02-04-2017, 01:25 PM
Malon's tears did not go on forever. She forced herself to remember how crying did not help: it had not helped when Ingo had forced her to stay, it had not helped when she had waited for a hero to come and it would not help now. She could not hope that this invisible ally would come to her rescue... or that they could do everything by themselves. Thinking it through, she wasn't even certain if she could trust that person. She had never seen her face or found out what her plans were. Of course, she might have had a stroke of luck and found one of the fabled Primes that would break her out. But she was uncertain if she could trust that.
When she was called to cook dinner Malon hatched a plan... there were parts of the kitchen where the sound was drowned by the crackling fires and the boiling waters, and it was obvious that the guards would keep what they percieved as the best bites for themselves. Setting something aside would not work, they would find out about that... but what about disguising food as trash? The prisoners made to do clean-up duty after the meal were mostly unsupervised, and it was they who were tasked with throwing out the remains. A perfect window of opportunity...
When the guard shoved her into the kitchen he remarked: "Make us some more of those delicious potatoes of yours!" with a laugh. "Scar's treating us to a piece of meat for everyone who stayed back, and potatoes go really well with it. Now get to work, do your magic!"
Malon gritted her teeth while facing away from him and turned around, putting on a scared face. "But Sir, we are almost out of potatoes", she replied. "We only have half a dozen, if we cook them whole then not everyone will have some. And the peels taste really bad with meat." That was a blatant lie, but the guard bought it.
"Then find some way to evenly split 'em. Peeled if it's gotta be. And if I catch any of you sneaking the slightest bite of the meat..."
"We would never, Sir!" one of the girls exclaimed while setting up a pot with water. Malon began cutting vegetables, waiting for the guard to fall into a lethargic state where they paid little attention to their surroundings, then gathered the girls to explain her newest recipe. This one would be better than the others...
When the guardsman knocked his spear against the wall to indicate that they should be getting finished Malon unhinged one of the largest pots that had boiling water in it and had the girls throw in the potatoes for slow cooking, along with a few spices. There was a surprisingly big amount of the latter, and for a good reason... From what she had gathered by quietly asking questions during work almost all the girls were from a city called Dalaran, where magic was commonly used. They were from a guild, that was why they all had that emblem on their clothes, or what was left of them anyway. All of them were going to be powerful witches but had been captured during a field trip, and somehow their magic abilities had been suppressed by the special cuff that they were forced to wear on their ankle all day long. None of them had ever learned how to cook with conventional methods, as a result they didn't know the first thing about spices and condiments. They had tried to use some a few times, mixing them randomly into the food, until one of the girls had been beaten brutally for causing severe stomach-aches and heartburn to six men.
Malon set aside several spices that she didn't know, and a few others that could prove useful in the future. If they were going to break out they would come in handy... then she picked out some parsley and fennel to add to the mashed soy beans and lentils that the other girls had been mashing all that time. They threw that into a pan alongside the minced meat and used the fat released by the latter during its roasting to create faux meat hamburgers. The two types looked almost the same, but Malon sprinkled some ashes from the fireplace over a handful, and let out a shriek. When the guard raised his head to see what was going on Malon removed the "burned" ones from the pan and showed them to one of the girls. "You burnt these... we should throw them out."
"Oh did she now?" the guard asked, looking smug. He eyed the ones that Malon had set apart and snickered. "Well isn't it your lucky day. You'll just have to eat these things and hope that they don't make you sick. In the meantime..." He gave Malon a hard stab with the butt of his spear, tossing her against the ground, and kicked her ribs twice, all the while looking at the whimpering girl. "If you don't pay attention your friend here will be taking the blame. She's your boss after all. Aren't you?" he asked while looking down at Malon, who was clutching her stomach. The guard laughed and turned away to return to his post, and Malon slowly got to her feet, then when he didn't look handed back the kitchen towels that she had wrapped around her torso to dampen the hits, anticipating that exactly that would happen. In his pleasure to punish her the guard hadn't noticed that his kicks weren't hitting as hard as they could've, and Malon had the healthiest constitution of all of them. Sure the kicks still hurt - badly even - but any of the girls would probably have had their ribs broken instead. They set the burned food aside.
