The two blades sparked as they crashed together, the steel singing as one sword deflected the other aside time and again and again. Neither warrior seemed to gain the upper hand, both sweating, muscles aching, taking in long, shallow breaths, but still they fought on. Each woman refused to yield to the other. But that was the way they had always been.
One stood at a monstrous six and a half feet tall. Her golden blonde hair, long and flowing, trailed behind her now matted with sweat and rain. Thick, muscular arms gripped her blade, held firmly in hands protected by long, fingerless gauntlets of leather. She pushed herself forward on equally muscular, powerful legs. A short, grey tunic, toughened by metal studs, adorned her strong body, with a long brown cloak flowing down her back. Covering that, heavy leather pauldrons protected her shoulders, straps crossing and meeting in the middle of her chest. These leather bands met the protective girdle that guarded her mid-section. Around that, at her waist, she wore a stylized leather belt, thick, with a golden talisman across attached in the middle in front of the buckle. She displayed it like some sort of trophy, with three thick leather tassels hanging from this adornment. Further straps protected the separated, short and skirt-like bottom half of the tunic. She dug in her heels, knee high leather sandals now being covered in mud, the straps wrapping around her impressive calves and feet all the way up her shins, stopping just below the knees.
Her blade once again sparked, crashing against her opponent’s. The strength of the hit forced even a powerful warrior like her on the back foot and made her back up. Fa’rah wiped the mixed moisture of sweat and rain from her brow at the momentary lull, her icy blue eyes fixed in a hard glare on her opponent.
The opponent to Fa’rah, though smaller and thinner, often equalled or even surpassed her in skill. She was a shade under six feet tall, dwarfed by the larger woman, and her arms and legs were not quite the muscular thickness of Fa’rah. But that didn’t stop Meryn from being equal to her in battle.
The woman’s fiery red hair, bright and shining, was practically soaked through from the sweat of battle and the rain falling in on them. It was cut short, hanging around the back of her neck in a bob cut. But that was never where the focus went on her face. Any opponent, be it her greatest rival or just another thug, always thought twice when gazing into the golden eyes of pure fury when facing Meryn in battle.
Shining like the sun, Meryn’s eyes could inspire wonder at their equal parts beauty and terrifying intensity. Even someone like Fa’rah, used to seeing the ire, and the flame, in those eyes could not get used to the gut-wrenching terror her gaze inspired.
Meryn took in heavy breaths as she gripped her sword in both hands. Her sleeveless and short golden yellow tunic, with black vertical strips on the upper half, displayed her athletic and still muscular arms and legs. Her hands were bare, forearms protected by black metal armlets, with a golden crosshatch pattern shaped like diamonds. A belt of black cloth, tied off around her waist, separated her tunic into two parts, part of it hanging down in front of the short area like a skirt on the bottom half of the tunic. The raised heels of her matching, patterned leather boots, yellow and accented in black, sank into the mud forming beneath her. With mud now adorning them as well, the boots just about touched the base of her knees at their very top.
The momentary lull gave them both pause and their minds raced, trying to find the holes in each other’s tactics.
She’s moving slower Meryn thought. And she’s favouring her off shoulder after I tripped her up. Should attack from that side.
Probably gunning for the shoulder Fa’rah thought to herself. No way she’s missed that. Might have to lull her, draw her in. See if I can’t return the favour.
The swords met again as both women attacked at once, forcing each other to back off once more. Both of their movements had slowed with exhaustion and the length of their battle. But neither would give in until the other was disarmed and make her yield.
The circumstances of this fight were nothing so different for either one of them. Meryn, the crime-fighting heroine known as the Gold-Eyed Maiden, had learned of a noble lady kidnapped from a trade caravan headed back into the city if Disa. Setting out to rescue her, Meryn came across the leader of a new clan of bandits, her old rival Fa’rah. Assuming she was behind the kidnapping, Meryn took her to task and drew her blade. Fa’rah, though actually innocent of this crime for once, was more than happy to oblige and drew her own blade.
Fa’rah had arrived for the same reason but, of course, with a different goal in mind. Meryn came with the intent of rescue. Fa’rah arrived to kidnap the noblewoman for herself. Her own scouts got back to her, informing her that some bandits from an unknown clan, and very few of them at that, were attacking a trade caravan to kidnap and hold this lady for ransom. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Fa’rah set out on her own, knowing she could easily take on these new rival bandits, based on what was described and their low numbers, and steal their target for herself.
Within moments of arriving, she found herself under attack by Meryn. Fa’rah hadn’t had the time to consider how suspicious it was that she had come across no other bandits. Nor that the caravan was completely intact and nothing else stolen. Her scouts only reported what they saw but did not stay around to see anything else that transpired, eager to tell their leader of this new opportunity. Now everything, save for the two combatants battling in the rain, had gone quiet. Fa’rah would have been on edge had she been given the chance to think of anything else.
