Chương 427: 422. Revenge - IV

Tesyb didn't see any upright enemies in his line of sight. That didn't mean none were left, but the main resistance was gone. Some might have run the moment the first bolts hit, using the confusion and the trees. It meant the attack was still successful! Completely successful! Tesyb let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He looked at his team.

"Hold here," he said.

"Keep your eyes open. I'll go and meet with the captain." Then he started moving toward where Hudan and Feroy were gathering with a few other men to decide the next steps. In the pit below, the slaves kept staring around in fear, faces smeared with clay, bodies still bent as if they expected a whip to land—probably wondering if some other bandit group had come to take them away as their own slaves.

Tesyb looked down at them as he walked, and his mouth lifted slightly, thinking about how happy they would be when they found the reality.

It was nearing sunset when things finally started to slow down. The dead bandits were dragged out and left some distance away from the compound. Tesyb helped with one of them, gripping an ankle and pulling while the body bumped over roots and mud. They didn't bother with neatness. Nobody complained about it. They left the bodies where wild animals would find them in the night. These bastards didn't deserve any better.

Feroy took the three surviving bandits to one side with a few other guards, behind one of the cabins. Tesyb didn't see the start of the interrogation, but he saw Feroy's posture as they walked—straight, confident, like he already knew what he wanted and how he'd get it. The slaves working at the clay pit had also been gathered and brought to the compound for the night. Hudan stood near the center of the yard and spoke to them in a calm voice. Tesyb stayed a little behind, watching faces.

Guards were posted at both the gates for the night. The north gate had a pair of men watching it, and more were placed nearby where they could move quickly if needed. The south gate had even more, since it was the main entry and the one any other bandits would use if they returned. The scouts had stayed at their perches in the trees, but other men would go to relieve them soon and change the shifts. Tesyb couldn't see them from the yard, but he knew they were up there.

Even so, he doubted other bandits would come back in the dark. If Torhan's men returned, it would likely be a few hours after dawn, and Feroy had already made it clear—they weren't staying here long enough to be caught here. Some guards had brought their supplies in from the copse of trees and stacked packs and spare gear near the cabins. A few slaves were told to fetch the cooking pots.

Tesyb watched them hesitate at the order, then move quickly once they realized nobody was going to strike them for obeying too slowly. A small fire was set up with care, kept low and covered from the sides, and soon the smell of something warm began to cut through the damp air. Nurobo and the apprentice medic moved through the yard. They checked any guards with a scratch or bruise. Tesyb saw a few cuts cleaned and wrapped.

No one had severe wounds, and the relief in the medics' faces was obvious even in the dim light. They treated the injured slaves too. Some had cuts where they'd been yanked around or shoved. A couple had bruises on their faces. Nurobo gave them water and for those who were injured, he gently pinched some losuvil powder into the mug without making it a big thing, stirred it, and handed it over.

"This is blessed water," Nurobo told one slave, his voice dead serious.

"Drink it. You'll feel better within an hour." The slave stared at the cup, then drank like he was afraid it would be taken away, or he would get a kick for not following the order immediately. Hudan's voice carried across the yard as he continued explaining to the gathered slaves.

"The place we want you to come with us to is a good place to live," Hudan said.

"Especially in this dangerous region of the kingdom. You'll get food at least twice a day at that place. You'll be paid for your work. And... you won't be a slave for however long you live there." A thin man near the front lifted his chin.

"Why're ya lyin' to us? Jus' tell us where t'go and we'll follow ya. Just don't beat the women..." Hudan frowned.

"Have you seen anyone get beaten by us? Even once?" Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! The man went quiet but another voice came from the side.

"Then what do ya want from us? Don't ya want us to be your slaves too?" Hudan shook his head once.

"No. I told you already. You'll be free people there." A woman with clay still crusted on her arms spoke quietly to someone sitting beside her, like she didn't expect to be heard by the guards.

"It can't be any worse than here, can it?" A few heads turned toward her. She kept going.

"We don't get much to eat," she said.

"Women aren't safe here. If someone gets injured too badly, they put 'im outside the compound to fend for 'imself, saying he's free now. That's death every single time, you know it." Tesyb saw several slaves flinch at that, eyes dropping. He realized that once the slaves lost their utility, a devious man like Torhan wouldn't continue to feed them for free. Sending them outside into the forest—even when saying they were free—just meant they would be eaten alive. It was... brutal. The woman's voice stayed steady.

