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Mysteria de Venn, the Red

Many tales have been told about her, some true, many wrong. But listen now to her life story, her only one.

Mysteria was born in a land known as the ‘Moon of Dreams’, in a city called ‘The Steppe Fortress’. Here she was born to the ruling pair of Themistoklesis and Minerva. She was born at midnight of the turning of the year, as the era of the Scorpion turned into the new era of the Dragon, and none could tell which era she had been born to.

At that time, the kingdom was plagued by an ever increasing banditry due to a very severe winter up north. Many people left their home dwellings and the more violent among them resorted to robbery, as it seemed to be the easiest way to survive. As it happened, one of the robbing bands, which was a bit stronger and better organized then most, encountered the royal convoy, escorting Queen Minerva and her newly born child back to Gwynedda, capital city of the Moon of Dreams. On a whim of recklessness, some might even call it madness, the bandit chief decided to attack the convoy. The robbers defied the heavily armed guards, putting their light-footed horses to good use. Against all odds, they succeeded not only in driving back the guards from the queen’s carriage and looting it, they also managed to kidnap the newborn heiress.

Thus it happened that Mysteria, oldest child and heiress to the throne was raised by bandits. Now, why did they keep her instead of asking for a ransom? Well, for some reason or other, the bandit chieftain took a fancy to her and adopted her as his own child. This was probably a wise decision as the royal guard would surely have torn him and his followers into shreds once the ransom had been exchanged. So, Mysteria grew up in a bandit camp. Little Ria, nobody would ever call her Mysteria, though she knew her real name, spent her life just as the other children in the camp. She played a lot, but she also was taught how to ride and swim as soon as she could stand, and how to handle weapons. They started with the knife, lightweight and easy to handle. The time would soon come when she would use it.

Comments?
If you think this is interesting, I'll post the rest, if not, I'll just forget about it.

Post on, please

:132: true true

(insider joke@sailor saturn)

Keep it up, Mysteria!

Don't be cruel , post the rest.

OK, OK, here's the rest (quite long).
Enjoy

[...] They started with the knife, lightweight and easy to handle. The time would soon come when she would use it.

Some years passed and the little girl grew into a blossoming teenager. She learnt how to hunt, fight and shoot a bow, just as the boys did, but she was nevertheless quite feminine. One of the bandits noticed this more than the others. He observed her often, the sparkle of her green eyes, changing their hue as she changed her mood, her brilliant red hair, the smoothness of her lightly tanned skin and the ripples of the muscles below, she simply appealed to very single one of his senses. One day, watching her, he could no longer contain his lust. Soon after Ria’s twelfth birthday, he cornered her in some dark part of the wood. Even though she fought like mad, and fought well, she was no match for a fully grown man. She could not escape his lust, his fierce embrace, the breath on her face and the madness in his eyes, she had no escape, none… He raped her, raped her remorselessly and with unrestrained savagery. Once his act done, he let go of her for just a moment, but that was enough for her to escape.

She ran back to the camp, and had she but said one word to anybody, they would have hunted down and killed her attacker. But she said nothing, too ashamed and too hurt to tell, not even her father. For days she cried herself asleep and her nights were filled with a restless sleep, full of nightmares. During daytime, it was not much better, she barely talked and ate almost nothing, refusing to confide her sorrows to anybody, no matter how kindly they asked. After some weeks though, this changer. She had hardened herself, resolute to never ever again let herself be attacked by any man without being able to defend herself.

She now always trained with the boys and soon exceeded their prowess in all the skills. The chieftain saw this with no small pride. Now he knew that he had no longer to worry about whom would take over his leadership once he was too old to lead their raids. Ria on her side was sometimes close to giving up, would it not be easier to just take her life, forget about the attack? But every day she saw him, and if she faltered, yearning for quiet and oblivion, his view hardened her resolve yet again.

Now, why, oh why, you ask, was he still there? Well, he simply hadn’t found any good excuse to leave the group and he had no wish to be hunted down and beheaded as was the fate of all deserters. Also, after all, Ria hadn’t denounced him, had she? Slowly, he convinced himself, that she actually loved him, and his lust came back, worse than ever. Two years after his first attack, he did it again. Once again she was cornered, attacked, raped, it was a nightmare. She was better armed now, better trained, harder, but she still was only fourteen and still no match for a grown man. But this time, she did not run away once he had done his evil deed. She silently took up her knife and stabbed him, taking him by surprise. It was a clean death, she put her training to good use and cut his throat with one swift strike, cold calm and stone faced. The little frightened girl had disappeared forever.

After a moments thought, she buried him quickly and walked back to the camp. Once the other bandits realized he was missing, they went looking for him. They thought that he had deserted and they were intend on finding him to kill him. As they were unable to track him down and no evidence of treason manifested itself, he was soon forgotten by all but Ria. This second attack had made her even harder, more implacable and strong-willed. She forced her father to take her with them on their raids, and soon she was not following but leading them. Under her command, their raids became ever more audacious and brutal. Soon the villagers began to whisper about ‘The Red’ under their breath, fearfully glancing over their shoulders, dreading her appearance, drawn to them by this name. Indeed, Ria soon heard about this surname and took pride in wearing it.

Her own powers did not end there. Magic had always run strong in her family and, like her parents, she was already semi-immortal, aging very slowly once grown up. This also meant that she would never die of a natural death and made her more resistant to poison and illness than most people. But now, she began to develop real magical powers. Small at first, it manifested itself by the ability to light fire even in the heaviest downpour. As her power grew, she gradually discovered new uses for it. Led by her sole intuition, she learnt to direct and shape the flow of magic to her liking, escaping the fate of so many unguided mages who are unable to control their own power and finally are consumed by it. As Ria was first and foremost a robber, a killer and murderer, she soon found the, in her eyes, ultimate use for it. She discovered that she could literally obliterate people with he magical powers. As it still had some limits though, she kept on killing them with sword and bow as well, leaving terror wherever she went.

Her reign of terror went on, and on, and on. The authorities desperately tried to root her out, but it was nearly impossible to even track her down, not even speaking about catching her. Her father, more precisely, her foster father meanwhile adopted another child, a boy this time, and revealed Ria’s true identity, which he had kept hidden from her, to him. In his time, the boy, grown to a man, told his son, and the son his son. Their line always stayed close to Ria and thus it came that her origins secret was not lost. But much would still happen before she eventually found out.

