Displaced

Chapter 10

Arlette opened her eyes the next morning to a splitting headache unlike any she had ever felt before. Wakes always left her with a hangover, but this... this was something else. She wondered if Feelers could just will their way out of things like this. She'd have to ask Jaquet some time.

The sound of breathing whispered in her right ear. She looked over to find the back of Sofie's head, the girl still fast asleep beside her. She couldn't help but pity the poor, timid girl. To be so lost, both in location and mind, must be a terrible state. Her thoughts drifted back to her argument with Jaquet the day before. The way she had ended it, with the "I'm the boss" maneuver, was really just a tacit admission that he was right. Involving herself and what remained of the Ivory Tears with a crazy slave was a horrid idea — there was nothing to gain and potentially everything to lose. They'd be splitting up soon enough, she told herself. It was a simple two-week trip to Xoginia, after which they'd never need to see each other again. She reminded herself to tell Sofie about their plans, something she'd intended to tell her yesterday but had slipped through the cracks.

Sitting up with a sigh, Arlette heard the soft ringing of chains near her torso and looked down to discover her wrist cuffed to Sofie's using one of her slave shackles. Arlette's anger surged at the sight of her bound arm. Was this some kind of joke? Had Sofie done this herself, or was this another one of Basilli's "pranks"?

"Hey," she said loudly as she pulled at the restraint, "wake up!"

Sofie's body jerked and she began to flail about in panic, pulling Arlette about despite her best efforts to resist. The girl was stronger than she looked, Arlette noted. Perhaps she was a Feeler? Arlette grabbed the girl's arm and Sofie screamed, crawling away from the touch and into the nearby corner before turning about and staring at her with unfocused, terrified eyes. Arlette was unsure of what to do about the trembling girl, so she just did nothing. Slowly Sofie's breathing became less ragged as she slowly regained awareness and recognized Arlette's concerned face, the fear in her eyes shifting into something closer to aggrieved accusation. Strange, but not something Arlette cared to delve into at the moment. Instead, she held up her chained arm, lifting the restraint up and pulling Sofie's arm up as well.

"Did you do this?"

Sofie glanced at the cuff, its polished metal gleaming in the morning light, and swallowed, as if summoning up her courage.

"Yes," she admitted.

"And what made you think that this was even remotely a good idea?"

"After what you said, I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't leave while I was asleep. Last night you told the man that you were going to leave me, even though you promised me that you wouldn't. I trusted you." She leveled a betrayed glare at the mercenary.

"Okay, that's it," Arlette snapped. She yanked Sofie to her feet and dragged her to the door. It was apparent that they needed to have a very serious talk, but there was no way under the moons that she was going to do that while stuck together.

*     *     *

"Boss, I didn't know you were into this kind of thing," Basilli remarked as he worked on unlocking the cuff from her arm, his lock picks wiggling back and forth.

"Basilli, I will end you," Arlette growled, getting her a mocking chuckle from the man.

"Probably shouldn't do any ending until I'm done with- ah, there we go!" With a satisfying click, the shackle opened and fell towards the floor, swinging back and forth from Sofie's arm.

"Sit down," she commanded Sofie, who obeyed. Basilli began work on the other half of the restraints while Arlette stood up, crossed her arms, and looked the girl in the eye. "It's become obvious that we need to have a chat about our relationship and your place in the world. So let's start with this: I owe you nothing. I saved you in Zrukhora because I wanted to, at considerable danger to myself and my companions, I should add. I decided to take you to Xoginia and help you find a place there because I felt pity for you. That's it. You should be thanking whatever spirits watch over you that I found you, because I doubt anybody else would even bother to go that far for you, especially in this country and after what happened in Zrukhora. Have I made myself clear?"