Mercenaries

“Momma, look!”
She glanced down at the little girl, broad smile filling her lips. She was only three years old, with a mixture of innocence and intelligence that a number of her previous daughters had inherited. It was unsettling to some, but Rhia knew it for what it was. The girl had fair skin, and a head full of blonde curls. Currently, she was holding up a small white flower, a ladybug perched on the petal.
“What’cha got there?” she asked the girl as she crouched down beside her.
“It’s a bug!”
They laughed, and she took the flower from her daughter’s hand. “Do you know what kind of bug?” The girl shook her head, causing the curls to flounce around her face. “It’s called a ladybug.”
“But what if it’s a boy?” They laughed again, this time causing the bug to fly away, and the girl quickly chased after it. She ran across the field, back towards the small house on the hill, overlooking the vast country around them.

* * *

“Boss?”
Rhia broke from her reverie, once again gazing down at the little white flower in her hand. The mercenary band was perched on a ridge, a camp of bandits set up in the valley below. They’d kidnapped the daughter of a lesser lord, and the crown was doing nothing to help. Rhia, of course, had been in the right place at the right time, and was now tasked with retrieving the girl.
“How should we proceed?” her current number two asked.
She glanced sideways at him, then smiled. It was a smile to make one’s skin crawl. She held up the white flower in her palm, and with a thought, it burst into flames, curling up into a small pile of ashes only to be carried off by the wind.
“Burn them,” she said. “Leave the girl to me.”
“Right,” he said with a smirk. He tugged his horse around and went to give the orders. Without notice, without any rallying call from Rhia, without war cries to alert the camp below, the men descended. They quickly spread chaos and flames, setting not only the encampment on fire, but the bandits as well. Not a single sword was drawn by her men, all meeting their fate by flames. It gave her men a challenge, but it also had its purpose.
Rhia descended among the chaos. Her horse walked straight and true despite the flames and shouting, trusting her hand. She didn’t rush, never rising above a walk, almost appearing to go by in slow motion among the chaos around her. She’d spotted the tent she was looking for from the ridge, and so went straight for it. None seemed to notice her, too busy burning or trying not to burn.
There was no one guarding the tent when she arrived, but the flames had begun to work their way up the tent lines, soon to engulf the whole place. She swung down from her horse, which waited patiently where Rhia left him. Swift steps carried her into the tent, and her sharp eyes pinpointed the prize.
And what a prize. Rhia slowly smiled at the sight of the girl. Sixteen, with three feet of rich, chocolate hair, fair skin with a touch of freckles on her nose. Her clothes were stained, torn, and roughed up. Rhia was more than sure the girl was by far no longer a virgin. She was spoiled goods, no longer valuable for the treaty marriage she had been arranged for. Precisely what Rhia had been hoping for.
She strode across the tent and reached down, taking hold of the girl by the ropes that bound her. She’d been unconscious – fainted, perhaps – but she stirred when lifted to her feet. Seeing Rhia before her, her eyes grew wide, but Rhia quickly motioned for her to be silent. Realizing she wasn’t one of the bandits, the girl clamed her mouth shut and followed Rhia out of the tent. Rhia helped her up onto the horse, a difficult task with the girl still bound by ropes, and then swung up behind her. She wheeled the horse around and urged him into a brisk run back the way they’d come.
When they reached the ridge, some of her men had already rallied back there. Rhia carefully untied the ropes from the girl, then dropped to the ground. She tugged off one of the girl’s shoes and started to walk away.
“Hey!” the girl exclaimed, finally over the shock of the whole rescue mission. “Who are you people? What are you doing with my shoe?” Her voice was quite pretty, and Rhia idly wondered if she sang.
She turned to look back, calm smile on her face. “We’ve come to take you home. Your shoe is the key.” The girl didn’t look as though she understood, but she would soon enough. Rhia continued on her way, finding her number two among those that had rallied back. “Take these. Find a corpse for them, then burn it again.”
The man grinned and took the rope and shoe. “She’s quite the looker, ain’t she?”
“Yes. Yes, she is.”

* * *

“You said you were taking me home!”
Rhia stood in the main common room of the mercenaries’ headquarters. It was actually a large system of caves, magickal lights filling the place with some kind of warmth. It was home. Unfortunately, not the home Ms. Brixby had been hoping for.
“I thought you came to rescue me!”
Rhia stepped forward, and handed the girl a piece of sheepskin, on which were the orders by her father in regards to her rescue. She hesitated, but took the orders and quickly read through them. Then she read through them again, slower.
“This…this isn’t from my father.”
“The seal is his,” Rhia said calmly.
The sheepskin fell from the girl’s hands and she let out a sob. Rhia bent to retrieve the orders, tucking them into a pocket of her cloak. “You still wish to go home?”
Her eyes grew wide as she looked up to Rhia. “No, please. I can’t go back now. I can’t.”
“Very well. Then welcome home.”
“I can really stay here?”
“Under two conditions: Serve me, and remain beautiful.”
The girl’s brow furrowed, but a small chorus of giggles interrupted her thoughts. She glanced up, taking in the room for the first time. In the main chamber, Rhia’s men watched from the various tables set up around them. Above, along a balcony that led back into another series of caves, was a small crowd of women. They were beautiful, of various ages, sizes, races, all of them well dressed, if not a bit scantily. A hint of dread touched the girl’s face.
“Is this a…a brothel?”
They giggled again, and Rhia chuckled as well. “Not at all. These women are my servants.”
“What do…what do they do?”
“Anything I ask,” Rhia said simply. “Do you accept, or shall I carry out your father’s orders?”
She paled and looked quickly back to Rhia. “I accept.”
“Wonderful! Lacey, come show Ms. Brixby to her new room. Get her cleaned up and fed for me, will you?”
An older woman of the group, nearing her forties, but still rather stunning, stepped away from the group and headed down the stairs. “Of course, mistress.”
Rhia watched the girl as she was led away, then turned to her number two. “That went well. Take these,” she said, handing him the orders. “Burn them with the originals. Send Phillip to give Lord Brixby the news of his daughter’s unfortunate end.”
“Righto, boss. Anything else?”
“Not now. Keep to your own room tonight.”
“What if she’s not enough?”
Rhia smirked, glancing up towards the emptied balcony. “Oh, she’ll be enough. She has so much to be thankful for, after all.”
He chuckled and left her side, off to do her bidding.