Now, it is perhaps time to talk some more about her real parents. They long grieved the loss of her first child and did their utmost to find her, but eventually they resigned to the thought that she was indeed dead. Twenty years nevertheless passed before they had another child. It was a son, named Themistoklesius, who would now inherit the throne. They also had a second daughter, born yet another twenty years after their son, and she was named Maria. It was about ten years after Maria’s birth that her mother, Ria’s mother, was visiting a small village with only a small escort. The Red’s raids had lessened a bit during the last months and had been concentrated further up north. Unfortunately, Ria had decided on looting just this village that very day. The presence of the escort did nothing to deter her from her resolution, far from it, it even spurred on. The raid was short and brutal, like so many others, and yet very different, though Ria did not realize it at that time. In one of the houses, the Red came upon a red haired woman who fought fiercely back. Taken by surprise by her fury, the Red reached out to her power and unleashed her magic upon her opponent. Then she walked away, unknowing that she had just killed her very own mother, though it may be that she would not have cared even if she had known.

Upon the notice of their queen’s death, a cry of utmost outrage ran trough the kingdom. Everybody redoubled their efforts to catch the Red, but she only laughed at them and was as uncatchable as ever. Themistoklesis, meanwhile, did not get over his beloved wife’s death and died of sorrow some years after her. Thus, the Red now prided herself of having killed the king too, even if only indirectly. Themistoklesius now took over the crown from his father and swore to avenge his parents’ death. But it would yet be some years before the Red was finally caught.

It was in the year of her sixtieth’s birthday that the Red was finally caught. In her last years as the Red, Ria had walked ever deeper into the shadow, finding ever new ways to quench her bloodlust. Even her companions were now weary of her hot tempered anger and her steely fierceness. She was as hard and cold as a stone, ruling her men with an iron fist, never ever letting any man close to her heart. Nobody knew, nobody could have imagined in his wildest dreams that there was any doubt in her about what she did, what she was. And yet, there it was, a small, nagging doubt, whispering to her that she had chosen the wrong way, insinuating that there was more, much more, to life than just killing and bloodshed. Perhaps it was this little doubt that let her be caught, perhaps she had only grown overconfident, who can tell? Whatever the reason, she was finally caught and thrown into jail at the keep of Gwynedda.

It was in jail that the secret of her origin was finally revealed to her. The descendant of her foster father could no longer keep it silent, telling her who she really was. At first she was angry with him for holding it back for so long, but he convinced her that this was probably the only means of escape for her. All she needed to do was to convince the jailers that she was not the Red, but the only the long lost heiress to the throne and that she had always been kept as a hostage, to be used as a means of pressure against the crown in times of dire need. Upon this advice of her most devoted follower, the Red did act.

Through much devious speech, lies, supreme acting and a certain blindness on the part of Themistoklesius and Maria due to the joy of finding their sister, she became what she had been intended to be: oldest daughter of Themistoklesis and Minerva, heiress to the throne. Nevertheless, she did not lay claim to the throne as she meant to escape very soon and get back to her briganding life. But things did not turn out the way she had anticipated. She was introduced to life in the shining towers of Gwynedda, and even if not all had believed her story, her brother soon had them quiet. Ria now discovered that there was indeed more to life than death and fighting. Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to change her outlook on the world and throughout the land the banditry that had ravaged the country for so long was slowly put to an end as many small bands simply vanished without her as a beacon.

Meanwhile, Ria struggled with herself, with the violence in herself, with her new view of life, with her soul, her very self. Could she forsake the life she had led until now to begin anew? Could she really change that much, condemn her old life, deny the darkness and embrace another life? Many, many sleepless nights she fought with herself, and many, many bleak days passed without bringing any relief to her pain. during this time, she neither used magic, nor touched a weapon. But she did not either join the laughter and the happiness all around her. Long did she hesitate, long did she search. The temptation to go back to her old way of life was great. It would be so much easier to just go on like before. It would be easier, yes, but slowly, she began to realize that it would be wrong too, dead wrong. With the same determination that she had once used to forget her rape and to lead her people to ever new and more horrible deeds, she now tore her old life, her old self, apart and began to build herself a new life, a new person from the shambles.

It took her long, and the process was painful, excruciatingly so, but she did not turn, however great the temptation became. She had set herself a new course of action, and she would not waver once her decision taken. Twenty years after her capture, Ria finally left the Red, her old life behind and truly began anew. But her past would never stop to haunt her, a dark patch on her soul, an abyss of unimaginable horror in her mind. She took up the sword again, and touched magic anew, but she now used her sword to fight on the side of justice. Her magic too was different now, and yet familiar, softer, not meant to hurt but to heal. It was at that time too that she set herself two principles: not to kill, neither normally nor magically, and not to break her word. The first resolve, she mainly took because she was mortally afraid that killing anybody would throw her back into the darkness again. This fear she still has, though it has grown less acute, and it is probably justified. The second resolve, she mainly took to regain at least some of her self esteem.

She now roamed the land, ever helpful to the people she met, always ready to lend a hand. Many an adventure she had and nobody ever publicly connected the helpful princess with the freely flowing red shock of hair to the cruel Red with her braided hair. Ria’s most famous act in those years was the part she played in the so called ‘pirate wars’, bringing them to a good end, and the people loved her for it. Her last act to finish building her new life was to openly confess her crimes, on her onehundredth birthday, in front of all the people of Gwynedda, who still remembered the Red all too well. She did not beg for forgiveness, she could barely forgive herself, but stood ready to be judged. And the unbelievable happened, the people did not want to judge her or punish her, who had fought so valiantly for them in the pirate wars.The people of the Moon of Dreams offered their forgiveness freely, showing great kindness. This made Mysteria happy and yet sad, because she had done so much harm to such fair a people. Now at last, she could cast aside any doubts she still had, she had finally chosen the right path, and she would not longer stray from it, whatever it took.

Good writing, a bit of disturbing turn of events and a bit of a happy end.

Thank you.

PS
Only 1 language?

Thanks.
And yes, only one language, couldn't be so nasty to use three or even four, forcing many of you to use a dictionnary to understand anything, could I?

Great story! Keep writing stories, Mysteria!

wow great
how about some thing in Nederlendisch (dutch or Holland please no Nederlendisch )

Originally posted by TheDude:
<STRONG>wow great
how about some thing in Nederlendisch (dutch or Holland please no Nederlendisch )</STRONG>

Well it might explain what Nederlendisch is, I'd sure like to know.

