Lynn closed the door behind her and followed them despite what Lucien said. “I insist. If it’s something important, I think I should hear it. Besides, I can help. My father has been training me to take his place.”

Lucien stopped at the door but didn’t knock. He turned around with a sigh and looked at Lynn. “This isn’t something you can help with kid. Go back home. If your father wants you to know, then you’ll know. But only after we tell him first.”

Paul gave her a pat on the shoulder before she could protest. “You’ll do good to listen to him on this. Just be patient.”

Looking between the two of them, she groaned but ultimately listened to them. Walking back home, she grumbled to herself. “Why does nobody take me seriously?” Before closing the door behind her.

Lucien smiled slightly. “She seems like a good kid, what did she mean by that?” He knocked on the door twice before waiting for a response.

Paul smiled a little. “She is. And don’t get me wrong, she is very helpful, and has helped a lot of people. It’s just... sometimes she tries to push herself too far and help out with some of the really big stuff. And while we appreciate it, It doesn’t always end well.”

“Really? Tell me more,” Lucien said. At the same time, the door opened and a man looked at them.

The man was rather thin and scrawny, with a long face and shrewd eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. He observed Lucien with a hint of wariness and unfamiliarity, before seeing Paul and relaxing slightly.

“Hello Paul, what’s the cause of your visit? I thought you had already left with your daughter?” His voice was nasally, but didn’t lack any amount of confidence or impact. It was clear that he was someone with plenty of experience, and the ability to back up his position.

“I’ll tell you about it later.” Paul whispered to Lucien before taking the lead, explaining to the mayor’s secretary as they walked inside. “That’s actually why I’m here Nathan. This is my friend Lucien,” he said, gesturing at Lucien. “We met him on the road while we were travelling. He brings urgent news from Locham that the mayor needs to know.”

Paul walked straight to the back, where he knew the mayor would be.

Nathan greeted Lucien, but tried to hurry in front to stop them. “Can it wait? The mayor is in a very important meeting with the guard captain right now.” By the time he said this, Paul had already pushed the door open to the next room where the mayor and Wesley, the guard captain, were having a heated discussion.

The mayor was a middle-aged man, around a decade older than Lucien, with a pot belly, a double chin, and a receding hairline. He wore a white doublet that failed to fully cover his massive belly, and a wine red jerkin in an attempt to look like nobility.

He didn’t have a noble title, and was in fact a commoner granted the position by Lord Whitmore with the support of the village’s people. This was the case for the majority of villages in the kingdom, but this didn’t stop him from trying to appear wealthy. Only the mayors of the villages in the central region, under the direct control of the royal family, had any level of real power.

Wesley was a towering figure, albeit only slightly taller than Lucien himself. He stood just a few centimetres short of two metres tall. He cut an imposing figure, his entire body rippling with power and strength. Lucien could tell that this was someone who had experienced life and death on the battlefield, and was skilled, or perhaps lucky enough, to make it out fine. His body was toned and his muscles were clear for all to see, but it didn’t get in the way of his ability to move and fight.

He was the real deal, and not someone trying to put on a show or impress others with his physique. He had short blond hair of a similar shade to Lynn, thick eyebrows, and a large crooked nose.

“The town guard needs more funding! Word has already spread that bandits attacked a nearby village a couple weeks back. The people won’t feel safe unless we do something.” Wesley argued, his voice stern and aggressive.

“We don’t have the money for what you want to do. You’re asking for too much!” The mayor argued back, his face red and covered in sweat. His attention snapped towards Paul the moment he saw him walk in, his anger now directed at someone else. “What are you doing? You can’t just walk in here! Nathan, why didn’t you stop him?” He was like an enraged bull, heedlessly attacking everyone who entered his line of sight.

Nathan dapped the sweat of his forehead with a handkerchief as he looked on nervously. “I tried sir. But they just wouldn’t listen.”

Lucien stepped forward, taking the lead and drawing all of the attention to him. “Locham has fallen to the bandits.” He cut right to the chase to save time and to stop them all from arguing. And it looked like it worked.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The mayor, who looked like he was just about to shout at them again, was left with his mouth opening and closing like a fish, staring at Lucien in shock. Everyone else in the room, aside from Paul, was not faring much better. Wesley immediately calmed down, while Nathan paled.

The room chilled at Lucien’s words as everyone stopped to listen. He had heard the faintest of sounds coming from somewhere above them, which went unnoticed by everyone else. His eyes flicked up to a part of the ceiling for a moment before he pretended to ignore it and went back to what he was saying.

“It was a massacre. Only two of us survived, myself, and my nephew.” He paused, struggling to get the words out. “He was captured by the bandits.”