* * *

“What’s your name, doll?”
“Susan,” the girl answered, glancing around at the ring of faces surrounding the tub. Lacey was washing the dirt from her back, while one of the other girls combed perfume through her hair. “Are you all…like me?”
“Some of us. Others are runaways. Some of us just came when she called. The mistress has an eye for a pretty face.”
Susan frowned. “What is it you all do?”
“Keep her happy,” one of the other girls replied.
“How?” she asked with a hint of hesitation. These girls looked happy enough, but something about Rhia made Susan think she was difficult to please.
“All different ways. Sometimes it’s just bringing her food, spirits, making her fire or drawing her bath. Now and then she requires help in dressing, or looking after should she be injured on a job.”
“We keep the boys happy, too,” another added with a response of giggles.
Susan tensed at that, but Lacey patted her shoulder. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, dear,” she said. “The mistress has other plans for you, I believe.”
“Wh-what kind of plans?”
“Well, there’s one last job we have. It happens to be the most coveted job.” Lacey retrieved a pale, filling it with some of the steaming water. “The mistress often prefers a woman warms her bed.” Susan’s eyes widened, but as she went to protest, she could only gasp as the hot water was poured over her. Just what had she agreed to?
* * *

Susan wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but more than a week had passed, and she found herself wondering how she’d ever survived outside of this mercenary woman’s grasp. The first night had been terrifying. She still had nightmares of the men that had used her, and she’d begun to think of Rhia like those men. But it wasn’t that way at all. That night, Rhia made Susan feel new; clean; beautiful. Now, Susan did everything she could to please Rhia in return.
For the first three nights, she’d fallen asleep nestled safe in Rhia’s arms. The next few nights, however, she was sent to sleep in an antechamber off of Rhia’s quarters. She’d learned in those nights that Rhia had a ferocious, unquenchable appetite among the men, especially with her number two.
In fact, the woman seemed to have many faces, many sides. In one situation, she was calm and collected, in another stern, another fierce and commanding. And yet, when Susan was alone with her, she was gentle, affectionate, and all but purred as they caressed. Susan sat behind her now in the hot spring nestled deep in the caves. She scrubbed the grime from Rhia’s back, taking in the sight of all of those scars. Just how did a woman so young come to be the person before her? It puzzled Susan.
Rhia straightened up, brushing away Susan’s hands as she turned towards the doorway. A few seconds later, Susan heard footsteps approaching. A man appeared, one Susan didn’t recognize. Rhia leaned against the side of the spring, resting her chin on her hand.
“Phillip. Is that blood I smell?”
The man flinched, absently shifting his hand under his cloak. “Ma’am-“
“You failed me, didn’t you, Phillip?” Her voice was so calm, and yet Phillip trembled. “You did. And yet you came back. I’m impressed with your courage.”
“Y-you are?”
She smiled and motioned him to come forward. He didn’t dare disobey. “Oh yes,” she said as he approached. Most would have simply run away, or killed themselves quickly.”
“I couldn’t. I had to tell you they’re coming here to get her back.”
“Coming here? I see. Thank-you for that. Tell me,” she said, beckoning him closer. He hesitantly crouched down beside the spring. “Did they torture our location from you?”
He smiled. “No, ma’am.”
Rhia returned the smile and reached up to stroke the man’s face. “Well done, Phillip, on that much. And yet,” she said, her hand reaching back behind his head, acquiring a firm grip on the back of his neck. “You came back.”
Phillip’s eyes widened as he realized his mistake. “Ma’am, I-“
The smile vanished from Rhia’s face, and she pulled his head down with a violent jerk. He struggled, and managed not to get pulled all of the way into the spring, but Rhia didn’t need all of him. She thrust his face into the water, just up to his ears so he could still hear her. He thrashed and fought, but Rhia’s grip was like iron, her arm never moving.
“You’ve brought them down upon us, you fool. Brave? You’re not brave. You’re stupid. All you had to do was keep your mouth shut and lay low, but you couldn’t do that. Then you had the nerve to return despite failing? I did not teach you well enough. But it’s too late. Good-bye, Phillip.”
Susan watched the whole exchange with increasing horror. She shrank back to the far side of the spring, trying to escape the desperate splashing. Before her eyes, the man’s life faded away, and he eventually fell still. Rhia released him, and left him face down in the water. She turned, leaned back against the side of the spring beside the corpse to face her. A calm smile touched her lips.
“Sing for me.”