Part 68 (Patreon)

The escaping wagon had barely left the town when the villagers re-emerged from their homes, confused to find what they thought were the two strangers still in the stocks. They continued pelting them with dirt, food, and the like, without regard to their cries. But after a short time, another wagon wheeled into town, and stopped near the pillory. This wagon had a massive cage in the back. Still anxious, most of the villagers retreated back into their homes and locked the doors, as a knight, an archer, and a woman in a grey gown climbed off wagon and examined the women in the stocks.

“Who’s in charge here?” said Nimue. “I am!” yelled one of the women in the stocks, to the laughter of the three. “Well, if no one else is here to speak for these prisoners, let’s load them up!” said the archer.

Nimue nodded in agreement, but the redheaded knight Zarih was already working on unlocking the restraints.

“This is a mistake!” yelled one of the women, “I am the Hierophant of Amplocopia’s Veneration!” “And I am the sheriff of this town!” said the other. Bryzara the archer slapped “the hierophant” (who looked a lot like Choru) on the backside, and growled, “Shut up you, just climb into the cage.” “This is all wrong!” said the “sheriff” who resembled Maddie. The cage slammed shut, and the women were on their way.

As the horses dragged the wagon away from the town, the hierophant spoke up. “Who are you and what do you want with us?” “You’ll find out when we arrive,” Nimue said, looking back.

Just as they passed the palisade around the village, Zarih looked back. “What?” she said, surprised.

“We told you,” said the sheriff, looking at the Hierophant Aubrienne and realizing the illusion magic had worn off. The two were stark naked—as Maddie had explained, their clothes had been consumed to fuel the illusion, but Aubrienne still had her necklace.

The three women climbed down from the front of the wagon and inspected their prisoners in awe. They looked completely different.

“Well, this isn’t great,” Bryzara said.  Nimue sighed. “We were sent to collect the women in the stocks, and we did just that. Let’s get back to camp.”