Chương 166: The Festival

I stood at the edge of the river for a few minutes, watching the flow whisk away the remaining debris of Tunmod's raft and waiting for the man to resurface. Nothing. He was just a mortal. There was no surviving that fall. After a few minutes of relative silence, we scoured the remaining resources of the festival. The Seerservers and their men, though they hadn't had as much time to prepare for the festival as usual, had still brought plenty of food for their celebrations afterward.

I didn't know how exactly they planned to celebrate or what that looked like, but it was only right that we made use of that food now. No sense letting it rot in the sun. Although anyone who was supposed to handle the food was now gone, we got people in orderly lines, and we found anyone in the crowd who was a good cook. There were ingredients here for a pottage, and a massive pot to cook it in. I, however, knew I couldn't be trusted in a kitchen, and neither could most of the other soldiers.

Romance asked if Sage knew how to cook, considering most of the average healers in the army also doubled as camp cooks, but Sage reminded him very quickly that she was the daughter of Lord Ceonwin and had never touched a kitchen in her life.

"Alright, alright," Romance said, holding his arms up.

"No need to sick your tree monster on me." He glanced warily at Morph. There were those in the crowd, though, who did know—including Cuthward, who needed a stool to bring himself high enough to stir the pot. Within the hour, everyone who hadn't run away had a clay bowl of pottage in their hands. It was a thick soup made of onions and carrots and whatever poultry they had on hand. In this case, the Seerservers had brought a cage of pheasants, which we had to slaughter. (At least we knew they were real birds. Considering the other habits of the cultists, I wasn't eating any kind of mystery meat from them.) For the soldiers who weren't helping with slaughtering and butchering the birds, they helped clean up the mess left by our skirmish. They pulled the bodies away and tossed them in the river. Once we'd cleaned up as much as we could, I lastly used the soldiers to cut bread. Sure, we didn't need to be this involved, but I wanted everyone to see that I was here, and that we were taking part in local affairs.

You could say local traditions, too, though I would make sure this one didn't continue in its current form. If they wanted to celebrate something, they could, but there couldn't be any debilitating tithes to organize it, and no human sacrifice. As the day went on and we served meals, I moved through the crowd, making sure to introduce myself, and making sure to let them know that, now that Tunmod was gone, they were free to say whatever they wanted.

People asked me if I was truly this land's new thegn, and I explained how I'd gotten the position.

"I challenged Sir Hinfic in a joust," I explained, facing a group of experienced ranchers and shepherds who wanted to meet the new man in charge.

"I unhorsed him, then later, slew him in a duel." There was no point dodging the truth, even if I was cutting out a few details.

"Were you a thegn before or after you challenged him?" one of the ranchers asked.

"... Middle?" I said. I didn't want to sound too unsure of myself, but I figured telling them exactly what happened was going to be far better for my community relations.

"So you lied to get into the trial-joust," a shepherd said. I nodded.

"Yes, partially. I impersonated a thegn for the first few rounds, until I could be properly granted thegnage." The men glanced at each other, sharing skeptical glances.

"The system was stacked against us from the beginning," I said.

"I did what I had to. But now that I have thegnage? I'm not going to play games with people. I don't like breaking promises, and I don't like lying. Yeah, I know that's probably what every politician says, so I plan to prove it to you by making things better."

"Tunmod wouldn't have even bothered to have a conversation with us," the first rancher said.

"You've already done better than him."

"And we only ever saw Sir Hinfic once or twice a year," a shepherd added.

"We never ever had a chance to speak with him, either."

"I'm hoping to be as candid as I can," I said.

"Any questions, I'll answer them directly. I'll try to listen to your needs and address them. I may not be a thegn by blood, but I did receive thegnage from a member of the royal family. Yes, I may have manipulated the system to get here, but if anything, I hope that shows the lengths I'm willing to go to make things right." I stopped myself before I ended up sounding like I was making a campaign speech. I was a soldier, not a politician, and I had better act like it.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. I kept my arms down by my side, trying to be open.

"I apologize, too, because I am going to have to leave soon and return to the front. But I plan to leave someone in charge who can rule these lands well, following in my footsteps and continuing what we've started here. I'll return as soon as I can."

"So you angered an Ealdorman, and now you're throwing us to his wolves?" a different rancher complained.

"Not exactly," I said.