Dutch! That's the word I've been looking for these last days!
*bangs head agains wall*
I really, really should have remembered! Sorry, so sorry, hope I didn't offend anybody.
As for languages available, there's only the choice between English, German, French or Luxembourgish (yes it officially is a language), but I don't suppose anybody here would understand my mother tongue.
As for writing other stories, well, I've got some exams coming up, so I probably won't get to do any writing any time soon.

Originally posted by Mysteria:
<STRONG><snip> but I don't suppose anybody here would understand my mother tongue. <snip>
</STRONG>

Well atleast everybody will understand some of it. But having too learn it as second language would be quite difficult.

Sorry to hear you won't have time too write more.

Had some time today, last day of my holidays , so I did some more writing after all.

The Tower

A strong and icy wind was blowing over the Moon of dreams, reaching the city of Gwynedda, howling through the streets, hissing around the tall towers of the fortress. It was deep winter and on a day like this the streets were all but empty. But something moved on the highest tower of the fortress. A woman stepped onto the platform, the wind tearing at the cloak she kept firmly closed with one hand. Stepping to the battlement, she looked west, seemingly oblivious of the wind. and deep in thought.

“The Moon of Dreams, my land.” She gazed to the western horizon.

“There lie the fields and meadows of Gwynedda, and the Gwenn, seeking its meandering course to the sea . The sea! How different must it be to stand on its shore instead of roaming the…NO!” The woman jerks her head back, her green eyes slightly widened as if frightened. and turns to walk to the southern battlement, drawing her cloak closer around her. On the more protected southern side, she stops again and lets her gaze wander.

“The south, wooded country, home to the elves, if the tales are true. I would love to see them, but they probably wouldn’t be so happy to se me. They like their quiet.” The red haired woman seems quieter now too, but not for long. “And beyond the wood, the ragged mountains cutting us off from the fabled lands to the south. Some say there are passes though, but few to set out to cross ever came back. I wonder if it would be anything like…NO!” Again she tears her eyes away from the sight, frowning, clutching her cloak. “No, I don’t want to think about it.” “And yet you cannot put off your decision for ever” a small part of her whispers. But she only shakes her head, walking slowly to the eastern battlement now.

Putting one hand on the cold stone, still keeping her cloak closed with her left hand, she looks east now. “I wonder if it is as cold in the Steppe Fortress as it is here. The Steppe Fortress, my birthplace. I wonder if you can see far enough to make out the place where I was kidnapped as a babe, to be raised by bandits. To become…” The women lowers her gaze, sighing. “I guess I cannot put it off any longer, can I?” “No, you have to take a decision some day, and you have already been putting it off for too long.” Nodding, the woman turns again, now walking to the northern side of the tower.

Letting go of her cloak, she leans heavily on the battlement, not rising her gaze, seemingly intend on studying her hands. Now she has let go off her cloak, the wind seems to become even more violent, tearing at both the cloak and her red hair. Beneath the cloak, she is wearing a long, grey dress of sturdy wool and soft leather boots, looking a bit out of place as they seem to be more fitting for a fighter. The woman shivers now, but it is not from the cold.

“The north. Once home to the Red I no longer are.”

“Yes, but what are you now?”

“I don’t know.”

“There are but three ways to go, and you know that.”

“Yes, I know, but it doesn’t make choosing lighter.”

“But you have to choose.”

The woman now grips the battlement hard, her knuckles turning white, her lips tightened, her eyes now dark green, staring down but not seeing.

]“Three paths. One is death…”

“NEVER!” Her grip tightens even more, her eyes flaring.

“The second, life at court, dull but safe. You could do good, helping the poor, assist your brother. You wouldn’t be tempted to …”

“To kill somebody…”, she whispers softly, the wind tearing the words from her mouth.

“The third way, the most dangerous path, to take up the sword again. To fight for justice…”

“Or slip back again…”

“It is a risk. Is it a risk you are willing to take?”

“I swore to never kill again.”

“But will you be able to hold your word?”

“I have to choose.”

Her whole body is tense now, her jaw set, her fingers digging into the battlement as if to tear it apart. Then she relaxes, sighing deeply as if a great burden had been taken from her heart. She lets go of the stone, throws her head back and finally looks northwards to the mountains. Her green gaze is steady now, she clearly has reached a decision, determination showing on her face. Then she turns away, stepping inside, a lightness to her walk that had not been there before.

The Training Room

At he same time, deeper in the castle, two men were honing their fighting skills. The first man is clearly the trainer, using his sword with a skill and deftness lacking in the other. Wearing soft leather boots, resembling the ones the woman from the tower wore, leather breeches and a white shirt with the sleeves turned up. He is a handsome man in his late thirties, with still black hair. His muscles speak of strength and the scars of hard fights, the sparkle in his eyes of good humour and the set of his jaw of firmness. He was the commander of the royal guard, loved by his men and swooned over by the women. But those woman would probably not have given Reirrak, for that was his name, a second look just now as they would have been to intend on getting the intention of his opponent.

The second man, of the same height but of more slender built, did not look much different from Reirrak, except that his eyes were a startling clear blue. Wearing the same sort of clothes as the commander, he could easily have passed for another plain fighter, were it not for the amulet he wore on his breast. The amulet clearly indicated that here was the king of Gwynedda and supreme ruler of the Moon of Dreams, Themistoklesius. Still unmarried, many women where trying to get his attention, but he ignored them.

At the moment, in any case, he was too busy parrying Reirrak’s attacks, trying to get one of his attacks in, to pay much attention to anything but fighting. Presently, Reirrak stepped even closer, and with one smooth movement disarmed his liege. Taking a step back, he led out a soft laugh.
“Well, my king, did you leave your fighting skills at home today?”

Laughing loud, Themistoklesius picked up his sword. “Just tell me plainly that I’ve been spending too much time pouring over books and practicing magic instead of training with you.”, he told the other man, grinning. “I still don’t understand why you even insist on giving me fighting lessons, I’m no fighter and never will be. I’m sure even your youngest recruit has more fighting skills than I have.”

“Perhaps, but they are not kings and do not have to worry of attempts of assassination.”, Reirrak responded gravely. “I am more at ease assuring the security of a ruler who at last knows that you’re supposed to stick the sharp end of a sword into your opponent, and not the other way round.” , he added with a smirk.

Laughing even more, the king now bows to his trainer, announcing: “I, Themistoklesius, ruler of the Moon of Dreams, hereby solemnly promise to be more consistent in my training.”, which has his commander laughing so much tears are flowing down his sleeks.

After calming down somewhat, they now roll down their sleeves, putting away their training swords. Just as they are about to leave, the door opens and the red haired woman from the tower steps in. She is still wearing her boots, but she has changed into leather breeches and shirt, much like the men’s. The look of quiet determination is still on her face and she barely acknowledges the two men’s presence.

