Laina led Richard towards their camp outside of the village. She was having a hard time thinking clearly when she was talking to Richard, so she decided to show him the horse to make it easier.

Richard was wondering where Laina was taking him. He knew that he was good with women, but he did not know that he was this good. Laina couldn't even look at him without a blush on her face. As they got farther and farther from the village, Richard was convinced that Laina was going to ask him for something very special.

Richard started to let his imagination start to run wild and didn't notice that Laina stopped walking in front of him. He walked straight into Laina and caused them both to lose balance.

Richard regained his balance and reached out to catch Laina to keep her from falling to the ground. Laina fell into Richard's outreached arms, and she stayed there for a few seconds. She quickly snapped out of it and jumped out of his arms. Right now, Laina felt like her face was on fire.

"I am so sorry, Laina. I was so entranced by your beauty that I did not realize that you stopped," said Richard, in an almost apologetic tone. He looked around to see where they stopped.

"It's okay," said Laina looking at the ground. She was trying very hard to calm herself down. "That is what I wanted to show you." Laina pointed at the horse that was tied to the side of the road.

Currently, there was no one around it. The bag that Laina put in all of their supplies was gone as well. This was all according to plan. Laina suggested that things would be easier without Sam and Xander and so, they both were watching everything from a little distance away.

Richard was a little disappointed that he was not right, but he decided to let it go since it wasn't every day that he would get to see a horse.

"I need your help with selling the horse," said Laina. "You said that you were the village head's son so I thought that you would know a lot of people in your village. If there was someone that wanted a horse, you would know about it, right?" asked Laina, explaining why she asked Richard for help.

Richard walked up to the horse and touched it. He felt its hair on the top of its head and rubbed it. He thought for a few seconds. "I indeed know everyone in my village, but no one is rich enough to be able to afford a horse. I don't know the exact price for a horse but it must be at least a gold coin."

Laina was a little disappointed when she heard that but she didn't give up. "It's fine if it is bought for less. I don't have any real use for it so I don't really want it."

Richard nodded his head and understood where Laina was coming from. "If that is the case, then there might be someone that may give you an offer. If you want to, we can go now," said Richard.

Laina said, "That's fine but can my ... two other brothers come along as well?" She asked. She stumbled a little when she said brothers but quickly caught herself. She hoped that Richard didn't catch that and believed her.

"Brothers?" asked Richard. He started to look around to see if he could spot anyone around them, but he couldn't see anyone else. It appeared to him as if they were completely alone.

Laina cleared her throat and said loudly, "Sam and Xander, can you come out now?"

As soon as she said that, Richard caught sight of movement in a bush a little distance away. From it, he could see two men getting up. They walked closer, and Richard could make out their facial features.

One of the men, Sam, had slightly blond hair and sharp features. The other one had jet black hair and a softer face. He was a little bit taller and slightly bigger than the first man.

"I guess they can come as well," said Richard, after looking at both of the men.

Laina untied the horse and gave Sam and Xander a thumbs up. Richard started to walk back to the village, and the group followed after him. Xander kept looking back to the bush where they hid before. Even when they got far enough away that he could not see it anymore, Xander kept looking back.

Sam and Xander had been following Laina and Richard with a little bit of distance between them. They were close enough that they could follow Richard without ever losing him and far enough away that they couldn't hear each other's whispers.

Sam got closer to Xander and whispered in his ear, "Stop worrying so much. Stratus isn't going anywhere, and nothing is going to happen to him. And the only animals in these forests are rabbits and insets."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

They had told Stratus to stay behind the bush since it would be easier to blend in without him. They already stood out with a horse and did not need to bring in another rare animal.

Xander heard Sam and nodded his head. He was still worried, but he stopped looking back. Xander decided that he would hurry up and go back quickly.

Sam quickened his pace so that he could get closer to Richard. When he was within talking distance, Sam asked him a question. "Whose house are we headed to?"

Richard kept walking forwards and answered Sam. "His name is Ruko. He controls a lot of the fields. Anyone that can't afford to get their own land to grow crops on, go to Ruko to get work. He gives his workers enough food to eat and sells the rest to traders. He is the wealthiest person around for a few villages. There are some rumors floating around that he is close to the Load of Carthage, but I don't believe them. Why would someone like that stay in a village like this one when they could be in Carthage."