Unfortunately for Meryn, she had no reason to suspect anything else. Having come across a notorious kidnapper, thief, and bandit in Fa’rah, she had every reason to think her oldest rival was behind this kidnapping. Meryn was, in fact, oblivious to anything suspicious. And that was all by design.
For the time being, however, their duel continued on without incident. Fa’rah changed the grip on her sword, now only holding on with one hand while lowering her injured shoulder and tensing up her arm. Meryn tried to take advantage of this, attempting to disarm Fa’rah with a heavy cut from her own blade.
At the last moment, Meryn noticed the smirk crossing her rival’s lips as Fa’rah jumped back and planted her feet, quickly replacing her two-handed grip. Meryn’s strike missed but, by catching a look at Fa’rah’s face, she realized the feint in time to avoid Fa’rah’s own heavy cut in an attempt to disarm Meryn. Meryn couldn’t stop her momentum and Fa’rah’s blade was coming in quick. She wouldn’t have the time to step back and any attempt to try would put her off balance and give Fa’rah an advantage. Instead, Meryn stepped forward and used her momentum and the back swing of her cut to meet Fa’rah’s blade.
Fa’rah was the stronger of the two, but not by much, so her sword connected with more force and deflected Meryn’s downward. But she was surprised by Meryn’s forward momentum and couldn’t follow up the attack, now forced to the back foot by Meryn’s aggressive movement.
Meryn used this surprise to launch herself forward yet again, swinging in from Fa’rah’s left, her injured off shoulder, forcing the larger woman into a defensive parry. The soreness in her shoulder loosened Fa’rah’s grip and, though she deflected the oncoming blow, the force of it knocked one hand from her sword as she let go. Already off balance, she stepped back again to try and recover and plant her feet again. But Meryn kept coming.
Now with the sword only in her dominant hand, Fa’rah had a weaker grip and Meryn capitalized, taking one smooth motion to both kick out one of Fa’rah’s legs from under her and swing hard at the sword, used the momentum of Fa’rah’s stumble and the strike of her blade to finally disarm the blonde warrior, taking the sword to the mud at their feet.
Fa’rah tried to quickly recover her weapon but the tip of Meryn’s sword kept her back as she recovered her balance. The fiery golden eyes of the red-haired warrior held the steely blue gaze of her rival. The rain around them continued to fall, further soaking them both, and they both paused yet again.
“You’re done,” Meryn said, heaving breaths, her body drenched in both sweat and countless drops of rain.
Fa’rah smiled her endlessly charming, infuriating grin of confidence. “You think so?”
“I know so. Get on the ground. I’m taking you in.”
“To where? The capital? Couple days at most I’ll be tied up in that dungeon before my girls bust me out. And leave you in my place. We’ve danced this dance before.”
Meryn grimaced and growled under her breath in frustration. “Not this time.”
“You sure about that, Goldie?”
“Get on the ground. Now!” Meryn ordered, gritting her teeth.
In that moment, eyes locked on each other, neither focussed on asking any questions about their strange meeting, a silent crowd began to gather. People emerged from the thick woods surrounding the clearing of the abandoned caravan. Including someone who was still tucked away in a hidden compartment of the upturned cart, biding her time...
Fa’rah chuckled. “You know, time was, you never could have beaten me one on one. Magic and trickery may have saved you then, sure, but I beat your ass into the dirt any other time. How many times would say I beat you?”
“Not near as many as how many I’ve beaten you,” Meryn said.
“Now that you’re stronger... I’d say we’re about even. What do you think?” Fa’rah said.
“Enough. Just get on the ground. Don’t make me-”
“What? You going to run me through, Goldie? Don’t make me laugh!”
“Shut up! Just get down!”
“Try me.”
“You don’t want that.”
“Oh, but I do.”
Meryn growled under her breath and pressed the blade closer, practically touching Fa’rah’s throat. Her golden-haired rival smiled wide.
“You finally got the guts, Goldie? Finally wanna play for keeps?”
“For you, Fa’rah, I would cross that line.”
“I dare you.”
“Don’t force me.”
“Someday, I might,” Fa’rah said. “But not today.”
With one sudden movement, Fa’rah leaned back and bent low, reaching for her sword. Meryn tried to stop her and barred her way. By then, however, it was too late for her to catch on to the feint as a heavy fist cracked against Meryn’s jaw, knocking her back, forcing her to stumble.
The combatants now separated, someone else bellowed a command.
“Now!”
Meryn felt something wrap around the blade of her sword and wrench it from her grasp. Several pinpricks jabbed into her arms from somewhere around her and she started to feel woozy. She plucked something from her shoulder, a small dart, and found herself collapsing to her knees.
She looked across at Fa’rah, expecting to see the bandit leader towering over her, sword in hand. Instead, Fa’rah had not reached her blade and was also forced to kneel, several darts sticking out of her body.
By then, the presence within the upturned cart had emerged, striding confidently out into the open.
“There you are, everyone. As promised. Two birds, one stone.”
“What... is... this?” Meryn asked, her consciousness fading fast.
