@Rhi-Rhi So forever ago we plotted that Beatrid should meet Sadie. I never did get you a thread start for them, so it occurred to me that I should give you priority on this one. So if you want it this one is for you. If not, I'll find another!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connlaothian winters were definitely not something that Sadie Cohen had missed during the time she lived in Serendipity. The sky was dark and angry, spitting forth a seemingly inexhaustible amount of large, fluffy flakes of bitter cold snow. That the wind seemed intent on pummeling anyone stupid or unlucky enough to be out of doors with the vile little projectiles did not help matters at all. Everything about her seemed frozen; wiggling her toes continuously in her boots was an absolute must. Her hands, though gloved, were still shoved into her armpits to attempt to stave off frostbite on her fingers.
Not a lot of people were out, so not very many people to notice her passage through the streets. Of course all they'd have seen was a heavily cloaked and hooded figure. The wet snow clung to her shoulders and hood as she finally pushed open the door to an inn – after making a few secretive stops to pass messages to people in the area. Some were messages for family of mages that had been taken by the military but had been rescued and either smuggled out of the country or was now fighting with those opposing the Grand Duke and his murderous crusade against innocent mages.
The room was smoky with the pungent fragrance of sweat, alcohol, and the fainter – but still present – scent of sex. The air was stale and distasteful, but it was warm. The warmth ultimately outweighed the stench, and Sadie shuffled over to a table while trying to avoid attention. It was a poorer part of the city, honestly not much better than slums, but that was often the state of affairs for those persecuted and punished by this war. With the winter so bad and people more desperate than ever, things had also become more dangerous in these parts of cities.
Sadie was unafraid. Her staff was propped up on the chair next to her as she settled alone at a table against the far wall. She pushed back her hood and tried to shake the snow from her. The little white puffs rapidly melted, soaking into her cloak and creating a small puddle beneath her chair. A server actually approached her and she ordered a nice mug of spiced ale, or at least what they were trying to pass for spiced ale these days. It was rather disgusting, honestly, barely drinkable, but one made due in these hard and troubling times. At least that's what she kept telling herself.
Despite her attempts to not draw attention to herself, it didn't take long at all for her skin to start tingling with the sensation of eyes being fixed on her. Sometimes you just knew you were being watched, and this was definitely one of those times. One of the corners of the room had been occupied by a loud, boisterous, and obnoxious group of men. Men that thought it appropriate, for whatever reason, to reach out and pinch or grab the serving girls whenever one of them passed their table. The poor women suffered it in silence, of course, which only infuriated Sadie more.
It was these three sets of eyes that had started to make her skin crawl. Sure, she knew that her face was pretty enough, certainly suitable, but her figure was hardly anything to whistle at. This wouldn't be the first or likely the last time this unwanted attention was directed at her even so – most men were such pigs. More likely her tiny self, even by Connlaothian standards, made them think she would be an easy target for harassment and bullying.
Attempting to ignore their stares, Sadie took another drink of her ale and grimaced as she was reminded how poor the swill was in this establishment. One of them had gotten up and approached her with an insufferable swagger as he thought he was quite something, apparently.
"Hey there, girlie. Can't handle a man's drink there, can ya? Why a pretty little thing like you sitting all alone? C'mon over and have a seat on my lap. Me an' the boys'll show you a good time."
"No thanks, I think I'll stay right where I am. I suggest you go back to your 'boys' and piss off before you embarrass yourself." Wow, that was far more polite than the pig really deserved. She deserved a pat on the back for showing such excellent restraint.
"What did ya just say to me you damn cunt?" Oh, she must have struck a nerve. Some idiots really shouldn't approach women if they couldn't handle rejection.
"I said piss off, I'm not interested. I just want to drink this piss-poor excuse for ale and get warm before going back out into the storm." Honestly, was that so much to ask? The two men that had been sitting with the idiot had risen from their seats and were approaching menacingly, as if trying to cow her into being a meek little puppet for their amusement. Like. Fucking. Hell.
Then the pig did the worst possible thing he could have done. The moment his hand roughly grabbed her by the upper arm, Sadie was in motion. Her balled fist impacted with his midsection, knocking the air from him, a second later her foot had connected with his balls, while still dazed and doubled up in pain, the swine would find himself grabbed by the hair and his face being brought forcefully down to smash into the tiny redhead's knee.
The other two men stared gaping just long enough as their friend crumpled into a heap for Sadie to put her back to the wall, hands seizing the back of her chair and bringing it up, ready to swing as her sea-foam eyes glared at them, daring them to try it. The entire room had gone silent, watching this most peculiar display!
Beatrid was having one of those "I picked a really weird time to walk into the room" moments.
