Eudora

Upon entry they were met with the dizzying smell of a hog roast nearing completion and a stifling warmth that filled the main hall, drying their faces almost instantly.

A round woman greeted them politely, her eyes were identical to the stable boy’s.

“Looking for a room or a meal?” she asked gently.

“A meal and some information if you would be so kind?”

“Pay for your meals in advance and my knowledge is yours,” The woman answered with a small smile, her round cheeks lifting and taking years off her features.

Blaire poured twelve coppers into the woman’s curled palm.

“What do you wish to know?”

“Who in this town would be looking to earn some coin as sell-swords?”

“Hmm… Ronald of the Brown family was once an adventurer, he may be convinced to partake if the coin is good enough but he’s not as sprightly as he once was. There are a few young boys at Miss Marlene’s general goods… They spend their days lugging around hefty boxes for her so they’re fairly strong but no doubt utterly untrained and without their own armour or weapons.”

“Anyone else?” Eudora asked, hoping her desperation couldn’t be heard in her voice.

“Well, there were three women that arrived earlier this afternoon, dressed like you ladies. They’re staying overnight but didn’t say where they were heading on the morrow. I don’t know them well enough to recommend them but they looked the sort you’re seeking.” She glanced around at the few travellers sat about the main hall. “One of em’s a southerner,” she added with a conspirational whisper.

“We will keep our eyes open for them at dinner,” Blaire replied with a grateful smile.

“Which will be served any moment now. Please, take any seats you wish at any of the tables by the fire.”

“Thank you.”

The four of them dropped into wooden chairs surrounding a large, splintered table with a variety of grunts and groans, drawing understanding grins from their fellow travellers dotted around the main hall. Often it is not until one allows their body rest that they truly discover how much they needed it, and Eudora’s girls were discovering a plethora of aches, pains and fatigued muscles as they sunk into the stiff chairs. They would have greatly appreciated some cushions but as the saying goes: beggars can’t be choosers.

A light laugh drew all four of their glances to the left-hand stairs. Trotting down them at an eager pace was the spear-wielder who rode with Matilde, her tussled blonde hair swinging around her  bare shoulders. She wore a thin, cream peasant blouse that began below her collar bone and brown leather riding trousers.

“Three women,” Magali repeated through gritted teeth, “dressed like us and one of them is a southerner.”

The southerner in question was trailed by Matilde and the shorter woman who had fought with a crossbow the day prior, appearing far less pale than she had when surrounded by ravenous imps. Her topknot bobbed as she plodded down the stairs. Both were clothed in loose shirts and trousers with soft slippers on their feet, clearly not intending to leave any time soon.

“Do we… call them over?” Lowri whispered.

“Absolutely not,” Eudora growled under her breath.

Unfortunately for Eudora, the southerner had already recognised them from across the room.

“What a coincidence!” she called cheerfully, waving at their group with a lazy ease. “Our dear friends from yesterday.”

With the fury of a thousand crows Matilde was glaring into the back of the spear-wielder’s skull, clearly Eudora’s feelings were absolutely mutual for her ex-lover.

The short crossbow wielder held no expression, she simply followed as the spear-wielder sidled towards them without a hint of hesitation.

Once the three of them were within touching distance, Eudora pushed her chair back with the heels of her leather boots, opening their circle to them.

“Good evening,” Blaire greeted with an uneasy smile, “a coincidence indeed.”

“You intend to sup here?” The woman asked.

“Yes!” Lowri blurted excitedly. Eudora wondered if the young woman had ever met a southerner before.

“And to take rest here?”

“Possibly,” Eudora answered, hoping to keep their meeting brief.

“Oh?” The woman’s brows lifted with seemingly innocent curiosity. Eudora couldn’t deny she had a very likeable face, easygoing and relaxed in all of her expressions.

“We are in town in the hopes of hiring a few sell-swords.”

Eudora pursed her lips tightly, struggling to hide her fury at Magali’s loose tongue.

“How exciting! Have you encountered any likely candidates?”

“Not as yet, we intend to fill our stomachs first.”

“A mighty fine plan, may we seat ourselves with you?”

“Of course.” Eudora managed to force the two words from between her gritted teeth with the greatest of efforts.

Matilde met her eyes for but a moment, managing to convey a platitude of emotions to Eudora in that time: apology, irritation, awkwardness and the tiniest hint of nerves.

The southerner ignored Matilde’s expression and seated herself beside Blaire. “I don’t believe we’ve all been properly introduced,” she said. “My name is Kali, and this is Dani and that’s Matilde: our malevolent dictator.”

Matilde nodded to the group and pulled a chair up beside Kali. Dani took the place on her other side, blocking her from being sat directly next to Eudora.