Sam started to understand how this place worked. There seemed to some price that people had to pay in order to farm in a place. He didn't exactly understand how it was enforced so that people didn't just use a location without telling anyone. A lot of food was funneled into the city through these villages.

Sam thought back to the letter. The result of it would have been that a lot of food would have been burnt. There wouldn't be enough for the villagers and nothing to take into the city.

Sam slowed down to get closer to Xander. When Sam was sure that Richard couldn't hear him, Sam talked to Xander in a low voice. "Xander, do you remember what the number one reason for a revolt among the people was in the medieval ages?"

Xander hadn't expected that question and was caught off guard. "I... don't exactly remember. Is it poverty?"

Sam shook his head. "Think about the French revolution, what started it off."

"There was a famine and people didn't have enough bread. And also the 'Let them eat cake'." said Xander. The answer came to him easily because it was recently taught in his high school.

"Yep, it was the lack of food," said Sam. "I think that we are a bit more skewered now. Like a lot."

Sam had originally thought that this was a minor terrorist attack from the Black Nation. It made sense to think that since the two attackers were both from the Black Nation and the Red Nation and the Black Nation were enemies. But now, Sam thought that it was bigger.

Sam kept thinking when he saw that they were really close to entering the village. Currently, Sam was having an internal debate with himself. In the end, Sam walked in behind Xander.

Just like before, Sam and Xander were met with strange gazes. Unlike before, these people were a lot less hostile and more curious about the horse that was in front of them.

"Get back to whatever you were doing before, there's nothing to see here," shouted Richard as he saw the small crowd that was forming. His shouting was futile as the crowd only increased in size.

It took a few minutes for the crowd to disperse. Most people had been amazed when they saw the horse for the first time, but after seeing that it was nothing special, they got bored and started to get back to work.

Richard led them to the house that Laina saw before. He stopped a few feet away from the door. "I'll knock on the door and see if Ruko is inside and if he wants to talk. That's as far as I can go. Laina, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to help someone as beautiful as you."

Laina felt herself starting to blush. She raised her hand to cover her face. "I should be the one thanking you, Richard."

To the side, Xander couldn't help but feel cringy. Sam rolled his eyes and finally understood why Laina was like that in the morning.

Richard turned around and approached the door. He knocked on the door twice and waited for a reply. Several seconds went by until there was a reply. An elderly man opened the door. His face was full of wrinkles, and his hair had lost all of its color and turned gray. He looked at Richard and failed to notice the horse which was to the side.

"What do you want?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"They want to speak to Ruko. They want to sell the horse." saying this, Richard used his hand to point to them and the horse.

The old man squinted his eyes towards the direction that Richard pointed to. "Wait here for a little while," he said. He then turned around and closed the door behind him.

"That was Ruko's father. He is a well-respected man in the village. After my father, the village head, he is the second voice that people listen to. Sadly, as you've seen, he's aging for the second time. He only has a year or two before he dies." explained Richard.

The door opened again, and this time a different person was standing in the doorway. Seeing him, Richard bid his farewell and left. The man in the doorway looked very young at around his early twenties. His clothes were finer, and one of his fingers had a small golden ring on it.

"Tie up the horse to the side and come in," he said. Laina did as she was told and tired up the horse to the side. She, along with Sam and Xander, stepped into the house.

The house had a proper wooden floor and wall that speared each of the rooms. In what appeared to be the main room was a set of chairs. The windows of the house provided the rooms with plenty of light. There was a wooden desk in the middle of the room with nothing on it. The man had invited them to sit and so they did.

The man, after seeing everyone that was sitting, sat down as well. "Let's start with introductions, I'm Ruko, and you three are?"

Sam waited for either Xander or Laina to answer, but neither said a word. Laina was too intimidated by Ruko since she has never seen anyone this wealthy in her village. Xander was awkward and didn't want to be the person speaking.

"I'm Sam, this is Laina, and this is Xander," said Sam. "We found a horse wandering along in the forest, and we want to sell it since we don't have a use for it."

Sam was put on edge by the man. He found it very suspicious that someone as rich as him would treat random people with this much respect. He was already worried about the letter situation, and this man didn't help at all.

"I understand," said Ruko. "Why don't you three just go to Carthage? You'd get a much better price for the horse than here."

"We don't want to risk going that far," said Sam. He wasn't lying and told Ruko exactly what the reason was.