A thin, lithe woman, much shorter than both of them, stepped between the two rivals. She had long, silvery hair, bright green eyes, dressed in a flowing gown of black and gold, the heels of her tall sandals digging into the mud as she stopped between them. Both women recognized her.
“You...” Fa’rah said. “But you’re-”
“Not kidnapped, as it turns out. But I am, indeed, Lady Marya, Royal Minister of Trade. Or so you might well think.”
She knelt down to level her gaze with Fa’rah first. “You, Fa’rah of Dermaga, know me by a different name.”
“What are... you...”
She stood up again and knelt down in front of Meryn next. “And some call me your antithesis, dearest Gold-Eyed Maiden.”
Meryn grimaced again, trying to fight off whatever knockout drug was coursing through her veins. “The... the Shadow... Maiden...”
“What!?” Fa’rah’s anger fought off the effects of the darts for the moment as she lurched forward, her rage able to carry her a single step before she collapsed to her knees again.
“Always had you pegged for the smart one,” the Shadow Maiden said. “The big one over there never could have figured it out.”
In truth, Meryn hadn’t figured out who the Shadow Maiden was but she had her suspicions. It would only have been a matter of time before she knew it. She knew the Shadow Maiden was a noble. She suspected the House of Dermaga at first, Fa’rah’s former house, but that family had disowned Fa’rah and since abandoned their claim to any land in Ikaatan and fled the island. Her investigations had turned up two primary suspects; the former house of the Queen, notorious for petty rivalries and infighting, House Rielle. The other noble house was that of the merchant family, and the house of the current Royal Minister of Trade, House Ardelle. Now Meryn knew she had been right about one of them...
“You... knew?” Fa’rah asked, glaring at Meryn.
“I... suspected. Nothing concrete...”
The Shadow Maiden had become a master of clandestine crime across the entire island, responsible for all sorts of kidnapping, extortion, and intricate plots. She had become a thorn in the side of even the bandit clans, though the two largest on the island did prove quite a match for her and often foiled the plans of the Shadow Maiden. One of those was Fa’rah’s, the second largest clan on the island.
Meryn, as well, put a stop to some of the Shadow Maiden’s schemes, though was never quite able to track her down.
“If only I could have lured out Brina the Strong...” the Shadow Maiden said. “But that is neither here nor there. Here I have my most notorious competitor and the renowned and famous Gold-Eyed Maiden. With you two out of my hair, I will quickly rule this island.”
“You... won’t...” Meryn said, still fighting to stay conscious.
“Ah, the expected heroic retort. How wonderful. I have wondered what to do with you, my dear. I suspect the Queen will pay a mighty ransom for you. Perhaps even cede power. As for your dearest Fa’rah... I can ruin that clan in one fell swoop. They are lost without their leader, after all, and would pay for you with everything they have quite readily. Yes... I think that is a fine plan. Don’t you think so?”
Both women hung on for as long as they could but now Meryn couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer, shutting them and falling forward into the mud, unconscious. Fa’rah watched her fall and still refused to go down.
“You’re... a dead woman...” Fa’rah said. “I will find you...”
“Pointless threats. So like you, Fa’rah. Be a dear and fall over beside your friend there. I’m sure you’ll enjoy getting better acquainted with her.”
Fa’rah gritted her teeth and tensed her muscles, trying to get back to her feet one final time. She failed, stumbling forward and finally succumbing to the knockout drug, falling unconscious beside Meryn.
The Shadow Maiden stepped back and looked around at the collection of people there, surrounding the two unconscious combatants, draped in dark cloaks.
“Tie them up and prepare them for transport. Get them into the cart. We have much to do.”
...
Meryn felt herself jolted awake by someone shaking her, over and over, and the muffled grunts of someone behind her. Her golden eyes slowly opened, vision blurred, taking in her immediate surroundings and trying to jog her memory.
A fight... I was in a fight. It was Fa’rah. And then... “Rrrmmpphh...” she grunted. The Shadow Maiden. Lady Marya Ardelle... Taria has to know. The Queen has to know. I need to warn them. Stop her.
With these thoughts racing through her mind, and her vision clearing, Meryn still felt herself being shaken around by someone who clung uncomfortably close to her back. What is that?
Finally with her vision cleared, Meryn took a moment to figure out where she was.
The cart she thought, looking at the wooden walls and canvas ceiling. There was nothing else inside the cart and, as far as she could tell, she was seated on the wooden floor in the middle of it with someone leaning against her back. She felt herself jolted from below, followed by a grunt from behind her. It’s moving. No surprise there.
She chose that moment to finally check herself over, realizing that something was keeping her from moving. Meryn, no stranger to trouble, could easily guess what had happened.
The first thing she noticed was the huge pair of arms wrapped around her. At her waist, a strong woman’s hands were crossed in an ‘x’ pattern and tied together, wrapped around her torso. Her own arms were trapped between the larger arms. She didn’t even have to turn to look to figure out whose arms they were.
