Starblighted - Book 01 of the Shattered Six Chronicles

08 THE WORTON GANG

Julina awakened the girl with a couple of firm taps on her face.
Let's get on with this, she thought, glaring at the girl. Keyon and Aaelett had bound her to a chair, and tied the rope extra tight after the little stunt the girl tried to pull off earlier. They had taken the young noblewoman to one of the lair's chambers that sat underneath the large watermill. It sat separate from the main living quarters of their crew. Maldur initially planned to house the noblewoman in a frequently used chamber, but Julina persuaded him to find an alternative location. Barely.

Most Salarosstian settlements possessed underground passages and bunkers, now untouched and forgotten, had been built for people to take shelter in during the Bestial Wars. Maldur made sure he had used them to his advantage, securing and adding additional passages and various rooms to the old subterranean paths with the help of some of the crew's Earthchanters. He took measures to hide and guard them effectively.

"C'mon now...wakey, wakey!" Julina clapped her hands in front of the noblewoman's face in hope to wake her up.

"So, yer think that this'll work?" Aaelett asked, looking at Julina and Keyon. He was sober when they brought the girl to the room.

"I have a feeling this girl will be a lot of work...rather irritating, if I may say." Keyon sighed.

"We ain't got a choice but for it to work." Julina replied, returning her attention to the noblewoman.

"Says you! I'll pack mi crap and move back to the Eastern Region should things go tits up!"
Julina ignored his comment. "C'mon, I ain't got all day now." She ungagged the girl and tossed the cloth they used to the side. With a groan, the young noblewoman slowly raised her head. With a dazed expression, she gazed at the three marauders, her head swaying slightly. From where she had been hit. Her eyes soon met with Julina's. She could see on the girl's fatigued face, glints of fear, confusion...defiance.

Interesting, Julina remained a couple of feet from the girl, while Aaelett and Keyon remained by the door. There's somethin' weird about this one.

Her eyes scanned the room, darting up and down.

"Mi eyes are 'ere." Julina snapped her fingers to grasp the girl's attention. 

"Where...am I?" The girl croaked.

"Somewhere where no one can 'ear ya scream." Julina replied.
The girl's eyes returned to the room again.

She's studyin' the room? "Oi! I said mi eyes are 'ere!" Julina snapped her fingers again in front of the girl's face.

The girl hesitantly turned her violet eyes to Julina. She was clearly exhausted and needed tending to, not that she could not focus.

"Who are you?" With another croak, the girl's eyes roamed over Julina's appearance. 

 "People who can make ya scream if yer don't cooperate." Aaelett replied.
The girl paused for a moment before replying, still eyeing Julina and Keyon and Aaelett. A look of fear soon began forming across the girl's face.

"Marauders...thieves and killers...godless, and damned."

"Oh c'mon. Even the damned believe in the Former, just not in the same way nobility such as yerself do," Julina chuckled. "But let's talk about you, m'lady, or whatever your noble lot like to call ya."

The girl stiffened at the comment. "I...I do not know what you mean."

"Well..." Julina directed the girl's eyes to her dress with a pointing finger. "I've encountered enough noblewomen to know an expensive dress when I see one. Based on its material, I'd say you're from one of the Chosen Houses."