Elendra did not hear what was spoken next; she was so deep in her thoughts. If the agreement or whatever it was had taken place ten years before, they could not mean Alana. She, Elendra, had been the only daughter until six years before. The gravelly voice broke into her thoughts:
“Come, man. We will not harm your daughter, but she is the payment we demand.”
Fair voice seemed to think a gentler approach was needed, as he said, “My dear sir, I cannot promise that you will ever see or hear from the girl again, but I can promise that she will be taken care of well. We would not claim such a fair young woman unless we were sure that we could care for her.”
“Well, if she is at all willing to go, I suppose she must. Will you promise to give her the choice to stay or go?” John sounded resigned.
“We will promise no such thing,” declared gravel voice, but fair voice said, “We will not force her if she completely does not wish to go. I will not have a blubbering woman on my hands, but if she will go without kicking and screaming, she must come with us. She is desired by our Master.”
“Very well. Return at dawn, and she will depart with you then.”
“No. She must come with us now.” Gravel voice sounded as if he had a deadline, and fair voice proved it by saying, “Alas, Ranger is right. We must have the girl tonight if we are to make it to our Master in time.”
James and Jadewell had been staring at Elendra in horror, but rushed to their room once the heard chairs scraping against the stone kitchen floor. A moment after, Elendra followed suit. Alana looked at her sister once, then began begging to know what had happened.
“Lennie, what’s wrong? Is anyone killt?”
“It’s ‘killed’, but hush now, Alana or we’ll both be in trouble. You’ll know in a moment.”
Elendra’s unusually harsh voice put an end to any questions, and soon, footsteps could be heard in the hall. The door opened, and two grey-clad men walked in. one was tall and appeared thin in the pale moonlight, but the other was short and thick. Even in the dim lighting, Elendra could see his bulging muscles. The former spoke first, and a body was put to the fair voice.
“Hello, daughter of John. We have come to take you to our Master. How long will you need to gather provisions for one day?”
The short man made an impatient noise then said in his voice of gravel, “You have one hour to ready yourself. We leave at the stroke of midnight.”
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