As A Stranger Or A Friend?

Axtapor - 30 Sun's Dawn, 1245 A.D.

I gave the three-rapped knock that Fay had instructed me to use upon my return. A few seconds later, the hatch in her floor opened, and she beckoned me up. I climbed up with ease and did my best to calm my nerves. For some reason receiving word from her made me panic rather than setting me at ease. I looked around the room and saw four girls matching a description similar to the one I had given her of Miss Frère standing there blindfolded.

"What be this?" I asked as I heard the hatch drop closed behind me.

"Take your pick." She said before leaning on her desk.

"This nay be what I paid ye for." I growled.

"Well done!" She said sarcastically, clapping slowly to punctuate her tone, "That's because I can't give you what you're asking."

"Why no?" I asked with an edge.

Perhaps I should take this as a sign she no longer excelled at this as I thought she did.

"Before I answer any other questions, do you want any of them or not?"

"Nay, put 'em back where ye found 'em..." I replied in an annoyed manner.

Her mouth twisted, and she gestured to a barrel-chested man standing nearby to take them away. They fluttered nervously as he ushered them out, disappearing into another doorway that appeared to be part of the wall it rested in. It sealed with finality once they passed through it and I gathered neither they nor the man who led them away would return.

"What sort of trickery be this, ey?"

"No trickery." She remarked, pulling my pouch of gold from her pocket.

She opened it, pinched a few coins, closed it, and then tossed it my way. I caught it and squeezed it frustratedly. How hard could she be to find? People like her, who were so afraid of the world, didn't just vanish. Unless...

"Simply that what you are asking for cannot be done. Not by me anyway. Or my people." She replied matter-of-factly.

Her words struck me like an arrow through the heart. Was she...? No. No, there was no way. She stayed out of trouble when she wasn't around me. She had to be alive somewhere. I couldn't entertain the thought of anything else.

"What be yer meanin'? She be a plain bird. Be she so elusive, or have ye lost yer touch?" I continued trying to disguise the fact that I was panicking.

"Careful now. The devil lurks closely and has sharp ears." She warned before sitting down.

I let out another growl. I was growing tired of her coy remarks. I needed her to tell me plainly what had happened to Miss Frère or where she was that she was so unreachable. Fortunately, it seemed she was done playing with her food and ready to speak sense as her face became more serious.

"This Miss Frère is not as plain as you think. You neglected to mention that she is a Priestess of Shanta. And not just any priestess. The one betrothed to The Third Imperial Prince Mikaelis Luther, third heir to the throne of The Pale Kingdom and, you guessed it, son of the Imperial Majesty Emperor Phostos something or other. So unless you have a shipful where that came from." She gestured at the gold in my hand, "And an army lying around." She shrugged, "She's as good as gone."

"Betrothed?" I managed in little more than a whisper, "To The Third Imperial Prince?"

How? When? Were they in love? Is that why she didn't want me to look for her? Because she was returning to him? No. That didn't make any sense. She never seemed to have any urgency to go anywhere that wasn't her master's home. Surely one as dedicated as she would not stray from her duties. Much less from those in service to someone as important as a husband and a royal one at that.