A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Then I suppose we'd be in trouble," Beam said.

"You're talking like it doesn't concern you…" Nila noticed, a twinge of sadness in her eyes.

Beam shrugged. "At the very least, I'll make sure you and your family are safe."

A shadow fell over Nila's face as they talked outside the bakery. Beam felt an ominous presence behind him, and he turned his neck with a frown on his face, looking to see who had interrupted them.

"Nila Felder," the village Elder said, flanked by one of his attendants – one of the expressionless dark robed twins that Beam had seen back at his residence. Beam flinched upon seeing the old man, but the Elder hardly looked at him. "Your family has collected a debt of ten favour points. Repayment is demanded."

Nila gulped. "My mother has already worked out a repayment plan…" she stuttered.

The village Elder waved his hand away dismissively. "That repayment plan was set in place when circumstances were different. You and your family have received favour from the village in the past, its assistance. Now that the village needs assistance, you must return that favour."

"Return the favour how..?" Nila asked. "I'm pretty sure we've been there every time somebody needed help, yet our favour points haven't gone down…"

Beam's eye twitched as he listened in. The village Elder continued to ignore him, so he looked to his attendant instead. Indeed, she was the same beautiful woman that he remembered. And yet, despite her beauty, there was an incredible coldness to her, a lack of humanity, that rendered her one of the most unattractive people he had ever met.

It was as though the very life had been sucked out of her and instead replaced with something that all humans new to instinctively avoid.

"You must either repay the value of the village's favour – a sum of fifty golds. Or, one of your family members must enter my service for ten years," the village Elder laid out the insane options in a voice that suggested it was only fair.

"Hang on," Nila interrupted. "Fifty golds!? We only received assistance for food and firewood, and only for two years at that – there's no way we've racked up a debt of fifty gold!"

"Such is the value of the favour points that you collected at this time. If you wish for their removal, then those are your two options," the Elder said. "Now, which of your family members will be entering my employ? You have two younger siblings, do you not?"

"No!" Nila shouted immediately. "You're not taking David or Stephanie."

The Elder shrugged, entirely unperturbed by her outburst. "Then you will be entering my services instead, I assume. One, present the property contract."

From her sleeve, the dark haired woman expressionlessly produced a piece of parchment.

"Stamp it with your blood and the transaction will be done. You will become my property for the good of the village, and in turn, your family's debt will have been repaid. They will be welcomed back within the folds of our community, reaping the benefits of that position," the Elder said.

"Wait! Can't you just… wait a little longer? In a few weeks, maybe I'll be able to pay back the gold… Wouldn't that be more valuable? No slave is going to cost more than a gold coin," she said.

The village Elder was unable to keep the irritation off his face. "No-" he began.

Beam had been watching him carefully, and only now did he interrupt. "Is there some reason that you're being so forceful? As Nila said, the money would surely be worth far more."

For the first time in the conversation, the village Elder looked at him, tutting as he did so, his expression one of absolute mirth. Beam shuddered at the look. Indeed Greeves had warned him that his actions would have irritated the village Elder, but he didn't expect him to be quite so angry.

"This is of no concern to you," the Elder managed to spit out.

"Ah, but it is. I'm contracted to serve this village by Ferdinand, you know? If your actions aren't within the interest of the village, then I would have to intervene," Beam said. Of course, he was bluffing. He'd never had a direct contract with Ferdinand himself, but the Elder couldn't prove that, even if he disbelieved it.

Besides, there was always the possibility that he could stir up trouble through Greeves.

The old man wrinkled his face as he let out a sigh. "You two – you have no idea what you're up to. Foolish. Ever so foolish. You know not what it takes to run a community like this. You forcing my lenience here may very well be the straw that collapses the entire village."

"I very much doubt that Elder, but I ask you to be lenient anyway. Though you might be old, I can imagine people still accusing you of being a tyrant," Beam said.

The old man clenched his jaw. "Two weeks," he said at last, as though the very words were poison to him. "That's all you have. Any longer than that, and I will be made to take possession of you by force."

With those menacing words, the old man turned around and left, leaning heavily on his staff as he was, his attendant following on soundlessly behind him.

Beam let out a long sigh once he was finally out of earshot. "Trouble just keeps on coming," he murmured. He glanced at Nila. She looked as though someone had frozen her in stone.

"I'm really going to have to be a slave…" she murmured to herself. "There's no way I can gather that much money."

Beam massaged his temples. "Greeves warned me about the old man, but to think it'd be you that he went after. Hah…"

Nila was still frozen in shock, murmured to herself.

Beam put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, Nila. We still have options, even if I'd rather not use them." He took out the leather coin pouch that he had been given by Greeves and opened it up under her nose. That finally seemed to get her attention back, and she gasped.