Tim felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek as the men approached. His heart thumped, desperately wished he had more time to prepare himself. He glanced over at Eric, who looked like a coiled spring ready to be unleashed. Arthur and Emily looked calm. They were all standing on the road now, and Tim felt exposed. Horatio had said that this would allow them the best fields of view in all directions and that the prince and princess would be doing the heavy lifting. Tim glanced at Emily and wasn’t sure what lifting she could do. As far as he could tell, she was unarmed.

“Well then, I think all the pieces are on the board,” Arthur declared as he started down the road towards the Sons, taking slow, measured steps.

Arthur drew his sword. The translucent green metal shimmered under the late morning sun like a green jewel. Emerald Flame was an apt name, Tim thought to himself. He looked down at his short sword and wondered if he should give it a name.

“Emily, when you’re ready,” Arthur called out over his shoulder.

Emily held out a hand, and Tim’s eyes widened when he saw a green orb of fire appear above her palm moments later. It was the size of a rock and swirled slowly at first but began to grow as it picked up speed. Soon, the orb was roughly the size of a small pumpkin and swirling violently. On an unseen signal, the orb shot out of Emily’s hand down the road, whizzing past Arthur’s head on its way to the approaching Sons.

However, they seemed to be ready for it, and quickly scattered. The fireball exploded in the middle of the road, engulfing only one unfortunate soul. His comrades began running towards Arthur as their companion writhed around on the road in agony.

“The Witch is here!” one of their leaders roared. “Kill her, in the Three’s name!”

Arthur planted his feet in the middle of the road and watched the men attempt to advance on the shed fields on either side. He didn’t take long to choose a side and set off towards the twelve men to his right. He closed the distance menacingly, and once they entered his range, he sprang into action. His movements were a blur as he carved his foes apart. Only three of his foes had the presence of mind to turn their weapons on the prince, and they struck only air, as Arthur danced between them before cutting them down with Emerald Flame.

“There’s no time to admire him,” Horatio warned as he pointed out the remaining eight who had scattered down the other side of the road and were now running towards them.

A pair of fireballs flew through the air. Once again, the men were ready and scattered, but two more fell to the flames.

“More are coming from behind!” Tim gasped as five brown robed men emerged from an unploughed field about twenty yards away. One was armed with a bow, and he fired off an arrow as he emerged from the waist high wheat.

“Look out,” Tim cried. His body was quicker than his mind, and he was able to position himself to intercept the arrow with his buckler, deflecting it away from Emily.

“You boys cover our rear,” Horatio ordered. “The princess and I will concentrate on those in front of us.”

As they drew nearer, Eric let off a roar and hurled himself at the nearest assailant. The brown robed man attempted to parry Eric’s savage overhead swing with the haft of his axe. However, the power behind Eric’s blow took the man off guard and caused him to teeter. With quick hands, Eric adjusted his sword and used its tip to tear the man’s exposed throat open. As the man clutched his mangled neck, two more men approached Eric from either side while the remaining two darted past him towards Emily and Horatio. With remarkable agility, Eric repositioned himself to square off against the man to his left.

“Watch your back, Mister Thacker!” Tim warned as he rushed to engage the man on Eric’s exposed right.

Tim’s sword bit air, but it drove the man back. Eric swiftly dispatched the foe to his left and then helped Tim finish his opponent off. When they turned around, they saw that the two who had slipped past them had been reduced to ashes less than ten feet away. Arthur, who had dispatched a further two from the rear was looking at their surroundings for any other signs of attack. Tim did the same and noticed that Greg Stone was still hard at work ploughing the field, oblivious to the fight that had just taken place.

“Did you savages kill all of them?” a familiar gravelly voice asked sourly. “I had some questions for them.”

Tim jumped and was surprised to see Huntsman emerge from the waist high wheatfield. Eric scowled and approached the lanky man aggressively. “You have some nerve showing up after leaving us high and dry.”

“I suppose you think I was just resting on my laurels while you were fighting for your lives?” Huntsman asked dryly.

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“Weren’t you?” Horatio ventured.

Huntsman held up his bloodied dagger for all to see. “For your information, I was making sure that their observers didn’t escape to tell their fellows about what happened here.”

Arthur raised an incredulous eyebrow before turning to the boys. “You two fought well.”

“Two?” Eric protested as he jerked a thumb at Tim. “He didn’t do anything.”

“He saved your life,” Arthur pointed out as Tim nodded in agreement. “Horatio, you’ve trained them well.”

“I could have managed on my own,” Eric protested indignantly.

Tim pursed his lips as he looked at the men Eric killed. They stared up at the sky with glazed over eyes. Their faces were contorted into masks of rage, and Tim wondered what had gone to their minds in their final moments.

“Do we just leave them here?” he asked absently.

“The Stones have been nothing but kind to me.,” Horatio remarked as he surveyed the carnage. “I can’t leave this mess on their doorstep.”

“What do you propose?” Arthur ventured.

