Finally, they had arrived. Where they had arrived, Audrey didn't know, but all the vehicles that had been used came to a halt in front of a large building. It looked like some sort of hotel, but it had fences and a security gate in front of it. The agents explained that until they had sorted out their identities, they had to remain here. Both for their own safety and to make sure the FBI knew who had done what. A few, the ones that probably had someone waiting for them, objected, but the agents assured them that for those with verifiable identities, it would only be a few days at most.
Audrey suspected that it would be more than that for the majority of them, but she didn't say anything. What would the FBI classify as a "verifiable identity" anyway? None of them had an ID on them of any kind and on the bus, few of them had remembered a last name.
Inside the hotel, they all got separate rooms. Or rather, there were double beds, but they could choose to have a room alone if they wished. Most of them wanted to, except Lars and Mona, who obviously wanted to share. No one else who had been taken as a couple had both of them surviving. Hild, who hadn't shared her real name, wouldn't have wanted to share with Edward anyway. She had mastered the art of remaining in the background, but Edward had never truly adapted, and with the additional punishments he received when Hild did something wrong, he succumbed to disease soon after arriving at the castle. His was probably one of many bodies in the mass grave. Audrey didn't want to think about that right now. She couldn't help the dead.
They all also got a change of clothes. The agents apologized that it wasn't a lot of variety, nor was it very high-quality, but none of them cared about that. It was all in different colors from the theow and churl outfits and that was the most important thing. Audrey suspected they had avoided those colors on purpose. Seeing all of these people in "normal" clothes was so strange. They had all got to know each other in their roles, seeing them as normal outside people was very strange.
Another thing that was strange was the sight of a modern bathroom. There wasn't one in every room, but there were enough that they could all shower at the same time. After the agents had reminded them, or taught them how to use a shower. It was even better than the warm baths in the tub at the castle. And with the help of modern soap and shampoo, Audrey felt cleaner than she had ever been, though her hair was probably still a disaster. It would hopefully be better from now on.
Dinner was delivered that night, but the agents informed them that while the FBI would provide the food, they were on their own when it came to making it. Leann quickly suggested a chore chart, to make everyone do their part. Everyone was responsible for their own rooms of course, and if one of them made a particular mess, they would clean it up. But they could all take turns cooking for everyone.
Audrey said that people could just make breakfast for themselves, so people could sleep however long they wanted. It seemed Leann hadn't thought about that, but she quickly agreed. It didn't take long for the chart to be made.
The agents also mentioned that they would come back in the afternoon tomorrow to start taking everyone's names but left a phone number to call if they needed assistance before then. Then they had to show them how the phone there worked, as some of them hadn't seen one before, or at least not one like that. Audrey had seen others marvel at Nora's cell phone as well. This was going to take some time to get used to, she could feel it. But altogether, Audrey went to bed pleased about the day's affairs. This could have gone worse.
She woke up to someone bursting through the door. Four someone's. They held their hands over her mouth, then started dragging her out the door.
"You'll pay for betraying our Lady, theow." It was Aldheim. Audrey hadn't noticed that he was in this building as well! She tried to kick or hit them, but they had secured her limbs, just like Morcefres had taught them.
They didn't even make it out of the corridor before three FBI agents blocked their path and quickly secured the four men. Audrey was helped gently down on the floor, where she could see that it was indeed Aldheim and the three others that had been angry with her yesterday. Had the FBI used her as bait? She huddled herself into a ball and didn't respond when the agents tried to talk to her. Her mind flashed back to the castle. She would be punished for betraying her liege. Just as she deserved.