Walking With Strangers

Ceasar's Bounty

It has been a few months since that decisive battle at Scorn's Gate. Jiliad a middle aged slave was now the bearer of what would be the future king. The king who will reconquer all of the lands that are now being partitioned by the victors of the former Midland Alliance. Woodrow the Blessed with the help of the Silvani states and the Undertones, they disbanded the alliance in favor of a unified empire and are currently expanding unto the lands of JIliad's master.

She would often wonder how her master would punish the silverthree elves and their human vassal. How he would lay waste to the valleys that the dwarves call home and how the lands would be changed to his image. It brings a smile to her face only to be interrupted by a bump on the road.

The carriage silently strolls along the path of Ceasar's Bounty, a forest recently captured by the remnants of the army still loyal to her master. The battle of Scorn's Gate was a major loss but the war still carries on.

Once in a while the carriage bumps a hole in the road making Jiliad slightly jump. The roads in Ceasar's Bounty were famed for how advanced they were. Each stone was put in perfect place making it possible for a carriage to arrive at their destination a few days early. Since the war broke out, armies from all sides have disrupted roads to deny each other easy access to their own territory.

The carriage bumped another hole.

Jiliad closed her eyes and started to feel her swollen belly.

She could feel faint kicks inside of her. This would make her smile and whenever she feels anxious she would always seek comfort from the creature developing withing her womb.

"What's wrong?"

Yalbaothia the captain of her assigned guard asked. She unlike Jiliad who is a human, Yalbaothia is a demon. She is wearing half a breast place, the half protecting her stomach while smaller belts hold her armor together and wraps around her shoulders to keep it from falling off, she wears a short skirt with an under armor stopping just above the knees, she keeps her sleeveless chainmail tucked under her skirt like all eastern women who choose the sword rather than the dress. Her light copper skin and short curly hair only further compliments her beauty. She would most likely have many noble suitors if her eyes and her thin tail did not expose her true nature. She knows how weak humans can be since she has killed countless of humans out of duty and for personal enjoyment, to her having to ask such a question undermines her confidence in her role as captain.

"He kicked" Jiliad said.

She remembered when things used to be more simple, if she was ordered to kill she would kill, if she was ordered to raid and decimate a village she would do it with euphoric glee. But protecting a pregnant human that has the future of the empire withing her womb?

It makes her feel like a beast of burden, an Ox leading an over encumbered carriage over a swamp.

"My lord has always been strong and healthy." She then added "What about you, are you alright?"

Jiliad might be a human but to Yalbaothia she is the only human that has earned her respect. The only human that she does not want to outright kill.

....

The silence was making Yalbaothia nervous, thoughts would begin to betray her:

Was she sick?
Was she poisoned in the last town?
Did she see something?
Did something happen to her womb?

Jiliad had ignored Yalbaothia's question, but after noticing that she was being intently watched she finally spoke

"I just wish that I could spend more time with him as his mother"

A human emotion, a strange and unknown thing for Yalbaothia. Especially one between mother and child. Not something that her kind experiences. She unable to say anything to comfort her, just reminded her of her duty.

"We each have a part to play, it falls on you and only you to deliver the heir"

As the carriage continued through the damaged road Jiliad would hold back the tears as the journey along the forest continued in silence. It remained as such until they reached the crossroads. As planned another carriage with fifteen guards joined Jiliad's carriage. Jiliad briefly glanced at the Scholarch. A creature that was the size of a full grown man, it was thin and wearing a white robe. Beneath the robes well hidden he has two extra arms as well as a mouth inside his mouth. It dislikes Jiliad due to her incurable condition, being a Human.

Despite his extra set of appendages he looks human, he calls it a natural disguise. He is also the head scholar of a well renowned university in the far east. Beneath his robe it appears that he is hiding something else besides his arms. Something that is giving him trouble.

The train of two carriages was being watched not just by the guards who are accompanying the carriage but by scouts and experienced archers hiding on top of trees making sure it's not a group of unexpected visitors that might need to be dispatched before arriving at the village.

Jiliad noticed Yalbaothia scanning the trees.

"Yalbaothia?"

"It's nothing. Just... birds."

Except she knew it was not just "birds" She didn't want Jiliad to suffer any sort of anxiety. She was briefed by the Butcher on how human biology works and how stress could effect their still developing "womb-thing", rangers standing watch near the entrance of the village, making bird noises to signal other rangers as the train slowly reached its final destination.