“Ria, sister, you’re wearing men’s clothes again!”, Themistoklesius exclaims.

“You know that I don’t really like dresses, Theo, so don’t get so upset”, she says, but her mind clearly is elsewhere. She walks over to the racks holding the training swords, pensively trailing her finger along the first one holding the wooden swords used by the beginners.

“What are you up to?”, her brother wants to know, but gets no answer. Reirrak too is watching her with some interest. He heard that she was trained as a fighter by the bandits who raised her but has not yet seen her with a sword. Perhaps now? As he does these reflections, Ria steps to the next rack, this one holding the blunt training swords for everyday training like the ones the two men had been using. Again she trails her finger along the edge, but she still doesn’t pick up a sword, as Reirrak had half expected.

Under the asking eyes of the to men, she steps to the last rack. This one is holding just a few swords, and these are sharp, meant to be used by experienced fighters who want to add some spice to their training and yet do not want to use their own swords. The swords from this rack were rarely used, most training being done with blunt ones. Ria lets her hand float over them, seemingly undecided which one to pick, then decides on a rather long but slender one. Just before she picks it up, she has a moments hesitation, but then she grips it firmly, taking it out of the rack, holding in it in front of her, dubiously looking at it.

“You look like you’re holding a snake.”, Theo grins. “Now what are you going to do with it?”

“Don’t make fun of me, I know how to use this”, comes the reply, and suddenly the sword looks perfectly in place in her hand. “I don’t know if I was meant to be a fighter or if I was just made one, but I have probably had more training than you.”

“Well, I don’t know either if you were meant to be a fighter, but I certainly know how to find out.”, Reirrak intervenes. “Let us do a small fight, and I will be able to tell you if you are talented or merely very well trained, for there is a difference between those who fight because they where taught how, and those who fight because it’s in their blood.” At this Ria nods and begins to move to the middle of the room. “Ho, not so quickly! You may want to fight with sharp weapons, but I never do, unless I know my partner and his fighting skills very well. Better use these.”, he says, motioning to the blunt swords on the second rack. Shaking her head, Ria moves up to the rack and swaps he sharp weapon to a blunt one. “I really should have thought about that.” Then Reirrak and she step into the middle of the room.

“I don’t think it is very seemingly for a princess of the realm to wield a sword,” Themistoklesius say with one brow slightly raised, but seeing Ria’s face, he quickly adds, “Oh, well, I guess you know what you do, and I don’t want to have an argument with your stubbornness, I lose all the time anyway.”

[ 01-06-2002: Message edited by: Mysteria ]

You need more holidays, a lot more, this is really really good.

Thank you. Mysteria. Thank you.

This is quite addictive
Just realized a changed tenses midway, hope it doesn't bother you. If it does, don't read it!

Fighting and Secrets

Sitting down, Theodosius made himself comfortable to watch the fight as Reirrak and Ria took up fighting positions. Reirrak was holding his sword in his right hand, using the other for balance, his body slightly to the side, a classic Furious Fencing stance. Ria took her sword with two hands, squarely facing her opponent, her face showing determination. “Ah the Double Edge stance!» Reirrak approved. “That’s how it’s called?» Ria asked, never loosing her concentration. The commander nodded and they began to circle each other slowly.

It was Reirrak who made the first move, bringing his sword round in the long swing of the Flying Raven. Ria’s reaction was lightning fast, sword leaping into her right hand, she not only parried the attack with ease but also made a quick thrust at Reirrak, which he escaped with a quick sidestep. “You fight left-handed!» he exclaimed, visibly taken by surprise. “I fight with any hand that pleases me." came the reply.

Now, they started in earnest. ‘The Star of the East’ met ‘Flowers of Iron’. ‘Zoanders Flare’ the ‘Steel Bridge’, ‘Swan Song’ was parried by ‘Jumping Flies’ and ‘Daring Dance’ only barely thrust aside ‘Stone Avalanche’. They were basic moves only, nothing fanciful, but well executed. Steel met steel, the swords dancing, Ria changing her sword hand ever so often, Reirrak doing his best not to be unsettled by this strange use. Ria was fighting well, but she was very tense at first, her movements lacking the smooth grace of her opponent’s. Thus, it was Reirrak who did most of the attacks at first, Ria mostly defending, jaw clenched. ”I can do, I can! I will fight him and not kill him!”, she kept repeating to herself.

Gradually, she grew more relaxed, her fighting style growing smoother and better. Moving to attack her with the ‘Golden Lion’ thrust, Reirrak was quite startled as Ria parried him with the beginning of a ‘Hunters Bow’ but finished it off with a ‘Green Snake’ ending. She now launched into a series of attacks, forcing Reirrak to show some real skill. Their fight resembled a dance, weaving to and fro, they continuously tried to catch the other unawares. Reirrak had the advantage of being in superb condition, but Ria had the advantage of an unusual fighting style. She had never had any formal fighting training and many of her attacks were barely recognisable as one of the traditional forms, often fusing two or even three into one. Reirrak clearly took pleasure in fighting her, he rarely met any real challenge from his own men anymore. Ria too was now fighting eagerly, her eyes sparkling, her body literally flowing over the floor.

Theodosius watched in awe. He had never imagined that his sister could be such a fighter, she clearly had inherited their father’s fighting skills he lacked. Watching their strength sapping display of skill, he wondered if she could keep this up for long. Indeed, it only took a few minutes fighting for Ria to call a hold. “Hold it Reirrak, hold it”, she panted, “It seems my skill’s still there, but the condition is not”, breathing heavily, she lowered her sword. “Ah but the skill is superb! We must fight again! Trust me, I’ll have you back in shape in a few weeks. You are talented!» Reirrak meant enthusiastically. “She’s a better fighter than you’ll ever be”, he added with grin to his king. “Now, now, commander, where’s your respect?” Reirrak shrugs his shoulders, and declares “It’s difficult to show respect to somebody you called uncle once, my most beloved liege”, bowing low to the ground, but grinning all the way. This has both Ria and her brother laughing hilariously.

Just at this moment, there is a short knock at the door. Composing himself, Theodosius bids to enter, suddenly looking much more royal. A servant enters upon his call and bows low to all presents. “My king, the earl of Suraya asks for an audience.” “Tell him I will came in a moment and take him to the small reception room, if it this has not already been done. I trust you to look after his wishes while he waits." the king commands and the servant disappears. “Well, it seems that duty call”, he didn’t look too happy, “Tomorrow at the same hour?”, he asks Reirrak, who gives his assentement.