Because what she saw as she entered the tavern, cold and grumpy, was a tiny wisp of a woman holding a chair like a club, one man crumpled at her feet and moaning about his balls, and two other men glaring death at her and cracking their knuckles. One drew a knife, the other grabbed a chair of his own, and the barmaids scattered while everyone else, smartly, had cleared away from the pile of smoking gunpowder that was this entire situation.
Beatrid sighed. All she wanted was a goddamned drink. It would be her luck to walk into a brawl instead.
"Ain't no way yer gonna win this," the man hefting the chair snarled at the woman, taking an ominous step forward. "So put that down before ya get hurt, nice and easy. Ya be a good little bitch and settle down, and I promise I'll just give ya a spankin'. Ya might even like it."
His partner let guffawed like it was comedy gold, and he snickered, proud of what was probably the cleverest thing he'd ever said, and ever would say.
Beatrid flicked back the fur-lined hood of her thick traveling jacket, scattering the white flakes that had settled atop it. The woman looked like she could handle herself well enough, and far be it for her to imply she couldn't deal with the brutes when she'd already felled one, but it was still two against one--and she might have just gotten lucky the first time. Now the bastards were on guard, each of them twice her size at least, and they had her back against the wall.
She certainly wasn't going to turn a blind eye to this, like all the other cowardly spectators in the room.
"Hey, fuckface!" she barked, and when both men turned to look, she smirked. "Ah, how very telling that you both answer to that!"
And while they were snarling obscenities at her, her eyes darted to the woman and she gave a little nod that said, "Take 'em out, honey."
Why did simple things always have to get complicated so quickly? Sadie had wanted nothing more than to thaw out and have a drink, piss-poor as that drink might have been. Funny how it was usually men that complicated simple things. They should have just minded their own damn business and left her be, now she had to hurt them on the principle of the matter, not just self-defense. A harsh lesson in not being disrespectful heathens was in order.
Especially after the one idiot told her there was no way she could win. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at the fool man. Sadie hated being underestimated. They had no idea what she was capable of. No, no alchemy, she was going to beat them the old fashioned way. The first guy hadn't been nearly as tough as he'd have liked someone to believe.
There was also the fact that if she didn't win they'd ground her into a pulp - probably after raping her. Fucking men and their egotistical belief that they were owed anything they wanted from a woman.
Her hands adjusted slightly on her makeshift weapon, strengthening her grip for the fight she was about to start. Just then someone shouted and both men turned their heads to look and cuss at the woman that had interfered. Sadie barely glanced in Beatrid's direction, taking a quick note of her and her little nod before launching the chair in her hands at the knees of the man wielding the knife.
The action took him off guard, causing him to stumble slightly, but Sadie was there to kick the chair further against him, knocking him over and onto the fallen piece of furniture. The second man swung his chair down to try to hit her, but she jumped back and the chair came down hard across his friend's back while he was trying to get back on his feet. These idiots had no idea how to fight, in a group or alone.
Chair guy tried to bring his club back up to try to hit her, but he'd broken it and the pieces falling off made it an unwieldy mess. Sadie grabbed the end closest to her and shoved hard, smashing the chair into his face and sending him falling over backwards, screaming and trying to hold his bloody nose. She looked around, seeing the three grown men scattered across the floor. Her face twisted into one of distaste before she calmly walked back to her table to retrieve her staff.
"What a disgrace." They weren't completely beaten, none of them was too injured to get back up and try to fight more, but it would be extremely stupid. She was probably giving them too much credit to think they would be smart enough to just stay down until she left.
Beatrid watched, more than ready to step in should things go sour, but the woman leveled them all and left them a bloody, bruised mess on the floor. It wasn't normally in her nature to let a civilian take care of business like that, especially a woman--she was more likely to swoop in and save the damsel!--but the woman was no damsel, and Beatrid knew good and well that sometimes, you needed to be the one to make a point, and that point would lose its power if an outsider intervened. She wasn't about to steal this woman's moment, unless she got in over her head and needed the backup.
With a pleased smirk when it was over (that was so, so satisfying to watch, watching assholes get what they deserved!), Beatrid headed closer to the bar, kicking one of the men in the head as she stepped over him so that he stayed down. The other men wouldn't be down long, and they might still have buddies elsewhere. Idiots like that didn't tend to know when they should just quit and lick their wounds, so no doubt there'd be more trouble soon.
Which meant Beatrid didn't have long to get a damned drink. Sigh.
"Hey, barkeep," she said, snapping her fingers to get the attention of the stunned barkeeper--or trying too, except she had gloves on so that failed. She smacked her hand on the counter top instead and laid down a coin. "I'll take whatever's on tap."
And while he hurried to get it poured, she cut a look at the groaning men, and then at the woman. "You got somewhere to go? Those assholes are gonna be pretty mad pretty soon."
