Landar
The next morning was quiet as the Farr and I left. The massive draft horse that pulled the large wagon was healthy and hale, and easily did its job. We stopped at several farms on our way, eting the heads of the households in the early cold air, and picking up their taxes and tithes.
We made it to town without either the farr or myself saying much more then a few words to each other. When the sun finally rose in the sky enough to start warming the air we ca to the edge of town.
Lord Desmand, and Father Earl t us, six large bags of coins ready for us. It's good to see you Fred. Desmand said, as he and his teenage son deposited the sacks of currency and valuables into the bed of the wagon.
That's not my na my lord, Farr said, smiling at the old joke.
No, but it was the na you were ant to bear. Besides, it's much better than Farr. Everyone around heres a farr. Can you imagine the chaos if everyone in my fiefdom who was a farr who didnt like the na their parents gave them went by farr all the ti? Insanity, chaos. Id never keep track of it all.
As you say my lord, Father Earls voice was frail. His body was hunched over, as if he were carrying sothing heavy. The weight of his years had finally caught up with him, I was sure. As the last ti I had seen him just a few months before at the birth of one of Farrs grandkids he might have been gray haired, but he had stood tall. And had walked the entire way from the village to the farmstead on foot. The man I now saw, whose eyes were cloudy and distant and dramatically deteriorated from that tall, steadfast priest.
No wonder theyre asking for an apprentice to help out. Hes probably got a couple of years left at best. I thought sadly, as I helped Father Earl with one of the bags. Id never gotten close to the man, preferring to avoid any contract with anything from my old life that might figure out who I was, just in case anyone was still looking for . But the little I saw, and everything I heard about the man said he was nothing short of duty bound and honorable. Soone who took his responsibilities far more seriously then he did the few privileges his station afforded him all the way out here in the middle of nowhere.
Alright youre all loaded up there Fred. Desmond said, and I saw Farr shake his head fighting a grin from crossing his face. You two have a safe trip. Oh, and heres a list of things to buy if you end up having the coin while there. he handed a piece of parchnt, that I unfurled and looked at.
The list was empty.
I raised my eyebrows and handed the paper to the Farr who shook his head and chuckled. Ill never get tired of your jokes My Lord.
What do you an, my jokes? Thats a serious list. The wife and I ca up with it just last night.
But theres nothing on it, I protested, confused.
Exactly! Why would I ask you lot to buy anything, when I have everything I need in all the world right here? Family, friends, a little coin, good drink, and a fight whenever soone else gets too drunk. Not to ntion the hunting. Oh, if you actually see the Arch Duke in person when youre delivering the taxes, invite him out here to hunt with . I do it every year, but he never takes up on it. It's like he doesnt like hunting anymore, which I know is insane. That man likes hunting like a bird likes flying!
Lord Desmond kept prattling on for a few more minutes about things that were clearly either absurd or outlandish for another fifteen minutes until Father Earl needed to sit down.
Oh right. Sorry Father. Let's get you inside. You all take care! May the mother guide you and the father protect you. With that, the tirade of seemingly endless nonsense from Lord Desmond ceased and we were once again on our way.
That man is mad, i ventured as we left the small town of maybe two hundred souls.
Which one?
Desmond. Farr chuckled.
He's not as mad as he seems. I gave him an incredulous look. Oh dont get wrong boy. Hes mad. Just not as mad as one might think. The last war against the elves did sothing to his mind you know. Did you know he was assigned here, shortly after you ca to us?
A feeling of cold dread shot through and I didnt exactly know why. Perhaps it was our mutual connection to those events. The war had happened, I knew. It had to have happened. People talked about it all the ti. Old n told stories, young n wished they had been old enough to join on the march in the tavern every night, as their mothers and wives whispered about those they lost to the faon and early, harsh winter that had co that year that had killed so many young and old.
It was whispered by so that more had died from lack of food, and shelter, then died in the actual fighting. Sothing that did not surprise in the least.
But the kingdom as a whole, and the Duchy specifically had recovered since then. Years had gone by, the dead had been maorned and buried, and the living had moved on. That was the way of things, life had to go on. No matter the loss, the grief, or the pain.
And the people out here in the middle of nowhere, at the far western forested and hilly edges of the western duchy far from the trappings of most of civilization had learned that lesson more keenly than most.
No, I uh. I didnt know that.
His family has owned this land for a long ti. It was a gift from his grandfather for his work during the war.
We chatted a while longer, and I learned more about Desmond and Earl. While Desmond was new to the area, Earl had co when he was a young man decades ago. But even before Desmond had technically been given lordship over our little area he had visited with his father and family every few years to enjoy the hunting, collect taxes, and see to their duties as minor nobility. He and Earl had been friends for a long while, and the Farr had always enjoyed the twos company for a night of drinking every couple of weeks during the sumr.
Eventually we settled into a steady rhythm as we traveled, and a friendly silence fell between us. We ca to the river that marked our turn eastwards, and stopped for a little while to let the horse drink and rest.
You know, Farr broke the silence as he was rigging the horse back to the wagon. Desmond is nobility. Hes very strong. Ive seen him pack a full grown buck like you did, on his shoulders over miles of rough terrain. At the end of it, he was just starting to break a sweat. You though kid, you werent doing so much as half of the heavy breathing he was back then.
What are you trying to get at? I asked, as I felt my hands tense, and fall on the familiar feel of the magical ax the dwarves had gifted years ago that I still held on my hip. I wouldn't kill the Farr. Not even if he drew a dagger and tried to kill . But I would defend myself if I had to.