Left alone, Reirrak gives Ria a questioning look, raising his sword slightly, but she has already moved over to the rack and puts away the training sword. “Not today, tomorrow morning would be better, do you have time?” “I have, where shall we meet?” “Outside in the small court would be good, I like the outdoors, as the sun rises?” “As the sun rises”, Reirrak agrees, upon which Ria starts moving towards the door, “Red”, Reirrak adds. This stops her dead in her track and she half turns around before she realises that it would have been better not to be startled, but now the harm is done. Turning all the way round, she tells him with all the aplomb she can muster, “How did you call me? No, do not answer. Don’t be so foolish as your father was, he never believed me either, yet I am telling the truth. She kept me as hostage, making her features match my own as closely as possible so she could use me as bait if it ever became necessary. Don’t tell me you still believe in her devious trick!” She even manages to look offended. Reirrak gives her a long, long stare, before carefully stating : “I see no evil in you …, I do not think the woman who stands in front of me now is the Red.” For a long, seemingly endless, moment they stand still staring at each other. Finally, Ria nods and leaves, Reirrak still watching her pensively, then he puts away his sword, picks up his affairs and leaves.

weekend! had some spare time

About Sisters

Going upstairs, Ria silently curses herself, she really had to be more on her guard if she didn’t want her secret to be uncovered. She didn’t think Reirrak would say anything, but others might if they found out. She was really lucky the commander didn’t share his father’s views. Well, it was too late to worry now, and if he did reveal her secret someday, she would probably have deserved it. Picking up some fresh clothes in her room, she went to take a bath, realizing for the first time how much she was out of training to be sweating already. Some years ago, she wouldn’t even have breathed hard after just a few minutes fighting.

Reirrak, on his side, went down into the big outer court, to look after his men. He still didn’t know why he had added ‘Red’ to his sentence. A hunch perhaps? Well, he had meant what he said, he saw no evil in her, and if he did some day, well, there would always be time to reveal her secret then. But he did not think he would have to reveal it and, after all, he had no proof.

After her bath, Ria decided to get herself properly equipped. It wasn’t enough just to decide to become a fighter again, she also had to have something to fight with. She almost regretted that she had had her sword destroyed, but then she wasn’t sure she wanted to be reminded of all the people she had killed with it every time she picked it up. Thus, she went on her way to the smithy. Passing near the upper audience room, she heard her brother almost shouting “…Suraya is only a small city, how dare you …”. His conference with the earl clearly wasn’t going well, he very seldom was angry enough to raise his voice. Ignoring his shouting, as she couldn’t do anything about it, she went on.

Just as she was about to go outside, she was called. “Ria, wait!”, it was her sister, Maria. Turning around, Ria waited for her to reach her, noting that she was again wearing her sky-blue dress matching the colour of her eyes.

“I just wanted to come looking for you. I…I wanted to talk with you, but where are you going?”

“To the smithy, I’m going to get myself a sword again, and probably a bow and dagger too.”

“You’re what?!?”

“Get armed again. I’ve decided to become a fighter again. I don’t really fit into the role of the kind sister of the king who helps her brother and has always an open ear for her people. Anyway, you are already doing an excellent job in that role, and I don’t think the people needs two princesses lending it their ears. But there is always a need for fighters. I hear there are still bandits in the northern ranges, and the Steppe clans always welcome hardy warriors willing to guard their horses. The city guard, and the army too, always welcome trained fighters to help upholding the peace, and there are enough thieves, robbers and assassins out there to keep a man, or woman for that matter, busy to the end of his life. So, that’s what I’m going to be, a fighter for right. I hope you don’t mind, our brother isn’t very pleased about it, but you know me, I normally do just what I want.”

“Wow! I think that’s about the longest speech I ever got from you! And no, I don’t mind you being a fighter, I think it’s fitting.”

“Great! So you aren’t afraid of the big bad wolf? GRRR!”, Ria catches her by the waist, barely keeping from laughing.

“Eek! Let go!”, Maria wriggles free of Ria’s hold on her, then both fall into each others arms, laughing madly, earning them shrewd looks from some of the servants.

Getting a grip on herself, Ria asks, “Ah, but I almost forgot, you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes, I did. You know, you had been even more silent than usually these last days, and I thought you were bothered by something. I…I thought, perhaps, you would want to share your problems with me.” With a wry smile, she adds, “I didn’t really think you would though. In any case, if you had any problems, I guess you already solved them, I’ve never yet seen you so, well, happy.”

“You speak only too true. I was indeed even more worried then usual, but I’ve taken a decision now. I’m a fighter again, and I think you’ll find me more open from now on. I hope you’ll like it”, she meant, grinning.

“I already do! Now, what did you say? You want to get some weapons? If you just wait a minute, I’ll come with you, I’ll just get a coat.” upon which Maria runs upstairs, not waiting for an answer. Smiling slightly, Ria watches her go, happy her sister accepted her decision so readily.

Shopping

Some minutes later, both women enter the smithy where they are greeted be Huron, the royal smith. “My ladies! I am honoured by your visit, how can I be of assistance?”

“Ria needs a sword, a dagger and, if I remember rightly, a bow.”, Maria says, giving her sister a questioning glance.

“Ho! Not so fast there, I don’t think our valorous smith sells bows, or arrows for that matter, I’d better see the bow maker for that.” Turing to the smith, Ria continues, “I need indeed a sword and a dagger. Actually, I need two swords, one sharp and one blunt for training, as I don’t think Reirrak will trust me with a sharp one just yet. So, could you show me what you have?”

The smith seems a bit surprised by the request, but he obliges and soon his best wares are laid out in front of Ria. He begins to point out the strengths and weaknesses of each blade, but quickly stops as he realizes that Ria isn’t listening. With an expert eye, she overviews his wares, picking up some blades, checking their balance, discarding others after barely a look. Soon she chooses a perfectly plain but well-balanced training sword and small, wicked looking dagger of black steel. Seeing her pick the dagger, Huron grimaces slightly, “My lady, please excuse me, but I should not have taken out that one, it’s not fitting for a lady like you. Few honourable men use it, most are thieves, robbers and murderers, all masters of their trade. Some, hrm, excuse my openness, some are also nobles who want to appear more dangerous than they are.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t appear more dangerous than I really am.”, Ria replies, giving him a wolfish grin, the blade vanishing up her sleeves. “Now, for the sword. I appreciate your work, but the blades you have taken out for me are made for nobles and too fanciful for my taste. I’m looking for a plain blade, made to be used, not to show off, something like Reirrak's blade.”

