Joseph and Maria were the names of the traders who would give us transport from The Rest to the Imperial Capitol.
Kona was the first to awaken just before the sun rose that morning with a pounding headache. The first thing she did when she woke up was leave her room and come to mine, waking me. She crawled into my bed, lay on her side next to me, pressed herself up against me and wrapped her arms around my head, letting out a contented sigh as she mumbled "ek vona at þér gangi vel"
We lay there for a few minutes in silence before she shifted again. She sat up and, clutching her head with a groan.
"Vatn" She groaned as she rubbed her head softly, looking down at me.
"Shinya? I wake you?"
I shook my head. "No, I just woke up as well. Let's get something to eat. You must be hungry."
I got out of bed, and she followed. She was still fully clothed from the day before, so she slowly hobbled to the door while I quickly put some basic clothes on, leaving my armour on the floor. As I was putting my shirt on, she reached the door, placing her hand on the door handle. She looked back at me, waiting. Her stomach growled loudly as her face twisted into a pained expression.
"You must be really hungry." I pulled my shirt down and approached as she nodded and opened the door.
The two of us descended to the first floor and were met with an empty room. The morning rays of the sun barely crested the horizon and spilled into the room, lighting it dimly. The only life present in the room other than ourselves was the innkeeper behind the counter, preparing for the morning.
We approached the counter and asked for some water and ordered a large meal. The food we ate was hotter, fresher and more delicious than expected. Of course, a place like this would cook food and then keep it warm for a few hours; that was the only way to quickly serve many guests at once. As we were nearly finished eating, Nigel also came down, and the few other guests trickled down periodically.
Once we had finished our meals, we went back to our rooms, gathered our things, and set off to meet with Joseph and Maria. Joseph was a taller and somewhat thin man with a long beard and a bald head, while Maria was shorter and slightly younger with long hair and glasses. She could easily be mistaken for a well learned woman rather than a trader, especially with the book she always clutched closely to her.
The three of us all loaded into the back of the half-full wagon and set off north. Joseph drove the wagon that we were in and had that at the front while Maria rode behind, leaving the three of us directly between them.
It was a nice change, being able to travel without walking, a change that our legs thanked us for. I asked Kona how long the journey might take, as the trot of hooves and the creaking of wheels were loud enough that I thought Maria wouldn't be able to hear me.
"About a week" She called out from the carriage behind us. "It'll be pleasant to have company for a change, aside from the old bat up front."
Nigel shifted, facing out the back of the wagon to look at Maria properly. "It would be a pleasure. Also, please feel free to rely on us should we come under attack; the three of us are mercenaries and ex-military, so we can protect you and your cargo."
Maria's kind smile faded quickly at the mention of our combat prowess. Perhaps she was nervous for one reason or another. I knew better than to pry.
"Oh, well, that won't be much of a concern on this side of the world. Are things truly that bad down south, there are bandits and such?"
"Yes, but with the war over, hopefully stability will return there in time." As Nigel continued to talk, I turned to Kona next to me. Her expression was the same as mine, concern. Why was it that not only her expression changed, but her tone felt a bit less friendly than before.
That night, we camped along the side of the road, tying the horses to trees and placing food at their feet. The wagons were positioned between us and the road, giving a sense of security to our small campsite.
It was pleasant being close to trees again, as there were almost none anywhere near Balim at all within several days on either side. The trees remind me of home, just a bit and made me feel more comfortable as I lay in my sleeping bag.
After some time, I awoke in the dark. Unsure what time it was, I closed my eyes again to return to sleep. Though I heard a faint whispering, when I opened my eyes and turned my head, I noticed a faint light flickering from the other side of the wagon. I couldn't hear what was being said, but the voices sounded like those of a man and woman. Tilting my head the other way, I noticed that Joseph and Maria were nowhere in sight; it must be them talking then. Kona and Nigel were still sleeping.
I lay there for a time with my eyes open, so I didn't accidentally fall asleep again. After all, these were strangers to us. After all, I didn't know if there were mercenary guilds in the empire, if word of who I was had gotten around here, if I was as wanted here as I was back south. The empire is where the church comes from; surely, there would be people who know of me.
I stayed awake for about an hour, but when I blinked, suddenly the sun was up. I had fallen asleep again, but awoke to the warmth of a fire and the smell of stew being cooked over a fire.
Everyone else was awake and sitting nearby, enjoying the food and warmth of the flame as they spoke casually. I hadn't been wearing my hood up or the scarf over my face since we snuck across the border. If these people did recognise me as a criminal, there would have been signs by now.
I joined them around the fire for breakfast and passively listened to the small talk. Mainly, Joseph and Maria were asking about our military and mercenary past; Nigel mainly answered those questions, being careful not to say anything that could make us look dubious. He concocted a lie that after our mandatory service, we simply went home and put what we learnt to use to make a living.
Nigel then reciprocated the question back to them, and they looked at each other and paused.