Sadie picked her trusty staff up off the floor where it had fallen, the fight might have been over even faster if she'd employed it, but then it would have been over too quickly. Plus she hadn't wanted to kill the idiots. Just rough them up a bit so as to make them think twice about harassing a woman just because she was alone and looked like an easy target. If they were even capable of learning anything. Their skulls seemed pretty thick to her.
She was already headed over to the bar when the woman that had given an opportune distraction actually spoke to her. Honestly, Sadie hadn't expected anyone to interfere or intervene at all. Sea foam eyes looked over Beatrid appraisingly before she answered with a dismissive wave of her hand in the general direction of the men.
"Story of my life - pissing off stupid assholes because I won't put up with their equally stupid bullshit." At least, that seemed to be the case since coming back to Connlaoth. Things had been a little better in Serendipity. Not perfect, but better. "As for where to go, away from here sounds like a good plan right now. I guess I'll figure that out when I get there."
Pulling a few heavy coins from a pouch at her side, Sadie dropped them on the counter. "For the trouble and the damages."
The bartender slid the mug of ale over to Beatrid while collecting the coins the other woman had left him, giving her a surly little grunt of acknowledgment. From his blase attitude, Beatrid could only assume he was used to tavern brawls and had resigned himself to their inevitability. Booze made for bad choices.
Beatrid took up the ale and gulped it down fast, her body warming as it went down. She wiped her mouth off on her sleeve and clinked the cup back onto the counter. "If you like, I could escort you," she said when she was done, looking from the bruised men back to the woman.
"At least until you're safe. I wasn't planning on staying here long, anyway, and I have less reason to be here with this scum about. I daresay the both of us are officially high on their shit list, so it wouldn't be wise to go alone."
Sadie had thought that was that and that the matter was finished. She'd already turned from the bar to leave when the woman that had come in and interfered at an opportune moment offered to provide her with an escort. Well didn't that beat all? The small redhead turned to level an inquisitive look at Beatrid. Her brows raised slightly in surprise as she kept talking. What an offer. Although now that she thought about it, not an entirely foolish one.
"Well I was just going to do my best to slip out of sight in a hurry, but I certainly won't turn down the company. As you said - we are both likely not in good standing with these...brutes." Of course there was a lot of other things to worry about besides stupid men. Like a woman that seemed to think she might be any help against said stupid men. Women weren't soldiers in Connlaoth unless they were pretending to be men or they were mordecai, and this one didn't seem to be trying particularly hard to be a man.
Well, caution was always the wise path. Sadie nodded towards the door. "Ready when you are. The sooner I leave the better. I wasn't planning on staying the night in this place." No, she'd have found shelter at a farmhouse some miles from here with a furnished cellar for hiding mages and those helping them. Not that this one needed to know that. "Name's Sadie, by the way. Thanks, I guess, for causing a distraction."
Beatrid was more than ready to get out of there. Hefting her haversack, she headed out the door. There was no time for a formal greeting, so she didn't offer her hand; they needed to get moving and keep moving.
"Good to meet you, Sadie. I'm...Bree." There was a slight moment's hesitation as she struggled for an alias, because she hadn't had to give a name yet, and she inwardly cringed at its similarity. What an alias. Good job, Beatrid! Still, it wasn't worth the risk, giving out her real name. She wasn't a famous Mordecai or anything; her fame came from her being a traitor, and even then, she wasn't well known. The chances of Sadie having heard her name were slim. It wasn't about that, though; it was other people she was worried about.
"Bree Gallagher. Just looking out for another traveler, only doing what more people ought to. I didn't do much. You're the one who kicked their asses." She quirked a grin at that. "That was pretty fucking impressive, gotta say."
There was little more that Sadie could do except pull her hood back up and follow her companion of circumstance out the door. It really wasn't a good idea for them to stick around any longer than strictly necessary. Why did she have to stop? She should have known stopping, even for thawing out, wasn't a good idea.
Was that a hesitation she detected? Bree likely wasn't the woman's real name, but who was she to judge? Perhaps she should have used an alias, but honestly, nobody knew Sadie Cohen, so why would her name draw attention? Besides, using a false name did open the possibility of slipping, and then people would know she was trying to hide something. Sadie had quite enough lies and secrets to keep track of as it was.
"I guess so." Okay, maybe she was being a bit modest. She had just beat the snot out of three men big as bears - but bears were smarter. "You know how the saying goes - people that can't use swords can still die on them. If I didn't know how to defend myself it isn't as if they would have just left me in peace."
The snow crunched beneath her boots as she walked, but the snow, at least, seemed to have let up save for some stray, drifting flakes. What a bust. She had no idea where she was going to go from here, but she figured she'd think of something--or maybe bum off this woman if she deemed her trustworthy, where trustworthy meant "not affiliated anyone who'd see my head on a pike".
"True enough," Beatrid said, and grinned. "I'll never forget the look on their faces, having a tiny slip of a thing laying them flat. What do you think they'll tell their buddies? That some thugs did it?"
