Lament of the Slave

Chapter 18: Florist

"Sorry?" I said, unaware of how to respond to guardswoman's words, wondering how it could be my fault if I didn't even know they were looking for me?

"You should be," she responded curtly.

Swordswoman put her hand on spearwoman's shoulder and looked at me. "Excuse her; she's usually not so grumpy. Shall we go?"

"Sure," I nodded, even though I didn't want to.

Because I had been there, I knew where guard barracks were. It wouldn't be hard for me to find my way there alone. I would prefer it because right now, accompanied by two armed women, I felt like a criminal and the people on the streets looked at me as if I were one.

I shouldn't give a fuck what they think.

But somewhere deep inside, I didn't want others to think I was a bad person. My parents weren't here with me; they couldn't scold me, but their upbringing was one of the few things I brought with me to Eleaden, and I still had. They raised me to be a decent girl, and a year ago, I still was. Now? I wasn't so sure, but I wanted to be. That's why people's looks and the slandering behind my back that didn't escape my ears hurt me.

To take my mind off these thoughts, I asked my guards, "Why are you taking me to the barracks, anyway?"

"That's a good question," swordswoman said, looking at her partner. "We have no idea."

"The Captain was unusually agitated at the morning line-up." spearwoman muttered before adding. "She sent three pairs of guardsmen to find you and bring you to the barracks as soon as possible. Maybe you can tell us what's so important about you!"

"I'd like to know that, too," I sighed.

They didn't arrest me, so telling the librarian about Dungreen's experiments on other slaves and me wasn't the reason they required me in the barracks. Maybe someone found my ex-master and arrested him? I could only hope, but I didn't believe it myself. Perhaps they just wanted to check the information they already had, to ask if I could think of anything else? Maybe and it was big maybe, this was just a routine check.

However, the expressions of the women who led me to the barracks told me that this was not the case, that this was an unusual and much more serious matter.

We soon arrived at the guards' barracks, where I found myself in front of a familiar assistant. The young man looked just as I remembered him: ironed uniform, trimmed hair, a serious expression, and a mountain of papers on his desk.

Spearwoman walked over to his desk and leaned against it. "We found her, Travis. Don't you think we deserve a little bonus to our wages?"

He looked at the woman. "Vara, as far as I know, you were just doing your job. If you don't like it, find another one. Now please ... remove your hands from my desk."

"Tss ... stingy," spearwoman hissed, straightening up.

"What should we do with her?" the swordswoman asked.

Travis looked at me, so I waved at him. "Hi"

At that moment, he blushed. Apparently, he remembered our first meeting, during which he also blushed when he saw my ... exposed lap. Now my cheek felt hot too. Why? It was all his fault anyway, and I had nothing to be ashamed of.

Plus, I was wearing proper clothes now.

Vara whistled. "Look at that, Travis is blushing. She's your girlfriend or something. That's why we were looking for her so you could go on a date with her?"

"She's not!" Travis snapped.

"But she works in a brothel," Vara said, adding. "So you met her there. Oh ... so you visit brothels. Wow, when Rayden finds out ..."