"I'm sorry that this thief bothered you, Mrs. Warrick. I'll take her, and her little partner off your hands now, and leave you in peace."
Thief?
Lei'lira wasn't sure what to think. She was so young...surely she couldn't be a criminal? Her thoughts were interrupted when a tiny hand tugged at her shirt timidly.
"Yes, Teirue? What is it?"
"It's my fault."
Lei'lira frowned.
"What's your fault, Teirue?"
Lei'lira listened carefully as the young child explained that Eri had stolen while they were running from the "bad people," but she had stolen things like food when they were hungry, and shoes for Teirue since she didn't have any, and her feet had gotten hurt without anything to protect them from the rocks, and snow.
"What was I supposed to do? Let Teirue and I starve to death?" an angry voice demanded from beside the guard.
"You could have bought what you needed like everyone else." the guard said sternly.
"I don't have any money, so how was I supposed to pay for it, huh? And before you say get a job, I can't do that, either. We were captured by bandits. We've already seen signs of them chasing after us. If we stay in any one place for too long, they'll find us, and catch us again! Our families are dead, so we can't just go back home, neither. The bandits killed everyone they didn't capture when they raided our farms! Look...I'm sorry that I stole what we needed...but I didn't have any choice!"
"You could have come to the local guards. Don't you think that a group of bandits running around raiding farms is something that we need to know about?"
Eri tried to pull free of the guard's firm grip, and glared up at him when she failed.
"Do you really think it's that easy? Would they have believed me if I had gone to them?"
The guard's hesitation was all the answer that Eri needed. She renewed her efforts to free herself, struggling madly until the guard gave her a knock on the head hard enough to leave her swaying dizzily on her feet, barely able to stand, never mind struggle. Lei'lira protested, but when the guard insisted that he was only doing his job, and hadn't used enough force to cause any real harm, Lei'lira subsided, knowing that he was right.
"What will happen to them?" she asked softly.
"I'll take them into Andaris. The older girl will be registered, and sold at the next auction. If she hasn't been given the Rynmere brand yet, they will do it before selling her. As for the little one...if she's marked too, then she'll be sold as well. If not, they'll turn her loose."
"But she's too young to be left on her own!" Lei'lira protested.
The guard shrugged.
"If she really is an orphan, what else can they do?"
"I'll take her." Lei'lia said firmly.
The guard stared at her.
"I've got a good sized farm here, and there's plenty of room here. She can live with me, and the twins."
"But...but you're a Warrick! Do you really mean to tell me that you plan to adopt some...some nobody into your family? What would your grandmother say?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I plan to do, and I really don't care what my grandmother would say. I can't give Teirue the Warrick name, of course...not without permission that I am not likely to get. But I can take her in, and raise her as if she was my own daughter, and that is what I will do."
The two girls stared at her. Teirue's eyes were filled with awe, and wonder. Eri's expression was more wary, and jaded. But there was a hint of awe in her eyes as well. Lei'lira glanced at Eri thoughtfully.
"What if I was to buy Eri and free her?"
The guard stared at her again. Eri's eyes widened in hope.
"But...but...you'd have to go all the way to Andaris to do that! Even if you buy her, she needs to be registered first!"
"Then I'll do that. I'm the one who found the children in my barn. Surely I could go with you?"
"But...even if you did that, you wouldn't be allowed to just free her. Look, good reason or not, the kid is still a thief. By law, she has to be punished for that. As a slave, she can't pay the proper fine for the goods she stole. So instead, whoever buys her won't be allowed to free her until her punishment has been served. It would probably be a year before you could free her."
Lei'lira looked at Eri. The child didn't deserve to be punished for doing what she needed to do to keep herself and another child alive. It wasn't as though they had hurt anyone, or even taken anything that was all that valuable. Lei'lira didn't like the idea of going all the way to Andaris in the best of times, never mind traveling in Cylus. It was snowing lightly now, and the temperatures were likely to plummet at night just as they had the past several trials. She hated the thought of owning a slave even more. And yet...if she did buy Eri, she could treat the girl more like family than like a slave. She would have chores to do, of course. Just like anyone else who lived on a farm. But the work would be reasonable; not more than a child could do comfortably. There would be plenty of time for her to learn, and explore, and play. And if she seemed interested in her work, Lei'lira could teach her what she knew about raising animals. Eri would be a slave on paper, but it would be on paper only. And as soon as she was able to free the girl, she would do so.
"So be it."
The guard shook his head.
"Fine. Whatever. Since you'll be traveling with me, I'll let you borrow some of the travel gear the guard is issued. But you'll have to provide your own horse. And you'll have to be ready in a few breaks. There's a guard station about half a trial's ride from here, and I want to reach it before it gets too cold to travel."
Lei'lira nodded, her mind whirling with plans. There was a lot she needed to get done, and not much time to do it in. It was far too cold to travel with the twins, so she would have to leave them with her neighbor. With luck, one of them would be willing to see to her farm while she was gone, or she'd have to ride out to another neighbor, and ask them to help. She had supplies to pack, money to gather, a horse to ready...the list went on.
"I'll be ready." was all Lei'lira said as she picked Teirue up, and carried her into the cottage before she got to work.