The next thing she noticed was that she, too, had her hands crossed in an ‘x’ and tied around the waist of the woman at her back. A thick and endless coil of rope was wound around both sets of arms, pinning their torsos together, and keeping both women’s arms tied to their sides from their forearms to their shoulders. The ropes had been pulled far too tight for any hope of slipping out and it held them together like a vice, compressing her chest when she tried to breathe in through her nose.
Her strong legs, as well, were tied together with a coil of rope wrapping up from her ankles all the way up her calves, covering most of her boots, while another coil pushed up her skirt a bit and tied her legs together from above the knees to her upper thighs.
The woman at her back was tied much the same way and was clearly trying her best to escape, though her efforts had thus far proved futile. Meryn turned her head to the side and watched the golden hair of her rival tossed back and forth as she shook her head and thrashed and bucked against the ropes that refused to budge.
And Meryn didn’t even need to guess why Fa’rah’s voice was muffled. She bit down and tried to move her tongue around her mouth, only to find a thick cloth in the way that filled her mouth. When she bit down, she felt another cloth pulled tightly between her lips, clearly tied off somewhere behind her head. Another was then tied on over her mouth and nose, pulled just as tight, and knotted off expertly with the cleave gag already in her mouth. I do hate that I know the names of these Meryn sighed to herself. Of course, I should by now. Happens often enough. Not to mention Saira and her games...
Fa’rah, as well, was gagged in this way and hadn’t stopped battling the ropes since she had woken up. The cart hadn’t stopped either, suggesting they were now a long way away from any chance of help arriving.
Meryn felt herself tossed by the bear of a woman tied to her back and growled under her breath. “Sttmmpp!!”
“Mmmrmmnn!!” Fa’rah said, turning her head to one side. “Ymmmr mmwmk!”
Meryn sighed. No idea what she just said. Of course they had to tie me to her. Couldn’t have put me anywhere else...
“Wmm hmmff tmm stmmd mmpp!”
“Wmmmt?” Meryn asked, still unable to understand Fa’rah’s gagged words.
“Hllmmp mm stmmd mmp! Wmm cmmn gmmt mmt mmphmmrr.”
She said ‘stand up’ somewhere in there. I think. That’s a terrible idea.
Meryn just shook her head. “Nmm. Wmmt wrrmmk.”
Fa’rah sighed and tried to nod toward the corner. Meryn strained over her shoulder, desperate to lean past the taller woman and see what she was looking at. She just about caught a glimpse of a wooden box, strapped down and secured in the far corner near the very back of the cart. It was slightly wet from the rain outside as the raindrops sometimes found their way in between the canvas flaps. It rested tantalizingly out of reach of both of them.
“Wmmpmmnphh. Mmnn thmmmrr!”
Fa’rah said, keeping her sentences short. “Stmmd mmp. Wmm hmmp. Mmnnd mmpmmn mmmt.”
Meryn just shook her head again. Did she say hop? Together? And how do we open the box, Fa’rah? it’s locked, you moron.
“Mmtph lmmmkd.”
Fa’rah still seemed determined to get them both to stand up. Tucking her legs underneath her and trying to force herself upward. “Cmm mmnn! Hllmmp mm!’
“FMMRRMMM!! STTMMPPP!”
All Fa’rah had succeeded in doing was pushing them both backward toward the wall, shuffling them further from the locked box and constantly jolting Meryn in the process. She finally stopped when Meryn screamed into her gag, and turned her head to the side.
“Wmmrk wmmph mmm!”
Meryn just shook her head. Yeah, so you can cut yourself free and leave me here with them. No thanks.
Fa’rah slumped into her bonds and let out a long breath. Guess I should actually try working with her. She probably thinks I’m going to leave her here. She’s not wrong but... I can’t get out of this on my own. I do really need her help.
“Mm wmmt lmmf ymmm,” Fa’rah said.
Meryn understood her this time. Yeah, you’ve said things like that to all of us before. How dumb do you think we are? We all remember your time as our ‘informant.’ That was a damn joke.
She did realize, though, that she wasn’t about to get free on her own. Meryn had become rather skilled at escaping situations like this but, this time, it didn’t look good. She already tried picking at her wrists for the knot tying them together but realized it must have been tied behind her wrists. Reaching it would be impossible then. And with her arms pinned by both the tight ropes and Fa’rah’s powerful arms, escape was about as impossible as it could be. Their only hope would be somehow untying each other. Meryn was sure she could manage something like that but Fa’rah was in a much better position to try since her arms were wrapped around Meryn’s and she had the smallest amount of extra movement.
But standing up will get us nowhere Meryn said. Not while the cart is moving.
With a heavy sigh into her gag, Meryn turned her head to the side again. “Wmmtt.”
“Hmm?”
“Wmm wmmt mmntmll thmm cmmrt mmtpph.”
Did she say wait? Fa’rah thought. Might not be a bad idea. We’ll just keep falling over and making noise with the cart moving. But they’ll probably take us somewhere away from our weapons. Still, making all that noise means they’ll probably tie us up tighter. Work with what we’re given, I guess.