Then lunchtime came and the guardsman came to check on them. He bent over the pan and eyed it suspiciously. "What's that?" he asked. "How is there more meat than what you were given?"
"Oh, no Sir!" Malon exclaimed. She pointed at the meat hamburgers, "This is the meat that we were supposed to make. These here", she pointed at the soy-lentil hamburgers. "are vegetarian burgers made with dark bread and soy."
The guard eyed her suspiciously, then took out his dagger and cut a piece of both indicated pieces of hamburger. "Well, isn't that a surprise. Did you think you could hog all the meat for yourself and your friends?" he asked, bending over Malon with a grin. "Think yourself clever, huh? Disguising the vegetarian burgers as the real meat, hmm? Unfortunately for you I'm ten times smarter than you'll ever be, and fortunately for you this real meat tastes so good that I think I'll pass on beating you up again." He pointed the dagger at one of the girls. "Fetch the plates and start putting the food on!"
"B-but Sir, you got it wrong! You're taking the fake meat!" Malon exclaimed, putting some shake into her voice.
"Are you trying to test your luck? No? Good, then be happy that you're not getting punished twice in one day", the guard replied sharply. He took it upon himself to load the fake hamburgers onto the plates for himself and his friends, feeling very good about himself thinking that he'd seen through Malon's act. The real meat was left in the pan, untouched. Shortly after that the other prisoners came to get their fill and they were informed to stay discrete by one or another of the girls whenever the guards weren't looking their way. Their surprise was great when they were served meat and lentils rather than the ever-same peeled potatoes and gruel. The peeled potatoes went to the bandits that day. As for the potato peels, Malon left them to roast on the embers that were burning out, for the prisoners on cleaning duty to find as a little extra treat.
That evening the prisoners felt as if they were enjoying a feast at King Aragorn's table, though it was "only" meat, lentils and water. Malon wouldn't be able to do that much more often without raising suspicion - or winding up with broken ribs after all - and it was going to take a day or two before the guard took his eyes off of her again after thinking that he'd seen through her trick, but having done it once meant more to her than she realized at that time. It meant that she could defy her captors, if not openly then with deceit and trickery. And she had shown to the others that they could resist. Eventually, maybe, they would be able to use this defiance to set up their escape.
Or the murder of their captors.
When she was called to cook dinner Malon hatched a plan... there were parts of the kitchen where the sound was drowned by the crackling fires and the boiling waters, and it was obvious that the guards would keep what they percieved as the best bites for themselves. Setting something aside would not work, they would find out about that... but what about disguising food as trash? The prisoners made to do clean-up duty after the meal were mostly unsupervised, and it was they who were tasked with throwing out the remains. A perfect window of opportunity...
When the guard shoved her into the kitchen he remarked: "Make us some more of those delicious potatoes of yours!" with a laugh. "Scar's treating us to a piece of meat for everyone who stayed back, and potatoes go really well with it. Now get to work, do your magic!"
Malon gritted her teeth while facing away from him and turned around, putting on a scared face. "But Sir, we are almost out of potatoes", she replied. "We only have half a dozen, if we cook them whole then not everyone will have some. And the peels taste really bad with meat." That was a blatant lie, but the guard bought it.
"Then find some way to evenly split 'em. Peeled if it's gotta be. And if I catch any of you sneaking the slightest bite of the meat..."
"We would never, Sir!" one of the girls exclaimed while setting up a pot with water. Malon began cutting vegetables, waiting for the guard to fall into a lethargic state where they paid little attention to their surroundings, then gathered the girls to explain her newest recipe. This one would be better than the others...
When the guardsman knocked his spear against the wall to indicate that they should be getting finished Malon unhinged one of the largest pots that had boiling water in it and had the girls throw in the potatoes for slow cooking, along with a few spices. There was a surprisingly big amount of the latter, and for a good reason... From what she had gathered by quietly asking questions during work almost all the girls were from a city called Dalaran, where magic was commonly used. They were from a guild, that was why they all had that emblem on their clothes, or what was left of them anyway. All of them were going to be powerful witches but had been captured during a field trip, and somehow their magic abilities had been suppressed by the special cuff that they were forced to wear on their ankle all day long. None of them had ever learned how to cook with conventional methods, as a result they didn't know the first thing about spices and condiments. They had tried to use some a few times, mixing them randomly into the food, until one of the girls had been beaten brutally for causing severe stomach-aches and heartburn to six men.
