Chapter 46 part 4

"What mushroom did you use? I'll need the specific kind if I'm to explain it to the queen."

Amelia shrugged, and held out her hand to Cinder. At first even Beth couldn't figure out what was going on, but then when Cinder put the blue speckled mushroom in Amelia's hand, Beth realized that Amelia had been training Cinder much better than she'd expected Amelia to.

"You realize that's a poisonous mushroom, right?" Lorshish asked, sounding rather doubtful.

"Of course it's poisonous," Amelia retorted, "but only if you ingest it. I'm not sure if it's an oil in the mushroom or just the spores, or what, but boiling it in water will mix that in the water, which will make the water into the topical I mentioned."

"Then I guess the rumors are true after all," Lorshish mused.

"What rumors?" Amelia asked, though Beth couldn't be sure how interested she was in getting an answer to her question.

"Oh, that a slave managed to treat an outbreak of spotted plague, saving the entire shipment of slaves," the woman replied dismissively.

"Tell us about this girl," Amelia said.

"Why should I?" Lorshish demanded.

"No reason, really. I was just wondering if you knew anything about her. Like where she might have learned about this from."

Beth suddenly realized what Amelia was getting at. If this girl was Charlie, then they might be able to reunite with her if they could figure out where this rumored event took place.

"There's not much to say," Lorshish commented. "All I really heard about the slave was that she couldn't talk. I didn't care to find out anything else about her."

"Where did this rumored event take place?" Amelia asked casually.

"Why would you want to know that?" Lorshish asked, sounding suspicious.

Amelia sighed. "Look, you don't know much about her, so I thought if I went to where it occurred, then we might be able to learn something useful, alright?"

Lorshish looked like she was thinking about what Amelia said for a minute before she nodded. "Alright. She was in Ferusha. Though, she'll have either been taken to another city to be sold by now or she'll have been sold at the slave auction there already," she answered. "Whatever reasons you have for wanting to look for this girl, you should just give it up. Unless you can convince whoever bought her to sell her, you won't be able to purchase her if you do manage to find her, and her owner would be able to decide if you could speak with her or not anyway. Which I seriously doubt anyone would be interested in letting you just talk with any of their slaves."

Beth nodded, considering what Lorshish said. She felt like there was room for them to work with, although she couldn't quite say if she was merely making assumptions or engaging in wishful thinking, since she really couldn't say much about the slave trade in this world.

She briefly thought about asking Lorshish about the slave trade, but she had a feeling it would either raise suspicions about the girl that Lorshish mentioned or that Lorshish would only tell her part of the truth about the situation. Either option seemed just as likely, and Beth knew she woulnd't know enough about the subject to catch Lorshish in any lies, so it wasn't like it would be helpful in any way to do that.

As Lorshish left, Amelia closed the door to the quarantine house, taking both Amelia and Cinder out of her view. Not that Beth minded. As according to the rules, or even maybe laws, of this world, Amelia had to stay in there for so much time before she'd be allowed to leave without creating even more problems for herself. Though, Beth doubted that Amelia minded it and Cinder seemed determined to learn to be Amelia's nurse, or whatever he thought he was training to be.

Regardless of what Amelia did, Beth knew she should go talk to the marquis about what they'd learned. If it was in fact Charlie, then there was a chance that they'd be able to find her and save her from being a slave. Even though Beth was confident that Charlie wouldn't like to be saved by them. Not with the way they had parted.

Even so, Beth didn't plan on letting Charlie stay like that, no matter what Charlie felt about getting saved by them. Or even her specifically, since Beth was confident that Charlie was trying to figure out a way to prevent that dream from coming true. The dream when Beth was killed right in front of Charlie.

Of course, that was assuming this girl was in fact Charlie and just somehow knew how to treat the plague as well. Assuming that that part of the rumor was true as well.

Beth knew just how unreliable rumors could be. Especially when one let assumptions determine certain factors that had no bearing on the rumor in the first place. Such as if they assumed that it was in fact Charlie in the rumor, then they'd be expecting something completely different when they found the girl and it turned out to not be Charlie.

Beth was still mulling these thoughts over in her mind when she finally found the marquis in his office, where he was finalizing something that he apparently had to deal with before he had his own breakfast.

"You seem troubled," the marquis remarked as Beth walked straight up to him, ignoring Scithia to his side. "Did something happen?"

