Chapter 4

They rode in silence all the way back to town.

Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with Beth. One look at her face they could tell she was in a dark mood and no one wanted to take the chance she might erupt on them.

The girls knew she wasn't normally like that, but they didn't want to take the chance either. Normally she laughed and joked with just her family when they were alone, but since the boys arrived she was surly at best with them all lately.

Soon they were in the town and headed to Tanner's merchandise and receiving. It was a large warehouse that had dual swinging doors that were swung wide open and resting against the walls. Inside they could see where horse could go in and out, but there were large shelves with merchandise stacked on them for storage.

They asked around until the found Jason Tanner standing midway inside the warehouse talking to some of his workers. He was a thin man, not unhealthy thin, just thin with a full head of brown hair and light white sideburns. He looked to be very energetic and greeted them warmly when they asked if he was Jason Tanner.

"So you're the ones sent by the guild. A little young aren't you?" asked Jason Tanner with a smile.

Beth smiled back at him as she confirmed their identities.

She then mentioned that they were among the top the Sisters had and if they weren't they wouldn't have sent them because the guild was well known for its high standards and expectations of its members.

Ayden and Michael were surprised that she knew how to smile at anyone anymore, as so far all they had seen were cool looks and scowls from her.

"Who's this?" asked Jason Tanner gesturing at the boys.

"We're just visiting the guild. We're family to two of the Sisters here and they will vouch for us. We've not seen them in seasons when we met with them in town and we just wanted to see what they were capable of and explore this part of the country at the same time while we're here. It won't cost you anything to get an extra two set of hands to help out as compensation," said Ayden smiling.

He didn't want to lie, but at the same time he didn't want to cost the Sisters any money either. He thought volunteering to work for free for him might be a good compromise.

"Well I'm not one to turn my nose up at free help, and if the Sisters here can vouch for you both with their high standards, then that's all I need," said Jason smiling.

As they got off their horses they were ushered into Jason's office. His office was in the back of his warehouse. There was a large picture window that looked out into the warehouse area where various people were either loading or unloading merchandise.

"What are the full details of the job?" asked Beth with a warm smile for Jason as she took a seat in front of his desk. The others remained standing.

The effect of her cute smile, not to mention how it lit up her features and made her steel blue eyes bluer to match her jet black hair, was enough that Jason immediately started smiling back at her. Her smile made him feel at ease and made him wish he were younger.

"I just need to you to escort my son Gary to his destination. We were contracted to move a crate overland for a new customer. He requested that we only use your guild for guarding, and since we normally do from time to time, it should be just another contract for you folks.

"I doubt anyone would bother any of you with your guilds reputation, but I didn't get where I was by not making sure I was covered wherever possible, and this wasn't even a stretch to do. Some people will attack anything just to see what you have on a wagon.

"I wanted my daughter to go as well. While she wants into the family business, she has no interest in traveling to see what the business is all about, or what it takes to run it. One needs to do that to start to build up various contacts in other cities to keep this business running.

"All she wants to do it seems is spend the profits without knowing where they come from or how much work is involved with earning them," laughed Jason lightly as he shook his head at his own sad joke.

Everyone else also nervously laughed at his personal joke.

"Sounds like a simple enough job. We will workout the rotation of where everyone is to be during the trip," said Beth.

"I was hoping you though so too and that's why I though because it was such an easy run she would want to also go. Not to mention it also gives her a chance to see how we use guards as a form of outsourcing, how much work goes into what we do, how it effects our bottom line and ... speak of the devil here she comes now," said Jason.

While he was still speaking the door opened up and a young woman entered. As she approached she was looking at the backs of the people inside the room. Everyone could see how confidently she made her way up to stand behind her father's desk. Once there she turned back around and faced them.

She was about their age, around about eighteen to twenty, average height with long dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was quite pretty and while her upper lip was smaller than her bottom one, the bottom one was full and begged to be sucked on by someone.

Her breasts weren't very large but they did fit her frame and gave it an hourglass balance as well as also filled out her snug brown dress that also had thin light yellow squares on it. She had a nice trim waist to complete the picture.

The girl looked around at everyone once she was able to fully face them. While she had what looked to be a pasted on smile, once her eyes noticed Ayden, the look on her face was even brighter and it seemed as if her new smile lit up the room. The look then switched to become one of heated desire almost instantly.

Ayden meanwhile couldn't miss the look if he tried.

While he found her very attractive, there was something missing for him. He just didn't click with her like she apparently did him, and as he realized this he could see that she seemed to be now only fixated on him, he inwardly groaned.

