The woman was most immediately notable for her flaming red hair; a rarity in Haredil. Her long skirts and the high collar on her dress marked her out as a native of the southern lands, far from her homeland. But that was no surprise to Almandar, for that was where Ornejirhs had followed her from.
Or, more accurately, that was where he had followed Sashjant from. As the dragon had indicated, the shape-changing demon travelled with a personal harem, and the redhead was one of that number. Almandar and the others had observed the group, confirming Ornejirhs' story, at least as far as it could be. According to Lady Tarissa, Sashjant was an unusual type of demon called a rakshasa, and highly skilled in the ways of magic. Mind-affecting enchantments were clearly among his powers, and he had used them to gather the women, and to hold them in thrall.
It had soon become apparent that the women were the route through which they could tackle the demon. Each carried some kind of magical key that they used to enter Sashjant's home; there was no other way in, which perhaps explained Ornejirhs' failure to get close, especially since the demon could obviously sense his approach, and knew Imrilda's identity.
It did not, however, know the adventurers, and that was the basis of their plan. Almandar would get one of the women on her own, allowing the others to capture her without the demon realising. Between himself, Calleslyn, and Lady Tarissa, they were confident of being able to end the enchantment, freeing the woman from her slavery. Once they had the key, they had a way to approach the demon, and deal with it permanently.
They had chosen the redhead as the easiest target for the plan; she seemed to be a household servant, making her less dangerous if anything went wrong. Sashjant himself almost never went out in the open, but his women did have to venture out from time to time, whether to deal with outsiders, or, as today, simply to buy food and supplies. Unfortunately, they never went alone, and it had taken some time to find an opportunity to put their plan into action.
"You're new here," said Almandar, "a visitor from the south?"
The woman looked up, startled to be addressed. She had been buying fruit in the market square, pomegranates and oranges, appraising them with a skilled eye, haggling with the trader, and then putting them into a large bag. Her green eyes darted around, evidently wondering if he was speaking to someone else, before settling on Almandar.
"Yes..." she said, uncertainly, "we're just buying some food."
Almandar couldn't help his eyes wandering over her. Like all of Sashjant's women, she was young and attractive, for, no matter what else the demon might be, he seemed to have good taste. Her skin was pale, remarkably so by Haredil standards, with a pinkish tinge and freckles on the bridge of her nose that complemented the colour of her hair. She was rather short, with a slender build and high rounded breasts beneath the tight pale purplish-grey fabric of her dress. Like most southern women, she had little of her flesh on display, nothing more than her hands and face, and she even had a long blue scarf draped over her shoulders. Her skin, he reflected, probably burned easily, and, while it was approaching evening now, the scarf might help protect her from the noonday sun.
"I'm Almandar," he said, holding a hand out, "I hope you're enjoying your time in our city."
"I..." she said, hesitantly, "I am busy. I have many things to do."
"So you have not had a chance to see much? That's a pity." He noticed she still hadn't given him a name.
"She is with me," said the other woman, interrupting before the redhead could speak.
He had picked a time when just two of the women were together, hoping to find some way of distracting the companion just long enough to cast the spell and free the redhead from the demon's influence. As yet, he wasn't completely sure how he was going to do that, although he was conscious that the other adventurers were standing not far away, observing everything he did, ready to move when they were needed.
"Well, pleased to meet you both," he said, still holding out his hand to the redhead, although she had not taken it yet.
The second woman was, if anything, even more exotic in appearance. She hailed, not from the south, but from the distant east, her jet black hair and almond eyes instantly giving that heritage away. She was tall for a woman, as tall as Almandar himself, with a slender, yet muscular frame, and her hair tied back in a long plait that fell to the small of her back. Her bearing alone indicated that she was a warrior of some kind, a fact confirmed by the unusual weapon at her belt. The way she was scowling at Almandar, with arms crossed, did not bode well.
The redhead looked uncertainly between the half-elf and her companion. "Yes," she offered, "well... uh..."
"I am sure you could make time to see a little more of the city. You can't visit Haredil and not see any of the sights."
"She has many things to do," said the oriental woman in her notably thick accent.
"Come on," he said reasonably, "what harm can it do? The market will be closing soon, anyway."
"I have to be getting back," said the redhead, "or he..."
"I will see," said the warrior quickly, cutting off the shorter woman in mid sentence.
The redhead blushed, a flash of sudden fear crossing her face. "I didn't mean to... I mean, we have to be getting back. Before it is dark."
"I will see," repeated the warrior.
"Sorry, Mei?" asked the redhead, apparently as confused as Almandar was feeling, "what do you mean?"
"I will see city. You return home, and I will see city. Show you after." She turned to Almandar, her face impassive, dark eyes unreadable. "Yes?"
"Uh, yes... of course," he said, realising swiftly that it made little difference which of the two he went with. Given the oriental woman's wariness, it did not look as if he would have much chance to try reversing the enchantment on her, but the other adventurers were watching, so all they had to do was follow the redhead, and let Calleslyn cast the counter-spell instead of him.
"But, Mei..." said the redhead, widening her eyes, and jerking her head back in the direction that Almandar knew Sashjant's home was in. "We can't... you know..."
"I safe," said the oriental woman, patting the weapon at her belt. It was a curious one, a sort of small single-bladed pick with a long chain attached that looped around the belt to end in a heavy metal weight. "You go. I show you city after."
The redhead tried to muster up a further objection, but was clearly worried about saying too much in front of Almandar. Finally, she shrugged, muttered "See you later, then," and bustled off into the crowd. At the edge of his vision, Almandar could see Vardala moving to follow her. They had had the same idea he had; good.
"Well," he said, turning back to the oriental woman, "Mei, is it?"
"I am Mei-Xing," she corrected him, "you Armandar?"
"Yes, close enough." The strangeness of her language probably meant that he would do no better at trying to pronounce her name correctly – there seemed to be some musical quality to it that he was sure he couldn't replicate. "Have you seen the Eagle Pool?"
──◊──
He decided to take his role as a guide to the city seriously, showing her some of the sights, from the great plaza in front of the palace to the Eagle Pool, and pointing out the minarets of more distant buildings, such as the Temple of the Sun, where they reared above the surrounding rooftops.
She seemed to appreciate it, genuinely interested in what he had to say, although saying very little in response. Her hand never strayed too far from her strange weapon, but the suspicion that had initially filled her eyes seemed to fade with time. He had had no opportunity to try using the counter-spell on her, and did not see how he was going to find one. That, he decided, was a pity.
Not because it would be necessary for their plan; if all went well, the others should be able to free the redhead from her enchantment, now that he had given them the chance to do so. But Mei-Xing no more deserved to be the mentally controlled slave of a demon than anyone else. With her exotic looks and musical voice, he was beginning to warm to her, and did not want to have to send her back to her master, even for one night.
Which was why, even after the sun had set, and the western horizon was shading into a deep purple, they found themselves in one of the city parks, sitting on a bench, watching the larger moon hovering over the city skyline. Almandar realised he was trying to find reasons to delay sending her back, and that, ultimately, it would be futile, but he could not resist trying to drag things out further.
"You must have seen several cities in your travels," he said, breaking a long silence.
"I visit many cities in south and east," she said; it had become clear that her grasp of the Common Tongue was weak, which might explain why she had said relatively little so far. "I see few."
"You mean, you're busy all the time?"
