Chapter 231: Stall Talk

Seeing the ease with which Aiden broke off the wooden panel, opening up the stall she was placed at and essentially freeing her with the shrug of a shoulder, caused Scarlet to look at the boy with an incredulous look.

The girls next to him, Sarah and Naybeah gave knowing smirks seeing the display of strength from the boy.

"Now then." Throwing the panel away, Aiden looked at the opened stall with a cheerful smile. "Since neither of you can get inside the tribe's grounds, you should join with the girls, okay? Stay together and do your best guys!"

Turning around he looked at Sarah and the blonde amazon as he continued with his lecturing words.

"Protect Scarlet; she suffered enough in her life." His tone was solemn and cool. Thinking back on the life she must have had before she was freed… Aiden couldn't help but clench his fists as anger began to rise inside him. In fact, the rage he felt was something similar, akin to the madness he felt when he found out what happened to his sister.

Knowing he couldn't lose control now, he took several deep breaths before he finally started to calm down, and the light that appeared in his eyes began to fade back to normal.

"You can count on me, hubby!" Hitting her chest, Naybeah proudly exclaimed. "I will protect the miss, just like I would you, my Chosen Mate!"

"Mate? What does she mea-" Not clear on the meaning behind the amazon's words, Scarlet was about to ask, however, Aiden intervened, giving a loud sigh.

"Anyway…" After calming down and collecting himself, he looked and gently placed his right hand on Scarlet's shoulder. "You can count on them, they are strong, just like you."

Stepping forward, he once again shifted his attention towards Sarah, who has already busied herself looking around Scarlet's stall, looking for additional weak points, or potential solutions on how to open the rest of the stalls without much noise.

"Sarah…" Stepping next to the girl who was currently focused on the large wooden pole at the center of the stall. The iron chains were fixed on it with large nails.

"Hmm?" Hearing her name being called out by the boy, Sarah turned around, to match the boy's gaze. As their eyes met there was a momentary silence, before Aiden continued.

"Once you guys are done with everything you need to do, let's gather at the campsite, okay? I will try to get back as fast as possible. Since we need to find and rescue Drake as well, I will try to get back as soon as possible. I'm not sure if I will be discovered, but if I do and my cover will be blown, listen to a dragon's roar. Once you hear that, don't wait for us, and just leave! Understood?" At the latter half of his speech, his tone turned colder, somber.

"Wha-" Shocked and stunned by his words, Sarah was unable to respond for a short while. Once she managed to, Aiden swiftly silenced her by placing his right index finger in front of her lips.

"No. Just agree to it, okay? I can most likely get out, I still have several tricks up in my sleeves!" Winking, he gave a friendly, reassuring smile to the stunned girl. 

Once said, he turned around, and deciding to not give any more chances for the girls to argue, he swiftly left towards the door leaving the trio of girls to themselves.

"Aiden... wait!" After the momentary shock passed, Sarah yelled out towards the boy's figure, albeit too late, as he was already out of the building and on his way to complete his parts of the mission.

Left to their own devices, Sarah slapped the wooden pole she was still investigating in the midst of her great annoyance. 

"This guy…" She grumbled. "Can't he just work with us? Why does he feel he needs to do everything?!" 

"Ehehe, that's just how it is. This is exactly how a mate an amazon chose should act. A real man!" Naybeah added with a wide grin on her face still looking at the direction where Aiden was a moment ago.

"So…" Gulping, Scarlet was not sure what to do. Her interaction with Aiden so far has been very limited. From what she heard from her brother was that this long, black-haired, exotic, golden-eyed boy was incredibly strong. In fact, Drake had to admit, although begrudgingly, that the boy was much stronger than himself.

This was the reason she latched on to the chance to ask Aiden to save his brother. Whatever happened to him, he is in grave danger. Still alive, but who knows for how long?

Taking a longer breath than usual, Scarlet decided to speak up. So far, she had no idea what the plans for these two were, why did they come to this godforsaken place?

"Soo…. what are your plans? What are we supposed to do?" Lifting her empty palms, she showcased her (well, currently) painfully obvious lack of weapons. "Although my options may be limited due to being unarmed, but I am still capable. I grew up in arenas, fighting for my life. A fistful of sand, a sharper stone, a pointy stick sometimes meant the difference between life and death. Just give me the chance to prove my usefulness to you guys! I refuse to be a burden!"

She raised her clenched fists in the air, giving more power to her sudden speech.

The conviction, the determination was clear, both Sarah and Naybeah understood that her words weren't said half-heartedly, she really meant what she said. Being a higher-up in the ranks of the Guild, Sarah obviously heard a bit more of the predicament and all the drama that resulted from her escape, she was certain that she could fight to her last breath using whatever she could grab. Living her whole life as a slave, forced to fight for survival each and every day for years to come… That's not a life that should have been the fate of the princess of the country.

After a few seconds of silence, Sarah nodded as she measured the fiery red-haired girl one more time.

"I understand, my lady, I know you are strong, stronger than the average. I can't even begin to imagine the life you had to lead before you were reunited with your brother but rest assured, we all will work towards the same goal, and I fully expect you to do your part of the work."

Crouching down, Sarah reached for her ankles, and to Naybeah's surprise pulled out a small knife from under the cloth cover. Standing up, she presented it to the princess.

"Here, take this. Not the biggest, but that's the only extra I have."

"Heh, you have more and more secrets. Does hubby know about that hidden weapon of yours?" Naybeah, with a cheeky smirk on her face, remarked.

In response, Sarah only clicked her tongue, returning her attention to Scarlet who just took the dagger and began giving a few light swings to get familiar with its weight.

"This is more than enough…. Uhm… Sarah, right?" Scarlet asked as she continued focusing on the weapon in her hand.

"Yes. My name is Sarah, and this brute of a woman… "pointing at Naybeah, she introduced themselves. "...is Naybeah and actual amazon. Our main objective is to get details about the horde's plans and if the opportunity arises, thwart them to the best of our abilities."

"Well, I'm only here to accompany hubby, and to find a location that should be somewhere around here…" Naybeah added, earning a frown from Sarah in the process.

"Huh? Hubby? Who?" Hearing the term for the second time, Scarlet couldn't help but ask the amazon for more clarity. Her question seemed to hit the right spot, as the blonde giantess immediately became heated, her cheeks turning bright red as she turned her attention towards the door.

"Hubby? My Chosen Mate obviously. Aiden, who else? He is the first and only man that managed to defeat me and also stand up against the Queen. She is my chosen one, the only man in my life going forward!"

Heaving a heavy and heated sigh, she mumbled enamored towards the closed door.

"He is a true alpha, not like those other men… He is the holder of my heart, I can't help but fall more and more in love as I see him in action."

"Uhm… I see…" With a wry smile, Scarlet decided to skip the topic for now, and turned her attention back to Sarah, who meanwhile seemed to move on from the pole and look at the destroyed, splintered wooden panel at the side.

"So, what are we going to do?" Scarlet asked the girl who kept herself busy all the while the amazon continued her pointless blabbering.

"Huh?" As if awoken from her delirious trance, she looked at the red-haired girl with a surprised look. Raising his right arm, she pointed at the nearby stalls still full of slaves and aptly listening to them. "We are going to free and rescue everyone, obviously!"