The group approached the town calmly. Looking at it, Stephan had to admit the fortifications were better made than the ones around his hometown. Not by much, but considering Eldric’s Fort had about half Brighthollow’s population, the palisade wasn’t bad.
Thank Hope they don’t have towers.
“Ivo,” Ken, the new recruit who believed he had the most to prove to keep his life, waved to the gate guard.
Stephan couldn’t see the guard’s face, but he spotted the hand waving back.
“Why’d you return so soon?” a note of doubt tinged the guard’s voice. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” Ken said. “I’ll tell it to you over an ale later. Did anything happen while we were out? He was fuming when we left.”
As Ken made small talk with the guard, they kept walking casually. A dozen heartbeats passed, before they were only a couple of feet away from Ivo. Like one, the men at the front pounced on the unwitting guard and threw him to the ground. Ken sealed his mouth with a hand while the others spread out so nobody could see a thing. Stephan noted they seemed suspiciously well-practiced.
“Sorry, Ivo,” Ken continued, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Eldric’s done with. You might not believe me, but we’re saving your life right now. Tim and Jon and Ben are dead. Lars too. You can join us, or we have to beat you unconscious here.”
“No need.” Stephan approached, then slammed a fist into Ivo’s face. Mercy kicked in, and instead of the fist going through the guard’s face, it knocked him out. “We’re heading straight to the manor. If you can do this with the men guarding it, that’d help them a lot.”
His choice of words didn’t go unnoticed, and the new recruits shuddered, some glancing at the dent in the dirt Ivo’s head had made while the man miraculously survived.
“Don.” Stephan then looked at Alfred’s father. “Sorry, I don’t think I’ve heard your name. Alfred keeps calling you Pa, and Don didn’t call by name once.”
Stephan had wanted to navigate through the issue of not knowing the name or nickname by hearing it in a casual conversation. But there wasn’t enough time, and he’d spent almost as much time separated from the rest as he did with them.
“Hugh, m’lord,” Alfred’s father said.
Everyone’s Hugh…
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hugh. I’m Stephan, Steve for short. Anyway, Don and Hugh, you stay and guard Ivo.” He looked around. “Nobody seems to have noticed anything strange, but stay with him and make sure he’s safe, just in case. We’ll be back soon.”
In a heartbeat, Stephan knew everyone had seen through his intention and the low evaluation of the two men and their combat ability. They were weak, inexperienced, and he needed them safe. Hugh’s mouth twisted, but he nodded, while Don didn’t seem to mind much.
“Take care of Grace for me,” the man said.
“My main duty in this life is to watch over the Saintess,” Stephan said with complete honesty, once more stunning everyone.
Since yesterday, and since getting some sleep, he realized that getting Grace to a high level, higher than Harrington’s, was a way to explore the possibility of changing what was happening to those who had forgotten him. The hope was slim, but it was there. Perhaps, just perhaps, if he could live a good life, if he could show that he can do everything the gods expect of him in one go, they might spare his loved ones, or at least Lacy and his family.
Don took a deep breath and straightened, even the tiny hints of indignation he showed completely gone.
“Everyone has a job to do, and we’ll do our lot.” He stood. He kept his back straight, trying to look proud and confident, yet at the same time his hands trembled, right clenching the left. Then he moved to stand beside the unconscious guard, and Hugh followed his lead.
“All right, let’s head to the manor.” The former enforcers led the way, Knights behind them. Stephan glanced at Grace and Muriel behind his back, only for the young woman to blush and lower her gaze. Muriel, on the other hand, grinned.
Great. Never mind, that’s a problem for later.
Like the wall, the houses were made of wood frames. Thick black beams framed mud and straw cob walls. A handful of buildings had narrow open windows, but most did without, the wooden doors being the only opening.