"Why do women always do this to me and Michael", he wondered. "Why don't they try to get to know us first before they always try to lure us into bed? Why do they always seem to believe that we find them all so irresistible that all they have to do is bat their eyes and we'd give up a kidney for them?"

"Maria, this is the guild who's going to be helping us. This is the Sisters of the Sacred Blade. We have Ariel, Beth, Gem, and Haley," said Jason

"The Sisters are an order of women only, so who are the men with them?" asked Maria in a husky voice.

Even her father turned around and looked at her when she said like she did. The four women were already facing her, but their looks then grew a little harder when they heard that.

"I'm sorry I didn't get your names," said Jason as he turned back around to face the boys.

"That is Michael and I'm called Ayden," said Ayden with a dimpled smile.

If he thought the woman couldn't make her desire for him more obvious if she tried he would have been wrong. Once he smiled as he spoke it now felt like he was standing in front of an oven it was so intense.

At the display by Maria, Ariel now had a nervous smile. She didn't have to turn to look to see that Gem and Haley didn't want anyone looking at their brothers that way, and they both faced her stone faced. Ariel wondered if when her baby brother Aric was older if she would be this over protective as well.

Only Beth had a smile, but if one looked closely they could see it was forced and slipping at the corners as she fought hard to hold onto it in the face of how the young woman was acting.

"So when do we leave?" asked Maria excitedly.

"What? You said you weren't going. You said you wanted nothing to do with this trip or getting dirty as you traveled between the various towns," said her father in shock as he turned around again.

"Well I've changed my mind Daddy. You said you wanted me to go many times, and I suddenly have motivation that makes me now want to go as well," said Maria and she looked away from her father and directly speared Ayden with another look.

The smile now did slip from Beth's face as Maria did this. She too had a stone faced look to her.

"Well normally would I not only say no, but hell no because of how you're acting. But you need to learn this part of the business sometime, and I believe the two young men will be safe from you with all those other armed females around them," said Jason as he looked back at the others with a smile.

While the other three women smiled and Gem and Ariel tried to lightly laugh as well at his joke, Beth's face stayed free of all expression.

Maria rushed home and she was ready to go in under an hour. Along the way they were introduced to Gary. He was a pleasant man who looked to almost be in his mid twenties.

Gary had the same color of brown hair that his father and sister had

While he smiled the same warm smile that his father had for the young women, and even though he looked Haley and Gem over a couple times, he laughed as he told the girls that they were safe from him because he was married and if his wife found out he was cheating he might not wake up one morning and he had gotten use to waking up every morning, so he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that.

While the girls laughed they each thought that if he tried anything with any of them his wife would never get the chance to kill him before they did him in.

Collecting Maria they started out of the city down the road headed for their destination. The wagon was loaded with a single large square box that could almost double as a coffin, but it was narrower and shallower than one would need for it to be.

Maria at first was going to ride in the wagon with her brother, but once she found that Ayden wouldn't sit with her she had a horse saddled for her to ride. She knew how to ride, but this would be the first time that she would ride one for an extremely long distance.

She was now riding next to him and engaged him in various conversations about where he was from and what different interest he had.

Ayden often tried to steer the conversations away from him, but she was determined and she stayed focused on finding out more about him. Ayden might feel she was a touch spoiled, but he had to admit she was really staying focused on what she wanted, even though currently it was him.

As they rode and talked he eventually found out that she was really just restless and wanted more out of life than just waiting for it to be handed to her. It wasn't that she was spoiled and wanted to just spend money but she hadn't found what she was interested in.

The most she felt she was looking at out of life was to become someone's wife and end up keep their house. She wanted to do something more while she had the chance before she settled down. She felt she was too young not to have lived a real life yet.

Then she looked at Ayden shyly and softly said something that only he could hear with a smile "Unless the right man is already in front of me. For him I'd be willing to settle down in a heart beat."

Ayden nervously laughed and smiled at what she said and as he did his deep dimples and rich brown eyes caused Maria's smile to get larger. She really liked how the golden flecks seemed to swirl around in his eyes as they talked. She really found him very attractive.

While the girls watched the interaction from the corner of their eyes, they were on the clock, and so they spent their time watching everything around them for any problem. They didn't want to get caught unaware.

Only Ariel thought all of her attention for him was funny and smiled as she looked ahead, Gem, Haley, and Beth did not. It was all they could do to not scowl while facing forward.

Haley wanted the client's daughter as far away from her brother as she could get her. But as all she had done so far was make her desire for Ayden known because she found him cute, Haley just rode in silence and did her job.

Having someone find her brother attractive wasn't enough to cause an issue, but she was watching Maria.

They rode and made good time. There was another town a day's ride from the town they just left.

