“Stories about nobles and other highly positioned people who abused their power to do horrible things to those below them existed not because they made for easy to hate villains in tales. They existed because those things happened for real, and in some ways, were a method for those who were downtrodden to pass on the knowledge and word their grievances in ways that would less likely see them punished for it.

Sure, the stories might depict the evil characters in a way that made them noticeably resemble some local nobles, but that veneer of deniability helped. The few times the nobles got wind of it and tried to silence the bards and storytellers, all that did was to make them look guilty in the eyes of the people, to the point that they became a subject of mockery by others.

As such, most nobles avoided touching the likes of bards and storytellers since, and emboldened thus, the bards and storytellers freely told their tales to any who would listen.” - From a Socioeconomy lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 685 FP.

“Why are you two ladies in such a hurry to leave?” asked the young man with a glint in his eyes. Aideen and Celia had not intended to stay in Lavinja for long, and had headed out towards the east gate soon after their visit to the smithy. Near the east gate, however, in what probably passed as the poorest section of the city, a young man - one of the fancily dressed nobles who passed their way earlier in the day - and a small group of his men accosted them and blocked their way. “Why not stay and… accompany me for a while first?”

Both Aideen and Celia exchanged looks with one another. It was still evening by then, not even dark yet, and the young noble had brazenly blocked their way. From the way the guards stationed at the gate just looked away, and how the people who lived nearby fled to their houses and did not dare to even peek, things like these were likely not unusual in the City.

“So, they didn’t really stray that far from how the stories went, huh?” asked Aideen to the younger woman with a raised eyebrow. Stories about how nobles or officials often abused their power to drag people into their beds or worse weren’t uncommon in the region, and she had heard a few herself along the way to Lavinja. She just hadn’t expected to see it happen for real as well.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“It’s how it is around here, at least,” replied Celia with a look of undisguised disgust in her eyes. While she still had a measure of trepidation when dealing with the local nobles due to her upbringing, when faced with one who abused his power, she was emboldened by Aideen’s presence at her side. “The knights are just thugs in fancy armor and the nobles are the bosses of those thugs. At least, all the ones I’ve heard of are the same way.”

“Hey now, I was being nice on account of your pretty faces just earlier,” said the young noble who heard every word they said since neither women took pains to speak quietly. He seemed pretty intrigued, if also incensed by their talk. “I can still forgive your ignorance since you don’t look like locals as long as you come with me, otherwise don’t blame me for being rude.”

“Yeah yeah, just cut to the chase already,” said Aideen in a dismissive manner as she gave no respect to the local noble. She was in a position where she had no need to, after all, especially since they had not planned to remain in the region for long. “All you’ve done is yap like a dog that tried to scare others with its master.”

“You-” the young noble sputtered with outrage and was at a loss for words for a moment at her reply. Then he looked at his men - most of them dressed nicely like him, but they looked like they had some training as soldiers - and gestured as he yelled. “Seize them! You can rough them up but don’t hit them on the face!”

“I guess this is a good time for a practical lesson for you,” said Aideen to Celia with a smirk on her face. She had brought her black staff out, and Celia followed suit with her swordstaff. Aideen had lent the girl her spare storage which she wore openly for show. It was smaller than her real one which she kept hidden, but was plenty large compared to what most people had. “It’s easy. Just stick them with the pointy end. I’ll leave one for you to handle”

When they saw Aideen and Celia draw their weapons, the six men sent by the young noble also swiftly drew out the swords sheathed on their waists. They looked at the two women more cautiously, especially at Celia who nervously pointed the blade at the end of her staff at them. None of them realized that Aideen was by far the more dangerous of the two.

Aideen gave them no time to move around and encircle her and Celia though, as she immediately swept with her staff at five of the men at the same time. Four of them took a step back and avoided the blow out of caution, while the last one looked at her dismissively and tried to block it with his sword.

The result surprised everyone except Aideen, as the solid steel sword in the man’s hand was directly flung out of his grip as her staff struck it, while the staff continued its way unimpeded and struck the man’s left arm hard.

A loud crack of bone breaking sounded as she drove the staff into the man’s left side, breaking several of his ribs as well in the process. The blow sent the man to the ground, where he clutched his broken ribs and arm with his other hand and wailed in pain.

The four men who dodged the blow - and a similar fate - looked at Aideen more cautiously as they pointed their swords at her, while she just nonchalantly spun her staff lightly despite its weight. The last man of the group she allowed to pass, for Celia to handle and train with.