Huron almost, but not quite, manages not to look disapproving. He clearly doesn’t believe she really means to use her weapons in a real fight. Nevertheless, he soon finds a long and slender sword that fits her just right. After some more rummaging trough his stock, he also provides her with two plain scabbards for her sword, correctly presuming that she wouldn’t like anything fanciful there either.

“How much do I owe you?”, Ria asks.

“My lady, my work costs nothing for you.”

Before Ria can object, her sister steps in, “I’m sure that our treasure master will know his prizes and pay him well, you just have to tell him.”

“Good idea, I’ll do that. Good day to you, master Huron.” and, to Maria, “Now, to the bow maker.”

About half an our later, the sisters step out of the bow maker’s shop, Ria carrying a mighty composite bow and a quiver with forty long-shafted arrows.

“Why do they all try to sell you this fancy stuff if all you’re looking is a plain bow and some perfectly ordinary arrows!”

“They’re not used to nobles actually planning to fight and not only to show off. And you’re a woman.”, Maria adds as an afterthought.

“I guess you’re right. In any case, they’ll soon learn not to take me lightly….that is, once I’m back in shape.”

“That shouldn’t take long if Reirrak’s training you. He even manages to keep our brother in shape, and that’s no light task. He really is too bookish, always researching some new magic formulas if he isn’t busy ruling our country. Also, he’s always trying to get me as interested in magic as himself. Just watch out he doesn’t make you a mage instead of a fighter!”

“You can be a mage and a fighter, you know. But I’m not yet willing to touch any magic, fighting again is already enough.”

“Some say that you must be powerful…”

But there’s no answer and so they walk back in silence.

Into the Mountains

The morning sun found Ria crossing a small river on a still fresh spring day. Stopping for a moment, she let her brown stallion drink and turned in her saddle to take a look at the fifty men following her lead as Reirrak reined in beside her. Fifty men, sworn to serve her for a year and a day. When she put out the call for volunteers to root out banditry in the northern regions, she had never thought that so many would hear her call. Apparently, her new reputation had spread quickly. She watched as each of the men let his horse drink at the stream before crossing. There were fierce horseman of the Steppe land, tall men from the southern border, mercenaries with a kind heart and dedicated knights of the royal guard, like Reirrak. She still wondered why he had come. Was he really only there to help her, or was he there to stop her if she should get out of hand. Well, if it was the latter, she certainly didn’t plan take banditry again, so it didn’t really matter why he was there. She now let her gaze wander over the rocky cliffs and dark pine forests she had called home for so long. She still knew every rock here and though some things had changed, she still knew all the best hiding places. With her knowledge, it should be easy to scatter the bandits, but they had to be careful nevertheless. More than anybody else, she knew how fast these mountains could be turned into a deadly trap, this was also the reason why she had only taken volunteers to follow her on this mission.

Reirrak was watching her, thinking about how much she had changed in just a few months time. No, she hadn’t changed in just a few months, the change had begun much earlier, it had only not been apparent. He often caught himself remembering that first day when she had picked up a sword again, that first fight. After that fight, she had really been different. Gone, the lonely woman who hardly ever opened her mouth. Gone, the perpetually worried look in her eyes. Gone, the dresses and the meek attitude. Gone, the fine lady. He was looking onto a warrior now, hard as steel and fast as lightning, one of the best. Looking at her, he even felt a bit proud, after all, it was him who had trained her back into shape. He smiled slightly. Only three months ago, he was still wondering if she was the Red or not, and if he was right to trust her. Now, he was following without a second thought, he just didn’t care any longer if she had been the Red once, she was Ria now. Looking at the men, he was again astonished how well she led them, she truly was a born for it. They would not have come though, if she hadn’t proved her fighting prowess so well against Lord Aselmar. He raised his shoulders slightly, every time he thought about that fight, shivers ran down his spine. He still remembered the look in her eyes all too well, he had read murder there, but she had drawn back at the end and let the lord live.

Seeing the last man cross, he turned to Ria, “So, where to now?”. She seemed lost in thought and he had to repeat her question. “What--? Oh, yes. We’re going up that slope, there’s a hiding place on the other side. I don’t think that we will find any bandits in there though, there are better hide-outs. I’ll go scouting nevertheless, it never hurts to be careful. At that says a woman daydreaming like I just did.” , she laughed briefly. “Will you accompany me scouting?” “As always”, Reirrak agreed.

They took up the lead again and halfway up the slope Ria ordered her man to ready their weapons. Reirrak and herself dismounted and went to scout in front, but they found no presence of bandits and by midday all were reassembled in the hide-out she had mentioned earlier, setting up camp. After making sure that sentinels were placed, Ria gave over command to Reirrak and disappeared into the nearby forest. He watched her go, and suddenly he felt uneasy and called himself an idiot for it. He trusted her, didn’t he? So why did he feel like she were going to bring a bandit raid down on himself? He critically surveyed the situation but found no flaw in their defences. The sentinels were well placed, the place easily defended and the horses well guarded. Sighing, he told himself that he couldn’t do anything more about their security, but he promised himself to double the guards if Ria didn’t return before sunset.

Meanwhile, Ria made her way through thick undergrowth as silently as she could. She silently cursed as she had to disentangle herself from a particularly thick thorn bush she had been forced to go through. So far, she had seen no sign of any bandit activity, but she knew that there was an excellent hide-out not far away. She crept forward even more cautiously, pausing every few steps to listen, but nothing out of the ordinary stirred. Finally, she reached the small clearing she had been looking for. Approaching from the west, she clearly saw the old forest road coming up from the south and continuing to the northeast. Everything seemed calm, so she crept forward into the open and soon found the tracks following the old road. Judging by their aspect, they were at most a day old. Now she knew that her old camp was probably in use again. Slinking back into the forest, she hid in some bushes and began to plan. The sun was already low, she could still make it back to her men by nightfall, but she hadn’t really found out anything useful yet. Trusting Reirrak to keep the men safe, she set off towards the north until she came to a small river. Following it east for some time, she turned north again at an old gnarled willow. By nightfall, she was moving east yet again. The hill she was climbing slowly turning into a cliff facing south. She used extreme caution now, for she knew the hiding place to be just under the cliff in a natural system of caverns. When she saw the end of the wood, she began to search for sentinels, but found none. Careless, that’s what they were. In her time, she had never left the top of the cliff unguarded. She decided to wait some time anyway, in the case there were patrols. The night wore on and no patrols came. Shortly after midnight, she ventured into the open and to the edge of the cliff. Looking down, she noted with satisfaction that there was indeed a bandit lair down there. Flat on her belly, she began to observe their routine. She counted one watch at the horses corral, another two overlooking the treeless approach route from the south and still another one moving in the shadows near the entry to the caves. She waited until the watch was changed at about three in the morning until she began to make her way back to her own camp, scouting the road she planned to take on the next night. She was beginning to feel tired, but sleep could wait .