Fa’rah just nodded, shrugging as far as the ropes would allow.
Good. At least she’s not completely stupid all the time Meryn thought. With any luck we won’t need the weapons to get out of these damn ropes. She keeps listening to me and maybe we’ll get out of here. Long as she doesn’t turn on me, like always...
...
Both women looked up when they felt the cart rumble to a stop. Someone outside barked a few orders and the canvas flaps were pulled back. The rain outside had slowed to a light drizzle but it still shined off the silvery locks of her hair. She had since changed her outfit, now dressed in a dark and snug uniform leather suit, hugging tight to her shapely body, a bandolier of throwing knives over each shoulder.
The captives grumbled and growled into their gags, squirming in the ropes and glaring at their captor.
“Good to see you awake, ladies,” she said. “I was beginning to worry you’d sleep through the whole trip.”
She climbed inside and knelt down, leaning in close to them.
“Aw, don’t look at me like that. You knew this had to happen eventually! It was either you or me and, well, I guess that means it’s you.”
Fa’rah growled into her gag while Meryn remained silent, glaring daggers instead.
“My people are going to take you away. Downstairs, of course, but I’ve prepared a comfy little guest room just for you two.”
Wait... did she take us to her house? Meryn thought.
If her assumption was correct, that could be big trouble. The Ardelle estate, now belonging solely to Lady Marya and her servants, was built on a rocky island just off the coast of Ikaatan. There was a long bridge to the place, of course, but it was built onto on old pathway that wound through thick, dangerous woods inhabited by myriad small bandit clans.
It was a remote and quiet home for the noble family for many years and people rarely visited for fear of the many squabbling bandits roaming the forest. They would have posed no real threat near the capital but they had been chased further and further afield by the larger clans led by Brina the Strong and Fa’rah. People who knew the area often marvelled how someone like Lady Marya hadn’t been attacked, kidnapped, held hostage, or stolen from by these many bandits. But her identity as the Shadow Maiden helped explain that. Simply put, those bandits feared her and knew who she was. They would never dare cross her, having already been practically cast out by the two larger clans. But any travellers unlucky enough to find themselves in those woods rarely came out unscathed.
So, for Meryn and Fa’rah, the Ardelle Estate may as well have been the most heavily fortified prison in Ikaatan. Surrounded by either water or hostile forces, to be locked away in the basement of a well-guarded house that no one knew they were inside... both women had to admit, this was not looking good.
“Take care, ladies. Don’t worry. I’ll come down and visit you. But for now...”
The Shadow Maiden took a pair of dark cloths from her belt and approached the two captives. They both knew what she was up to and kicked and wriggled, anything to get her away from them, but they were helpless to stop her. She tied one cloth over Fa’rah’s eyes, knotting it tightly, then moved on to Meryn. The dark cloth was pulled tight, tied off, and rendered Meryn completely blind.
“There you are,” the Shadow Maiden said. “See you downstairs, girls!”
Both women grumbled and growled into their gags, shaking and writhing around in their tight bonds. They couldn’t resist as hands grabbed at them from all over, dragging them out together and lifting them up onto their feet. Forced to hop together, they were led out of the cart and onto a smaller one, forced to sit again, before being wheeled away together.
The captives continued to struggle but there was nothing either of them could do in that moment. For the time being, they remained helpless as they were wheeled away to an unknown fate.
...
“Mmmrrgghh! Mmmmppph! Grmmt plmmmnn gmmnnpphh!” Fa’rah grumbled, muffled and garbled by her gag. “Jmmpht wmmt. Wmm dmmd mm lmmphhn tmm ymmm!?”
Meryn just growled into her gag in response to Fa’rah’s muffled complaints. Admittedly, Fa’rah was at least partially right. Their situation had gotten considerably worse. Still as tightly bound and gagged together as they had been in the cart, Meryn and Fa’rah were now trapped together on the cold, stone floor of a small room in the basement of the Ardelle Estate. Adding to that, the Shadow Maiden had not removed their blindfolds and their captors had deliberately disoriented them; moving them around corridors only to stop and turn around for no other reason, turning innumerable corners, entering and exiting various rooms, taking them up and down stairs then back up again, possibly even back down again, and then when finally settling on their small prison of a room, spinning them around on the small cart so they had no idea which way they were facing.
This was all by design, of course, and by orders of the Shadow Maiden. She knew her captives were resourceful and smart and both had a reputation of escaping situations just like this. Fa’rah had, perhaps, more of a reputation for getting caught and failing to escape but she somehow always found her way back out again. Meryn, on the other hand, also found herself captured quite often but was wildly successful at getting herself out of trouble and often turning the tables on her unlucky captors.
This time, however, things didn’t look good for either of them. Stuck in the middle of the room, blindfolded, with no idea which way the door was, nor even if it was locked, tightly gagged, tied to each other and trapped within a well guarded estate of Ikaatan’s most notorious criminal... this time escape would be tough.
