09

  I knew I wasn’t being brave, I was simply not afraid. Zuruvi and maNyoni were visibly shaking where they were standing. I wasn’t. Logically, I understand what could be scary in this situation. The scary Nyajena people might have somehow found out but emotionally I could master any fear for them or my situation. Something was very off here. In my old life John was my anchor in emotional situations. I was terrible at regulating my emotions in the moment. My emotions were always big and blown out of proportion. Now it seems I have swung in the complete opposite direction. And it has happened while I wasn’t paying attention.

  Is this world changing me? Do I like this change? I don’t know. My big emotions got in trouble too many times but that was who I was. I had grown to accept and appreciate myself. Without my usual reactions I needed to learn how to deal with this. I was in a potentially dangerous situation and feeling detached. Everything was feeling kind of dreamlike. From my meeting with this couple, the strange people in the fields who ignored me then just disappeared. Is this just me turning cold and calculating or was this somehow Jena’s elaborate plan? I had lived with him for weeks and didn’t notice he wasn’t really there. I glanced at Zuruvi and his wife closely. Were they real? The story they had told me sounded plausible. And their terror looked real enough but something wasn’t right.

  I didn’t have too long to ponder the situation because the sounds of hooves became louder and three riders imaged from road. They were clad in all black well worn leather armor and a long spear and blade protruded from each of their backs. Just by looking at them I could tell these were not just elite fighter but hunters who expected resistance and had already planned for it. The riders drew closer and stopped in front of us. Their dark faces were set in deep frowns radiating resolve. Their presence felt ominous, heavy with unspoken threat. I used identify on them. This time it worked.

  Warrior: level 14

  Warrior: level 18

  Warrior: level 13

  “Who are they?” I whispered in awe. Now this was what I expected in a magical world.

  “They are the city guards.” Zuruvi whispered back at me with a frown and spoke to himself “I wonder who told them.” He keeps saying that and I don’t understand what he means. There were people in the field right? Or are we pretending they were not there? Sure, one of them must have told them.

  “Give us the woman!” Commanded on of the guards, jerking his head to point at me. His voice boomed in the eerie silence. He was the shorter of the three men but with the highest level. There was nothing on his armor to indicate that he had a different rank. The guards’ armor was identical, the black leather was not smooth but layered—panels strapped over one another like overlapping scales. It was beautiful.

  “She is not ours to give,” said Zuruvi in a steady voice.

  “Okay, then!” The guard on the right of the one who has spoken jumped down his horse. His face was in passive as his walked behind me. Before I knew what was happening, he had my hands behind my back and I felt something tightening around my wrist.

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  Ding!

  You have been magically bond.

  No magic can come out of you or into you.

  The ding did it! It woke me up from my funk. The Ding was the most real thing I know and it just said I was being bound. Which means this was real. This was happening. Anger flooded my veins. I wasn’t angry at the guards or Jena or Zuruvi and maNyoni but at myself! How could I let this happen. What was I thinking? Sulking and running away from Jena then trying to ingratiate myself with this family was the least of the stupid things I had done.

  I had spend 6 weeks following the direction of a questionable creature without thinking. Just enjoying improving my strength. For all my “I-will-live-life-on-my-own-terms” talk I was doing nothing but just going with the flow. Six weeks and I still know nothing about this place? Six weeks and the first chance I get to get outside I find myself bound. This place has been screaming weird but instead of retreating and figuring this out, I brazened it out.

  Was my mind compromised? That gave me pause. Had my mind been changed together with my physical appearance? I have never been one to sit and let things happens. I make life. I make life happen. I needed to be proactive otherwise someone else is going to plan my life for me. But first I have to get out of these bindings.

  “Lets, go lady!” Said the guard.

  “Where?” I croaked out. “Why am I bound?” I was so choked up with emotion. How could I let this happen and then blame everyone? Maybe that is why Jena had to push me into the uncomfortable zone. Then I remembered the hyena. No, he had no right to that. I have never slaughtered anything in my life. Violence is never the answer, it just delays the inevitable. Think, Anesu, think. How am I going to get out of this one?

  I was physically weak compared to these men. And even if I can free myself, I have nowhere to go. I don’t know how to get back to the lair. Speaking of the lair, it a great magical place, but I want to experience this world with all its beautiful magic and its people. I can’t do that hidden away.

  Before the guards came, I had decided to stay in this village and learn as much as I can. I still wanted to do that. This village tagged at something in me. There was something fishy going on here I couldn’t place my finger on and I wanted time to figure it out. My first step was to take responsibility of the trouble I had caused. Then get myself out of these bonds. I could probably do the first but I had no clue how to do the freeing part.

  “To see the man who ordered you bound.” The higher level warrior answered and they slowly started trotting off. I stayed rooted where I was. The binding felt loose and I tried to wriggle my hands out of it. “Come along and don’t try to unbind yourself. It will just tight them.” He sounded without looking at me. Couldn’t he have said that first? Now I was bound really tight.It took the a short while to realize I wasn’t following.

  The short man turn around back to me.“Do make me, make you. You won’t like it.” He said in a low growl.

  “What about this men and woman?” I asked him.

  “What about them?”

  “What is going to happen to them?”

  “None of your business.”

  “It is if you want me to come with you.”

  He barked out a laugh, “You think you are in a position to demand anything?”

  “No, but I was discussing a job opportunity. I would hate to lose that because someone thinks they know too much.”

  He took a long look at me, “You are not as clueless as as you pretend to be.” He huffed. “What do you want me to do? I have orders to bring only you and get rid of the rest.” At that maNyoni startled. She had been afraid but she hadn’t really understood what these solders were going to do. Now that she did, she was openly shaking. I didn’t look at her because wanted to stay resolved.

  “We are a package. You take us together. Where I go, they go.”

  “To protect your job opportunity.”

  “Exactly,” I smiled. Smiled? Who was I? Negotiating with scary guards without blinking, cool as a cucumber. This world was changing me.

  He turned around to his two companions, “You heard the lady, lets protect her job opportunities. Bind the other two and bring them along.”