The tumult of the preparations for the journey was deafening but Gadruff liked it. It meant the end of stagnation. Men and dwarves alike were shouting to each other and grunting with effort as they were moving heavy crates of various goods. Goats, and an occasional horse, were pulling heavy carts on which the crates had been loaded up high. Here and there idle figures were smoking, clearly taking a well deserved breather. Many worked without shirts, their naked torsos steaming in the cold, winter sun.
The ravine was a long and narrow mountain pass, with steep, grassy slopes on both sides. Its entrance was well hidden north of Rushock Bog, its exit came out right onto the river Lhûn. The river itself was an impassable barrier for many, but not for Gadruff. He knew its currents, its depths and its shallows, and he knew how to get a simple raft safely to the other side, and then upstream to the docks of Kheledûl. This made it possible to avoid the watchful gaze of Duillond and keep most of his proceedings hidden.
Transporting goods by the river had always been a trying time, but now, that the waters had turned rough, it would be even worse. Gadruff couldn't afford any incidents so he decided to see to the preparations of the rafts himself, but he needed someone to oversee the cages.
He called on Stanid, one of the new men.
"We'll move the women this afternoon. We need them by the river first thing in the morning. You'll be in charge."
"Me?" Stanid wasn't hiding his surprise. "And Jorr? He norm'ly does it."
Gadruff dropped Jorr's lifeless body, weighed down with a few stones, into the Lhûn only yesternight, but Stanid didn't have to know that.
"Jorr's away and his mission is none of your business, Stanid. His duties have to be done by someone else for now. There's perks in this, of course, but if you don't want the job..." he let his words hang.
"Perks? What perks?" Stanid's eyes turned greedy, he licked his lips.
Gadruff sighed. All this was really unfortunate. He could always trust Jorr with the girls. It had been Jorr's idea to feed them well to get a better price, and even though initially Gadruff was doubting the viability of such strategy, it quickly transpired that nice, smooth, even plump bodies fetched far better prices than beaten and emaciated ones. The girls seemed to trust Jorr, even like him, and they obediently did what he asked of them, without the need of a cane. Now Jorr was gone and it was going to take a long time to find a worthy replacement. This idiot here would have to suffice for now - at least he wasn't going to ask too many questions.
"Yeah, perks. But you have to prove you know what you are doing first. You gotta make me money, not lose it. Understand?"
Stanid nodded eagerly, "I'll do me best, boss, me best! I've seen Jorr do it before. He binds 'em, he puts 'em on a cart, he takes 'em to the river"
Gadruff patted him on the back. "Good. Now go to the shed and get everything ready. Just make sure the birds don't fly out of their cages, will ya? Take someone with you to help you if you need to," he pushed the man gently towards the shack. "Oh, and the redhead stays in the cage until I come over. You don't touch her, you don't speak to her, you don't look at her. You understand me?"
Stanid looked at him a bit unsure but nodded obediently and eagerly trotted towards the shack.
Gadruff went to check on the men moving weapons, chatted to the Khazâd overseeing them, had a smoke with a chap mending a broken cart, nicked a mouthful of meat roasting over one of the fires and joked with the cook, and generally made sure that his presence was noted by everyone. When he was satisfied that all the men and all the dwarves here knew who the boss was, and that the boss was watching, he decided it was time to go to the river. He was just turning his face westwards when a man's curses and a girl's wailing reached his ears. He rushed towards the shack and kicked the door open.
Inside, two men were holding a dark-haired girl on a chair while Stanid was binding her hands behind her back. Her face left no doubt that they were hurting her, and she looked at Gadruff with a plea in her eyes. Other girls were huddled together at the back of their cages, as far from the doors as possible, utterly horrified and ready to scream. They were all going to panic any minute now.
"What the hell is going on here?" he scoffed when he circled the chair and saw that the leather thongs were cutting into the girl's skin. He looked at Stanid angrily. "You don't know how to bind a girl? You are gonna botch your first assignment?"
"Boss," Stanid's eyes were startled and angry, "she is writhing like a snake. I dun wan' to hit 'er , so I had these two hold 'er, but it's no use. She's tuggin' at the leather, making it all go tight."
Gadruff took a deep breath to calm himself, then he walked to the front of the chair to speak to the girl.
"Lisa, is it?" he asked quietly and she nodded.
"Good," he continued, his voice calm and gentle, "I'm going to release you now, Lisa, but if you try to run, we will catch you and I will let this man here," he pointed at Stanid, "do as he pleases. Do you understand me, love?" She nodded, her eyes wide and full of fear.
Gadruff gestured at Stanid to cut the bonds and Lisa brought her hands to the front of her body, rubbing at the deep grooves that the thongs had left in her skin. She grimaced in pain, tears in her eyes.
Gadruff allowed her a minute or two to regain her composure and then continued, "I don't want to hurt you, Lisa, and I don't want these men to hurt you either. Do you understand me?" She nodded again.
"You are a clever girl, Lisa," he praised her and her eyes looked at him with hope. This pleased him and he smiled at her.
"Now, I need your help. Will you help me, my dear?" Nod again. "Good, very good." He took her hands into his and rubbed them gently.
"I am only doing this for your own protection, sweet thing. I will now show Stanid how to bind your hands without hurting you. If I don't, he will hurt you and he will hurt all the other girls here, because he is a bit of a clumsy boy. I can't allow that to happen, can I?" Lisa shook her head mirroring Gadruff's own gesture. He smiled again, then he looked at the girls in cages.
