Chapter 44 part 2

The girl tapped Amelia's arm with the key and Amelia took it and was about to fit it into the door when the door opened suddenly. Amelia moved back quickly, surprise painted on her face.

Ralph was startled himself and was about to try to come up with some excuse about why they were there, even though he knew they weren't doing anything wrong. However, the woman who came out of the door, glared at them.

The girl however wasn't put off by the glare. "Scithia!" she cried happily.

The girl's jubilation died out fast enough when the woman turned her glare on her. "Do you realize what you did?" she asked quietly, making Ralph glad he wasn't in her shoes. "And who are these people?"

"They saved me," the girl said, her earlier cheerfulness gone, replaced by a more serious tone, not that it masked the fatigue that was clear in her voice.

The woman looked at them. Starting with Tim, then her gaze moved on to Beth, then she looked at Amelia. What Ralph didn't expect was the woman's eyes to go wide and drop to a knee as bowed her head respectfully. "My lady!" she exclaimed. "You're alive!"

Ralph wasn't sure what to make of this, and he could tell his friends didn't either. However, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. If nothing else, this might allow them to avoid whatever this woman had in mind to do to them for whatever it was she thought they had done.

–Might be good to play along and see what this gets us.– Ralph said to his friends with his magic.

However, he could immediately see that Amelia didn't have any intention on pretending to be whoever this woman thought she was.

"Hi," Amelia said, making Ralph groan again. This time in dread. "My name's Amelia Adams. I believe your name is Scithia?"

"The Marquis will be overjoyed to see you're still alive, my lady," the woman said not raising her head, either not hearing what Amelia said or flat out ignoring it.

–Why don't we let this woman take us inside where we can relax and get some rest. I'm sure we can sort this out later.– Ralph said before anyone else could try to ruin this perfect opportunity, hoping that his friends would agree with him.

After all, they didn't know what was going on, but it was clear that they might be in a rather favorable position. If nothing else, they brought that girl back here. That should at least count for something, right?

"Um, I think she's asleep again," Beth remarked, drawing everyone's attention back to the girl on Amelia's back.

"How about you take us inside, get the girl somewhere she can sleep and all that, while we figure out everything else, okay?" Ralph said when he got the feeling that his friends weren't going to acknowledge what he'd said to them with his magic.

The woman shot a glance at Ralph, full of suspicion.

"Look, feel free to lock us up while we figure this whole mess out, okay?" he offered. While it wouldn't be ideal conditions, at least there was a chance he'd be able to get some sleep. Which was what he most wanted at the moment.

Ralph looked at the door that was still open when he heard more armored footsteps approaching. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he wished that someone would do or try something. This waiting around was killing him.

He would freely admit he didn't have any patience at the moment, but he would defend himself by pointing out that he just wanted to get some sleep. Sleep that had been interrupted twice before the dawn. Sleep that hadn't been as restful as he'd have liked it, but it was still sleep.

When no one said anything more, he merely walked over to a tree and sat down, leaning against it, ready to take a nap while everyone waited this whole situation out. If they spent all day like this, he really didn't care at the moment. He was going to get some sleep, no matter what it took.

Leaning against the tree, he closed his eyes and was completely under in a matter of moments. He couldn't even say what happened when the approaching footsteps arrived.

_

Beth didn't think it was much of a loss when Ralph went to go to sleep. Although, she couldn't deny that his suggestion had merit. Though, she couldn't use her magic to reply because she was still doubtful that she'd fully recovered from the last time she'd used it.

Not to mention the fact that they'd been going on little sleep through this night. She herself would love to just go to sleep right then, but she didn't feel like doing that to her friends.

When more guards started coming out of the door, Beth wished she had a camera to take a picture of their faces. She couldn't be sure, but she had a feeling that the woman kneeling to Amelia was at least a high ranked officer, and as far as Beth was aware, all of them before that woman, Scithia, aside from the girl on Amelia's back were complete strangers.

Although, apparently Amelia looked enough like someone who was supposed to have died. Not only that, but someone that they held in high regard, considering the reaction even these new guards had when they got a good look at Amelia.

"You know, this is getting rather tedious," Beth said to Amelia, wondering how long she'd be able to hold her eyes open at the moment. "Why don't we just give them the girl and take a page from Ralph and make camp out here? At the very least, we'll have finished what we set out to do when we all agreed to help that girl."