Meryn was being tossed around while Fa’rah furiously struggled and made the futile attempt to call for help into her gag.
“Hllmmmpp! Hllmmpp mmm, plmmpph!”
“Shmmpt mmmp!” Meryn said, writhing in her bonds, whirling her head to one side and growling furiously into her gag.
“Gmm tmm hmmll, Gmmlldmm!!” Fa’rah snapped back. “Thmmph mmf ymmr fmmlllt!
“Fmmrmmm...” Meryn sighed. “Wmm hmmf tmm trmm. Hlmmp mm stmmd mmp.”
Fa’rah would have rolled her eyes if she wasn’t blindfolded. Sure. Now you want to try and stand up. Where do we go now, genius? We don’t even know where the door is!
Despite her obstinate thoughts, Fa’rah did at least agree with Meryn on one thing: they had to get out of here. Neither of them knew how long the Shadow Maiden intended to keep them captive. Nor did they know if she intended to release them at all, should she be successful in negotiating their release.
And neither of them wanted to see what kind of power she could wield by bringing both the Queen, a firm supporter of the Gold-Eyed Maiden, and Ikaatan’s second largest bandit clan to their knees.
So Fa’rah sighed, slumping into her bonds and lowered her head.
“Fmmnn...” she grumbled. Fa’rah tucked her legs underneath her, planting her feet firmly on the floor. Hearing her bound companion, Meryn did the same.
“Fmmnnd mm wmll fmmpht!” Meryn said.
“Wmmt?”
Meryn sighed. “Fmnnd. Thmm. Wmmlll. Frrmmmpht.”
Fa’rah simply nodded. Find the wall. Easier said than done but, the extra balance might help she thought.
So the two dragged themselves along the stone floor, shuffling with their bound legs along the floor. Being the stronger of the two, Meryn let Fa’rah push forward with her legs while dragging them forward with her own. Eventually, she felt her boots make contact with something and kicked out with both legs, tapping against the hard, stone wall.
Fa’rah heard this and knew they’d reached their first goal. Now was just the matter of getting them both leaning against it.
It took some doing, and many grunts of frustration muffled by their cloth gags, but finally Fa’rah felt the bare skin of her upper thigh make contact with the cold stone and leaned up against it. Both women tucked in their legs again and used the wall as support.
“Mmkkmm,” Meryn said. “Mmnn thrmm.”
“Mmnn thrmm?” Fa’rah asked.
“Ymmpph!” Meryn bellowed into her gag. “Mmmnn. Thrmm.”
“Mmll rmmt...”
“Mmmnn. Tmmnn. Thrmmm!!”
The two strong women hoisted themselves on four powerful legs at the same time but their bound bodies made things challenging. The strain of their awkward balance, and their inability to separate their upper bodies, made it slow going. They were both crouched for the longest time but the wall gave them the balance to shuffle their bound legs gradually backwards and get themselves straighter and straighter.
Many loud and gagged grunts later and, finally, the two of them were standing back to back, both beginning to sweat again, and their already tired muscles groaning from the effort.
They leaned against the wall to catch their breath for the moment but Meryn started rubbing her head against the wall. She had noticed something on the way up.
The wall was made of several large, stone bricks and one of them stuck out ever so slightly from the others. Her hope was to catch her blindfold on this brick and remove it.
Fa’rah could feel Meryn moving and wanted to ask but her gag kept getting in the way. That or Meryn was ignoring her. Neither would surprise her.
Finally, Meryn caught the dark cloth on the protruding brick and slipped the blindfold up and over her head. It was tied tight and took her several tries, eliciting growls of frustration from her, but she finally managed it, shaking if off and letting it tumble to the floor.
Her eyes had to adjust to the dimly lit room and she blinked a few times, being able to see for the first time in several hours. Meryn took in their surroundings.
The room was lit by a single, small lantern hanging from the middle of the ceiling. It was otherwise empty and made of large bricks of stone, as Meryn had guessed. The ceiling itself was at least three feet above both of them, the lantern hanging well out of reach. While the room, meanwhile, was quite small but large enough to have possibly kept them disoriented for a long time. Meryn guessed it was about ten feet by fifteen or thereabouts, possibly used for storage or even as a guest room as the Shadow Maiden had said.
And, much to her chagrin, the door to the room was exactly on the opposite wall and, of course, the fifteen foot gap Meryn had estimated is what separated them from their possible chance at freedom.
She groaned into her gag and let out a frustrated breath.
“Wmmt mmph mmt?” Fa’rah asked.
Meryn said nothing at first, trying her best to move and find any knots in her ropes. She failed to find any.
“Cmmn ymm fmmlll mmnn nmmtph?” Meryn asked.
Fa’rah had no idea what she said and just shook her head. “Wmmt dmmd ymm smm?”
