Lady in the Iron Mask

II: Chapter 2

"Eve? Eve!" Kieran whirled his horse around so that his was trotting next to hers.

She had seemed really out-of-it since the other night when they'd had a campfire. Since then, all he'd noticed was that she was becoming more reserved, quiet and isolated from the rest of the group. Once again, the sun was shining, although wind cut at the grass in the fields as they passed into a large village. Eve ignored Kieran, lost in contemplation. He eventually gave up, and rode to the front of the group, and they entered the village, heading towards the inn. He guessed that the party was around three quarters of the way to Port Regis right now, or a little over halfway. But this needed checking with his navigator, who had been appearing a little puzzled and had requested the stop to discuss travel routes.

Apparently, there were three different routes one could take. The first was through the mountains, but as it was winter, it was snowy and icy. The second was through a thick, maze-like forest, and the third through a hunters' camp. They'd asked around the villagers, who had told them that hostile peoples lived there, ones who would even eat their own kin.

Eve sat down in the shabby old place, feeling totally at home. The other women, however, refused to seat themselves at the table, calling it "peasantly". The building was a firm wooden construction, with a woven straw roof. The tavern itself was a little scruffy, with sticky old beer on the wooden floorboards, from probably a week ago, and the stench of vomit and sweat permeated the air. It was dim, too; the few candles that lit up the large place hid the men sat in the shadows smoking their pipes and eyeing up the women in the small shaft of light, a predatory glint in their eyes. Eve was unnerved by the unrelenting, shameless staring and wondered why they behaved like this, but didn't linger on those dark thoughts for too long.

Instead, she kept her head angled upright, taking in all possible exits in case she had to use any of them. A window to her left. The door over to her right. Or she could choose to stay and fight them. She had the skills now to break their necks in one hit if she so desired. But their party was trying to keep a low profile, and so she decided to sit with a slouch, as she would have done before, when she disguised herself in her cloak.

She was wearing her mask - she was extremely attached to it unlike the other women with theirs - and it hid her features. It felt cool and reassuring, like fresh dew on the fingertips. She was pleased that it made her look deadlier, and plain in comparison to the other women whose hair and features were unhidden. They spoke animatedly, after having decided to sit down with handkerchiefs placed as a barrier between them and the pew-like seat. It made her roll her eyes, but wasn't her business.

"What are you looking at, freak?" Evie muttered to her, hands folded across her chest. "You into those men in the corner? They look your breed type." She laughed, and Eve ignored her.

"I hope you're aware of the danger we could be in," she told Evie instead. "The men are in another room at the back of the tavern: do you honestly expect those men to let us be?"

She gestured vaguely to the corner of the room, where the dirty men sat with their choked pipes, only a red circular ember lighting up their greedy features. One of them caught Eve's eye and licked his mud-caked lips. She gasped, and turned away, her face red and embarrassed. Evie also bristled visibly at the sight, and glared at the men.

"What a filthy mongrel," Eve angrily swore.

Eden noticed Evie's displeasure and turned around to spot the men in the corner. Evelynn didn't bother: even the sight of them brought up unpleasant memories for her.

Little did she know, they dragged up horrifying images for not only her.

"Who do they think they are?" Eden said arrogantly. "Why are they watching us?"

"It's just men," Evelynn spoke bitterly, surprising the group, "All they want is sex and power. Don't be surprised if they approach us soon asking for it. I mean, a group of women going with a load of soldiers? We already look like refined prostitutes!" She spat quietly.

"We already know what we look like, Evelynn," Evie murmured. "But nonetheless, these scum will never lay hands on us. I could kill them all so quickly and brutally, they'd never even know."

"Oh yeah?" Eden challenged. "Well, I could always pretend to be interested in them and then go and break their necks!"

"I'd want them to feel more pain than that," Evelynn interceded. "In fact, I'd mutilate them so badly they wouldn't be able to face anyone again, or even think of abusing their rights."

Eve gasped, surprised at the hatred within Evelynn. It didn't only direct itself at her, although she hadn't tried anything since the ripping of the dress. She wondered if she'd ever feel kinship with any of these girls. Right now, they felt like a whole unit, fighting against one common enemy. But, Eve knew that if it were different, she would be dead already.

"Let's just hope they don't approach us then," Eve said, looking out of the window to her left and seeing men labour in the corn field, their back muscles tensing as they strained to cover each plant in a protective layer of muck for the winter season.

She wondered if she had been given a fate which included a mother, if she would be in the field with her, ploughing and mucking each night. Or even, if Kiera and herself would be if their circumstances were different.

A pang of deep loss touched her heart. She truly hoped her surrogate sister was alright, and if not...

Well, she would snap and crack those bridges of men if she ever came to them.