Chapter 6: Baring The Swords
The г prison was a large dungeon with an incredibly confusing structure, located several dozen feet underground. Its heavily guarded cells and narrow corridors made out of black stone gave a grim impression, especially now, when the magic lanterns stopped working and the only light came from the flames of the torches and glowing braziers. The shadow master, or Mr. Schwarzwald, was spitting out his curses from one of the cells, his mad voice echoing throughout the whole level of the dungeon.
Katrina stayed on guard with her sword beside her, even though it seemed like the archwizard posed no danger now. Local runesmiths sealed his cell with their defensive sigils, their old magic would make a short work of any attempt at wizardry. Sir Gunther, accompanied by Thomas and Beld, tried his best to communicate with the chained mage, but to no avail. Schwarzwald only spoke the language of hatred and bloodlust, he couldn't be reasoned with in the current state. Still, the counselor pressed on, reacting to the archwizard's outbursts with complete calmness. It was almost comedic.
Thomas conversed with one of the prison guards, discussing the best ways to combat enemies in tight spaces. He occasionally threw glances at the archwizard to make sure Sir Gunther was safe, while also trying his best to not ogle Katrina's naked body, even though he obviously wished to do so. On the contrary, Beld wasn't shy about his desires at all: the short elf stood near the knight with his arm wrapped around her waist, slowly caressing her taut butt, feminine hips, and toned belly. Katrina didn't mind his company, with all the serious things she had to face it was nice to see someone so casual.
"Do you always communicate with women like this?" She joked to digress from Gunther's struggling conversation.
"Well, depends on how they like it, cutie" Beld gave the redhead's butt a loud slap, "I used to do something similar with men, too... But only to pick their pockets!"
"Oh? The city watch is a glorified gang of pickpockets?" Katrina chuckled, attracting Thomas' attention with her statement.
"Absolutely not!" Lieutenant exclaimed, "you see, miss Katrina, we suffered heavy casualties due to the mage craze, and some of our people deserted seeing their brethren being killed by the archwizards so easily. So, we had to make do... Some of our privates and militiamen are convicts who have to serve in the military under the command of trusted officers to earn their parole. I'm commanding Beld and Harred, both thieves in the past, to instill some bravery and loyalty in them."
"It's a work in progress," Beld laughed sarcastically, "also, sir Thomas, please don't forget that I wasn't just a thief. I was a known smuggler and mercenary on good terms with The Blackhearts... Before they declared war on Zardiw for your fake coins."
"I just can't understand why you're so proud of your crimes," Thomas rolled his eyes.
"I just want our warrior here to get the right impression," Beld daringly grabbed Katrina's boob with a smirk, "by the way, about impressions... I really liked your new friend. Sophia, is it? Why didn't you bring her here?"
"Of course you liked her, dirty little man, Sophia's gorgeous," Katrina replied with a smug look on her face, "but she's also tender and shy, folks like you need to deserve her company first! Besides, she wasn't very keen on going into this dungeon, went a full panic mode... Not sure what's up with that, but I decided to give her some rest after yesterday's adventure."
"Well," Sir Gunther concluded after an hour of failed communication attempts, "I suppose the anticraze potion is our only hope now. Still, I thank all of you for bringing the shadow master here alive. If we manage to cure the disease plaguing his wits, he will be very useful for our cause."
"I sure hope so," Katrina nodded, ashamed about the moment of weakness she had during that fight.
"Private!" Thomas shouted at Beld, who toughened his grip on Katrina's breast in the heat of the moment, "fix your chest plate and prepare to move out. We ought to escort sir Gunther and miss Katrina out of here, then patrol the city per our orders."
"Yes, sir," Beld saluted in a leisurely way and started adjusting his armor, "walking in the summer heat all day again? Just what I wanted! Well, still better than staying on that tower day and night, I'm glad we got rotation."
"No talking in the ranks!" Thomas commanded and led everyone to the surface.
"Actually, I might wanna join you two," Katrina said, adjusting her bride, "I want to walk around the city a bit more, figure out where everything is. I looked at the maps, but seeing for yourself is better by a ton. You guys won't mind me joining your patrol, right?"
"Well... If you wish to volunteer, miss Katrina, then sure," Thomas said with severe doubt in his voice.
"Finally you're making some rational leader decision, commander," Beld smiled and put his hand on the knight's naked backside.
But Thomas was having none of that and forced the elf to grab his weapon and shield, prohibiting him from groping naked female bodies on duty, which was an odd command to give, but very fitting for the situation. Beld became grumpy in a second, and the lieutenant was fully satisfied. Katrina chuckled from this interaction, patroling Zardiw with these two must bring a nice contrast to the grim situation the town is in. The three of them walked out of the dungeon, the guardians' eyes closely following Katrina's backside as she left, and took to the streets.
Their first stop was the marketplace, a very lively and vibrant place in the past, but far less so since the supply issues started. There were merchants, goods, and meals, but there were far more people than the products, so the latter had to be rationed. It caused a lot of complaints and anger among the citizens, the duty of guarding the trade district wasn't a walk on the part. Some shady folks even tried to capitalize on these heated situations: one such smartass was caught by Thomas and Belt right in front of Katrina when they realized he wasn't a merchant at all and was just selling spoiled food under the guise of new supplies.
Katrina's nudity helped to distract some of the people, mostly men who tended to enjoy the knight's company. That said, many townsfolk were still surprised by the girl's nakedness and didn't trust her. The crazed wizards must've taught them that the unusual meant deadly here, and they had to suspect something was wrong even if Katrina was marching along the city watchmen. Several folks were spinning fingers to their temples or laughing at her. The redhead didn't mind this one bit, especially the laughter. It was still a positive emotion, even if it meant they disrespected her, so she didn't take any offense. Besides, with all the approval her nude figure was getting, the redhead could just ignore the criticism and focus on the good part.
They went all around the marketplace, then walked through the craftsmens' district with its rows of blocky stone workshops, and finally turned into the narrow streets of the residential area. The sneers and catcalls of surprised locals followed Katrina whenever she went. This amount of attention was suitable for a queen herself, even though the queen would probably not tolerate any of the sexual compliments and dirty jokes the redhead was subjected to daily. Thomas was surprised how she could take it so casually, maintaining a friendly attitude all the way, sometimes even responding with smiles and witty comebacks of her own. If Amy was in her place, she'd probably hit each of the passersby in the eyes so they wouldn't dare to look at her.
"It's hard for me to imagine how hard it must feel," Thomas said unsurely, "how are you dealing with all this constant attention?"
