A dozen soldiers dressed in full King Guard uniforms and armor rode into the camp around noon. The camp looked half empty as Prince Kerwin took most of the healthy soldiers and his hired swords to do some scouting of the surrounding area, and nobody rushed out to meet the new arrivals.
That made the tallest of the King Guards scoff and then ask in a loud and demanding voice, “Who is in charge here?”
Sergeant Rewin stepped right away out of the newly-built wooden cottage and said, equally loud and demanding, “I am. State your business.”
“I have no business with you, Sergeant,” the man answered right away. “Where is Prince Kerwin?”
“We asked for help to fight off goblins and beasts from the dungeon. Yet, I don’t think you came here to help, have you?” Sergeant Gewin said as he slowly walked toward the man, then stopped to stand a few meters away, nodding his head toward Bib and Rib who suddenly appeared and moved to flank the troops, each carrying a crossbow with a sprung shaft in it.
“You will tell me what your business here and what do you want with the Prince?” Sergeant Gewin said sternly, his hand dropping to the handle of his sword.
The King Guard’s soldier stared at Sergeant Rewin from under his iron helmet, not saying a word, not moving an inch.
An uncomfortable silence stretched for far too long during which Prince’s soldiers and village fighters stopped whatever they were doing and slowly moved to encircle the arrived group, making them nervous enough that their horses suddenly started to neigh as if they wanted nothing better than to leave that place.
“I have an order that is to be given only into Prince Kerwin’s hand,” the man finally said, trying to ease the tension.
“Oh, why didn’t you say so right away?” Sergeant Rewin said, but then tilted his head and added. “Now, there was a talk about spies running through this country. I say, those uniforms look rather good on you. Pretty new, aren’t they? So, if you don’t mind, take your fucken helmet off and show your face so I can see who I’m talking to.”
“I am not here to discuss anything with you, Sergeant Rewin,” the man answered, suddenly holding the reins of his horse with only one hand as the other one dropped to the sword’s scabbard.
“Good, so you do know me then. And I, I know everyone worth knowing among King Guards. Yet, I do not place your voice among those fine folks. So, either uncover your face, and let me look at you, or I just as well take you for a spy. And give orders to my archers to bolt you and your horses down, and see if any survive to cross a sword with me,” Sergeant Gewin said, his sword coming a few inches out of its scabbard. “It’s been only goblins blood I’ve been spilling recently. Would be refreshing to slice off an arm or a leg of some stinking spy, I tell you.”
“I see you being an asshole did not change with time,” the tall man said and took his helmet off, revealing a ruff face with little, piggy eyes and a crooked nose that was broken in way too many times.
Seeing his face, Sergeant Rewin scoffed and spat out and then said, “Hello, Ervir. Long time not see. Since when does a pig from the South decide to enlist in the King’s Guards? It could not possibly be that in my absence of only a few days, the standard for joining the King Guard had declined so drastically.”
“I guess when you left, you left a lot of space. Someone had to fill it up. Now, you’ve seen me. Think what you want, but you know I’m not a spy. So, either tell me where I can find the Prince, or I’ll just have to run back to the Castle and tell Lord Morgan you disobeyed the direct order from him.”
“Oh, well, if it is a direct order from Lord Morgan, then, we have no problem. Should have told me that right away. Maybe I would not have insulted you then. But then, maybe I… still would.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The man called Ervir sighed, looked around finally taking his eyes off the Sergeant, and asked. “And the Prince? I reckon he is not here.”
“Nope.”
“Where did he go?”
“There is an old stone quarry about ten miles from here, by the lake. To the west. He left about an hour ago. I reckon you will be able to either find him there, or, you can…” Sergeant Rewin stopped himself before he could finish his sentence. “I would invite you in, to wait for him here. But I did promise to slash your throat the next time I see you. So, yeah, maybe you would not want me to invite you in now, would you? Especially on account of you fully knowing I tend to keep my promises.”
“No need to work yourself up. We’re on the same side now. Don’t you see we wear the same colors now?”
“The colors might be the same, but I don’t think we can ever be on the same side,” Sergeant Rewin told him, still staring strong at him, still not ready to drop his sword completely back in its scabbard.
“Fine. I say, it’s all water under the bridge. But, you want to keep tallies, be it. I’m gone. And I’ll make sure I let Lord Morgan know of a warm welcome I got here.”
“Yeah, you do that,” Sergeant Rewin said as he watched the man turn the horse around and let his troops out of the camp.
“You told them that the Prince had gone to the northwest of here, toward the lake. But didn’t he say he was going just the opposite way?” the soldier closest to Sergeant asked him innocently.
“Yeah, well, if they want to find him, they can do it on their own. They don’t need my help, Fucken Ervir now wearing King’s Guards uniforms?!” the Sergeant uttered with disgust and spat out toward them.
Scarface moved out of the cabin and came behind the Sergeant, watching them leave. Then he muttered to the Sergeant. “Ervir the Rapist. I heard you killed his brother.”
“For what he had done to a family up in Jeremira East, I would have killed him too… if he did not run away that is. It seems Lord Morgan is running a bit desperate to hire the kinds of him.”
Scarface nodded his head and said, “Is that the same lord who took your wife and younglinks?”
Sergeant Rewin turned his face to suddenly look at Scarface. “Yeah, the same one.”
“With the lords like that, who needs a dungeon?” Scarface growled out.
El, Alice, Tarra, and a noseless goblin who was still led on a leash came back to the camp while it was still light.
Elma was there to meet them and tell them about the recent visit.
“And what is the Prince to do now?” Alice asked, hearing about it all.
“He has to make up his own mind,” El said. “Whether he wants to listen and leave, or disobey and stay and fight.”
“It’s not an easy decision to make,” Tarra said.
“Regardless of what he chooses, we need to know what to do. Especially in addition to what you’ve already told us, Tarra,” El said.
“If it’s true that Lord Morgan wants the Prince dead, then, I don’t think that the Prince has any choice at all,” Scarface said. “Most likely, they will kill him before they even make it to Twin Oaks.”
“Yet, if he stays and disobeys the command, he forfeits his life as well,” Sergeant Rewin added, shaking his head.
“I say, there is a good reason why those men wore face-covering helmets,” Scarface said. “I say, we should have killed them already.”
“Why do you say that?” El asked him.
“They will not find the Prince by the lake. And, they will not go back to whoever hired them empty-handed.”
“They will be back of course.”
“Yeah, but this time, they will not come in riding for everyone to see them. They saw our numbers. They will not try to intimidate or press us again. At least, I would not. So, tell the guards. I‘d hate to find some young lad with his throat cut, all frozen up and dead in the morning.”
“I should have sent someone to follow them,” Sergeant Rewin said with regret.
El sighed, “You did what you could. We just need to be vigilant.”
“As if we needed any more worries,” Elma said. “I hope Trim comes back with the Prince soon enough. It seems it will soon start to snow again.”
“Sorry to break up your chat,” Tarra said from the ridge where she stood and watched toward the valley. “But I see only one rider coming from the East.”