"Furthermore, despite their appearance, the monsters are not what I am here for. The Yarmdon threat moves on the horizon. Lord Blackwell has charged , and the other Captains, of seeing this threat stifled. And yet, three more villages to the east have burned. Forgin is amongst them. Since then, we have received no word from our scouts.
The Yarmdon army might be anywhere. It is your lives that will be at stake if this defence fails. My n are not here out of love. They do not wish to spend the winter beyond the walls of Ernest. And yet I hear tales of disrespect, of disregard. They do not warm .
I will not hear anymore – on pain of execution."
More murmurs through the crowd. The threat of the Yarmdon invasion was a real one. Three hundred angry barbarians with three more villagers burned to the ground as a result of their pillaging. Beam could hardly believe that they'd managed to inflict so much damage in such a short amount of ti. He had heard tell that they'd split up, but to think that such a strategy would be so effective.
"Now you understand. You will obey. Those who are without work with the closing of the forest – you will assist my n in building and improving our defences. The rchants will speak to my officers and ensure that our provisions are well maintained. The rest of you – stay out of the way," Lombard said, summarising with that blunt statent. "That will be all."
The crowd parted once more, as the Captain moved away on his horse. As well as distrust and anger, there was fear in their eyes now as well. The Yarmdon threat was only growing closer, and the only thing that stood between them and the enemy was the very soldiers that they'd co to despise.
"Oh, one more thing. If more of my n get injured, be prepared to fight to defend your hos," Lombard called back. His eyes t Beam's for a brief mont. "Amongst the rabble, I would hope that at least so of you are capable of defending yourselves."
And then he really did leave, back along the road towards his encampnt, leaving the villagers to their own devices.
Greeves was already muttering in irritation. "I fuckin' hate nobles y'know. That bastard. No way am I going to be able to escape out the back now – he'll cut down if I run with enemies on the horizon."
The rchant saw the look Beam was giving him. "Co on now, running is an effective strategy for a rchant. Why waste coin on an investnt that is bound to fall through? If I see the Yarmdon and I get an opportunity, I'm fuckin gone."
"Gather those n you promised , Greeves. I'm continuing the search for Stephanie," Beam said.
"Even with the forest closed off? Where else could she be?" Greeves said, an unhappy look on his face.
"That's what I plan to find out," Beam said.
With a sigh, Greeves motioned to Judas. "I leave it to you," he said, before walking away.
Judas gave a grin. "Looks like we're finally working together on sothing, eh lad? on you on the sa team, makes want to go looking for the Yarmdon myself, eh? Reckon we can deal with them."
"How many underlings do you have, Judas?" Beam asked.
"I can bring five," the man said.
Beam nodded. "Fetch them. We need to get started. We've already lost most of the morning."
"Right," Judas nodded, accustod to taking orders.
The village Elder had already disappeared from the market square along with Greeves, as most of the villagers began to filter back towards their own hos as well, complaining all the while, as a few people let loose desperate shouts, bemoaning their current situation.
"Beam," a voice called out and soone grabbed his shoulder, as Beam observed the crowd with narrowed eyes.
"Mm? Oh, Nila. Rodrey and Rodrick too, eh?" Beam said, noticing her bright red hair before anything else, and then her two hunting attendants that stood behind her, near double her size, both sporting great bushy beards and bows slung over their shoulders. They nodded to him as he ntioned their nas.
"The girl said you were organising a search for her little sister," Rodrick said.
"'The girl'?" Nila repeated, an irritated look on her face. From the way the other two n reacted, it must have been sothing she commonly told them off for, as they both winced and Rodrick imdiately went to apologise.
"Sorry… Our Lady says that you're the one gonna be organising this, is that right?" Rodrick said, pushing the question forward again.
"Our Lady?" It was Beam's turn to pick up on the odd mode of address.
Despite the situation, Nila couldn't help but smile awkwardly. "It just seed more fitting, y'know? I thought it would make sound more official, for when I start doing business with the big companies."
Beam grinned in response and shook his head. She seed to take offence from the look, for she punched her arm and asked what the big deal was.
Seriousness returned when Judas ca back a mont later, five grizzled-looking n alongside him. Beam recognized two of them – those that had helped beat him when his house had burned down all that ti ago. He acknowledged them briefly, before looking over the rest. Every single one of them looked like they'd killed a man before, as one would expect from those in Greeves' employ.
Judas stood in front of them, as their leader. It was only with such rough-looking n behind him, that Beam was forced to rember who he really was. The man served as the most dangerous of criminals, carrying out the most vile of cris. Through the ti he'd spent around him, he realized he'd been taking that fact a little too much for granted.
It wasn't just him that noticed either, he could see Rodrey and Rodrick stiffen up, as Judas' n eyed them like hungry dogs, ready to bite at a mont's notice.
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