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of them offered a saddle. It was only after he found himself outside of a tavern that he realized it wouldn’t have mattered if he found a saddle, as he didn’t have any money.
    Thomas stopped in his tracks, at a loss as to what he should do. The people moved around him like a creek around a boulder, and still he did not move. He finally shook himself of his dread and walked down a random side street.
    He was completely unaware that he was being followed.
    “You seem at a loss, stranger,” a voice to Thomas’ left said. He turned to it, raising an eyebrow. The voice… it made his skin crawl. It was like the voice at the end of a very long tunnel that should be ignored.
    Thomas was about to do just that when the voice spoke again.
    “Perhaps I can help you… remedy your current situation.”
    The owner of the voice stepped forward, and Thomas got a good look. His only thought was that he had seen a fair number of beautiful women today, but this one…
    This one wore her attractiveness like she wore her clothing: open and fully displayed. She was nearly as tall as he, with long legs almost completely exposed to the world thanks to a long slit in her dress. Her blouse was white and unbuttoned, tempting Thomas to shift his gaze from her face. Luckily, that wasn’t too taxing.
    She had fiery red hair that ran in curls down her back, with glowing green eyes that Thomas had to focus on not focusing on. She had a smile that was almost creepy the way it moved up the right side of her mouth.
    It would have been tempting save for the feeling of mistrust crawling up his spine.
    “Come a little closer, let’s talk,” she said, batting her eyelashes.
    “Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am, but I think I’d rather not.”
    “Oh,” she pouted, “and why not?”
    “Cause you sure are pretty and all, but I just got the feelin’ you’re bad news.”
    She laughed then, her smile only growing wider. Then she waved her hand, and before Thomas could react something very hard hit him over the head.
    He fell to his knees, the world spinning around him. Before he could say or do anything, he slumped forward and the world was wiped away.
     
     
    “Why not just find someone else? An actual volunteer?”
    “Because no one volunteers for suicide missions that actually expect to see them completed. We need someone who wants to live. And that’s him.”
    Thomas’ ears relayed the conversation to his brain before he was actually aware that he was awake. He wanted to groan, but he stifled the impulse so that he could hear the rest of the conversation.
    “There’s no way he’s going to agree,” a male voice said. It sounded light and almost comical, like a child who’d yet to come of age.
    “Oh, he’ll agree,” a female voice answered him. The way Thomas’ skin crawled informed him that he was once again hearing her.
    “Why? We’ve got no leverage.”
    “Yes we do. Just you wait and see. Wake up, little hero, I have need of you.”
    Thomas debated simply lying there, but he didn’t see any reason in delaying. With a slight groan, he sat up, but instantly fell back down as his head throbbed in terrible pain.
    “Sorry about that,” the woman said, “ but if you’d just come inside we wouldn’t have had to do this the hard way.”
    “Apology accepted,” Thomas said with ill-disguised scorn, “but I don’t think that gives you the right to kidnap me.”
    “Oh, we’re not kidnapping you,” she laughed, “you’ll be free to go as soon as we finish our little talk.”
    Thomas may not have had that much experience when it came to people and their intentions, but even he knew better than to accept this at face value – no matter how pretty the face that was offering it.
    “And what is it you want to talk about?” he asked, looking around the room. There were lit candles and barrels, but little else. There were also three people standing around, one short boy with a full head of black hair and a birthmark on his right