"We mainly trade in exotic goods, bringing them into the capital for sale. Other than that, we're also slavers." Maria said casually and without missing a beat.
I knew slavery was a thing in the North, why wouldn't it? I didn't like slavery as a former war slave myself, but I understood it. I knew slavers mainly handled debt slaves, and most of them were treated half decently, depending on the circumstances of their enslavement, of course.
"What kind of slaves?" Kona mumbled with a mouth half-full of food.
"Kind?" Maria asked inquisitively.
Kona swallowed and continued. "You know, there's war slaves, criminal slaves, debt slaves, sex slaves, poverty slaves, warrior slaves."
"Oh, are you from the far north? That would make sense. Poverty slaves only."
"That's nice." Kona nodded and took another mouthful of stew.
I looked at her, wondering, did she just say slavery was nice? And what was that with all these different kinds? I held up my hand to get Joseph and Maria's attention.
"Pardon, but… what's a poverty slave? How is that different from a war slave?"
"Oh, how isn't it different!" Maria laughed for a moment before realising I was serious in my question. "Oh, my mistake. A war slave is much like a warrior slave, though one is willing while the other is not. A poverty slave is simply someone so poor and desperate that they are willing to sell themselves as a servant to a richer household for lifelong or just very long employment. The only difference between then and a normal job is that slaves can't quit when they want. Does that answer your question?"
I nodded and continued to eat. I kind of understood, these people weren't monsters, but rather they found people so poor and destitute and gave them that one last opportunity. I suppose there's nothing wrong with that; in fact, one could even say it's a good thing. "And the slaves, are they treated well?"
"I don't know, we don't sell them ourselves. We find people who want to be poverty slaves and deliver them to a seller. They then sell the slaves to actual buyers."
"I see." I suppose I jumped to conclusions too quickly. The way they talk about it, the way they smile, they do seem like good people.
During the ride, Kona told me more about slavery and the different types. Nigel even mentioned that most of the workers at his father's manor were either debt slaves or poverty slaves. Warrior slaves are less common now than in ages past, but they now mainly work as bodyguards and personal security for the wealthy. Though she mentioned sex slaves and illegal slavery were more dubious and frowned upon.
As more days passed by, I noticed the two traders talked with us less and had their breakfasts apart from us, sitting further away, talking to each other. It was a bit odd that I had never heard Joseph speak.
On the night before the final day of our journey, we all settled into our beds. Kona and I had been sleeping next to each other but in separate sleeping bags throughout the journey. Before I drifted to sleep, she turned to me and whispered how tomorrow we would see the Capitol, the city of gold people called it. I was excited to see it.
I woke abruptly to a piercing scream in my ear in the dead of night. My eyes shot open, and I sat up, seeing above me was Maria, with a sword in hand, held high above her head, tears streaming down her face as she brought the blade down and cut clean through my left leg at the thigh. The pain was agonising, but. To my right, I saw Kona, sitting upright, screaming and clutching at the blood stump that was her right leg, with Joseph standing over her with a bloody sword.
My left arm snapped outward, gripping Maria's wrist as she held the sword still lodged in my thigh. As I twisted my hand, I felt the hardness of bone shatter. She retracted her hand, and I let go, gripping the sword from my leg and swiping it to the left. Not once did I look away from Kona, not once did I feel anything.
I heard a body topple to the ground as Maria's screams rang out, twisting my arm and with a firm jerk, I flung the blade through Joseph's chest, piercing him like an arrow; his body fell. I stood up, and my leg had already reattached where it was cut. I knelt before Kona, looking at her in agony as she clutched at the bleeding stump. I picked up her severed leg and held it to the stump, but it didn't heal. Why the fuck wasn't it healing?
My hands shook, and I dropped the dead flesh on the ground as Nigel ran over, ramming a piece of wood into Kona's mouth and holding a lit log from the fireplace to her bleeding stump. Her cries of agony only grew louder, and instinctively, my hand clasped the back of Nigel's neck. He was hurting her, and I wanted him to stop.
"Shinya, if I don't do this, she could bleed out."
I looked to Kona, who had stopped yelling. She looked at me with pleading eyes, and she nodded. She was a warrior; she knew what to do. I released Nigel's neck and stood up, holding my hands over my ears so I didn't hear the screaming. Before I knew it, I was pacing back and forth. What do I do? What am I meant to do? How do I help her?
As I kicked something, I looked down, Maria. She was lying on the ground, silently looking at the stars with both of her feet cut off. As I took my hands off my ears, I noticed the screaming stopped. Kona's eyes were closed, but her chest heaved with heavy breaths. I stood towering over Maria, looking down at her.
"Why? Why?" I wanted to ask more, a full sentence, but those were the only words I could muster.
"You can't fight back with one leg. We did this so we could sell"
Before she could finish her sentence, I brought my foot down atop her head, crushing it into a wet pulp. I lifted my foot and stopped again, and again and again, yelling all the while.