Beth shook her head, suddenly wondering if explaining everything outright would be the best move or if she should try to withhold some pieces.

"I was wondering, why exactly couldn't Lorsish know aobut Ralph, Tim, or Wes? I mean, it's not like they can't handle themselves."

Beth was surprised that that's what she asked first. She wanted to ask about what they might need to do in order to try and find Charlie. Even if it was merely letting the marquis know that they were heading out in order to verify some rumors that could turn out to be Charlie.

"It's simple," the marquis answered. "I don't know how she might react to seeing men who don't dress like men are supposed to." The marquis looked away as he continued thoughtfully, "She might be a royal messenger, but I can't be sure that she's really acting on behalf of the queen or one of my enemies." The marquis turned to look back at Beth, an iron determination entering his eyes. "Even if I knew the answer to that, I can't risk refusing some of what she'd demanded in case it actually is coming from the queen."

"Is that why she was being so bitchy about if your daughter was in fact your daughter?"

The marquis nodded, and Beth couldn't be sure if he was ignoring her use of language or if it just wasn't seen as swear words in this world.

"I suspect so, but I also can't be certain that it wasn't coming from the queen," the marquis sighed. "As far as I know, the queen did order that, even if she was being used or influenced by my enemies. In the end, it would still be the command of my queen and I would have to obey."

Beth couldn't help but wonder if things were really as simple as how the marquis viewed things, though Beth was confident that they'd be able to eventually learn what the truth was. If they looked into it, of course.

"Well, one thing Lorshish did mention was about a rumor that I'd like to go investigate," Beth said, suddenly wondering if she should take all of her friends, or if leaving some behind would be better. "It might involve my friend who had been taken by the Lost."

The marquis nodded. "Well, if you really want to do that, then you should go. I've had some clothing made for you, so you won't look so strange than you do with what you're wearing now. Then, next you'll need to figure out ways to earn money to survive and do whatever you feel the need for as you look into this rumor."

Beth couldn't help but feel a little confused. She didn't see why they'd have to earn money in order to look into the rumor that might involve Charlie. After all, the marquis had already offered to help them, so she didn't see what the problem would be to accept his help In this manner already.

"Can't you finance us?" she asked, feeling like this shouldn't be a problem.

The marquis shook his head as he sighed. "I'd like to, but if I do that, it will raise questions and the connection between us could get discovered. If that happens, my enemies may decide to start targeting you in hopes of hurting me."

"How would me getting messed with hurt you?" Beth asked immediately, feeling like she was either missing something or the marquis was getting rather paranoid.

"I said 'in hopes of hurting me,'" the marquis reiterated. "They won't know what you're doing, just that if you're able to spend money that is coming from me, that you might be doing something important for me."

Beth sighed, understanding what the marquis was getting at. This was a complete political mess. Which meant that it was probably more dangerous than she realized. Which also meant that they needed to get Charlie out of being a slave or whatever had happened to her sooner rather than later. Otherwise she might end up as a pawn in someone's political game or something.

"Well, if you can't help us that way, then what're we supposed to do? It's not like we can just get a nine to five job and get a steady income that way."

The marquis looked at Beth quizzically. "'Nine to five?'"

Beth felt like she could just slap herself. Of course he wouldn't understand that expression. Or at least she shouldn't have a reason to suspect that he'd recognize it.

"Don't worry about it," Beth assured him. "I just meant that it's not like I could get a regular day job here."

The look of confusion didn't leave the marquis' eyes, but he didn't say anything more about the subject. Instead, he moved on.

"What can you do with your magic?" he asked, tapping his fingers on his desk. "If you can create music with the sounds that you can have come out around you, then you might do well as a street performer."

Beth felt like she should have thought of that. Or at least if she'd taken it to her friends, they'd probably have had that idea as well. "Would there be any complications to that? Oh, and what about Lorshish? You told her that me and Hannah were potential bodyguards for your daughter, right?"

The marquis nodded. "About Lorshish. If she is connected to my enemies, they'll likely look at you as a possible mercenary. Which means that if they try to harm you, it'd at worst be an inconvenience to me. Which also means that they'd likely try to see if they could pay you more to switch your loyalties," the marquis answered. "However, with the street performer idea, you would just need to get permission from the guards in whichever city and pay the portion of what you make that they'll demand at the end of the day."

"What if we don't pay it?" Beth asked, feeling like it might be best to avoid paying any of what they make. She suspected they'd need everything they could get in order to help Charlie out.