“If you and Lady Emily would be so kind as to tell Sir Francis what’s happened here,” Horatio said. “Nathan can help the boys and I to pile the bodies in the barn. Once all that’s done, we can inform Father Dennis to collect the bodies and give them proper burials and then be on our way.”

Arthur nodded slowly. “I suppose we can do that much… However we afford that much time.”

“I’m sure we can afford to wait a day, My Prince,” Horatio said. “It will take weeks to muster a new army.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Arthur conceded.

As Arthur and Emily rode their horses in the direction of Sir Francis’ manor, Horatio fetched a wheelbarrow from the barn.

“Tell Horatio that I’ll catch up when he’s in Aroden,” Huntsman said.

“Where are you going?” Eric demanded. “We have work to do here.”

A sly grin spread across Huntsman’s face. “I have another engagement that I can’t be late for.”

“Hey, you can at least help us for an hour or two!” Eric shouted at Huntsman’s back, but the lanky man didn’t so much as slow down as he walked down the road out of town.

“So he’s gone, has he?” Horatio observed when he returned with the wheelbarrow. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“He said he’ll meet you in Aroden,” Tim shrugged.

“Ah yes, I will be going to the capital soon,” Horatio remarked as they began gathering the bodies into a pile by the side of the road. “Do the two of you want to come with me?”

Tim paused. “Will we have to fight?”

Horatio nodded as he and Eric lifted a body onto the wheelbarrow. “With a second mustering, you have a high chance of being called up. If you come with me, I will be able to keep an eye on you.”

“What about the rest of the boys?” Tim asked quietly.

Horatio shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t just lead all the town’s boys out overnight. I can only take the two of you.”

Eric paused to mop the sweat from his brow. “Will we get to fight in the war if we join you now?”

“I’ll know once I get to Aroden and speak with His Majesty,” Horatio replied.

Horatio frowned. He looked troubled as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Are you that eager to go to war, young Eric Cooper?”

“I just want to prove myself,” Eric insisted. “Who knows, if I impress the right people, I might become a lord like you and provide my family with the lives they deserve.”

“A lord like me,” Horatio grunted and gestured at his shed. “That’s not all there is to it, you know. Carthun nobility is a game, a dangerous one at that. Look at my lands, and my manor.”

Eric fell silent as he looked at Horatio’s shack. The people of Potter’s Hollow had initially thought he was running from debt collectors when he first turned up in town and had taken a while to warm up to him.

“As I said,” Horatio said with a wry grin as he and Eric heaved another body onto the wheelbarrow. “Politics is a game, and I played it poorly.”

“But now you’re being given a second chance,” Tim pointed out as he dragged another body over to them.

“Yes, and the stakes are higher this time,” Horatio remarked as he helped Tim and Eric push the wheelbarrow towards the barn. “If things don’t go well, I will be lucky if my only punishment is exile.”

“It sounds like I could use some help learning to play that game,” Eric observed.

Horatio smiled wryly. “Don’t look at me, I can scarcely play it myself.”

“Besides,” the older man added as they entered the barn. “The king used a lot his of political capital to elevate a foreign born commoner like me into lordhood. He won’t be able to do it again.”

Eric blinked as they unloaded the bodies from the wheelbarrow. “He’s the king. Can’t he do whatever he wants?”

Horatio smiled. “No, that’s not quite how it works.”

“I know we have a High Council that makes all the decisions,” Tim piped up.

“A ruler who does not have the support of his people will not last long,” Horatio pointed out as they pushed the now empty wheelbarrow out of the barn. “So, will the two of you follow me to Aroden, knowing that you are unlikely to become lords?”

“Will we be able to earn glory and money?” Eric ventured.

Horatio nodded. “War is a filthy business, but if nothing else, it does provide opportunities, for lowborn and highborn alike.”

“Then I’ll go,” Eric declared and turned to Tim. “What do you say, eh? With your brains and my brawn, there’s nothing we can’t do.”

Tim bit his lip. “I can’t help but feel there’s a higher chance we’d end up like… well, like them.”

Eric scowled as Tim pointed at the pile of bodies on the road. Greg Stone still hadn’t noticed them, and Tim had done ploughing before, so he could understand why. It was mind-numbing work, and all you were focused on was making sure your current line was straight or you might have to redo the entire field, or worse, not get paid for the day’s work.

“You’re such a worrywart, Tim!” Eric exclaimed.

Tim thought about it for a moment and decided that it would be better to be an aide to Old Horatio than some faceless lackey who would be placed at the front line to defend against a cavalry charge. His eyes strayed to the short sword at his side and knew that it was a finer weapon than most peasant soldiers would ever see. “Alright, I’ll go, but I’ll have to ask my parents first.”

“That goes without saying,” Horatio smiled. “You can do that once we’re done here.”

“When do you think we can leave?” Eric asked. The taller boy was bouncing with excitement now and had his hand around the hilt of his sword.

“Tomorrow,” Horatio replied.