Lucy Snape and the Final Battle (Book Seven)

Recruitment

Chapter Five: Recruitment

If Lucy were to be asked a few months ago how she would be treated if she went back to the Medieval Islands she never would have said that it would be a positive experience. But right now she was surprised she could contradict this.

Right now she was sat with Miguel and Daryl spooning soup from separate bowls and devouring it as the two boys waited for her (well, Stuart) to say more about the wizarding world. Their looks were not hungry for the tinned tomato soup in front of them, no, they were hungry for Lucy's words and she loved the power she had over them. It made something inside of her stir, it made her feel as though these two minds she had power over were just the beginning, to get them to see the light she'd have to choose her words carefully.

"So...so...the wizards are afraid of us?" Daryl asked, setting down his now empty bowl.

"Why wouldn't they be? They hardly know anything about us. I mean, to be honest, I was a little afraid of them too when I visisted. With their wands and hushed voices and what not, they're like an entirely new species. I certainly don't fit in over there, that's why I came back in the suit, my mother bought it for me for the trip."

"Wow," Miguel breathed snatching up Daryl's bowl and mopping up the remnants with a piece of bread. Daryl was too fixed on Lucy's story to care. She'd told them all minimal details about the Wizarding world, most of which were lies. But the pair gobbled it up easily and would probably now accept anything that came out of her mouth. "Would you go back there?"

"Only for information," Lucy shrugged, setting her now larger feet on the small table separating her from the two men. "Which brings me to my next point. It's time for you to tell me about what I've missed while I was gone."

"Sure," Daryl said. "How long were you gone?"

Lucy pursed her lips and thought for a moment, a believable lie. "A year."

"Well last summer Zuc captured Lucy Snape and brought her to the castle where she was locked up," Miguel said without missing a beat. "But she escaped and fooled Zuc and Kingston, which we admit was really funny."

"Funny?" Lucy frowned. "I thought you loved Zuc."

"Everyone in the public eye loves Zuc," Daryl huffed. "But that doesn't mean to say we do privately. He's just a bit of a loser really."

"Be fair, Daryl," Miguel interrupted. "We seem to be the only town that doesn't, just because we're the poorest part. Zuc doesn't care for us but he'll tolerate the next two towns and love the rest, he only cares about those who are valuable in his battle."

"How does that work?" Lucy pondered more so to herself.

Daryl lowered his voice as if he thought anyone was listening. "He sends round his current troops with a list of rules to see who's valuable and who's not for the battle. If you're okay you get shipped to the castle and get trained to be a guard, if you're not but still valuable you get sent to a factory to make weapons and what not for the soldiers — "

" — then there are others who are sort of valuable and keep doing the jobs they were already doing and then there are those who..." Miguel's voice trailed off. "Those who aren't valuable at all."

Daryl coughed before helping Miguel finish. "They get taken away and are killed. No bad blood in Zuc's land, it isn't needed and just slows us down. A few days ago at a nearby town they killed five children for being of no use."

"Children!" Lucy shrieked.

"Yes," Daryl nodded, his eyes going wide. "They keep some of the children if they seem to have promise, if not they end up with the rest of the un-valuables."