Rannie grit her teeth as she walked across one of the many wooden bridges that crisscrossed the little lake that was found inside Aughaire. She eyed the water with distrust as she walked along the bridge. Every creak of the wooden planks made her heart skip a beat as fear that one of the planks would give out and she fall into the water filled her. She sighed quietly with relief as she stepped on firm ground again. Ever since her brush with death, she had become nervous around water, especially lakes or ponds.
She stopped at one of the pins that housed a couple of large beasts, thinking on the tale Cynraede had told her before his departure. He was right, it wasn’t a pleasant one and it wasn’t one she’d soon forget. She couldn’t ever imagine what it must have been like to be a captive of those cruel people. Her thoughts turned to the part of his tale about the black brands. The manner in which they inflicted the brands on their victims made what Emion did to her look like child’s play.
Cynraede told her that those with these brands suffer long after the actual branding had taken place and many see them as cursed. He even went so far to say that those who bore the mark would take their own lives, unable to bear whatever the brand caused in them. Rannie wasn’t ashamed to admit she didn’t fully understand the power these brands supposedly had over those that bore it but Cynraede was convinced of it and he should know.
All though he didn’t say it out right, it was obvious to Rannie that he knew of the outcomes of bearing said brand because he bore it himself. Maybe that was the source of his lack of faith in the good in him, she wondered. She had noticed that he seems to only see the darkness in him and blind to the good his actions, however dark they may be, had caused. Though he rejected the idea, Rannie still felt like she owed him for her life. If he hadn’t come when he did there would have been one less rat in this world.
Her thoughts turned to end of their discussion when the discussed his reasons for doing all this and his feelings for Fairlain. She had to admit she was envious of Fairlain, having someone willing to do whatever it took her to be happy, to feel safe, and cared for. Determination filled her at that very moment and vowed she would make sure Fairlain realized how he felt about her. He may have asked her to not to discuss the things they had discussed but she was going to find a way to help them…if they wanted it or not.
With a determined smirk she turned her thoughts to a more mundane topic, the beasts before her. She had never seen anything like them. Were they beasts of burden or were they used for meat and hides? She continued to ponder this when she heard someone walk behind her. She turned to see one of the locals approaching her. She greeted him in her usual fashion but seemed unsure if she was speaking to him in turn she responded with her smirk and a nod.
“Where, did you come from? Why are you here, outlander?” He asked, sounding confused. At first she wasn’t sure if it was best to tell the truth or invent some tale but decided if they were to trust her then it would be best to speak the truth so she told him. He took a step back with a strange look as she mentioned Cynraede. It was almost as if he was afraid of her friend.
"Why, are you with him? Are you tainted?" He asked and she couldn’t help but laugh. She was sure more than a few would consider her tainted but not in the way he was referring. Once again she explained that she was there to help. He seemed to doubt how she could help them but Rannie managed to shove aside her irritation due to he was probably justified in his skepticism.
Looking at this man now, she could see Cynraede was right, these people had suffered and were suffering. She knew that look on the man’s face, Rannie had seen it a lot before in the alley. It was the look of one who was defeated and resigned to their fate. Determination filled her again, she was going to everything in her power to make that look disappear from his and everyone else’s face.
Rannie told him of her ideas, unsure what he’d think of them but to her surprise after some explaining of what she thought of he had actually seemed willing to help her. He agreed to talk to those of skill with building to see if it was possible to close off the entrances to the village. She was sure that would help protect them to a point if there was an attack there.
Their conversation turned back to Cynraede, he was curious why she had followed him and Rannie was curious as to the part of his life that brought him first to these people. She explained the debt she owed him, though Cynraede would deny there was such debt and how she come to consider him a good friend. While Mishkaif, she learned that he was named, brought in question Cynraede’s methods of taking the lives of the wicked.
He argued that they could possibly achieve redemption if their lives not had been cut short. It made her stop and think if she was honest with herself but it didn’t change her opinion that what Cynraede did made the world safer. While there were those, like herself, who did seek to redeem themselves Rannie felt that those that enjoyed the cruelty they inflicted on others were much greater in number and there was never redemption for those.
They talked a little longer before parting ways, he went to talk to his people while Rannie prepared to go to the settlement, Esteldin that Gaildrin and she had stopped for the night. There she was convinced she could find some among these grim men that would be willing to help these people. Honestly Rannie couldn’t see how they could possibly ignore their plight. If this village should fall there would be nothing to stop these cruel people from marching into North Downs.