Malon set aside several spices that she didn't know, and a few others that could prove useful in the future. If they were going to break out they would come in handy... then she picked out some parsley and fennel to add to the mashed soy beans and lentils that the other girls had been mashing all that time. They threw that into a pan alongside the minced meat and used the fat released by the latter during its roasting to create faux meat hamburgers. The two types looked almost the same, but Malon sprinkled some ashes from the fireplace over a handful, and let out a shriek. When the guard raised his head to see what was going on Malon removed the "burned" ones from the pan and showed them to one of the girls. "You burnt these... we should throw them out."
"Oh did she now?" the guard asked, looking smug. He eyed the ones that Malon had set apart and snickered. "Well isn't it your lucky day. You'll just have to eat these things and hope that they don't make you sick. In the meantime..." He gave Malon a hard stab with the butt of his spear, tossing her against the ground, and kicked her ribs twice, all the while looking at the whimpering girl. "If you don't pay attention your friend here will be taking the blame. She's your boss after all. Aren't you?" he asked while looking down at Malon, who was clutching her stomach. The guard laughed and turned away to return to his post, and Malon slowly got to her feet, then when he didn't look handed back the kitchen towels that she had wrapped around her torso to dampen the hits, anticipating that exactly that would happen. In his pleasure to punish her the guard hadn't noticed that his kicks weren't hitting as hard as they could've, and Malon had the healthiest constitution of all of them. Sure the kicks still hurt - badly even - but any of the girls would probably have had their ribs broken instead. They set the burned food aside.
Then lunchtime came and the guardsman came to check on them. He bent over the pan and eyed it suspiciously. "What's that?" he asked. "How is there more meat than what you were given?"
"Oh, no Sir!" Malon exclaimed. She pointed at the meat hamburgers, "This is the meat that we were supposed to make. These here", she pointed at the soy-lentil hamburgers. "are vegetarian burgers made with dark bread and soy."
The guard eyed her suspiciously, then took out his dagger and cut a piece of both indicated pieces of hamburger. "Well, isn't that a surprise. Did you think you could hog all the meat for yourself and your friends?" he asked, bending over Malon with a grin. "Think yourself clever, huh? Disguising the vegetarian burgers as the real meat, hmm? Unfortunately for you I'm ten times smarter than you'll ever be, and fortunately for you this real meat tastes so good that I think I'll pass on beating you up again." He pointed the dagger at one of the girls. "Fetch the plates and start putting the food on!"
"B-but Sir, you got it wrong! You're taking the fake meat!" Malon exclaimed, putting some shake into her voice.
"Are you trying to test your luck? No? Good, then be happy that you're not getting punished twice in one day", the guard replied sharply. He took it upon himself to load the fake hamburgers onto the plates for himself and his friends, feeling very good about himself thinking that he'd seen through Malon's act. The real meat was left in the pan, untouched. Shortly after that the other prisoners came to get their fill and they were informed to stay discrete by one or another of the girls whenever the guards weren't looking their way. Their surprise was great when they were served meat and lentils rather than the ever-same peeled potatoes and gruel. The peeled potatoes went to the bandits that day. As for the potato peels, Malon left them to roast on the embers that were burning out, for the prisoners on cleaning duty to find as a little extra treat.
That evening the prisoners felt as if they were enjoying a feast at King Aragorn's table, though it was "only" meat, lentils and water. Malon wouldn't be able to do that much more often without raising suspicion - or winding up with broken ribs after all - and it was going to take a day or two before the guard took his eyes off of her again after thinking that he'd seen through her trick, but having done it once meant more to her than she realized at that time. It meant that she could defy her captors, if not openly then with deceit and trickery. And she had shown to the others that they could resist. Eventually, maybe, they would be able to use this defiance to set up their escape.
Or the murder of their captors.