to death than comply with," marquis answered absently, sounding as if his mind was somewhere else.
While Ralph felt appalled hearing about such a collar, he couldn't help but blurt out the next words that came into his mind, "You actually have something like that?"
The marquis nodded. "All nobles do. Most don't bother with them but it does stand as something a person can appeal to in order to show how sincere or serious they are about what they're saying."
Ralph felt a little better about the collar when he heard that, but he still didn't like the sound of it in the first place. "Why not have her put it on and ask her what'd she do if we fail in whatever it is that we're supposed to do or if she would hurt Kystia under any circumstances?"
Ralph wasn't sure what possessed him to make such a suggestion, especially when he felt like he wasn't really in a position to bring something like that up in the first place.
The marquis, however, looked at Ralph like he'd just been given a great idea. Something that he hadn't thought of before.
"Thank you. That would put my mind at ease regarding that woman, especially since I don't think she's been refused much in the past."
Ralph wasn't sure what the marquis meant about that, but he felt it would probably be best to not mention it. Especially with how he felt like the less he knew about whatever was going through the marquis' mind right then, the better.
"So, was there anything in particular that you wanted to see us about?" Tim asked, clearly steering the conversation away from the topic that they'd entered the room on.
"Not really. I just wanted to make sure that everything went well with the search for your friend. Were you able to find any information about her?"
"Not really. We're not even sure she was ever there to begin with. It just seemed like it was a promising lead, but I guess we just let ourselves get carried away with the possibility," Amelia said, sounding more dispirited than he'd ever heard her before.
While he suspected that part of it might be from being tired, he wondered how much of it was Amelia starting to doubt that they'd ever find Charlie in the first place. Which he figured was probably a fair assessment since they didn't know where Charlie had been taken when she'd been sold as a slave. While it was possible that they merely missed her in their search, it was also possible that she'd been taken to a part of the world they hadn't even been to yet. Which in turn made it feel like they were going to have as much luck finding her as they would if the griffin canyon could move around on its own whenever it wanted.
As at least that would be able to found eventually, once they'd scoured enough of the world. Something that Ralph wondered would take much longer than he'd like. Especially considering how long it'd been since they'd been on this world and hadn't even been able to search a rather small part of it thoroughly just yet.
"Well, if there's nothing else, we should talk to Beth," Hannah said, pulling Ralph out of his thoughts. "We have other things we'll need to discuss among ourselves and I think it might be simpler if we got that taken care of sooner rather than later."
The marquis looked like he wanted to tell them to wait, that he wanted to discuss something or other first, but instead he just nodded. "I understand. Go take care of what you need to do and we'll talk later. I'm sure that we'll have time before you need to head out to take care of… whatever it is that you need to do for whoever it is…" the marquis trailed off, looking as troubled as Ralph sometimes felt when he thought about what they'd been asked to do and what they were planning to do instead. "You all seem to have a lot of secrets. I certainly didn't know that you'd been asked by anyone to do something. Or even when that occurred."
"Trust us, we're dealing with it and we didn't tell you because it's not something we thought we should trouble you with when the person who'd been talking to Beth about it has made her scared to the point we're not sure how much we can trust that person in the first place," Ralph answered before anyone else could. He doubted the marquis would pry further than he already had, which Ralph would be grateful for if so, since he got the feeling that the more the marquis knew about this whole matter, the more danger he'd be in and Ralph had a feeling it'd be a lousy thing to do to repay him with knowledge that would probably make him a target of whoever it was that had Beth so scared.