Meryn just growled again and tried to find the same brick as before. Rubbing her gag off would prove a challenge as it was tied on even tighter than the blindfold had been. But she succeeded in finally getting the cloth past her nose and that gave it a bit more slack. She was able to shrug the first layer loose, letting it hang around her neck, but now there was another layer with the cloth pulled between her teeth, holding in the final cloth.
This time, Meryn used her tongue to try spitting out the cloth in her mouth, pressing it against the cleave gag and managing to force it down out of her mouth where it stuck tightly to her chin. But this allowed her to spit out the cloth stuffed in her mouth, letting it drop to the floor with her blindfold. She took in a few deep breaths and worked her jaw up and down, trying to dampen the soreness of being gagged for many hours.
“Door’s... on the other side of the room...” Meryn said, her voice slightly hoarse.
That bitch got her gag off... I’ll give her this, she’s better at this than me Fa’rah thought.
“Thmmt smmkph,” Fa’rah said, matter-of-factly.
“Listen... I can barely move my arms at all. They’re trapped between yours. I can’t find any knots.”
Bad news Fa’rah thought. Thought for sure she’d be the one to get out.
“But I can see the one that’s tying our arms together. It’s right above your hands. You might be able to move your arms more. Think you can reach it?”
You’re out of your mind. You’re the escape artist of us two!
Despite her mental protests, Fa’rah tried anyway. Meryn helped her stand up straight and tried ducking down to force the ropes lower and put the knot within Fa’rah’s reach. But with her wrists crossed in the ‘x’ position over top of each other, that was proving very difficult.
“Wmmr mmph thmm rmmpp?”
“Use your left hand. Your right hand is too far away and it’s trapped under your left. Your left hand is your back hand, right now. It’s only about six inches away. Just reach up and grab it.”
Yeah just reach up and grab it. Easy for you to say! Fa’rah thought. Still, that was a pretty good tip. I’d still be trying with both my hands.
Taking Meryn’s advice, Fa’rah managed to use her powerful arms and pull upward on the rope binding them, finally getting a grip on the bottom of the coil with the fingers of her left hand.
“Mmmph!” she squealed in excitement.
“There. Just a bit to the right.”
Fa’rah fumbled around with the fingers, moving the wrong direction at first.
“Other way,” Meryn said.
Doing as instructed, Fa’rah slid her hands the opposite direction and finally felt the knot. She immediately started picking away at it and began pulling it loose.
“It’s almost there,” Meryn said.
She kept at it for a while until, finally, the two ends of the rope fell loose at their sides. But the coil remained wrapped tightly around them.
“I need your help now,” Meryn said. “Pull against the rope. It’ll pull loose enough until it falls off. Just pull on it with your arms.”
With two strong women working away, shrugging, straining their powerful arms against the tight coil, there was nothing to stop it from giving slack and, after some time, finally falling loose at their feet. Both women took in a deep breath as the constant pressure from the coil of rope was finally relieved.
“Okay. Now let’s get back down to the floor. Lay on your side.”
“Hmmph?”
“I’m going to slide myself down to your ankles. It’s the only way to separate ourselves. Soon as I can get my wrists past your feet we’ll be able to separate.”
Fa’rah followed Meryn’s lead, slowly lowering herself along with her rival down to the floor. They lay down on their side together, stretched out their legs, and Meryn began shuffling downward. It was slow going but Fa’rah remained still, ignoring the touch of her rival as her hands slowly made their way down from her waist, all the way down to her strong and shapely legs...
Both women ignored their wandering thoughts as Meryn pulled hard, wrenching her bound wrists free, past Fa’rah’s feet, and rolled away from her, finally free to work on her own.
Fa’rah still struggled mightily but she just couldn’t find any way to free herself. She was still tightly gagged as well and couldn’t communicate the trouble she was having. Meryn, in the meantime, was already making short work of the ropes. Some degree of flexibility allowed her to reach down and untie the coil of rope around her ankles and calves. Free of that, Meryn removed her boots to give herself the final edge to slip her bound wrists past her rear, around her legs and just about past her feet so that now her wrists were in front of her. She used her teeth to loosen the knot on her wrists and finally had herself free in no time, standing up, pulling her boots back on, and crossing the room to check the door.
“Of course it’s locked...” she muttered to herself.
But, as she was used to these kinds of situations, Meryn usually had an ace up her sleeve. Or, in this case, her boot. She had hidden several lock picks in a secret pocket along the calf of her left boot that almost no one would ever think to check. And, as she predicted, their captors hadn’t thought to check it.
Picking the lock was short work as well and Meryn slowly opened it, just a crack, to take a quick glance outside the room. It was a short hallway that she saw and a set of stairs, leading upward, was within eyesight. And no one was patrolling the hallway. She silently shut the door then and turned back to her fellow captive.
“Having trouble?”
Fa’rah squirmed around on the floor, still as tightly tied as ever, grumbling and complaining into her gag. Meryn stood up straight and put her hand to the doorknob, hesitating.
I should leave her, by all rights. She would have left me. But I wouldn’t have gotten out without her. But also, she could turn on me at any second.