Reirrak was uneasy, the sun had set and Ria still hadn’t reappeared. He doubled the watch and patrolled the camp himself, his eyes taking in any movement. The night seemed endless, but nothing happened and Ria still wasn’t back, he began to worry about her now. Finally, she came to the camp at dawn. looking tired but pleased with herself.
“Hey, Reirrak, anything happen?”
“No, nothing stirred all night long but I was getting worried about you.”
“No need to worry about me, I know these mountains better than anybody. I found a bandit camp, we’re going to attack it this night. I’ll tell you how later, first I need to get some sleep.” Addressing the men, she ordered “Keep up the watch but try to be well rested for tonight, we’ll have some fighting to do.” Looking back to Reirrak, she added, “And you’d better get some real sleep, you look like you stayed up all night too.”, then she went to find herself a quiet place to lie down.

A nightly Raid

An hour before nightfall, she called them to her and explained her plan. At half past two in the morning, Ria was creeping through the woods yet again. Peering around a bush, she observed the watch at the horse corral. It was late and the man was clearly tired, trying to keep his eyes open, he was almost asleep on his feet. Ria retreated some steps. Some time later, the horses moved. Momentarily alerted, the guard scanned the corral, but nothing was to be seen. He turned back and a minute later, there was a muffled thud and the sound of something being dragged about the ground could be heard. One down, three to go. Ria was rather pleased when she sat down to gag and tie the watch.
She melted back into the shadow and some time later, furtive movements could be seen near th base of the cliff. There he was, the second guard. A quick look at the two guards overlooking the road told her that they were as tired as the first watch, watching the road fixedly, never thinking about checking behind them. A few pebbles distracted the guard at the entry, and soon there was another muffled thud. Hoisting the second watch into a nearby bush, Ria was already busily thinking about the two last guards.
After some thought, she decided that she had just to take her chances. Moving stealthily forward, she crept up behind them. She readjusted her grip on the quarterstaff she carried and leapt forward. The two bandits were down before they had the time to react. Smiling to herself, she gagged and tied this lot too. Then she let out an owls hoot and waited. Soon, her men were silently filling the clearing, Reirrak heading over to her to hand her the sword he had carried for her. Upon her motion, they moved into the cave … .

Moving in, they removed the covers from the lamps they had been carried and sprung a surprise attack on the bandits. Moving fast, they tried to neutralize them as fast as possible. Joining the fray, Ria hit one man hard on the had, disarmed a second and ducked just in time to avoid a third one who was taken down by Reirrak.
“Over there! They’re trying to flee!”, running, she tried to catch up with some bandits making for the back of the cave. Ria and some men chased after them into a tunnel, following the light of their lamp. Suddenly, all went pitch dark as Tergal dropped his lamp, cursing. Unheeding, Ria run kept running, she knew those tunnels well, after all it was her who had first explored them. Listening to the sound of their footsteps, she heard them turn into the main escape shaft. She smiled as she knew a little shortcut. She searched for a small tunnel on her left and ran down it. She was stopped by an apparent dead end, but reaching up, she soon felt her old hanholds and climbed up. After a short crawl through a small tunnel, she found herself in a bigger maze of caves. Taking a moment to focus herself, she started out again. Ten paces to the right, then sharp left and down for 50 strides. Stop at the small rivulet and down the hole, then straight forward, through the tunnel and up the ledge. Once there, she drew her sword and waited patiently. Soon enough, she saw a faint light coming her way. Grinning, she prepared to cut off the bandit’s way. Soon, they would be right beneath her, closer, closer they still came, NOW! She leaped from the ledge and into the middle of them. The fight was short, but furious, and in the end five figures were lying unconscious on the ground with Ria standing over them, holding their lamp. Nodding satisfied, Ria quickly gagged and bound them, then set of to get back to the main cave. Now, how was she going to explain that she found them?

Soon, she saw lamplight coming her way. “It’s me!”, she called.
“Ria? Did you catch them?”
“I did, they weren’t fast enough.”
Reirrak gave her a queer look, but kept his mouth shut.
“Everything under control up there?”, she asked.
“Yes, all nicely bundled up. Hardly any wounded too. Now, let’s go get your lot.”
“Sure, follow me…”
Soon, they had them up and went sbout to set up their camp in the cave.
“We’ll make this our headquarters.”, she announced.

Questioning

It was morning again and Ria was busy looking after the camp.
“OK, let’s check this: the Steppe people look after the horses, the guards are set, there’s a look-out on top of the cliff, the prisoners are securely held, the storage room is well filled, the little fountain at the back of the cave is still flowing, the camp is set, now have I forgotten anything?”

“There’s the escape routes at the back”, Reirrak sounded concerned, “Somebody might sneak in that way.”

“Don’t worry, the exits are just that exits. The Red enchanted them so that they can only be opened from the inside. And, no, I don’t think the spells have been broken since. But we’ll better go check them anyway.”

“I’ll get us some men.”

“And somebody should interrogate the prisoners about further bandit camps.”

In the late afternoon, they came back to the cave after having found all of the exits still secure. Ria went at once to the cave in which the prisoners were held.

“So, any answers so far?”, she asked the questioners.

“No, they’re stubborn as mules. None has said a word yet.”

“Time for some more drastic measures then. I can’t wait for days to get my answers. Where’s their captain?”

Walking over to the thick, swarthy man designed as the bandit leader, Ria squatted down in front of him.

“So, where are the other bandit camps. And I ‘I don’t know’ is not a valid answer. I know you know where your concurrence is.”, she gave him a wolfish grin.

“I won’t tell.”

“No? Think well. I’m not very patient with bandits….No? You really won’t tell if I ask politely?” Suddenly, her black dagger was in her hand. “Perhaps, you will answer if I apply some more drastic methods?”

The bandit only sneered, “You don’t have it in you to torture men, Lady”, he made it sound like an insult.

“Oh yes?”, her wolfish grin was replaced by a stony expression, her eyes suddenly hard as flint. Opening his coat, she let her dagger dance across his chest.