Amelia sighed. "Alright. I had hoped at getting a nice bed tonight, but I guess as long as the girl's safe, that's what's important," Amelia replied with a sigh.

Amelia set her pack on the ground, then carefully slid the girl from off of her back to the ground before picking her up and walking over to Scithia who was still kneeling with her head bowed.

"How about you take her inside and we can figure everything out later, okay?" Amelia said gently.

Beth wasn't sure what to expect from this. Only that whatever happened from here, at least they'd be able to know that the girl they'd brought here would be taken care of.

Scithia looked up enough to see Amelia holding the girl out, so she quickly stood up and took the girl in her arms, then turned to one of the others and handed the girl off to them before turning back to Amelia and the others.

"I'll see to it that she's properly cared for, my lady," Scithia said. "But while I can let you inside, how can we be certain that those who are with you can be trusted as well?"

"If you don't trust us, just put us in your dungeon or whatever until you can be certain about whatever you're worried about?" Beth said, startling Scithia. "Though, you'll probably need to carry Ralph in. I get the feeling that he's not going to wake up that easily this time."

"Captain, are you sure this isn't a trick?" one of the others asked the woman who was holding the girl tenderly.

Scithia, who was apparently the captain, turned to the woman who spoke and walked over to her to hand the girl over.

"Whether it's a trick of not, they did bring her back and didn't demand anything. You know the marquis is going to want to speak with them no matter what," Scithia said. "So the question is if we keep them outside or do as that young woman said and keep them under guard."

"Surely they have a plan to make any guard we put on them useless," the woman protested as she took the girl in her arms.

"Take her to her room. Then wake the marquis up. He'll have to decide what to do about them," Scithia said. Then looking at Amelia, she added, "Let him know about her as well. She says she isn't who she looks like, but how else can you explain it?"

"Yes, Captain!" the woman said, nodding, before turning and entering through the door..

Beth had the impression that she wanted to do a salute, but couldn't because of the girl in her arms. While Beth was confident that they'd made some progress, she couldn't say she like some of the subtext of what had been said.

Not just about them themselves, but rather how they seemed to regard anyone they didn't know with suspicion. Beth had thought that the village they'd been at had been rather peaceful and was rather tolerant of strangers, but now she wasn't so sure if that was typical of this world.

Or maybe they'd pretty much come at a bad time or something.

Although, as Beth thought about it, she couldn't help but wonder who Amelia looked like. It was clear that whoever she looked like had died, but Beth couldn't help but wonder what the chances of something like that occurring were. Yet, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe this was akin to the saying that everyone has a double somewhere in the world. Though, in this case, it would have been on a completely different world.

"Might as well make ourselves comfortable," Tim commented after they'd been waiting a few minutes. "Who knows how long this will take."

Beth nodded, her eyes suddenly feeling rather heavy. To the point she was having trouble keeping them open. She couldn't be sure if it was from what Tim had said or if they were going to do that at that particular time anyway, just that she probably should follow Ralph's example and go back to sleep.

Provided the marquis didn't have them enter before long.

Although, as she sat down against a tree, she couldn't help but wonder if this was the Marquis they were coming to see anyway. The one who's mother had essentially worked for a while back.

Vaguely, she was aware of Amelia and Wes shepherding the children who were traveling with them, so they could get some rest. Then she closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, it felt like it'd only been a second, if that, but she could see the sun was shining down on them brightly. Indicating she had actually slept for a few hours, at least, and the day had started while she wasn't aware of it.

Beth looked around her and saw that she and her friends were still being 'guarded' and estimated that they were still waiting for the marquis to show up. It didn't look like anyone else was awake, and Beth slowly sat up, stretching her arms and back as she did so.

She usually didn't sleep in that position, and her body didn't seem to agree with it either. Plus, while she felt like she wouldn't mind going back to sleep and closing her eyes again, she had a feeling that she should stay awake at this point.

For one thing, if the marquis did show up, she doubted that these guards, or soldiers, or whatever, would wake them up very gently. Well, aside from Amelia, that is. Amelia would likely get the royal treatment, just because of who she looked like.

Then as she noticed Wes starting to stir as well, she saw the door open again, and their 'guards' snapping to attention. Which told Beth that it was either their captain, Scithia, or the marquis.

Unless there was someone else that had gotten their respect for them to do that. Which was entirely possible, as they didn't know anything about this place. Not to mention how little of this world they knew anything about.