"Come closer, my beautiful ladies," he addressed them courteously. "You will see that this need not hurt and it won't hurt if you only let us be gentle."
There was a derisive snort from the back of the shed, but a few girls slowly and gingerly moved to the front of their cages to have a look. Gadruff smiled at them encouragingly and then motioned to Stanid and his helpers to come closer to and take a lesson in proper binding.
It would have taken him just a moment to bind the thin and white wrists together, but he wanted the three idiots to see what exactly needed to be done. He checked that the leather thong was nice and smooth, then wrapped it around one wrist, his pinkie underneath the bond, then made a loop and drove the end of the thong through it twice, and then, as he took his little finger out of the bond, he pulled gently and tightened the knot.
"See?" he said to the men, "this knot won't budge in any direction, so you cannot loosen it and you cannot tighten it. It doesn't rub, it doesn't squeeze, and it can't be taken off. Did you take a proper look?"
"Yeah," Stanid's voice was angry. " I know how t' make knots, but it's easy when th' gal is calm. She was fightin' before," he pointed at her accusingly.
Gadruff felt like tearing his hair out, but he said calmly, "She is not fighting now. She knows she is under our protection and she won't do anything to put herself in any danger. Will you, my dear?" he addressed the girl and she meekly shook her head.
"There you go," he said to Stanid. "Now, you bind the other hand and we will watch. Lisa will tell you if you are doing something wrong. Will you not, my sweet flower?"
"I will," she sniffed.
Gadruff moved to the side and watched how the girl obediently raised her second hand to be bound with a leather thong. He knew it was the mixture of fear and hope against the odds that was making her dumb. As Stanid sweated trying to make a proper knot, Gadruff remembered how he himself used to hurt and cane the women he had captured. He killed many of them before Jorr came into the picture and showed him how to handle them.
It wasn't unusual for Jorr to cuddle and comfort them, to tell them stories, even to make them laugh. He never ever raised his voice, he was never cruel, he never punched them even when he was forcefully handling the more wilful ones. And he was always truthful with them when they asked questions about their future, and somehow, Gadruff had no idea how, they accepted their fate. He swore internally. Maybe he made a mistake. Maybe Jorr was worth more than the money for the redhead.
When Stanid was done, Gadruff gently pulled Lisa up to her feet and asked her if she approved of the knots. She did and Gadruff asked that she went over to the other girls and showed them that there was no pain or hurt there, save the rubbing that Stanid had done previously.
"Dear ladies," Gadruff addressed them, "take a proper look at what we have done here. Lisa is unhurt, isn't she?" Some heads nodded and he continued, "You will all be bound like this, for your and for our own protection. If you cooperate, there will be no pain, but if you choose to fight, Stanid here won't have a choice and will slip into his previous clumsiness. I don't have to tell you what happens to the hands that have been bound too tight, do I?" he was pleased to see that a few women shook their heads.
"If your hands are bound too tight, Gadruff loses money," a quiet, emotionless voice came from the back of the shed.
One or two of the women who hadn't moved to have a look at the binding lesson sniggered at the back of their cages, and Gadruff glowered in their direction. Time stopped as heads turned from Gadruff to the solitary shadow that had spoken out of turn and back to Gadruff again.
The captain clenched his fists for a fraction of a second, then relaxed them quickly not to show his own vulnerability. He walked slowly towards the last cage and stared at the redhead for a long moment. She stared back, her eyes mocking. If he hadn't counted on the money for her so much, he would have made an example of her by now. As it was, he couldn't afford to lose her but neither could he let her turn all the girls against him and make things more difficult than they already were.
"Stanid," he called, "untie Lisa and put her back in her cage for now. We will move this lady first."
Stanid did as he was bid and trotted over.
"Yer wan' me to tie her up?" he asked apprehensively. Everybody knew by now what she had done to Karloff's unfortunate cousin and Stanid was no exception. There was fear in his eyes.
"No," Gadruff shook his head. "We will move her in her cage. Her cage can be easily transported and that is the reason she's in it," he explained.
Stanid looked at the metal contraption with a palpable relief, then back at Gadruff. "It's a heavy cage, boss. I'm gonna nee' some more help."
Gadruff nodded and then spoke to Stanid's two helpers, "You two, get an empty cart ready and then run along and find some dwarves. It doesn't matter if they are busy or not, tell them they drop what they are doing and come over here. Understood?"
The two oafs nodded and made themselves scarce. Gadruff pulled Stanid towards the door and out into the sun.
"You will never ever backchat to me in front of my men, or in front of the dwarves, or in front of the girls. Do that again and I will feed your own guts to you. Understood?"
Stanid paled and nodded.
"Good," Gadruff's voice was low, threatening. "Now about the girls: they are not yours to have fun with. They are mine. You don't shag them, you don't fondle them, you don't hurt them, you don't threaten them," he murmured menacingly.
"Aye, captain," Stanid's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
Gadruff knew that while Jorr was fantastic for the girls, he was a walking, talking nightmare for the men, and that they feared him more than they feared death itself. That gave him an idea.
"Jorr takes the care of the girls very seriously, and he might take a personal offence if you botch things up. I might simply take compensation from your share of the profit if you lose me any money. Jorr might takes things much further. Do you get my meaning, boy?"
"Yers," Stanid's voice was on the verge of breaking up.
Gadruff patted him on the back in a fatherly manner.
"You'll get far, I'm sure of it," he smirked.