“Blaire,” Blaire replied, shaking Kali’s hands firmly with her own and then gesturing around the table, “Magali, Eudora, our leader, and Lowri, our youngest sword-sister.”

Lowri grinned happily at her introduction.

Kali leant her elbows on the table. “So, tell me, my good friends, for what do you require these sell-swords?” she enquired with a wild smile.

“Silver Night Mine,” Eudora answered crisply.

“You need miners?”

“It’s filled with trolls,” Blaire explained. “More than one pack.”

“Packs of trolls don’t co-habitate,” Matilde stated, her brows raised in question. Something about her response pricked at Eudora’s patience.

“We know, but it’s true.” Her irritation tinged her voice far more than she had intended. “Magali and I saw it ourselves.”

“We know it is not typical and we aren’t naive enough to believe this is a natural anomaly,” Magali added snootily. “Something is amiss and we intend to discover what.”

“Ooh, sounds fascinating!” Kali announced with complete sincerity, “Would the three of us suit your needs?”

“Kali,” Matilde growled warningly.

The southerner ignored her. “We’re working on a boring contract with a far-off completion date, this sounds far more entertaining!”

“It sounds crooked.”

“You don’t trust us, Tilly?” Blaire asked coolly, her tone far below its usual soothing sound.

“I don’t trust a mine containing more than one troll pack, I’ve never heard anything like it. And why would you return to such a mine? If there is truly more than one pack inside they will no doubt rip each other tusk from snout eventually if left to their own devices - why bother them? They will do your work for you.”

“You have been working the mercenary trade for too many years for you to be unaware of the time constraints that would be put on a contract such as this,” Eudora answered as calmly as her pounding heart would allow, it filled her body with a strange buzzing to be speaking down to Matilde in this way, she was very almost trembling. Matilde had always stood ahead of her, lead her and taught her. But now they were equals. Theoretically Eudora understood this, instinctively she struggled. “We have an irate mine owner eagerly awaiting our signal that he can return his workers and their pickaxes to their rightful place down a damp tunnel generating him piles and piles of coin.”

“And how many piles of coin are you risking your life for?” Matilde asked quietly.

“Six gold coins.”

“Split four ways that’s seventy-five silvers each!” Kali blurted with a fiendishly greedy grin.

“Split seven ways it’s just over forty,” Magali calculated, her eyes roaming over their three table guests with a single neat black eyebrow raised by a gnat’s height.

“And you would split your earnings between us all equally?” Matilde asked delicately.

There was a pause as Eudora gathered nods of approval from each of her girls. They were unanimous on their decision to split equally. Better three skilled mercenaries they had history with than Ronald the elder and some cart-lugging boys. If you wanted a job doing well you had to pay for it. Better they keep both their golden reputation and their lives intact than hoard their earnings.

“Of course,” Eudora finally answered.

“I’m in!” Kali announced with a wild grin.

Dani nodded silently in Eudora’s direction.

Kali translated, “Dani’s in too!”

Matilde sighed. “I suppose we do have plenty of time before we must return with the bear pelts,” she admitted begrudgingly.

“Forty silvers,” Kali reminded her.

“It would mean having to travel back through those damn woods sooner than we planned, though.”

“Forty silvers,” Kali sang into Matilde’s ear, lifting her bottom from her seat in order to get closer to her leader.

“It will be incredibly dangerous.”

“Forty. Silvers.” Kali repeated, her slim face pressed against Matilde’s round one. Her dyed blonde hair mingling with Matilde’s natural blonde waves.

“Fine,” Matilde growled, drawing out the ‘n’ sound longer than was quite necessary.

Kali beamed with triumph and dropped back into her own seat. “Well then, I suppose all that’s left for us to do is sup and sleep! A long and boring ride on the morrow, lasses.”

Every woman was wolfing her food like a starved animal, their long rides having apparently drained their energy straight through their stomachs. Even Magali had dropped her lady-like manners in favour of stuffing her small mouth with roasted vegetables and bread. Lowri’s eyes were too large for her belly, leaving her in a drowsy and queasy state when she eventually admitted defeat against the stacks of sliced meat she had adorned her plate with.

When every woman had taken her fill they slouched in their seats for a few minutes, allowing their bodies a tiny respite in order to deal with the shock of being filled to bursting point.

“I suppose we are staying here tonight then,” Blaire announced as she cleaned her hands with a rough cloth.

“I will ask the innkeeper about her rooms,” Eudora offered, drowsiness clouding her head from her filled stomach, and excused herself from their table sluggishly.

The woman perched behind the large worn counter at the entrance of the inn informed her she had but two rooms remaining unfilled and therefore the women would have to partner up if they wished to stay the night.

Eudora returned to their table once she had paid and took Lowri by the scruff of her neck. “You’re with me, young’un.”