After all, this man, despite all his kindness, knew nothing about . Not really.
What im trying to get at boy, is leaving you an opportunity to tell the truth. I asked you last night, and instead of answering you just put your head to the grindstone. As you always do when faced with a problem. Now, no one's saying working hard to fix an issue isnt good. Hells kid, it is the only way to fix an issue. But you cant ignore a man when he asks you a question. Particularly one that might put him and his family in danger. So what is it? You so nobles run away? You killed soone as a kid? What? I need to know so I can help you. Rember what I said? Youre kin. That ans, short of you killing one of my other kin, I'm here for you.
I felt my throat restrict slightly and I cleared my throat to answer.
I uh, well. Theres a long story.
We have a long road ahead, kid. Hop on the wagon, and tell everything.
And I did just that.
***
It took the rest of the day to tell him my story. When finally I got to the night raid, and I told him about my failures, I cried. For the first ti in years I openly cried.
I failed them, I said, as I wiped away tears from my eyes. Theyre probably dead, or worse. And its my fault.
Farr just sat there listening. There were a few things, like my origins from Earth, that I kept out of the story. But by everything else, my failures, weakness, and my hopes and fears, I laid out for him. When I was done, and I once again had control of my emotions, he nodded and pulled into a side hug.
Good. I knew you were sothing special. But the Gods themselves sent you to your family boy. You were there to help them. And you did by your own account.
Yeah, but I failed. I said bitterly. My emotions were running rampant, I hadnt felt like this since I was a teenager. Wait . . .
Youre a kid. Failure cos with the territory. Youre learning right? I nodded. And nothing you did, you did out of cruelty. You were only trying to help. And from the sounds of things, you got caught in soone else's drama.
I nodded, and sniffed trying to get the burning in my face and eyes under control. I felt better, but the guilt was still there.
So what are you going to do? he asked a mix of stern demand and concern in his voice.
I, I dont know.
Yes you do. I saw it in your eyes the mont I said sothing about going to the capital with . You wanted sothing. What is it?
I sighed. Revenge. It sounded childish now.
The farr nodded. Good.
What? I asked, looking him square in the face. Arent you supposed to, I dont know, try and talk out of it or sothing? Tell how revenge is a journey that will fill two graves, or so other wisdom like that?
The farr laughed. Hells no! Your family was wronged. And from what you've told youre not no nobles brat right? I nodded. Good. The only justice us peasants get is what the nobles gift us, or what we can take. You aint going to find help from so judge or guard. Not for this. He opened his palm and closed it into a fist in front of himself. If you want to see sothing set right then you need to do it yourself boy. Thats the only way.
I sat there in shock for a mont and realized exactly who I was talking too, and what the world looked like from his social position. He was right.
Back ho on Earth, a citizen could legitimately seek redy in court. But throughout most of human history that was not the case. Justice, real justice if civil rights only belonged for a very small group of people. The highest echelons of society typically. Universal civil rights and enfranchisent was a rather recent invention even back ho.
Here, where it might as well have been the middle ages if not further back in ti as the system was largely a feudal one was far from even being close to having sothing like that. My mind went to the mories I had of the few interactions my parents had had with higher ups in society.
And my mind went to the first ti I saw it. When I was introduced to Sigvald and the other high priest. The one of the Blue Priesthood, the weasley little rat. He had openly threatened my life, and my sister's freedom just because my parents had thought to ask a question.
It was only because Sigvald and Mother Margaret had taken offense at his slight against their authority, which I was pretty sure was a ruse to protect my family and at the ti, that the man had t any push back for his actions. Even my parents seed to think it had been a normal reaction from soone of higher power.
Even those few institutions that seed to give the lower classes so kind of power to push back on the upper parts of society, like the city council and their relationship with the drudges were largely ineffectual and based on the raw exercise of power.
The worst that the drudges were thought to be able to do was to annoy those of higher station. And that only by working together, and being willing to accept what looking back I realized were lots of casualties. I had seen drudges sentenced to be worked near to death, or sent to harsher work gangs, rely for over indulging on the weekend and needing dical care from the free Gray Priesthood clinic.
And I had seen, and turned a blind eye to far, far worse during my ti in the city.
Slavery might technically be regulated into near illegality. But the value of a single human life in this society was very very low.
The Farr must have seen sothing in my expression harden as the realization dawned on that what he was saying was true. He cleared his throat and offered so useful advice. But you have to do it smart. First, you have to make sure that the ones done you wrong, have actually done you wrong. Itd be mighty foolish to walk in and try to attack soone who didnt even do the thing you thought they did.
I nodded in agreent. Who knows, things might have turned out alright after I left. Images of my family looking for hopelessly in the aftermath of the violence the city had devolved into filled my mind for the first ti. I had never even considered the idea. But . . . as remote as it was. It was a possibility.
Second, you need to find an opportunity to do it quiet like. Be smart about it, and find a way to hurt them that wont bring more harm to you and your kin. He stared directly in the eye as he said that.
I get it. I dont want anyone else getting hurt because of a screw up. I nodded.
Good boy. And Third, you also have to realize that often us little folks justice? Well, it's pretty small too. That is, if we want to take it, and be alive at the end of it. Do you understand? Find a way to hurt them back, but realize that if you want to survive the ordeal, you might not be able to do everything you want. Got it?
I nodded. And thoughts of just how to do what he was saying filled my mind.
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