"You brat!" Grover's slap came like thunder over her scar, he never restrained his strength when it came to punishing them, in fact he thrived on it. All we can do is endure it as silently as we can.
"Next time you show such insolence and you will be the one taking their spot for whole month" She shrank back instinctively, imagining the worst that could happen, free show of her naked self, or beating till her skin wont have any place for a new mark or throwing her in the cellar till starved to death. Every scenario is very well possible and none of them really hold enough value to disrupt his political ties.
"We didn't know he was your new trading client, we thought Talia found someone to escape..."
Another slap echoed, but this time it was Ruby's face, she almost fell to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of her lips. Daria knew why Ruby twisted her words to lessen his anger but he didn't restrain himself even a bit. Wounds that Ruby just got can hurt for days in carrying out simplest tasks like eating, drinking and cleaning teeth while previous ones would still be healing.
"Why didnt you know? That's the job of a leader.." Grovel's chilling voice was indication that he's not going to stop here, he pulled out the leather whip and before Ruby can even know, the whip met her back with full force, her agonizing scream filled every corner of Pandora Mist and every corner of her being. Ten strikes in two minutes. Ruby lost her consciousness on the sixth. And she felt the terror of each of them deep in her core.
"You should be thankful that my hands are tired, take this wench away.." Allen and Erich hurried to pull Ruby back to their cottage.
"And you..." His gaze turned toward Daria, and her already distressed heart showed capacity to skip beats even further. "Once that brat gets up, you, her and Pam pack your bags" Is he asking them to leave the place? At such a short notice?, all her worries flashed across her mind. Where would she take Ruby in this condition, who would give them shelter? How would they find a job?...
"Your first mission has been decided, Three of you are going to Dark Mountain."
***********
"Dark Mountain?" Pam almost shouted, but not in excitement, it was fear.
"Shhh.." Daria passed the bandages to Pam.
Anyone would give such a reaction knowing they have to experience the gruesome battle between humans and those unearthly creatures rising constantly from deep within the mountain; for the last three generations. Her great grandfather was mentioned to be the first one discovering those black, huge, skinny, bat-like creatures, who loved to feed over livestocks. Every country has to contribute in the fight, but no matter how hard they fought, their numbers never dwindled, now it has just become a nuisance. And who waste soldiers over such a nuisance when there's no shortage of orphans like them.
Daria looked at Ruby's lacerating wound, only she knew how she cleaned and put ointment on her back. She hasn't regained consciousness, but it's better if she rested through the night. Pam passed the bandages back to Daria. Her wounds were deep but ten strikes won't take her life, they just need to be careful with her wounds. But this is still not good for the upcoming trip.
"Do we have a choice? Grover will never care if we live or die" Daria looked at Pam's helpless face, but the truth stinks and they should better learn to take it head on, no one is patient enough to spare them any sympathy.
She gathered all the dirty clothes and left for the laundry. Ruby is going to need new bandages, her other clothes were also soaked in blood and torn in a few places, which she could only mend. She will try to ask for some spare clothes tomorrow.
"Why did he ask only three of you? Does he have any other motives behind it?" Allen followed Daria.
"Be very careful.." Erich leaned next to the bathroom door. Their cottage was only a small room, with a small kitchen and a bathroom, nothing else, all five beds were lined up in a row against the wall. Grover never bothered to give girls any privacy, and it's the same for all four teams of dark night. She has no idea what goes inside those other cottages but she never bothered by lack of any human integrity anyways. They are only lucky to have survived this long, who knows what the future will bring and they might not even have this safe haven left to protect them.
"Would that be helpful? If Grover wants, he will make us do it, there's no point in wasting time thinking over the future that none of us can control" she said without even giving a glance. Her mind was scattered all over the place, still she didn't let her impatient heart wonder where it wanted to run. She started the tap, splashing water distracted her a little from losing her mind.
"Did he mention anything else...how long you are going to stay? What's your mission..."
"Who are you going with? " Allen cut in before Erich could finish.
That actually left her in shock, she didn't, she really didn't ask any questions. Erich understood and pulled Allen with him.
"I'll try to find out more" as they left Daria closed the door and lifted the bucket over her head, the cold water would fill her with some sense.