Under Arrest
Eupa cleaned and wrapped her hands again, got her armor off and put everything except her sleeping bag up. “We’re heading out tomorrow. I’m done being here. I don’t care if we just get to the west gate and stay on that side of the city. I’m done here.”
Brotz’s lips turned up gently and he nodded. Ro grunted approvingly, but then she frowned. “We need to go now,” she said, as though someone else told her.
“I just said tomorrow. It's dark and we're not even dressed, none of us," Eupa started to argue, but Ro suddenly grabbed both their arms and teleported before Eupa snatched her arm away. “Stop that!” she shouted. “My wea--”
Ro grabbed her again and managed to drag her away in an attempt to run. Eupa stopped and started back toward the camp, but Ro pushed her backwards hard. “My weapons!” she snapped again. “My sword,” she specified when Ro glanced at the daggers on her hip with another shove.
“We have to go now!” Ro demanded, shoving Eupa hard enough that she staggered. “Go!”
“I want my sword!” Eupa growled, getting her feet and starting back.
“We have to go!” Ro repeated urgently, dragging Brotz along with her. “Grab her,” she demanded of Brotz, but he hesitated.
“Too late,” said a low, emotionally flat voice. “It won’t do you any good.”
“It wouldn’t have even if you’d started yesterday,” snapped an angry higher pitched one. Eupa looked at the sources. In the late afternoon light, the intruding trio looked more or less harmless, but all three of them knew better than to guess that was the case. A short-ish, kinda-skinny half-elf with a goatee and a ponytail stood in front of a bald, lean, taller-than-Brotz man with purple-striped white skin in flowing white robes and a brown-skinned muscular half-orc with a red glowing stone in his forehead and a black chonmage haircut in a white cheongsam.
“‘Kay, those two are monks,” Ro murmured to her companions. “I’m not sure what’s up with the other one, but he’s trouble, don’t underestimate. Eupa, I’m talking to you.” She stepped forward and spoke to them, this time. “What’s going on?”
“You’re under arrest!” shouted the half-elf, thumping his staff on the ground. “By order of Lady Shee of the Summer Court!”
The trio looked at each other, Brotz and Ro looked especially hard at Eupa, who caught it and held her hands wide. “What?!” she cried. "Summer court's a faerie thing!" She looked at the monks. “What for?”
“For murdering my wife!” shouted the half-elf.
Brotz and Ro doubled up on their glares at Eupa. She lifted her hands as if surrendering, suddenly wielding her dagger in one hand. “Okay, fine,” she agreed. “I probably did it, but be fair. We don’t even know who his wife--” and with the word ‘is’, she threw the dagger at the half-elf and ran. She vanished before she got more than a couple of steps away and darted into the trees.

Comments