Both the mayor and Wesley sunk into their seats, their faces grim. Nathan found a chair to sit down in as well, as the room was filled with silence. Even though he had already heard it and had begun to come to terms with what happened, Paul still struggled to hold back his tears.

Nobody said anything as Lucien also sat down. A storm was raging through everyone’s minds. The loss of a village, even one so isolated from the rest of the region, would have profound impacts on the area. If this news was to spread, no one would feel safe.

But how could they stop it from spreading? It was only a matter of time before somebody found out. And then they would tell someone, and that person would tell someone else. Soon enough, the entire region would know about what happened, and all of the villagers would fear for their lives.

Wesley had already wanted to up the villages defences in preparation for any bandit attacks. This particular group of bandits had been roaming the region for a while now, launching small attacks on villages to steal supplies.

Initially, he thought it was just a small time group of bandits. A few guards would be injured here and there, but nothing too serious happened. Attacks would happen in the middle of the night, and only a few things would be stolen. It was only until a month or two ago that he, and many others, realised that the bandit group was larger and more dangerous than they thought.

The bandits began attacking harder, and faster. Everyone thought what happened at Redwater was bad enough. The bandits were no longer restricted to their nightly raids and sneak attacks. They had struck at Redwater out in the open, when the sun was shining, for all to see.

A few guards had been severely injured, and one had even died that day. Everyone thought that was the worst of it, and wanted to prepare themselves. But who knew they couldn’t have been more wrong.

The silence in the room was deafening and seemed to stretch on for an eternity. With a deep breath, Wesley turned to Lucien and stared him right in the eyes. “What happened to Uther?”

“We had a traitor in our midst. Uther was stabbed in the back and surrounded by the bandits. But he didn’t go down without a fight. He took down several bandits before he succumbed to his wounds.” Lucien’s breath was shaky, but he managed to get out what he needed to say.

Everyone was silent as he recounted the event from his perspective. “I was out scouting when it happened. We knew about the recent bandit attack on Redwater, and we wanted to be prepared. I searched through the forest for any scouting camps, and I found one. It was only a few hours, but by the time I got back... It was already too late.”

By now everyone’s face was pale as they stared vacantly off into the distance. They didn’t expect that Locham would fall while barely even putting up a fight. What would’ve happened if they were the ones being attacked instead?

The mayor seemed to have aged significantly in the past few minutes, all the energy he had before having disappeared with Lucien’s words. “Wesley, take all of the money we still have in the coffers and put it all into shoring up our defensive line. We need to make sure we can handle any attack coming our way.”

“Yes sir.” Wesley snapped to attention and left the room under Nathan’s lead. He knew how important this was, and knew that he had no time to waste. With Nathan there to pass on the mayor’s authority, he immediately began work on the plan he had come up with before today.

But he already knew that plan wasn’t enough. The amount he thought he would get was a lot less than what he was given, so there were some faults in his plan that he had to make do with. Now that he had the money, he strived for perfection. So that he could keep his family and his village safe.

With them gone, the mayor turned to Lucien. “Lord Whitmore needs to hear about this immediately. I will give you a horse and enough supplies to ensure you make it there. Efficiency is of the utmost importance, so I hope you will set off right away.”

“That was the plan sir,” Lucien said.

“Good. Paul, can you gather everything he will need?” the mayor asked.

“Yes sir.”

The mayor waved them off tiredly and sunk into his chair. He needed time alone to digest what he just heard. He had to think about what he was going to do next.

Lucien and Paul left the town hall and immediately went about getting what they needed.

~

A few minutes ago, just before Nathan opened the door.

Lynn slammed the door shut before heading off to her room. Why am I not allowed to know? Why won’t they let me help? She was annoyed and upset. Just because she messed up one time, suddenly no one trusted her.

She had helped out so many people, but because of one mistake, people now looked at her weirdly whenever she offered to help. They would hurriedly deny her and say it wasn’t a problem. That they could do it, even if they needed help.

I’ve trained every day to help people. I should at least be a part of this conversation. Her eyes lit up, as she suddenly thought of something.

Quickly sneaking out of her window, she walked around to the back of the town hall. There were some loose bricks scaling up the wall, which she climbed up with practised ease. She snuck inside through an unlocked window, and silently crept until she found a familiar spot hidden from view that was directly above the meeting room.

Nestling into place underneath the stairs, she listened in on their conversation like she had done many times before. She made it in time to hear Lucien’s first words, and was shocked. She shot up and slammed her head into the stairs.

She caught herself, bit back the tears, and continued listening on in horror.