With a snort, she gave a cautious glance back the way they went, but so far, no one was following. "I'd give my left fucking tit to be a fly on that wall!"
The snow had let up during her short time inside, that was nice as she drew her hood back up to cover her head as much as possible. Sadie adjusted a scarf over her nose and mouth as they walked, trying to conserve what little warmth she'd managed to get inside. If only those fools hadn't bothered her she could have used a good hour to just relax before having to worry about snowstorms and keeping under the attention of any anti-mage fanatics.
"Glad I could provide some entertainment." The words came out a little dry and muffled behind her scarf as she trudged beside Bree with a roll of her shoulders. "I imagine they'll have a very wild and impressive tale to tell their friends. Men like that would never admit to "having a tiny slip of a thing laying them flat" as you put it."
Sadie gave a short bark of a laugh. "Just the left?"
"Well, yeah," Beatrid said with a snort, her breath misting in the air. She rubbed her gloved hands together, trying to generate a little heat. She glanced down at her own chest thoughtfully, though with her bulky coat there wasn't much to see. Not that there was even without the coat.
"I'd like to at least keep one. I don't got a lot of tit to begin with and the right's the bigger of the two." And she flashed the woman a grin and a wink as she said it.
Sadie didn't really catch the grin and wink thrown at her over the comment, she was more preoccupied with looking around, paying especially close attention to any large, dark patches of shadows, the ones covering alleyways between buildings in particular. While she was very bundled up and her posture and stride seemed self-assured, there was still the concern that they would be followed or accosted, by the idiots from the previous incident or even completely new idiots!
"Yes but with only one remaining wouldn't you be a bit lopsided?" Sadie shared in Bree's issue of not having a whole lot of breast to speak of. Not that being small-breasted had ever truly bothered her. Well, not much, and not that she would admit. So what if she was from a culture that idolized curvaceous women?
"Well, yeah...there is that, I guess," Beatrid said, feigning deep thought as she looked skyward and pursed her lips.
"But I heard some stories when I was young about some warrior women elsewhere that did shit like that on purpose. Cut off one tit so they could be better archers or some shit. Fucking ridiculous, if you ask me. Tits got nothing to do with archery, but whatever. Maybe they just did it to prove they were badasses devoted to their fighting. I dunno. It's probably all lies, but it was an interesting tale."
She gave a little shrug and a lopsided grin. "Guess I'm not that badass. I'd prefer to keep both right where they are. Just sayin' there's some cases where I might be willing to give one up."
Sadie adjusted her scarf, the inside was already growing moist from her breath, but at least her lungs weren't burning from the cold air as much as they would have. Bree told an interesting story, she'd never heard of women purposely removing one of their breasts. Certainly not as a means to improve their skill in archery.
"I've never heard such a tale tail, but maybe it is true. You never know. People do weird things, especially way out on those islands or down south past Adela in those plains." Sadie had never been so far in her life, but she didn't see a particular need to travel. She had a mission in life right here, and it was a mission she would probably die before seeing completed.
"Either way, I think you should probably just keep both of yours, regardless of situation. Those fools wouldn't have come up with anything clever anyway."
"I've never been that far," Beatrid said, rubbing her gloved hands together to generate more heat. "Never been out of Connlaoth, really, and I ain't been everywhere here. I only know what I've heard, and I know the folks outside of Connlaoth are fuckin' savage. People walking around naked or having sex in the streets or piercing up their faces and inking up their bodies. Bloody masochistic, if you ask me."
But then she added with a wry grin, "But fascinating. Not saying I'm opposed to savagery."
The wind was starting to pick up, blowing about the looser surface snow, and Beatrid's shivering began to grow more violent. Despite her thick coat and winter clothes, it felt like the wind was cutting right through them and straight to her bones. She had to fight to keep her teeth from clacking together.
"Where did you say you were going again? I don't wanna be a burden or whatever, but it's fucking freezing, so if you don't mind another person tagging along..."
People outside of Connlaoth were savage? Sadie had to bite her tongue to fend off a veritable tirade of just how savage Connlaoth was in comparison. If she had stayed in this country, had not grown up in Serendipity, would her beliefs and opinions been warped to the disgusting bigotry she encountered constantly here? She liked to think she was above all that, but who knew.
"Most people can be surprisingly savage, regardless of origin. Even Connlaothians. Perhaps especially Connlaothians." A half-hearted shrug accompanied the words as Sadie frowned at her unwanted company, shaking her head with a sigh.
Letting Bree walk with her through the streets was one thing, but she couldn't just take someone back to the "safehouse" in the area. For starters, sleeping in a cellar might make the woman suspicious, and of course Sadie had no reason to trust her with any information that could be used against not only herself, but any mage or mage supporter. "Yeah, I don't know. Did you not have a place you were already planning to go?"