"Then they'll probably put wanted notices out for you. Which means your chances of helping your friend out, if that girl is in fact your friend, will be gone entirely. Not to mention dealing with bounty hunters from time to time."

Beth sighed. Reality really was a pain at times. Especially with what she could think of to do, despite how it wouldn't actually work the way she would want it to.

"Aside from that, what other ideas would you have?"

"The only other alternative I can think of would be to become a mercenary, but since you clearly haven't had any children of your own, you won't be able to make much in that respect, either."

"What does me having had kids have to do with that? Shouldn't that me my choice?"

"It has more to do with the way things have been done since anyone can remember. I think the logic behind it might be along the lines that if you go into battle and die, but hadn't given birth to any children, then the population could be impacted severely if enough people died who hadn't given birth are killed in combat. So, even most mercenaries are expected to have had at least one child before they can do more than be a guard for something. Then in order to enter combat, you would need to have given birth to three children."

"Uh, wouldn't it be hard to take care of any kid I give birth to if I go into battle?" Beth felt like she had to be missing something. She wasn't sure what, but that if she was taking care of any number of kids, then why would she be able to go into battle and leave her kids behind?

"What're you talking about?" the marquis asked, looking rather bewildered. "Of course you wouldn't be taking care of your children. That's what the father is supposed to do."

When she head that, Beth felt like she was starting to get a headache. She vaguely remembered Amelia saying something to that effect a while ago, but she couldn't really remember for certain. Though, with what she'd seen so far in this world, she wouldn't be surprised if things did work that way here. It just meant there was one more thing that felt like it was destroying what Beth used to know as 'the way the world worked.' Though, while she did acknowledge that this was a different world, she still fell like she was struggling to accept the changes and differences in this world. Almost like they were occurring just to mess with her mind.

However, she felt that dwelling on that subject would only delay what she felt they should be doing right then. Which was to head out to do what they could to find this girl that had possibly treated a case of the spotted plague and was likely in danger of getting sold as a slave somewhere. This girl might not be Charlie, but she was confident that they needed to look into it before it was too late to learn anything about her.

"Well, getting back to what I was talking about, I'm guessing that I probably shouldn't be travelling by myself, right??"

The marquis nodded. "Correct. Even though taking a traveler to sell as a slave is illegal, I've heard from enough people that it's still a common practice. Solely based on the law that if you provide a service for someone that you can be sold as a slave until you work that debt off. However, it's been abused to the point where no one knows what the original amount would be or if you even agreed to it in the first place. Which is how so many get away with what I mentioned about travelers being sold as slaves."

Beth sighed. More politics. While it was really annoying, it did sound like some laws that she had heard about in the United States on Earth. Such as 'loopholes' and the like that she would hear about on the news. Though, there when she'd hear about them, they were typically in regards to passing a law or other that was supposed to 'close' it, but she never really understood what they were talking about in the first place, even when she looked into it. Which just told her that it was likely a talking point to get the law passed more than anything else. This whole 'slave' thing seemed almost like that as well. Though, to be certain she knew that she'd need to look into it more. If she got the time to do so, that is.

"How many would you suggest I take with me?" Beth asked, feeling like the number that accompanied her would also be an important part of their planning. "I mean, I know Amelia will be staying back and I think Hannah should also stay here, so you can have her as a 'bodyguard' for your daughter, if nothing else." Beth paused as she couldn't help but feel like she was missing something important as well.

"Then you probably would want someone looking into that griffin canyon you mentioned earlier, right?"

Beth nodded, feeling a little relieved. "Yes. That. I'm just not sure if I should leave that to only one of my friends, but it's not like there's that many of us to begin with."

The marquis nodded in understanding. "It's always difficult when you don't have enough people to accomplish what you know you need to do. Especially when you feel all the tasks are vital. The challenge is learning which ones can truly wait and which ones should be dealt with as quickly as possible."

"Well, I guess I should talk to my friends about who to take with us. That way we won't run into anyone unhappy that they weren't included," Beth remarked as she sighed. Then she suddenly thought of something else that she felt like she should have thought of earlier. "Though, I think you mentioned about getting us some clothing that would keep us from standing out as much in this world?"

"Of course. I can have some of my maids reassigned to help speed the sewing along. If you need, I'm sure I can get a set for you and one of your friends by tomorrow, or two of your friends if you're willing to wait an extra day."