Who came out of the door, was a man, but like pretty much all the men who she'd seen in this world who weren't wearing rags, he was wearing a blue dress. Though, this one was definitely not like the ones she'd seem men wearing in the village. Instead, this one looked like it was either made out of silk, satin, or any other material that got rather pricey.

The man had dark purple hair that came down to his waist, amber eyes, and a look about him that was both commanding and gentle. Beth wasn't sure how else to explain it. If she had had any doubts about if he was the marquis, just his bearing told her that he was definitely the person in charge here.

"Have there been any problems with them?" the marquis asked one of his people who kept their eyes on Beth and her friends.

"Not a single one. Either whatever they're planning isn't as apparent as it has been or they're not our enemies," the woman replied.

The marquis nodded, looking at them like he was looking at a fish he'd just caught, unsure if he should keep it or toss it back.

"Want me to wake them up?" Beth called out, not sure she like them talking about her and her friends like that while they were right there.

"And do what?" the woman snapped, her hand moving to the sword strapped at her waist. "Now that the marquis is here, you're ready to make your move?"

Beth sighed. Whatever was going on here, the paranoia was getting a little too tedious for her tastes. While it was a little justified, given they clearly had lost track of that girl, who was either the marquis' daughter or was someone else that was very important. However, since they already had the girl back, she couldn't understand what this continued hostility was about.

"And… Scithia mentioned about… her?" the marquis said, his voice trailing off, clearly unsure about what he was asking.

"She's there, but we weren't sure whether to bring them inside somewhere we can keep an eye on them or leave them out here," the woman answered promptly. "They had suggested that we could put them in the dungeon, but since we don't know what their objective is, we couldn't be sure if doing that would let them accomplish whatever it is they're planning."

The marquis nodded. "Well, when they all wake up, have them brought to my audience chamber. That should suffice, wouldn't you think?"

"As you want, my lord," the woman said, slapping her right fist over her left shoulder, which Beth could only assume was their kind of salute.

Then the man walked back to the door in the wall and re-entered the building. Though, the dorr was left open, which made Beth feel like the marquis didn't feel their presence was as much of a threat as the captain seemed to have thought.

Regardless of that, since she was the first one to have woken up, she then started to get things together to make a breakfast for everyone, although she didn't want to start a fire, since they were practically next to a building, and she didn't want to miss something that could cause it to essentially burn down by mistake. Which she was sure wouldn't help their cause out at all.

Not that there was much to work with that didn't need to be cooked first. Esecially since most of what they'd gotten for food had been foraged on their journey here. Which also meant that this breakfast was going to be rather meager. Or at least compared to what Beth could remember from before they started on this expedition.

Partway through her preparations, she felt something cold pressing against the back of her hand that she'd left resting on the ground while she was looking through her pack for anything that she could use to add to the meal.

Looking at the source of the 'cold' feeling, she smiled at her hellhound puppy. "Do you want attention?" Beth cooed at Flare as she turned her full attention to the puppy and picked her up, gently petting her. "Sorry I haven't had much time for you. I've just been busy."

Beth was sure the puppy wasn't worried about that, but she couldn't say that she herself hadn't been. True, there had been so many things that she'd needed to give her attention to, but that didn't mean she shouldn't have let Cinder, Feon, and Hesha take care of Fare on their own. If only because Flare wasn't their responsibility. It was hers. As such, she couldn't help but feeling guilty about the whole situation.

Beth just hoped that they wouldn't find themselves foraging again tomorrow, since she couldn't say how things might go with the marquis. Helping the girl might not have made things any easier for them, but Beth was confident that it was the right thing to do. That if they hadn't helped her, then they really wouldn't have a right to expect any help from the marquis, even though they really had no way of knowing that the girl had any connection with the marquis.

_

When Ralph had woken up, he hadn't expected to have had events move along to the point where they were to meet with the marquis. If nothing else, he figured they'd maybe get a reward and move along. No matter how much Amelia looked like someone important here.

That or he was still partially asleep. Either was just as possible, though he didn't exactly care at the moment. He was more concerned with the fact that he had no idea what to expect from the marquis.

Even though he had suggested that these people put them in the dungeon while they figured things out, he never expected them to do something like that. Although, he wouldn't put it past some people to do something like that.

Although, that might also be his mind working overtime as they walked along the corridors of the castle, which Ralph was confident now that that's what the building was. The only thing about was that it certainly wasn't as big as what he imagined them to be. Unless this was more of a smaller castle.