A small group of guards rounded the corner and she immediately lowered her head and tugged her hood up to cover her face better. Sadie made a show of shivering and hugging her arms to herself so that her actions might be attributed to the extreme cold and wind. Not that the guards would recognize her, she'd never been caught, but just seeing them made her level of nervousness shoot up.
Beatrid opened her mouth, about to answer her--that no, she didn't have a place to go, and she'd have to come up with some good lie about why she didn't, she supposed. She wasn't from here, maybe? Leaving a bad home situation? An abusive husband? She had her pick of the litter! But the words never had a chance to form, for that was when those guards rounded the corner and her breath caught in her throat.
Her heart beat faster, a knot of anxiety twisting in her gut, and she pulled her hood in tighter and ducked her head down. She didn't recognize any of them; she wouldn't, since she'd never spent much time here. Chances were, they wouldn't recognize her, either, for they had no reason to. But what if they did?
Reaching out before she could stop herself, she grabbed Sadie's elbow and gave her a little tug, pulling her down a side alley before they could reach the guards--or they could reach them. "Sorry," she said, voice low. "I just...I think we oughta find another route." And she took another deep breath and added, hoping to cover up her behavior with a lie that wasn't completely untrue, "It's not safe, being women among so many men."
An answer was what Sadie had really been expecting, instead she thought she heard something of a gasp, and a moment later she made a soft, annoyed sound of surprise as Bree dragged her into an alley. Yes, most unexpected. And a bit suspicious.
Sea green eyes glared from the shadow of her hood as she listened to the rather lame excuse given for the sudden need to duck away from the eyes of the guards. Well, it wasn't the lamest excuse - soldiers could be problematic in a group for two women. Sometimes they got it in their heads that they could just go about doing whatever they liked.
A painfully common problem among men. Sadly.
"Right...and you thought suddenly dragging me suspiciously into an alley like we were trying to avoid them was the best way not to draw their attention to us? I don't want to deal with them either, but remaining calm and acting normal would probably have better served that goal." There was no small amount of irritation in her voice - she could speak rather sharply for such a petite thing!
Sadie had more to hiss out, but the guards were getting closer and she could hear them as they began speaking.
"Weren't there two people walking this way a second ago?"
"I think they ducked into that alley just there."
"Maybe we should check it out. The captain said something about mage sympathizers captured earlier this evening."
"Yeah, we should be watching for anything suspicious. Captain says they haven't talked yet but there's probably more of the dirty mage-loving rats still hiding around."
Now, she was a pale woman to begin with, but Sadie's face went suddenly ashen as she grabbed Bree's arm and tugged gently, trying to urge the other woman to come with her as she quickly began backing away from the street, further away from the main street.
"We have to go, now." She whispered with a hiss.
"I panicked!" Beatrid said with a wince, realizing all too late that Sadie was absolutely right. If she had been on duty and seen someone act as she just had, she sure as hell would have been marching over to investigate. She couldn't have acted more blatantly suspicious if she'd tried.
Which was...the unfortunate consequence of being on the other side of the line. She was used to being a soldier, not a civilian. She was used to tracking suspicious behavior and confronting people for it, not worrying about hiding her own behavior--because she'd never had anything to hide. Shit. Fuck! She wanted to bash her head into the wall for being so idiotic--and to stop feeling so damned embarrassed for getting called out by a civilian--but instead she kept her expression as stoic as she could.
Even though her heart was pounding in her chest as she heard those boots approaching.
She was used to being the hunter, not the prey.
And when she heard those soldiers' words, her own face went white as Sadie grabbed her arm, her own body rigid.
Ohhhh fuck.
"Uh, yeah, I got that," Beatrid whispered back, darting a frantic look around the area and cursing under her breath when she saw it was a dead end. Double shit! But then her eyes landed on the rubbish heap tossed alongside one wall, and she quickly went to it, climbed it, and used the extra foot it gave her to jump and grab the roof's ledge.
With a grunt, she shimmied her way up onto her belly, then turned around and offered Sadie her hand. "C'mon."
Panicking was a pretty lame excuse if you were fond of your head, but there wasn't much else they could do now that it was done and the soldiers were coming. In fact, Sadie felt a slight twinge of her own panic as she turned to see that they were trapped in the alley. Well, they weren't truly trapped - there was always a way out, but she'd have rather avoided some of the alternatives.
If she used alchemy the guards were sure to scream "mage" and then they'd in even deeper shit than they already were.
Thank god Bree wasn't completely useless. Sadie saw what her unwitting companion was doing and hurried to follow her. With a hiss the alchemist threw her staff up into the snow on the roof and jumped as high as she could to grab Bree's arm and the ledge of the roof before hauling herself up as quickly and quietly as she could.