Meryn’s eyes fell upon Fa’rah, still bound and gagged on the floor. They both remained still for the moment. Fa’rah’s eyes pleaded with Meryn. She stepped back from the door, pulled Fa’rah into a sitting position, and removed her gag.
“Meryn... come on. You’d really leave me with her?”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“Okay... fair point. But I helped you! And there’s no telling who she has up there. Better two of us in a fight than one, right?”
“You’ve stabbed me in the back before.”
“Yeah but so have you! Don’t forget when you left me in that giant moving armour.”
“And then you tried to sell me out to pirates. How’d that turn out?”
Fa’rah sighed. “Look, we won’t get anywhere just talking about all the ways we’ve pissed each other off over the years. Chances are, you wind up right back in here with me. You think she’s going to give us a chance to untie ourselves a second time?”
Meryn let out a long breath. She had to concede, Fa’rah was right on that point.
“A deal then,” Meryn said. “I untie you in exchange for helping me get out of here.”
“Okay.”
“And, in exchange for not stabbing me in the back... you can have the Shadow Maiden.”
Fa’rah leaned forward and a smiled curled her lips. “Really?”
“Really.”
“What else?”
Meryn just shook her head. “You’re a greedy bitch.”
“Greedy, shrewd... whatever word you want to use. I think ‘clever’ works.”
“Shut up,” Meryn said. “What else could I give you?”
“How about... you don’t expose the Shadow Maiden’s identity as Lady Marya. Let me kidnap her and ransom her back to the Queen. Then, after that, you can do whatever you want. Long as I get my payday, I’ll leave you alone. For now.”
“For now?”
“You know, until we get back to Ikaatan. I won’t turn on you as long as you can promise I’ll get my ransom money for that bitch. And let me keep her for a few days to make her sweat.”
Meryn let out a breath before finally helping free Fa’rah, untying the remaining ropes on her body.
Finally free, Meryn helped the bandit to her feet and pushed open the door. “Find the weapons, find the Shadow Maiden, then we run. That’s the deal. Nothing else. You turn on me, I’ll finish what we started in that clearing,” Meryn said, holding out her hand to Fa’rah.
“Hey... same to you,” Fa’rah said, slapping her hand into Meryn’s grasp and shaking it firmly. “But we’ve got ourselves a deal.”
...
The two of them reflected on their way back to Ikaatan. The fight had been easy. With the two of them working together, they proved unstoppable. It occurred to them both that, if they ever chose to work together for real, there wouldn’t be anyone to stand in their way.
The guards of the house, Ardelle servants and soldiers alike, were nothing for the duo. They raised absolute hell as soon as they found their weapons and took the fight back to their captors. Lady Marya proved an easy capture as well. Meryn let Fa’rah force her to surrender and the Shadow Maiden chose to comply once she saw the carnage of beaten and bruised soldiers left in their wake.
Fa’rah quickly tied up the Shadow Maiden, binding her wrists behind her back, her elbows together, coiling a rope around her arms, a long one around both her thighs and calves, hogtying her with a rope attaching her ankles to both her wrists and her arms. Even wrapping a coil of rope snugly around her neck like a collar, tying that off to her arms, before gagging her with every cloth used on her and Meryn. Mouth stuffed full with two cloths, held in with another between her teeth, followed by one over her mouth and another over her mouth and nose. Both dark cloths used to blindfold them had also bee unfolded, wrapped around her head like a cloth hood, while the other was tied on over her eyes.
Stashed into the back of her own cart, Meryn and Fa’rah rode together through the hazardous woods, making sure the canvas top was off that morning. The sun shone through the trees and the writhing and struggling Shadow Maiden was easily spotted in the back of the cart. Any bandits would clearly see the object of their fear captured. Thus, Meryn correctly surmised, they would not dare mess with the travellers who had captured her. And, indeed, the two were left alone on their travels back to the central part of the island.
When they finally made it back to the clearing where they had brawled, and the caravan had once been, they both climbed out of the cart. Fa’rah hefted her captive over her shoulder and stepped around the side where she met Meryn with her sword drawn.
“Goldie... are you reneging on the deal?”
Meryn glared at her longtime rival, stepping closer and putting their faces inches apart.
“I’m giving you ten minutes. If you’re out of my sight by then, I won’t look for you.”
“That wasn’t part of the-”
“Our deal is done. The rest is up to you. I have my job. You have yours. Best get to work.”
Fa’rah smirked. “Ah, Goldie. You are just too much fun. Never change, you hear me?”
“Nine minutes,” Meryn answered. “Get moving.”
Fa’rah just smiled and shook her head, taking her quarry back to her camp. Her clan probably wondered what was keeping her but, in the end, she did get what she wanted. And, she assumed, so would Meryn.
But, as she walked, Fa’rah couldn’t help but try to think of ways to undermine Meryn’s plans. Just to get under her skin. And she knew why. They were rivals. And they always would be.