THE ROAD

As the wagons came to a stop Kaylee glared at the undead bitch, the cause of all her problems, and had the urge to unsling her bow and introduce an arrow to scarred bitch's skull. The act would probably not kill her, even so she could still gain a bit of satisfaction from it.

In the end she stayed her hand and cast her gaze to Taruk. The escorts of the Delsarte family were members of his party; as the leader, he was in charge of this expedition. Temporarily joining a mercenary party and acting without the leader's approval was frowned upon in the mercenary profession. She would have to wait for him to act before she did anything.

But of course, as an escort Taruk could not act without Frederique or Margret or their children's approval. Since it was the merchants who had signalled the wagon to stop the half-orc and his Iron Ring companions stayed their hand, forcing her to do the same.

"Fancy meeting someone on the road this early," the moustached Frederique began as the wagon pulled up before the undead. "Where might you be going?"

"Yshta," the undead replied. "Might you perhaps be able to spare a seat upon you wagon for me kind sir? I am willing to compensate you for it."

When she heard the undead's polished talk, Kaylee almost fell from her borrowed horse. Luckily she managed to grab fast onto her reins and steady herself. When she had secured herself she shot a scrutinising glare at Sage.

The stitched-up bitch was actually mimicking a lady's speech. It was almost hilarious considering how she looked under her widow-like disguise.

"It would have been easier to get a lift in the city," Laz replied to her query. His hand rested on the pommel his dagger as he eyed her. "Why didn't you hitch a ride there instead?"

The fully covered mercenary was the lookout of their squad. The suspicious type, it was no wonder he came off as being rude. Still, his role was a necessary one. He was willing to voice out what others were not.

"I would have loved to do so," the undead responded casually. Even as she did so her eyes were glued to Frederique, the one she deemed to be in charge. "But certain unfortunate circumstances prevent me from doing so."

"And what circumstances would they be?" Laz forced, his hand still on his dagger.

He seemed a bit peeved that Sage did not pay attention to him.

As for the other members of the party, they chose to remain silent. They too had their eyes glued on the undead, awaiting her response. After all, the way she had covered up every part of her body looked really suspicious. She was clearly hiding something, which was obvious to even the Delsarte children in the back wagon. It made Kaylee wonder how they would react if they saw how she looked like underneath her disguise.

"There's no need for such an unfriendly tone?" Frederique interrupted Laz, his eyes glued to the undead. "We are going the same way after all. So… Miss-"

"Sage," the undead surprisingly gave her true name; if even that was her true name.

"Miss Sage," the merchant continued. "You said you were willing to pay to ride our wagon. How much are we talking about?"

"Ten gold," the undead replied nonchalantly. "If the kind sir feels it is not enough I can offer more. Although, I am afraid I my limit lies at thirteen gold coins."

Fuck! Kaylee screamed internally when she heard her.

Her current colleagues' outbursts were a little more vigorous than hers.

She heard gasps among some of them, especially the novice Aden. Some, like the hag Meeva and the dwarf Hvar, had their eyes wide to the max. Even Frederique and Margret could not help few deep intakes. The amount offered by the black-clad undead was more than the mercenaries would get upon completion of their mission. It was unbelievable that she would offer so much money when the standard fee for a carriage from Tiih to Yshta was around two gold.

This suspicious lady was wasteful, and extremely loaded.

This must be what they were all thinking, which was completely different from what was going through Kaylee's mind at the moment.

Bitch! She thought through gritted teeth as she glared at the veiled undead. She's able to come out with this much coin but she can't pay back the money she stole? Fucking bitch!

"I guess that is acceptable," Frederique commented, unable to hide the greedy eyes that were typical of his kind. "How about you fork over twelve gold right now and you can climb in the back wagon with the children?"

"Deal," Sage replied, not even bothering to negotiate.

However, Taruk did not seem enthusiastic about the proceedings.

"Are you sure sir?" he asked. Like his teammate he did not bother to hide his suspicion as he looked the undead up and down. "Any way you slice this; from the way she looks to the amount she's offering, it is all suspicious. I don't think it's wise to bring her with us."

"I think so too," Laz jumped in. "She could be in cahoots with bandits for all we know. After all, she's not even willing to show us her face."