Beth wanted to push on and camp out, but Gary pointed out that his sister wasn't used to riding a horse this far. While he would like to keep moving if they didn't take a break she might either start complaining, or worse she wouldn't say anything until she couldn't ride anymore and that would put them way behind schedule.

Beth agreed and they arrived at the next town just at dusk due to the slower pace. She said that she and Ariel would take the first shift to stay with the shipment. Gem and Haley were to relieve them at midnight and they would get started by day break.

Ayden and Michael asked to be also assigned to help out, but Beth denied the request. She frowned as she said they were a four woman team for a reason and disrupting their normal setup would cause problems for everyone further down the road.

But as she got off her horse Maria linked her arm with Ayden's and said that they still had a lot to talk about, and started to drag him away towards an Inn saying that they would get the rooms for everyone.

Ariel snickered at Ayden's look of helpless shock as he was pulled away, but Haley didn't find it as funny. Gem looked lightly amused, but Beth's gave him a cool look again as he looked backwards to the girls for help

Both Ariel and Beth started checking out the surrounding area where the shipment would sit until morning, and the others went to get sleep. Gem and Haley would go to sleep now, and at midnight they would change with Ariel and Beth, where the two of them would take their vacated room to finish out the night.

After getting rooms they ordered a light meal, and Gem volunteered to take something out to Ariel and Beth as she could feel that Haley wanted to stay close to Ayden and Maria.

Haley was getting over her dislike of the situation because she could see that Ayden wasn't encouraging it, but she wanted to make sure he didn't feel pressured to keep Maria entertained like it was expected of him.

But as she sat at the table with them, she had a new problem.

Man after man kept coming up to the table asking either for her to come and sit with them, or if they possibly could join her at the table.

Haley was polite in her refusal both before and after Gem returned, and the number of men approaching them doubled now that there were two of them at the table. Soon they both called it an early night and went to bed. They needed to get up in a few hours anyway and this would make it easier on them as some of the men were really persistent.

Maria was smart and she managed to keep the conversation with Ayden going and kept drawing out his interest.

Before he realized it he saw Gem and Haley go by them again while he and Maria were still sitting at the table. He thought they might have forgotten something outside until he saw Ariel and Beth enter and he realized that they had been talking at the table for hours and Ariel and Beth changed shifts with them.

Ariel saw them and immediately smirked again as she waved and headed for their room. Beth gave him such a cold look that it made Ayden shiver. Realizing that they needed sleep Ayden told Maria that they needed to head to bed and he escorted her to her room. Once there she turned and said goodnight and pulled him into a deep kiss.

Ayden was shocked enough that he didn't return it. Her interest in him was moving far faster than he intended. He wasn't sure yet how he felt about her and he had only known her for a few days. While he was starting to enjoy her company he wasn't sure he wanted her tongue floating around in his mouth just yet.

Smiling Maria went into her room and closed the door. When Ayden arrived at the room being shared by him and Michael he found Michael already sleeping and so he climbed into bed and sleep seemed to claim him almost immediately.

He would have to discuss this with him tomorrow and get his opinion.

For the first week and a half everything seemed to go pretty well. They alternated between sleeping outdoors when there wasn't a town close by and sleep in town when there was one.

Early in the morning before they left Gem tried to get in some training with her brother and discussed theory on magical battles with him while they rode.

She might know the principles of magic and fighting, but how to apply it usages as an extension of her in a fight was all new to her. But she soaked it up easily and quickly with her knowledge. She even took to creating ice weapons to make herself more versatile when they had a moment or two to practice.

Maria talked exclusively to Ayden more and more and he found that before he realized it he was opening up to her more than he would have thought possible. Soon he found he was truly laughing with her at various things she pointed out.

She was always riding her horse close to his and at times would lean over and touch him as she spoke. That wasn't something that was easy to do while mounted. But she quit looking at him with such desire and now seemed to be just laughing and smiling with him as they spoke to one another.

During this time Haley also found she too was growing more comfortable with her and her relationship with Ayden.

She thought at first Maria was trying to only get Ayden in bed with her and would throw him away once finished, and there was no way she was going to let that happen.

But as time went on and she watched and saw that Maria was only talking to him and trying to get to know him and it always ended there. She didn't try to lure him into bed or do anything questionable. She wasn't trying anything out of the ordinary with him and didn't seem too flirty or obvious with him like she was the first day.

Gem found she was also starting to feel the same way about Maria.

She too was worried about Maria, as she always thought of Ayden as her other brother as well since he and Michael were so close being the only male grandchildren, but Maria only seemed to be trying to just get to know Ayden, and that made her feel a little more at ease.