A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Furthermore, despite their appearance, the monsters are not what I am here for. The Yarmdon threat moves on the horizon. Lord Blackwell has charged me, 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 men 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 me.

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 time. 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 men in building and improving our defences. The merchants 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 statement. "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 come to despise.

"Oh, one more thing. If more of my men get injured, be prepared to fight to defend your homes," Lombard called back. His eyes met Beam's for a brief moment. "Amongst the rabble, I would hope that at least some of you are capable of defending yourselves."

And then he really did leave, back along the road towards his encampment, 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 me down if I run with enemies on the horizon."

The merchant saw the look Beam was giving him. "Come on now, running is an effective strategy for a merchant. Why waste coin on an investment that is bound to fall through? If I see the Yarmdon and I get an opportunity, I'm fuckin gone."

"Gather those men you promised me, 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 something, eh lad? Me on you on the same team, makes me 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, accustomed 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 homes as well, complaining all the while, as a few people let loose desperate shouts, bemoaning their current situation.

"Beam," a voice called out and someone 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 mentioned their names.

"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 men reacted, it must have been something she commonly told them off for, as they both winced and Rodrick immediately 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 seemed more fitting, y'know? I thought it would make me sound more official, for when I start doing business with the big companies."

Beam grinned in response and shook his head. She seemed to take offence from the look, for she punched her arm and asked what the big deal was.

Seriousness returned when Judas came back a moment later, five grizzled-looking men alongside him. Beam recognized two of them – those that had helped beat him when his house had burned down all that time 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 men behind him, that Beam was forced to remember who he really was. The man served as the most dangerous of criminals, carrying out the most vile of crimes. Through the time 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' men eyed them like hungry dogs, ready to bite at a moment's notice.