“Let me tell you what the Red used to do with unwilling prisoners. She would take her dagger and pin her prey to the ground by sitting on it.” Ria acted as she said.

“Then she would take her dagger and make a cut, just like this.”, she made a hand-long, shallow cut down his chest.

“Ever heard a tale about how horrible it is to be skinned?”, the bandits eye widened. “Yes”, she chuckled, “you have. Now, the problem with this is: once you’ve skinned somebody, well he’s as good as dead. That is quite inconvenient if he did not yet answer your questions. Now, the Red found a very effective way to avoid this inconvenience. She made a second cut, less than half an inch away from the first.” Again, her actions followed her description, fear began to show in the bandits eyes.

“Then she would take off the skin between the cuts… very slowly.” she began to act upon her words, quietly following the line of her tale. “You see, by repeating this, taking of small lanes of skin, letting the skin between intact, once she was done, she had only to wait for the skin to regrow to be able to start again. Wicked, don’t you think?”

Panicked, the bandit cried out, “You can’t do this! You can’t! Commander!”, he appealed to Reirrak who had been watching, horrified.

“There’s no help there, sweetheart, they are no match for my sword skill”, she assured him, her eyes cruel and hard.

“Ria, really, I don’t think…”, Reirrak finally intervened.

“I meant what I said, interfere and taste my sword. We need this information, and we need it quickly. There are too many hiding places around here to search them all”, her voice was a snarl. Shocked, Reirrak drew back.

Finally, Ria lifted a thin piece of skin from the bandits chest, holding it up so he could get a good look at it. “All you have to do to stop me is answer my question.”

“Never”, but he sounded shaken.

“Hm, did you ever wonder how skin tastes?”, she asked with an evil smile.

“No…no….NO!”, he screamed as she approached. With an expert grip, she forced his mouth open and fed him his own skin, with him trashing around like mad. Choking, he had to swallow his own flesh. Once she let him go, his stomach heaved and he retched. Moving away from him, she waited till he had finished, giving Reirrak a warning look not to intervene.

“So, do you answer now, or do I have to start over?”, her voice was icy.

“NO!”, he gasped, “Pity, please, don’t…”

She twirled her dagger.

“There’s a group in a smaller cave system to the southeast, and another one in a thick forested area to the west”, it gushed out of him. “I’ll give you indications on how to find them, I’ll lead you to them, I’ll do whatever you want, but DON’T SKIN ME!”, he was hysterical now.

Letting the dagger vanish, she sat down on the ground, suddenly quite inoffensive again. “Tell me all you know”, she demanded, and tell her he did. Reirrak walked away, disgusted.

Great Plans

„Hey, Reirrak! Don’t look so gloomy!”, Ria called out to him as she walk to join him on a rock just outside the caves.

“Was that necessary?”, he snapped. “He’d surely have told us soon enough without you frightening the **** out of him. Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Whoa, take it easy. I didn’t harm him much after all!”

“No, but you looked as if you had every intention to.”

“Well, I would have continued if he hadn’t talked, but he talked, right?”

“There goes my hope that you’d not be so cruel to continue.” he gave a short laugh. “Mysteria, you’re aptly named, you’re a mystery to me. You’re leading your men better than anybody I know, always looking after them, always a kind word. You take the bandits prisoners, tell us not to kill them if possible where somebody else would have had them court-martialled first thing in the morning. But then you go and threaten to torture this man in such a despicable way…”, he shook his head in disbelief.

“I know, I didn’t really want to do this, but it was the fastest way. Before you ask, yes I’m in a hurry. You have no idea how many caves there are in these hills. We could spent years searching them all, but we don’t have that leisure if we want to root out banditry completely. Now above all times we have the occasion to do something about it. The Red’s capture left them leaderless and the different bands soon fought each other, just leaving small bands of, say no more than a dozen. They were impossible to hunt down all because there were too many and they could hide very easily. Now, they are beginning to regroup into fewer but bigger groups. More dangerous, yes, but also more vulnerable, above all because they are not yet working together. Practically, they are grouping together the small bands so all we have to do is pick them of. Now is the time to act, and we can’t afford to give them the time to get organized again. If we root out the two groups he has told me about, we’ve practically pacified the area! There’ll be some more small bands, but they soon won’t pose any threat. Don’t you agree?”

“You’re right.”, Reirrak admitted grudgingly. “So, now we have only two more raids to make around here. But what happens after? If we just leave, they’ll regroup sooner or later. You talked about building a fort once, are you still taken with that idea?”

“Absolutely. I’ll have it built right here, on top of the cliff.”

“What about provisions, where will they come from? There’s no bigger village near, and any wagons coming up here would have difficult a going and have to be heavily guarded.”

“That’s where our prisoners come in. I plan on having them condemned to forced work and employ them to built the fort and, more important, to built a rudimentary village and start planting fields. Also, once the fort stand, my brother is ready to sent us men to garrison.”

“You’re mad, fields! This is a hard country, it’s not apt for farming!”

“Not in most parts, but the soil here is better than you think. Have you never wondered why the old road leads up here? I’m sure that there have been a fortress and a village, if not a town, here at one time. Didn’t you notice the markings in the caverns? They were inhabited once, I’m sure of it. And there’s more up on the cliff, come I’ll show you.” She started climbing up a small path leading to the top of the cliff.

“Here it is, look at this.“ She pointed to a stone slab half buried in the grass on top of the cliff. After a short inspection, Reirrak nodded.

“You’re right, this seems man made. And this site would make a good defensible position too. You might well succeed in your plan.”

“I hope so. Now, first we deal with the two groups, then we get them all to Gwynedda and have them condemned to forced labour quickly. Meanwhile, I’ll set the men to work here, we’ll set up a wooden fort up on the cliff. I’ll then move to the east and help the Steppe people get rid of the bandits over there. I know a second place where they may set up a second fort. By the time I get back, the prisoners should be back. and will have to start clearing the old road. Once it’s cleared, we start planting. Oh, and let’s not forget that we have to find time to hunt down the little groups too. The Steppe people will do the same, though it’ll be easier over there as their fort will be closer to established settlements. If all goes well, we’ll have two forts with up and running before winter comes. Next year the, we may have the first real settlers and start to do it in stone and ….” She laughed, “I’m a bit enthusiastic, am I not? We’ll have to take one step at a time.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll succeed, you mule head.”, Reirrak grinned. “Come, let’s go down, if you really want to do all of this, we’d better get started…”

[ 01-22-2002: Message edited by: Mysteria ]