A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 202: Counter Measures - Part 8

"Gods!" Judas murmured once he was well and truly gone, the hard mask on his face disappearing, as it was replaced by one of intense stress. "You're dragging me through hell here, boy. If he was any smarter, then that would have been our heads."

"Nah. Something tells me that Lombard would be on our side in this," Beam said, his confidence seemingly unreasonable.

"What makes you say that?" Nila asked, looking similarly as exhausted, although there was a note of satisfaction on her face, as they succeeded in driving the soldier away.

"The threat he's dealing with, with the monsters, that's a weighty boulder to shift," Beam said. "If his soldiers are causing more problems on top of that and they drag those problems up to him, he's not going to be happy with them," Beam said.

"Isn't that what you're doing though? You're causing more problems?" Judas said. "I can't see why he'd favour you rather than his men. He's been letting them do as they like all this time, after all."

"True… But I think that's more because he doesn't see it as important. He's only interested in accomplishing his mission. As long as his soldiers carry out their duty, I think he's content to let them do as they please. But if their actions undermine the defence and draw attention away from it, I'm sure he'll be pissed," Beam said.

"That does make sense… But it still sounds like a gamble," Judas said. "And what's the point in this again? Are we just picking fights for the sake of it?"

"Naw, that's the point," Beam said, motioning his head towards the small crowd of people that had gathered to witness what was going on. They talked animatedly amongst themselves, shooting the three of them repeated glances. "We're making it clear we're on their side. We're giving the villagers something that they can stand behind."

Nila had already left their conversation at this point, to go and talk to the butcher that she knew. Beam could see the man growing more relaxed as they spoke, but he still couldn't hide the sweat that clung to the underarms of his shirt. The man cautiously thanked her, whilst making it clear that he was pleased it didn't escalate further.

With that there came the complaints about all the soldiers had been doing, and how it had impacted his store's profits, and how in another few days he might have not been able to make ends meet at all.

She kindly listened to it all, whilst offering words of reassurance. Beam and Judas watched from a distance.

"She's not bad… not bad at all," Judas murmured, seeing her work. "I can see why you brought her along. What's your plan next?"

"We'll hang around here for a while, and information should start coming to us. I figure the villagers will probably start talking to Nila, out of anyone, and maybe we'll begin to establish something useful," Beam said.

And they did just that. When Nila had finished up her conversation with the butcher – who was smiling a good bit more now, as relief washed over him, and customers began coming to his stall now that the soldiers had been chased away – the three of them set up in the corner of the village square, a little ways from Greeves' house, leaning against a set of barrels.

Just as Beam had expected, curious villagers began to come up to Nila in droves. She stood just the slightest distance away from them. Enough that it was clear that she was with them, but far enough away that people didn't feel like they were interrupting if they kept up.

Seeing the villagers come up as they were, one thing was clear: they were excited. Only a small portion of people had witnessed what had occurred, but the word spread quickly, and out of everyone, it was the merchants that cheered their actions the loudest, for it was they who had suffered most at the hands of the soldiers.

They would come over, and excitedly talk to Nila, commending her behaviour. Nila would politely listen, and offer them words of reassurance, and when the opportunity was appropriate, she would ask them questions, making it clear what they were looking for.

Most people would merely shrug in answer to her questions, but a few people would tilt their heads in thought, and offer up stories of the strangeness that they'd felt in recent days.

Noise in the night was a common occurrence. Young children crying – dogs growing unsettled and growing at something that wasn't there. One man even claimed he'd found the claw marks of a beast on one of his barrels, claiming that there was no creature he knew of that could make marks like that.

As they talked, and they grew more comfortable, they would nod towards Beam and Judas respectfully, to which the two would nod back. No words were spoken, but slowly one thing was being made clear: that these three stood for the village.

It was not long until another soldier began to stir up trouble. This one was chatting to a village woman as she tried to escape with an armful of winter supplies, having spent the morning shopping.

She was uncomfortably listening to what he had to say, while he cornered her in place with an arm against the wall. She awkwardly looked around for assistance, but the other villagers could only spare her sympathetic glances, knowing not to get involved, lest they make the situation worse.

Beam noticed it from a distance. He glanced at Nila. She had noticed it too.

He hopped up from the barrel that was sitting on, and moved through the crowd, very much playing the role of the guard at this point. As he walked, Judas and Nila came behind him, making it clear to all who watched just who was leading this party of rebellion.

The woman noticed Beam's approach, and did a double take. She glanced uncomfortably off to the side, apparently expecting things to be made worse, but still looking for a way out of the awkward situation.

The man continued to blather unaware, just as the soldier had done earlier, as he leaned against the counter.

"Soldier. Is it not time for the end of your break?" Beam asked, as he put a strong hand on the man's shoulder to spin him around.

"Huh? Who are you?" The man said, squinting. He eyed the sword at his hip with suspicion. "Mm, you're the little runt who was there at the welcoming ceremony, ain't ya? What the fuck are you doing laying your hands on a soldier? I've got every right to cut you down for that."