The Sword Maiden

Long Speech

Mr. Lotcin and the miners agreed to be careful, but I knew they weren't all that concerned.  Who would, or could, face such a large group of determined, muscled miners?  Megidil was probably smarter than that.

We stayed separate from the assembly, but followed them to the courthouse.  As they came through the market, the vendors joined in with the miners.  While they didn't have pickaxes, they made the large crowd even more intimidating.  And behind the miners came their wives and children.

The general mood wasn't threatening, but rather full of sure joy, and determination.  The miners weren't looking to hurt anybody, they just wanted to make their sentiments known and have them respected.  And they knew they could force the Mayor's hand into doing that.

The joyous atmosphere was infectious, and my mood had lightened considerably by the time the assembly came the front of the courthouse.  But Valeria and I didn't have a chance to enjoy it very long.

We spotted Redwar and Derrek across from us.  Skirting the miners and weaving through the women and children behind them, we crossed over to them.

"Redwar-" He cut Valeria off with a question thrown at me. 

"Ravine, you're not with Daxton?"  

"I had to leave him.  He's in the courthouse, listening into Megidil's and the Mayor's plans, last time I knew.  He told me to go warn Mr. Lotcin..."  I trailed off as I saw the stern expression on Redwar's face.

"You were not to leave him." 

I started to try to explain but stopped.  Of course Redwar was right, even as I thought about it now.  Daxton was a capable fighter, but he wasn't even a man yet, and I'd left him alone in that place with Megidil, who no doubt wasn't happy with his former betrayal.  Besides that, why hadn't it occured to me that we could have just warned Mr. Lotcin when he arrived here at the courthouse with the others? 

"I'm sorry, Redwar, I didn't think."  

"Not thinking can kill, and 'sorry' doesn't raise a man from the dead."  

Valeria opened her mouth, and I cut her off, for fear she would try to defend me.  "I'll go find him now."

Berating myself for my foolish actions, I stepped away and wove through the women and children back to the other side of the street.  It was at that moment that Mayor Tale stepped out on the courthouse porch.

Ugh, that'll make it harder to get to the back of the courthouse.

But somehow, by angling around to the side and sticking close to the crowd, I wasn't noticed.  Perhaps it was because everyone was focused on the Mayor's speech, including the Mayor himself and the two men with him.  

Once I reached the side of the building, I was out of the Mayor's line of sight, but still within view of everyone else.  I hoped everyone would be too focused on the Mayor to notice me, for there was nothing I could do to cover myself as I ran around the side of the building.

I ducked around the corner and listened, but no one had followed or shouted at me.  I breathed out a breath and laid my hand on the door knob.  I drew my dagger, turned the knob, and slowly pushed the door open.  

No one was in the dusty room.  I stepped inside, but before I could shut the door, I felt the tip of something poke my back.

I knew the feel of a dagger and still, calculating that the person was behind the door.  That was why I hadn't seen him when I stepped inside, and to be honest, I was more embarrassed about that fact than worried about the dagger at my back.  Besides, I was pretty sure I knew who it was. 

"Put it away, Daxton, you know who I am." 

The dagger left my back.  "You should be more careful, Ravine." 

I didn't reply, know that he was right and hating it.  That was two mistakes I'd made in a row today.  

He tsked as he stepped around me and out the door.  "Come on, Megidil is making his move.  I'm assuming you warned Lotcin?" 

"Yes."  I ground the word out.  Looking back, I shouldn't have followed his orders so readily.  But it could also be said he shouldn't have asked such a thing of me.

"Good."  

I shut the door behind us and followed Daxton to the other opposite side of the courthouse.  The Mayor's house happened to be closer to the courthouse than the other buildings were, and there were less people on this side.  I berated myself again for not noticing this fact, which might have made my earlier sneaking attempts that much easier.

Daxton broke into a run.  I grunted and lurched to follow him, wondering what exactly we were running for?  But I knew there had to be a reason.  

We reached the side of the Mayor's house, but Daxton never slowed.  He kept going until we'd reached the end of the back of it, then we passed behind the Mayor's personal stable.  This was where Redwar, Derrek, and Valeria now were.  

Daxton slowed when he saw them.  "Quick, we've got to move from here," he said emphatically.

Redwar didn't budge.  "What for?" 

"Megidil and his men are coming here." 

Redwar raised his eyebrows.  "Okay, but where do we move to?"  

We ended up spaced on the various sides the assembly, who were still listening to the Mayor's very long-winded speech.  It was clear they were starting to get bored.  The Mayor seemed to be saying a bunch of things without really saying anything of value.

I was with Daxton once again, who seemed to view me as an annoying fly.  He spoke to me only as much as he thought he needed too, which wasn't as often as he actually needed to.  I felt like he was trying to get rid of me.

Megidil and his men, sure enough, came to where we had been.  There were four of them, plus Megidil himself.  I felt a bit exposed, out in the open, but if Megdil spotted us, or if he cared, he didn't do anything about it.

It was interesting watching them trying to get close to Mr. Lotcin.  Whenever they approached the crowd of miners, the miners didn't threaten them but simply squeezed together.  This created a human wall, which said quite plainly to Megidil, "We know what you're trying to do, and we aren't having it." 

The Mayor droned on, but the crowd wasn't paying attention to him anymore.  They miners were getting agitated with Megidil's men, and I thought they were fixing to show them just what they thought of them.

But the brutes were smart, and withdrew from them.  When they did, the tension drained out of the assembly somewhat, and out of me as well.  Mr. Lotcin was not out of danger, nor his brothers, but at least it appeared they wouldn't try it here.  The attention was turned back to the Mayor, who seemed to finally be winding up his speech.

"So, in light of all the above reasons and the smooth relationship we have had with each other in the past, I ask you to please reconsider your actions, that we may peaceably come to a resolution."  The Mayor's ending sentence was terribly long.  

"We'll reconsider when you reconsider yours-"  

But  I didn't hear the rest of the Mr. Lotcin's reply.  Megidil's men were coming out the shadows again.  And this time, they weren't coming for the miners. 

They were coming for the women and children who stood behind them. 

AN:  Again, another very rough chapter.  I'm honestly not a 100% sure where the plot is going XD  But thank you to all who choose to go through this madness with me!