"We have three days, and I have plans." Not wishing to be vague, I explained everything I had in store for them for just the next three days. It took longer than I was hoping, but at least they seemed satisfied by it. I had at least ten meetings that went exactly like that, which went about the same way. I refined my tone and changed exactly what I said, doing my best to speak to them like a human. These were, after all, the most important locals. I had to convince them to like me.

If I could get them in on my vision and convince them to follow me, I would have a much easier time keeping control. As I navigated the crowd, I tried to get a feel for their opinions on Cuthward. Most of the younger civilians didn't know much about him, except that he was the kind old man who ran the inn. As for the older villagers, they all knew him as the former Seer. Even if he hadn't helped them directly, he'd been a large part of their lives.

I didn't want to thrust anything upon Cuthward if he didn't want it, but I would need to appoint someone to lead in my absence, and he seemed like a strong candidate. ~ ~ ~ The festival lasted well into the afternoon. Although the mood stayed mostly dour, considering the skirmish and the blood that had been shed in the morning, I met with whoever I could find who was willing to talk. At noon, I found the boy who was meant to be sacrificed.

Sage had checked him over, making sure he was unhurt, before sending him off to me. He bowed, pressing his forehead against the ground, and said, "Sir Levi, I am indebted to you. Please, if there is anything I can do, tell me—""No, no." I knelt before him.

"Please, look at me. What's your name?"

"Eadgeat, sir."

"Eadgeat. I know this has likely been a hard few weeks. I want you to find your family, and tell them exactly what happened. Make sure they know you're safe and healthy."

"That's…it, sir?"

"Do you want another job?"

"I have no other job, sir. I haven't had a job my entire life." I grinned.

"Alright, then, let's see. After your family knows you're safe, do you think you can gather up some of the other boys who don't have any other jobs? Then, bring them to me. I have just the thing for you guys." ~ ~ ~ As soon as I could extricate myself from my public duties, I led a party of soldiers to the temple. We met no resistance as we broke into the cellar. All the other cultists had fled. We freed the prisoners and brought them up to the light, and Sage rushed over to them, using Morph as a walking stool.

"I'm sorry to ask you to do this," I said.

"But you're the only healer we have, and they need help. I know it will hurt, but they need—""I will help, dustbrain," Sage insisted.

"Thank you…" I sighed.

"I know…I know I have been reluctant to heal before. I want to do better." She crossed her arms.

"It is the least I can do to help this land, like you said." I nodded.

"Are you…alright?"

"I didn't think it was possible to make a big difference, Levi. But you stuck with me, dustbrained as it was. Everyone did. I must give back. Now let me work." ~ ~ ~ In the afternoon, after most of the festival goers had dispersed and we had run out of food to serve, I enacted the first phase of my plan. We approached a building near the center of Hyrdford. It was the one of the only buildings here over three storeys, with a bottom level made of cobblestone and two upper levels of wood and plaster.

Instead of a thatched roof, it had shingles, and a massive stone chimney clung to the side. My squad and Romance's, along with a few young men who didn't have any other jobs, approached the building. Eadgeat had gathered them. Most of them were older than fourteen and under thirty.

"This is the old guild hall?" I asked.

"Yes, indeed, Sir Levi," Eadgeat said. I pushed on the doors, but they were locked.

"We sealed the building up when the Hyrdford Alchemical Bases Guild went out of business, over a decade ago," an older recruit, maybe twenty-five, said.

"That's a mouthful of a name," I muttered. Then, louder, I announced, "However, as thegn, I technically own the guilds started on my lands." I hadn't forgotten the Great Charter already—if a guild was started on my land, I had to give approval, and I would be the official owner of it. If a freeman started one on land he owned, however, of course it wouldn't belong to a thegn. Sometimes, though, it was easier to start a guild with the approval and protection of a thegn.

"And, as I understand," I continued, "I must give permission for a guild I own to dissolve."

"Well…yes," Eadgeat said.

"And this guild ceased operations when its old guildmaster died, correct?" I asked, drawing on what little I'd heard about it.

"Also correct," the older recruit said.

"Old man Digoth slit his own throat…poor fellow, no wife, no child. Seemed quite lonely."

"And that means the control of the guild defaults to the thegn," I said.

"As long as none of the past thegns dissolved the guild officially, which we've found no paperwork for, the guild is then officially ours." It felt good to finally use the bureaucracy for something, even if it was finding a loophole. I leaned back, then delivered a powerful kick to the guild's doors, cracking through the locks. They swung inward with a puff of dust, revealing the guild hall's dark interior.

"As of today, the Hyrdford Supply Guild is open for business. We have some wells to dig."