"There's a safe house a couple miles outside of town, by the old mill road. That way," She gestured to the east, not exactly thrilled about taking a near stranger to a location that was supposed to be secret and secure for the resistance, but Bree seemed as afraid of the guards as she was. They could worry about questioning her later to decide if she was a friend or enemy. If Sadie had to she'd kill her. Not a pleasant business, but there were always casualties in war.
A little chill went through Beatrid that had little to do with the cold. What kind of safe house? A safe house for refugees or criminals or...or mages? But there was no time to consider that, and no time to think of the consequences that might occur if she found herself among mages and they realized she was a Mordecai.
Mages didn't need magic to kill.
But the soldiers were the more immediate threat, and if by some chance they recognized her, she was dead for sure. With a nod at Sadie, she jerked her chin for her to follow as she picked her way over the roof, careful of any loose tiles that might send them sliding--or draw attention to the roof.
Heading east, she dropped down off the opposite side of the roof, which blessedly lead out onto the relatively empty street. Most people were indoors now to escape the weather, thank Ansgar. Beatrid looked both ways, checking for soldiers and passerbys, then looked back up to Sadie and held out her arms to help her down if she needed it.
"It's clear," she whispered. Just a little farther, and they could make it to the road and high tail it before those guards were any wiser--though they would need to be fast, for she could hear their voices around the corner, and her heart lodged itself into her throat. "Quickly!"
A small jerking nod was the only response Sadie gave when Bree signaled for her to follow. Considering she was the one that knew the exact way they were going she probably should have been in the lead, but it wasn't exactly an opportune moment for arguing. The soldiers would hear them, or they'd get distracted by talking and end up slipping. She wasn't keen on the idea of accidentally breaking her neck.
It would be a stupid way to die.
As quickly as she could, she followed behind her reluctant companion. The footing on the roof was treacherous with the snow and ice, but she was nimble and light enough on her feet to manage not to fall.
Thankfully it wasn't too large of a roof. She watched Bree jump first before quickly tossing her staff down into the snow, which muffled its landing. Ignoring the offered arms, she slid over the edge and lowered herself as far as she could before dropping the last short distance. It wasn't that high, but she was so damn short.
Sadie could hear the men, still far too close for comfort. Swooping down she snatched up her staff and shot Bree a look at being rushed. "No, thought I'd take my sweet time."
There wasn't time for anymore biting words, so she instead booked it to the other side of the street, ducking behind another building as she made for the road while keeping as much behind cover as she could. Checking to make sure Bree was also coming didn't even cross her mind - after all, the woman wasn't her responsibility!
Beatrid was close on Sadie's heels.
No way she was getting left behind, not when Sadie knew the way to this elusive safe house!
She followed along in silence, not daring to speak for fear of giving away their location, and used the cover Sadie used. Before long, they'd made it to the road, and a quick glance over her shoulder showed that, thank Ansgar, the guards hadn't followed. Which didn't mean it was safe to lower their guard, but...when was it ever?
Beatrid didn't think she'd relaxed, or would ever relax again, since that fateful night when she'd saved Gherrick and turned rogue.
She still wasn't sure how much she regretted it. It came and went in waves.
Stepping closer to Sadie, and speaking softly through chattering teeth, she said, "How far is it?"
Aside from the heart-stopping panic as they moved from cover to cover, it was surprisingly easy to lose the men. Sadie didn't know if that was just because they were very incompetent or if it was something to actively worry about.
Once they made it to the road she cast a worried glance over her shoulder. She almost expected to catch a glimpse of someone attempting to stealthily follow them. There was no one.
"Far enough, don't you worry about it. I shouldn't be taking you in the first place." It was too late to simply leave Bree behind, and she did seem to want to avoid the guards as much as Sadie did. She hoped that meant she was trustworthy and an ally. If not, well, they'd cross that unpleasant bridge when they came to it.
First they had to get where they were going, preferably without freezing to death in the process. Connlaothian winters were one thing she had definitely not missed when her parents had moved them to Serendipity.
There was an old windmill sitting off the road just a few miles outside of town. That was their destination and she picked up her pace as much as she could with the snow fall.
Beatrid kept pace with Sadie easily, even though she was exhausted from an already long trip. But she had been trained as a soldier, as a goddamned Mordecai, and she hadn't grown soft yet. She could endure a lot if she set her mind to it--but, of course, there was only so much a body could take even if you had all the willpower in the world.
"This safe house," she said, grunting as she picked up her pace to keep up with Sadie's increased one. "What's it a safe house from? I'm not judging. Ain't my place. I'm just curious what I'm walking into."
"From guards, and soldiers, for people that don't deserve to be targeted by them." The simplest and most truthful answer Sadie could really give to that question. Mostly mages and those that supported them used the series of safe houses she knew about. A lot used them to hop from one to the next all the way out of the country.
