** In a world of steam and danger, Scarlett Lockhart joins the Redcoats. But in the darkness of the Bone Forest around the Iron City of Grimmhold, the Bad Wolves are already lurking for fresh prey. **
"Who's that I see walkin' in these woods?
Hey th...
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Scarlett cleared her throat, somewhat embarrassed, and reached out to take the first-aid kit from Hugh – or at least that's what she had intended to do. To her surprise, however, he gave her a wide berth. Instead of providing the kit to her, he handed it to Sykes. The latter growled reproachfully and then passed it on to her with an apologetic expression.
'What's going on here?'
As if he had noticed her thoughts, Sykes quickly explained: "Hugh and Thornton don't like strangers very much," he tried to justify the behaviour while leaning against one of the tables. "So, what's someone like you doing here? You don't look like you belong in the Bone Forest?" He looked at her again, this time more closely.
Scarlett frowned a little.
What was that supposed to mean?
She returned his gesture and let her gaze wander over him again.
"I don't see any markings for successful runs on you either?" she said, and Sykes raised his eyebrows. She just wanted to tease a little in return.
But Sykes looked as if she had caught him off guard. His smile dropped from his features, and for a moment, it seemed as if a puppet was sitting in front of her with the strings cut.
"Because I don't wear it on my face," he said. His voice was a shade cooler than before, but he quickly recovered. The corners of his mouth lifted again, but Scarlett found it less charming than before. Somehow, Sykes made a strange impression on her. And not only him.
Was she becoming paranoid after all?
'The last time you felt like this, something tried to kill you,' Scarlett reminded herself. But that was nonsense... wasn't it?
"I have enough proof of my courage to show," Sykes continued, tapping the leather eye patch that covered part of his face.
"Ah." Scarlett pursed her lips into a smile that her eyes refused to match. Most Redcoats wore markings on their faces or hands to display them proudly. For every successful 'run', i.e. a completed mission, they received a marking, which was always celebrated extravagantly. These markings were like medals, so most of them wanted to wear them so that they were always clearly visible. Of course, that didn't have to be the case for everyone.
Nevertheless...
A strange tension seemed to be building in the air. Hughes and Thornten, whispering to each other a moment ago, had also fallen silent and turned to look in her direction. It looked as if Scarlett had accidentally thrown a match right next to a trail of black powder... and everyone was now expecting the big bang.
'Something's not right here.'
It was as if this realisation suddenly put all the individual scattered puzzle pieces together. Sykes, Thornton and Hughes. They all called themselves by name... but she hadn't heard a name code from any of them. That was unusual because they usually identified themselves with it. She would have understood that Sykes had no markings. But all three? That didn't make sense. She might have accepted that reasoning for one of them, but not all.