The only thing breaking the norm was the tall palisade wall straight ahead at the other end of a small square. The manor’s outer wall was taller and sturdier than the one around the fort, which made little sense to Stephan. If the attacker could get through the outer wall…
Well, maybe if he called everyone into his estate and continued the defense from there, but that’s not all that possible and it wouldn’t help much against monsters that breached the outer defenses. Unless he hoped they would eat the townsfolk and leave those inside alone…
The dirt streets were empty save for a scattering of children curiously looking at the group of passing enforcers, but one glare from Ken had them scampering away, laughing. Stephan caught a glimpse of a man standing before a closed gate as they approached. Like with Ivo, his friends’ betrayal caught him by surprise. Ken and the rest subdued him before he could make a sound, and when Stephan knocked him out, the others opened the gate a crack and carried him inside.
The garden within resembled one of the humbler flower gardens at Cliffort. And while it was smaller, it was planted and tended to with care, the roses pruned, the flowers arranged meticulously. Before Stephan had the chance to enjoy the sweet fragrance, a man shouted.
“What are you lot doing here?” He approached them, but still didn’t draw his weapon. “What happened to Jon? Someone attacked him?”
“We caught these two and need to see what the baron wants to do with them.”
The man looked at Grace and Muriel, then noticed Stephan and the armor he was wearing.
“Wha—” he cried in alarm, but the others jumped him, throwing him to the ground and hitting him.
That’s three. Another two or three should be asleep if the fort has a night watch.
“I’ll handle those in the house alone. You,” he pointed at Ken, “you’ll be my guide. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you, you won’t even fight.”
Then he realized he was leaving Grace exposed. He turned back to see Muriel herding her, Miles, and Alfred away from the rest, opening up enough distance to take down the first one to run towards them in case they switched sides.
Stephan pointed at the unconscious man. “Put that one next to the other one and keep to the gate. If anyone comes in, knock them out and guard them. This should be over soon.”
The men obeyed without question, and Ken led the way into the manor.
“Eldric’s probably finished with the morning reports. He should be eating or taking a nap if he’s done eating, first meal always makes him drowsy. He walks the fields in the afternoon, but I don’t know if he’ll risk it today. Probably won’t. He usually goes out with four of us, just in case; nobody’s ever attacked him since I’ve been here.”
Stephan found it ironic that in a country of outlaws and bandits, nobody’s attacked their lord, while in their civilized kingdom nobles fought amongst themselves, employing despicable means against each other. Marshal Harrington’s death at the hands of his crazed wife stung the most.
“Are there conflicts between barons?” he asked.
“All the time,” Ken smiled. “Why, Cole, let his cattle graze in our pastures three weeks ago, just after the rain. Prime grass that. He stole the best grazing before our peasants brought their own cows there, so we went over at night and took two of his cows as payment and torched one of his barns. That ought to teach him.”
Ken stopped before the door, Stephan right behind him, still trying to come around the level of pettiness he had just heard.
Isn’t stealing a cow a more serious crime than it grazing some grass? I mean you’re taking all the grass the cow has ever eaten.
But there was no time for argument; Ken was motioning him to stay quiet and pointing at the door.
Stephan nodded, and Ken opened it, walking in casually. The dining room was empty, the table clear.
“I guess he’s resting in his solar,” the man said sheepishly, then they left the room, Stephan closing the door behind himself.
Ken led the way down a corridor. The noise from the kitchen reached them, then grew quieter as they passed it.
Ken turned a corner.
“What are you doing here, Ken?” a gruff male voice asked.
“Is the baron awake? We found something, and I—” Stephan rounded the corner and slammed a fist into the confused man’s face before he even realized what was happening.
Ken grabbed the guard and eased him out of the way while Stephan approached the only door in front of him. He opened it gently and entered a simple room.
Three chests stood stacked atop thick, sturdy shelves. There was a bench and a small table one could both eat and write on, and finally there was a bed. In it slept a fit man with salt and pepper hair and bushy beard, his hands crossed over a blanket covering his belly.
I guess this one’s easy.
Stephan drew his sword quietly, and while the quality blade offered some smooth resistance, it didn’t make a sound. Then, as he took a step, the floor betrayed him and squeaked.