"You don't seem to want the guards to find you, so just be grateful there will be somewhere for you to hide out of the storm." Maybe she was a little more brisk than necessary with both pacing and sharpness of her words, but she was stressed about the guards and having a stranger following her to a place that was meant for the security of a very vulnerable group of people. If Bree was anti-mage it would put lives in danger.
It was a risk she was taking as they hurried towards the windmill. Thankfully the storm wiped away their tracks within minutes.
Oh. So it was a safe house from people exactly like her. Guard? Check. Soldier? Check. Bloody fucking Mordecai? Yep.
This was going to be interesting.
But Beatrid had no choice. It was either that, freeze, or face the guards. She followed close on Sadie's heels, eyes on the windmill as they approached, and steeling herself. Hopefully no one recognized her. Hopefully none of these people were outlaws she'd dealt with in the past.
"Like I said, I'm grateful. Seriously, thank you."
"You can thank me by not giving any of us a reason to kill you." It wasn't exactly meant to be a threat, more of a warning. If this Bree woman was trying to avoid guards, then there had to be a good reason. Maybe she was a thief, murderer, or some other unsavory outlaw, but Sadie couldn't exactly ask and expect an honest answer.
If she proved to be dangerous to them, then they would take care of it when it became a problem. Until then she had decided to take the chance and risk trusting her. She could worry about regretting it later - preferably after they were out of immediate danger.
Sadie squinted into the storm, looking around them, trying to make sure there was no one to see them go into the windmill. The snowfall was too heavy to see very far, and she took comfort in the fact that if they couldn't see other people beyond the thick white curtain that no one was likely to be able to see them either.
She pushed the door open, it creaked on rusty hinges. As soon as both women were inside she pushed to door shut. It wasn't much warmer inside the old structure, but at least it kept most of the wind off. This wasn't really the safe house, of course. Sadie moved over to an unassuming place on the floor and used her staff to tap a deliberate procession of soft knocks on the wood, creating a hollow sound.
For a minute they could only wait, but eventually the sound of a lock sliding out of place could be faintly heard before a man pushed open the door leading to the underground cellar being used by their group.
"Who's she?" Was the first and immediate question.
"She helped me out and needs somewhere to lay low from the guards." Sadie didn't blame him for giving a dissatisfied grunt, but he climbed out of the whole to hold the door open for them. She nodded and gestured to Bree. "After you."
Ha. Hahaha. Not give any of them a reason to kill her. Heh. Yeah, about that...
Beatrid's stomach did a little flip-flop, but she didn't back out. She was in this too deep now, so it was time to see it through and hope for the best. Given the choice between possible death and certain death, possible death was the better of the two--and hadn't she proven herself to Sadie? At least a little?
Shit. Fuck. Now wasn't the time for cold feet--metaphorically speaking. Her feet were long frozen in her boots.
And so she followed Sadie through the door, glad that any jumpiness on her part could be masked by her shivering. And then she waited as Sadie revealed the true location of the safe house with a series of knocks in a pattern she sure as hell wouldn't remember. Last chance to back out...
But the door opened, their business was stated, and the man guarding the door climbed out and motioned them in.
Beatrid drew a deep breath and looked to Sadie one last time. Alright. Don't give anyone a reason to kill her. Got it, boss.
With a small nod, she turned and stepped down through the door.
If either of them noticed any hesitation or discomfort on Bree's part, they ignored it. Sadie followed immediately behind her as they both decended the steps into a short hallway that lead to a room about ten by twelve feet long. There were shelves with some sparing supplies stacked haphazardly upon them - mostly food, blankets, spare clothes, and a few precious medical supplies that had cost them dearly but were vital.
A woman was huddled with two young children, maybe four and seven, all of them trying to remain warm with furs and blankets. Underground was several degrees warmer than above, and definitely much better than being knee deep in snow with biting wind, but it was still quite chilly down here.
The man had shut and relocked the door before following them. He looked very anxious. "Martin and Jonah didn't come back."
"I heard the guards talking about it, they were caught and arrested." Sadie scowled unhappily, but shook her head and headed to sit on an overturned empty crate. She was cold and tired, there wasn't much that could be done about the captured men during a raging blizzard - if something could be done at all. "Nothing we can do about it right now. When is the next Shepard coming?"
"Hopefully after the weather breaks. It's too dangerous to try to move them while there's a blizzard. That's if our whole current route isn't compromised. We might all be getting arrested once the snow stops." The man shuddered thinking about it, but the women pulled the children tighter against her with a soft sound of terror.
Sadie shook her head. "Don't scare them. They've got enough to worry about without you getting ahead of yourself."
Oh, fuck me.
So much for this being a safe house, the whole place might be compromised anyway. It was like they had gone from one bad situation to the next, and now they were holed up like foxes in a den. Only foxes tended to have a back exit to avoid the hounds. Did these people have that?