"If only a quarter of what they're saying is true, it's still food and shelter. Better than now, isn't it?" Another man, older, his eyes sharp despite exhaustion, frowned.

"Maybe they're bandits too," he said.

"Maybe they just want to take us to another compound in the forest." A younger man beside him shook his head slowly.

"They haven't beaten us so far," he said.

"They're cooking food for everyone. That's already better than what we're used to."

'I say that's a trick!" someone muttered. Hudan just shook his head and exhaled. However, around an hour had passed since Nurobo had passed around his 'magical water,' and a few of the injured slaves started speaking up.

"I don't feel any pain anymore, you know?" one man said, flexing his fingers with a stunned look.

"Maybe they really do know what they're talkin' about..." Someone else asked the question Tesyb knew was coming.

"Do we have any choice?" Hudan didn't dodge it.

"We're not forcing you," he said.

"You can stay right here if you want. But within a day or two, more of Torhan's men will come. They'll put you back to digging clay. And you'll take whatever punishment they decide you deserve for letting this happen." A slave snapped back, voice cracking.

"It wasn't our fault!" Hudan looked at him for a moment.

"Do they ask your opinion when they beat you? Or when they put the injured ones outside the walls at night? Is it your fault then?" The slave's mouth worked once, then he looked away. Hudan continued.

"We're feeding you tonight. We'll feed you again tomorrow morning. Then we leave at first light for our home." Tesyb noticed the captain didn't say the village's name even once. He kept it general.

"So I want you all to come with us," Hudan said.

"Back to where we came from." A younger slave, eyes wide with curiosity and fear, asked, "But where are you even taking us?"

"You'll find out if you come," Hudan said.

"And I promise you won't regret it, but I can't tell you any more right now." He glanced along the line again.

"We won't wait or come back for anyone once we leave at dawn. You have until then to think and make a decision." He finally called out Joric.

"Before I go, do you all remember this man?" There were a few nods in the crowd.

"Isn't he...?" The captain nodded.

"Yes, he used to be one of you. Joric has lived in the place we call our home for some time now, so he'll tell you more about it from his own experience. Talk to him and ask whatever you want. He's been told not to tell the name of the place or its location, but you can ask everything else about it. It will help you make a better decision." Then he glanced at Joric and nodded. Joric tentatively walked to the crowd, then sat down between them.

The murmurs grew as everyone tried to ask questions to him at the same time, but Joric smiled and started replying one by one. Tesyb could see that the fear was still there amongst the crowd, but it was mixed with something else now—people testing the possibility of a different life but not letting themselves believe it too fast. Hudan stepped away after that, leaving the slaves to whisper among themselves or to hear from Joric. Some guards stayed nearby, not crowding them but keeping order.

Tesyb walked with Hudan toward the edge of the yard, where Feroy was coming back from the side area.

"How did it go?" the captain asked.

"Did they say anything?" Feroy's face was set, and there was dried blood on one sleeve he hadn't bothered to clean yet.

"One of them was delirious from pain. Not much point talking to him and listening to his babble." Hudan's mouth tightened.

"And the other?"

"Too loyal," Feroy said.

"Kept saying his boss would reward him for keeping quiet. Said Torhan would come and kill all of us soon." Hudan snorted once.

"I'd love to be a fly on a tree when Torhan comes back after we've left with everything he has." Tesyb spoke up.

"What about the third one?" Feroy's mouth pulled into a grin.

"Talkative," he said.

"Right up until his injuries claimed him." Tesyb frowned.

"Couldn't we have saved him? Or the others?" Feroy shook his head.

"At most, we'd keep them alive for a few more days. And even if he was speaking for mercy now, nobody knows what he'd do when he recovered some strength. This is better. All of them had grievous injuries anyway. Sending them to the goddess was a mercy. None of them deserved to be taken back with us." Hudan didn't argue.

"So where's the loot?" he asked.

"We checked all the cabins already. Nothing much there. A few furs, some half-decent swords, but that's it." Tesyb had seen the other pile too—leather armor, swords and spears taken off the dead bodies, stacked in a corner. Useful, but not what the captain meant. Hudan continued.

"There are three wagons here, and enough horses to pull them back home. That's not nothing, along with the slaves. But I expected coin. A good deal of it. Where the heck is it?"