Chapter 19
Alistar didn't recognize any of these voices. What's more, they had said Sim. That was the nickname a number of guards had called against his father, one that had stuck and carried on through each new shift of guards despite the passing years. From the sounds of it, this group of unknowns had skipped breakfast in order to follow him and Kaila away from the Resident Cavern. There was a good chance that this was a planned encounter. No, judging from their conversation, it must have been. They were talking about his family, about him.
A brief memory filled Alistar's vision, of several guards leering at Kaila as they made to leave the Resident Cavern many months ago. Since that time, Alistar had wondered how he hadn't noticed the lasciviousness that misted over many pairs of eyes that he'd peered into in the months that followed. He didn't entirely understand why he was discomforted by such stares, but he sensed maliciousness in them that he hadn't been aware of until recently. The strange maliciousness that some men had toward women.
He gulped nervously.
"You sure nothin' bad'll happen?" the first speaker asked. "I know they're slaves and all, but even the captain in charge of their tunnel got told off by the count for what he's been doing."
"That ain't mean nothin'," said the second bickerer. "The count's 'is bloody father. He only got pinched because he killed those people, 'n' only 'cause they were expensive people. You know what they say, one miner from Crystellum's worth a castle in Casova. Why you think we get punished if we kill them, when they do it in droves at the silver mines south of the mountains?"
"The people in that tunnel are different," grated the fourth man. "And our paps ain't the count, neither. Even if he's paying us, we've gotta be careful. We'll just rough the boy up a bit 'n scare the girl."
"Just enough to see if it really is blue," said the plain voice. "His blood, that is."
The group shared a murmur of agreement and then fell into silence. Alistar and Kaila had just reached the bend in the wall and would make contact in less than a minute.
He squeezed Kaila's hand and they rounded the bend.
Five men, all of them sturdily built, were striding in their direction. Alistar instantly felt their stares, but urged himself to keep walking. He prayed that they would somehow come out of this situation safely.
He led Kaila along the right side of the wide-set tunnel, as close to the wall as possible. Tension was building rapidly throughout his body, his face heating as they drew nearer to the group. None of the men had been graced with good looks. From the short, stubby man with greedy eyes in the middle to the gangly men that drew up on the sides, each gave off an unpleasant feeling.