"They have a point," Margret said to her husband. Turning to the undead, she added. "You don't mind showing us you face do you dear?"

Contrary to the woman's expectation's, though in line with Kaylee's, Sage firmly declined.

"Unfortunately that is something I am unable to do," the undead said sternly. "It is also the reason why am offering so much money. If the sir and madam harbour any doubt as to my honesty in this transaction then you needn't accept my offer. You need only pass by and leave me to try my luck with the next band of travellers."

Seeing that he was about to lose a huge pay, the moustached merchant quickly jumped in.

"There's no need to be so hesitant dear," he said to his wife. Turning to Sage, he added. "You are welcome to a spot on our caravan, provided you pay first."

In response to the man, the undead gave a polite curtsy.

"Thank you very much for your consideration kind sir."

***

That was how the undead joined their company.

Three days had passed since then.

Although Sage shared a wagon with Eugene and Imogene, she mostly kept to herself. She kept her face covered and, although she accepted food during meals, she never ate with others. During the day she kept her head buried in a thick book of fables and looked up only to respond to the enquiries of the Delsarte twins seated with her.

The merchant couple up front also spoke with her from time to time. Margret especially loved speaking to her considering she was very attentive to her gossip about the aristocracy.

As for the bandits, they were all wary of her. Especially Laz. He made it his personal mission to watch her, always sticking close to her with his hand on his dagger; ready to let it fly in the event she tried something. The other members of the Iron Ring also kept their vigilance around her, but not in the invasive manner of their colleague.

Kaylee on the other hand did the opposite of what Laz was doing, she kept her distance.

Although she very much wanted to walk up to the bitch, rip off her stupid disguise and demand her money; the last thing she wanted was for it to be known that she was acquainted with the undead. Having her friends suspicious of her was enough. She did not need others to doubt her as well, especially when they were in the great outdoors. Although she was familiar with most of the Iron Ring, they were not her party and therefore had no reason not to suspect her of having wicked intentions. If they began to doubt her the situation could deteriorate into a bloody one very quickly.

Thinking this, Kaylee sighed as she sat on the ground and slurped her supper stew.

The sun had set and they had set up a makeshift camp along the road.

It was around this time where one could see the group divide.

The Delsartes sat together around the fire and chatted while they ate. Taruk sat with them, but his position put him closer to his crone and dwarven companions, who were discussing something in low tones. Laz stood a short distance from them with his eyes glued to the back of Sage's head. Kaylee, who sat close to him, kept her eyes on the undead as well. At every meal she would put at least a twenty metre distance between herself and others.

"Hey Kaylee. Do you want to see me cast a [Fireball]?"

Kaylee sighed as she turned to the owner of the voice, an overeager youth with eyes that gleamed every time they saw her.

This was the situation she had been dealing with for the past few days. Since the day they had left Tiih, Aden had been sticking to her like a shadow, always trying to impress her with one thing or another.

What did I do to deserve this? She thought, sighing audibly.

"That wouldn't be wise," she replied "Using such a spell here would disturb the surroundings and likely catch the attention of any bandits that might be lurking around here. If that happened, apart from having lured the bandits to us, you would have wasted some of your mana which could have been used in fending them off."

"Oh," Aden, responded, a little disappointed. "I guess you're right. I need to save my strength for when the bandits appear. When they do I will strike them down with my [Fireball]s and [Chain Lightning]. Maybe I should also use [Ice Spike]. There are so many spells that I can use against them. When I get to the 4th Order I'll probably be able to do this assignment on my own. My instructors at the Tiih Magic Academy said I was the best student they've had since Arletta Henson, did you know? Henson's now a famous mercenary, do you know her?"

"Yes," Kaylee replied tiredly. "She's a member of my team."

The boy was the only mercenary present who was ignorant of that fact.

"Oh is that so," Aden said, surprised. "In that case who do you think is better be-"

There was probably more he wanted to say but she suddenly jumped to her feet and looked in a certain direction. In the process she noticed Laz had done the same as well, his daggers drawn and his venomous eyes were staring at Sage.

The other mercenaries, barring a confused Aden, got to their feet and took up arms.

In the open plains shouting could be heard in the distance. The noise got closer and closer until they finally saw the source.

Bandits had appeared, a span of them running towards them with an array of raised weapons.