Beatrid folded her arms across her chest, rubbing the chill off her arms. "How good are your men at withstanding interrogation techniques?" she asked with a frown and a quick, sympathetic glance at the children. This likely wasn't appropriate talk with kids around--but then again, children suffered and died to war, famine, bandits, and even their own families all the time. If these people were refugees against...whatever it was...then chances are those kids had already seen their share of fucked up shit.
They'd see worse still if they were caught here.
"Think they'll squeal? Or think they'll buy time?"
The man that had let them in shot Bree a dirty look at her questions. He opened his mouth to say something, but a quick hand wave from Sadie had him clicking his teeth and looking away with a scowl.
It was fairly dark down here, it would have been pitch black if not for some hooded lanterns sitting around the small room. Sadie was watching Bree intently, and took a moment to consider what was asked. They were fair questions, and since the woman was now holed up here with them, she deserved honest answers.
"They won't give our position away easily, but I can't say that they won't eventually be coerced to talk." It was just the hard truth.
"Are they going to get us?" The little boy, no older than seven, asked in a hushed, trembling voice as he clung even tighter to his mother. Thankfully, the younger child didn't seem to fully grasp the severity of their situation, although they did seem quite frightened - not surprising given the tension in everyone around them.
"No. No one is going to get you. I promise." The woman, his mother presumably, tried to reassure him, gently stroking his hair.
"If they try, they'll regret it." Sadie hummed softly. "The only thing we can do for now is try to stay warm. When the weather breaks, if the Shepherd doesn't show up, I'll move them to the next safehouse myself."
Beatrid bit the side of her tongue. She caught the man's look, all right, and knew she had overstepped. She was a stranger, after all, and it wasn't her business--except it kind of was now, since she was stuck here.
Old habits died hard, though. If she was supposed to be a civilian, she should probably act it--act more nervous and sympathetic instead of butting into the scenario wanting to know all the intel, all the whos, whats, and wheres. She cut a glance at the children and let out a small sigh, rubbing her arm through its sleeve. She had never been good as passivity, and it had been a long time since she had been a civilian. Sometimes, it could be hard to empathize when she was trained to react to crises with focus and action.
No one had any reason to trust her, a complete stranger. And she had no reason to really trust them. They could be mages for all she knew--and yet, that ship had long since sailed when she lost everything because she protected a goddamn mage.
She picked at her sleeve.
"I could help you with the move, if it comes to it," she offered at last, glancing at Sadie. "Not that you or anyone has any reason to trust a stranger. And fuck if I have a clue as to what's going on, because I don't. But I'm stuck with you for now and I swear to you I can help. Whatever you need." She owed Sadie, after all. She not only saved her ass from the cold but saved her ass from getting arrested, too--arrested and executed, more than likely. And fuck, but there were kids, too.
"No one's gonna hurt anyone."
The atmosphere of the cellar had been tense since the moment Bree had arrived, but there was a noticeable increase to that tension when help was offered. Most of that tension was from the man, who glared at her.
"You're right, we don't have a reason to trust you. Why would you want to help? Trying to find out where the next safe house is?! Sadie why did you bring this stranger here? You're putting all of us at risk! We've already lost Jonah and Martin! Next thing we know they'll be hauling all of us off to the block!" The man's eyes were a bit wild, obviously panicking.
The woman and her children huddled closer together and trying to scoot away from who they obviously considered a bit...unstable. Now both children were frightened and crying. Great.
Sadie sighed heavily, seemingly not particularly ruffled by the man's outburst. At least not frightened by it.
"Thomas, you're scaring the children." There was a bit of a bite to the words, an unspoken warning as her blue-green eyes hardened in the dim light. "Nobody is going to be sent to the block. I won't let that happen."
"Why should we trust you?" Thomas threw an accusing finger in Sadie's face. "How are you going to protect us? You're just some stupid girl playing hero and you're going to get us all killed! Where were you when Martin and Jonah got captured huh? Why are you free and they're not? Who the fuck put you in charge? I'm not taking orders from you!"
This wasn't any of her business. Not her horses, not her stable. Beatrid bit her tongue until she tasted copper as that moron hurled insults and accusations first at her, and then at Sadie. This wasn't her drama to solve. She was an outsider. Sadie was in charge from the way they all deferred to her. Speaking up could be the spark that made this already volatile situation flare up.
There were children present.
Deescalation was the best road forward, here.
Beatrid knew all this.
But she had never been the one anyone called upon to deescalate a situation.
"Do you have any bloody ideas ya wanna share, then?" she snarled before her brain could catch up with her mouth, whirling on Thomas. "You're wasting all this air yappin' and tearing down the one good person with a plan but I don't hear you suggestin' any alternatives! So either offer up some ideas or sit the fuck down and shut the hell up!"