Logan glanced over to his right, towards Antonio. In that moment, Logan realized that the two of them, so used to confiding closely in each other over recent years, had not spoken much at all together since they had joined up with Erika and Mershad in the forest.
“So much change, so fast,” Logan muttered, low enough that his words were delivered in relative privacy.
Antonio replied in an equally subdued voice, “Everything is moving fast. Makes me feel kind of helpless. I don’t think we have real freedom anymore. None at all. Any way you look at it. And I mean… any way.”
He pointedly glanced over at the opening that Ayenwatha had just departed through. Logan followed his friend’s gaze and saw that there were a few of Ayenwatha’s warriors lingering quietly within the adjacent chamber. Seeing their presence, Logan had little doubt that if he, or any of his companions, were to walk through the next opening into the other abutting chamber, they would likely encounter another warrior or two.
For the time being, it was abundantly clear that the seven were not going to be allowed to exit the longhouse of their own accord. Their hosts were treating them with a cordial respect, perhaps even generously given the circumstances, but it was still one that had its precautions and firm parameters.
“We will work with whatever we’ve got,” Logan finally replied, staring at the forms of the warriors for a moment longer before returning his gaze back to Antonio. “Really, it’s just like every day back in our own world. We didn’t control those circumstances either. We did whatever we had to do… in response to whatever we had before us.”
Logan paused, and then gave Antonio a rueful grin. “Though I admit the things facing us back home were a whole lot more familiar to us.”
“But where is this all headed to?” Antonio asked with a forlorn expression. Logan could see the fear glistening in his friend’s eyes. “If it wasn’t for the fact that we’re going through it hour by hour together, it would be hard for me to believe any of this is even real. But I know it is no dream…”
Logan shook his head, “I don’t know. The best thing that’s happened is that we haven’t panicked too much. I know that we’re all scared. I would be a fool and a liar to say otherwise. But we can’t lose control now, and we can’t start panicking. Things would get much worse, very quickly. We have to keep our wits about ourselves, even if it all looks like murk and storms ahead.”
Antonio nodded with a pensive expression at Logan’s advice. Logan knew that his friend would likely heed the sentiments that he had voiced, even if Antonio was none too happy about their current state of affairs; prisoners in a foreign land that had a blackening cloud of war spreading over it.
Logan looked over at the rest of the group. Two were milling about the opening to the chamber on his left, while a couple more were occupying the surface of the platform opposite to him.
Kent, clearly restless, was working to climb up to the overhead platform on the other side of the chamber. Logan watched him idly, somewhat curious as to what Kent was up to.
“So what do you think of the others? Do you think that everyone else can hold themselves together for long?” Antonio asked Logan.
Logan, continuing to watch Kent’s upward progress, nodded affirmatively. “I think so. I think they all can. Especially Derek. He’s probably our best fighter, if things come down to something that needed that, and he’s got a military background. We talked about it during our turn together on the night’s watch. And I really think Erika and Janus are very capable individuals too. She’s a strong one, with a lot of willpower. Janus is one of those quiet, tenacious types. He’s not one that would easily let us down.
“As for Kent, it is a little questionable, but he seems to be managing okay for the moment. And Mershad… I don’t know enough about him yet, but my gut tells me he’s good. But I honestly think all of them will be fine. I really do.”
“Well, let’s make the best of it then, like you say. Everyone in this room is kind of like our family now, in a way,” Antonio observed. His grin, likely meant to be encouraging, was laced with nervousness. “I…”
“No weapons! Put that down! And come down here, right now!”
Antonio flinched as their conversation was curtly interrupted, a stern, authoritative voice coming from the opening that they had entered the chamber through.
Kent had succeeded in climbing up to the overhead platform, and had been marveling at one of the ball-ended, carved timber war clubs that he had found lying up there. His expression in the wake of the admonishment was not far from that of a naughty child caught red-handed.
Kent set the club down slowly, and carefully climbed back down to the ground level. His face was flush as he turned around to face the others.
“Sorry, sorry, I just was curious about what was up there, that’s all,” Kent said gently to the strong-looking warrior that was now standing in the entryway, glowering at him. Kent held his hands up, palms open, in a placating gesture.
The plainly irritated warrior moved quickly past Kent, climbing up swiftly to the upper platform and retrieving the weapon. He took a few moments to search about the platform before coming back down. Crossing the chamber, he climbed and checked the other higher platform.
The warrior appeared to be more annoyed with the fact that the weapon was up there, than he was angered with Kent’s transgression. Once back on the ground again, the warrior turned to face all of the chamber’s occupants, fixing each of them with a sharp, piercing glance. His dark eyes held a hardened, inflexible look within them.
“No weapons!” he said firmly.
“Kent, sit still! Can’t you at least do that for a few minutes?” Derek vented, with obvious exasperation. Derek looked over to the warrior, and spoke politely. “I apologize for our friend. He did not mean to provoke, he’s just very curious about everything here. All of this is new to us.”
Janus rolled his eyes from where he stood next to Derek. He turned to Erika and Mershad, chuckling. “Kids. Can’t always watch them.”
The others returned a nervous, low laughter from where they were sitting on the lower platform. The warrior in the doorway relaxed his posture somewhat as Kent shuffled away from the platform, to come over and stand by Derek and Janus. Another warrior had come up to stand next to the first one by then, and neither showed any impending signs of leaving, or ceasing in their supervision of the seven foreigners.
Turning his head, Logan saw that a third warrior had taken up a vigil in the chamber’s other opening. Like the other two, he gazed with a humorless expression upon Logan’s group. The sight of the warrior instantly confirmed Logan’s earlier suspicions regarding the possibility of guarding occupants within the other adjacent chamber.
Though they were not making any special effort to intimidate, the presence of the three warriors had the instant effect of dampening all conversation within the room. Sitting down upon various edges of the lower platforms on each side of the chamber, Logan and the others quietly bided their time.
Looking sullen and castigated, Kent moved deeper on the platform towards the chamber wall. He lay on his back across one of the animal skins and stared up at underside of the upper platform, brooding in the tense stillness of the chamber.
The warrior that had initially spoken then handed the confiscated war club over to his companion, and calmly walked over to the platform, looking down at Kent.
“Use the mat, place it underneath you against the wood,” he instructed Kent in a slightly softer tone of voice, gesturing towards one of the corn-husk mats lying close by. “It will be more comfortable for you.”