Lanix took the opportunity while the Ren group was distracted to talk to Simon, who was bound on the stalk next to her, "I wonder if I make an illusion that this stalk has disappeared if they'll panic and we can get away? No, that won't work because you're still tied up. Maybe, you could say something funny and get them to let you go?" She looked wonderingly at Simon.
With eyebrows raised, Simon looked back at her, "I'm not funny." He thought back to all the times he would make his parents laugh and very few of those times were when he was actually trying to make them laugh. They typically laughed when he fumbled with a new word or said something under his breath about the myths he had been reading, things that only avid readers of fantasy would understand.
"I'm sure there must be something," she rolled her head around as if trying to shake loose an idea from her brain. "It's getting dark."
Simon looked up from the ground where he had been watching a bug crawl over a group of pebbles. "I'd say so."
"You really aren't funny, are you?"
Simon shrugged. He saw Entor get up from her place at the fire giggling. She came straight to Lanix and Soren with a slight skip in her step.
"Well, the good news is that they aren't going to kill us. The bad news is that they are going to keep the two of you tied up overnight."
Lanix rolled her eyes. Simon was thankful that he wouldn't have to face death for the night.
"They really, really don't trust Ix. And they still think you're Voy. I haven't bothered to correct them because I'm not sure what you are. Maybe you're a Voy who lost his memory, I don't know. Anyway, they're going to let me stay with Klorren's family and Soren is going to stay with some of the men that share a tent. I think Klorren was ready to tie Soren back up, he really has no sense of humor and somehow manages to insult people without recognizing it. Anyway, here's some bread and water. I know it's not much but it's something I guess."
Entor sat and fed them the bread and gave them sips of the water between bites. She continued telling them about the bandits, "So Klorren is a mix between Ko and Ren. His wife is Ren and Tor which means his kids are Ren, Ko, and Tor. Most of the people here are some kind of mix. The few that are pure were orphans or outcasts. So they all found each other. Most of the people here have at least some Ren or Tor which is why they let Soren and I join them. Klorren is actually really nice and very funny, as long as you ignore the whole tying people up thing. But that's kind of understandable, I mean his parents fell in love and were cast out of their societies because they were from different groups. Seems silly to me. My parents are both Tor and they hate each other and their offspring. But I guess it's easier to keep people angry when they hate each other and when they hate each other they stay away from each other and can't become friends like us..."
"Entor..." the loud bellow came from the direction of the group around the fire.
"That's Klorren, I got to go. He warned me that the 'children' go to bed early. I think I've already proven that I can fend for myself, but..."
"Entor!"
"Right, good night guys. See you in the morning!" With that Entor took off toward the tent that the children were heading into.
Once the kids were tucked away, a lumbering figure walked toward Lanix and Simon flanked by two others. Klorren towered over the two quietly before he finally sat in front of them. He was still well above their eye level. He stared down Lanix, lowered his voice to a whisper and said, "I don't trust you. I don't want you here. Lucky for you, you've found an amusing companion who reminds me of someone we lost recently. I just want you to know that I would have slit your throat on the road without hesitation."
"It wouldn't be the first time I'd had my throat slit," Lanix replied.
"Nor, I doubt, the last. I want you gone first thing in the morning without setting any of your witchcraft on my camp or my people. If you cause us any trouble, I will hunt you down and find the method for killing you without remorse." He stood up to leave. "I want you to know that I have every intention of convincing that young girl to stay here; your company spells nothing but death for her."
"Good luck," Lanix whispered.
Once there was some distance, Lanix let her breath go.
Simon turned his head to her, "You've had your throat slit before? How are you still alive?" He swallowed hard.
"That's what you pulled out of that whole exchange?"
"Uh, yeah. How could I not?"
"Ix have one specific way to die. We don't know what it is, no one does. Obviously, my way to die has yet to be found."
"Did it hurt?"Simon asked, face twisted in empathetic pain.
Lanix chuckled at the absurdity of the question, "Yes. It always hurts."
For the first time, Simon noticed pain in her eyes, even through the grinning lips. He learned more about Lanix from that one statement than anything else she had done.
Eventually they both drifted off to sleep.
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