Chương 168: No Negotiations

I returned to the hall to find a gathering of the most important freemen who lived on my land. There were about twenty five of them, and most of them had been present in my first dinner meeting. They didn't officially own the land, but they did work it and officially pay tribute to me. But they had also been aligned with Tunmod. They had all been enraged at me at our first meeting. I stepped into the hall, with Elf close behind me. I had considered bringing a larger force.

Most of the high-importance freemen had weapons of their own, after all. But I didn't need it. Any of the Path-walkers in the area had joined the Blood Tear Order.

"Greetings," I said as I walked down the hall.

"By now, I'm sure you've all heard what happened. Let me begin by saying that you can't sway my mind. You kept your previous thegns under your control with your corruption as a carrot and your condescending sneers as a stick. But I've had plenty of people sneer at me since I arrived here, and though it might sting, it doesn't hurt as much as you want it to. You don't have power, so don't try to negotiate." I stopped when I reached the brazier, then turned around to face the crowd.

They all stared at me as well, practically frozen in place. No one reached for a weapon.

"If you're secretly a Path-walker, I highly advise you to come forward now," I said.

"If you are a cultist, admit it, and we can talk about your options. But past tonight, we have every intention of killing cultists on sight." With the other local Orders driven out, any Path-walker who grew up here either had to join the Blood Tear Order, or else they wouldn't have the resources to get powerful. Elf stood beside me, swaying nervously, and I tightened my grip on my shield, ready to raise it and protect Elf if need be. Nothing happened.

"Very well, then." I crossed my arms.

"You'll keep your roles for the moment. As I understand, you all have your own houses and possessions within them. You'll keep those as well. I'm not at liberty to take that from you. You will, however, swear loyalty to me right now, and whoever I choose to replace Tunmod as Portreeve.

"If you don't, I will consider you in league with him, and we can send you down the river as well. Frankly, with how complicit you all were in his actions, you should consider yourselves lucky I'm not." I wasn't about to say it out loud, but I did need them to keep a sense of stability, and because they knew how things worked. They ran ranches, or oversaw ranching collectives, or smaller guilds, or farms and farming hamlets on the land. I couldn't just throw all of them into the river.

They didn't know that, though, and I had a bit of a reputation. The crowd all knelt. One by one, they dropped to a knee, looking down at the ground. Some of them promised that they would return with gifts, and others promised their service to me. Good enough. I tried to look gracious, but it had been a long day. Instead, I said, "Your compliance is appreciated. I'll take that as a binding oath, then. And as I understand it, the punishment for oathbreakers and traitors is death.

Your mercenaries and local guards are gone, and I am training my own militia. Think very carefully if you plan to stand against me."

"You won't last long, Sir Levi…" a man warned.

"I don't threaten. The Blood Tear Order main branch will send men to reclaim their control of these lands. Lord Hinlaw won't allow you to replace one of his Portreeves and get away with it. What can we do about them? You don't have the money for all your… infrastructure improvements, and you don't have any Path-walkers to help you. How will you pay for even the most basic of weapons if you're lowering taxes as much as you say?" I stayed silent. The Blood Tear Order, and retribution of any kind, was inevitable.

More concerningly, I had to leave, and I couldn't leave behind any more than a single squad, or Lord Ceonwin and Commander Galliard would be duly upset. So I focused on what I could fix right now: "Tunmod and Jaruwain are dead, and they had no heirs. With nowhere to put it, their wealth goes to me now. I plan to use that to pay for Hyrdford's walls and floodways, and weapons for my militia. And once our wells start pumping and potions begin flowing?

People will be wealthier, we will be able to keep taxes proportionally lower while taking in more income." The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I knew that wasn't a satisfying answer for anyone, though, when it came to their protection from the cults. Inhaling sharply, I added, "We are giving our militia the best training we can, and soon, you will be able to take care of yourselves. Soon, the Blood Tear Order won't threaten you ever again."

If I was going to make a promise like that, I'd have to back it up with action. That would mean nothing short of causing the complete collapse of the Order.

"This is not sustainable, sir…" Elf whispered.

"There's only one Tunmod, and yes, he has wealth, but with how much you'll be spending in the coming months, you'll only have the funds to fuel the government for a year, at best." I grimaced.

"Then that's our time limit. We'll have to improve the state of our lands by then, or we'll have a real problem on our hands." I'll have a real problem, I thought, correcting myself. If this fails, I have to take the blame. After an oppressive swell of silence, I said, much louder, "Now, everyone here is dismissed. Return to your homes, and go on as you would, understanding that you are not going to receive the same corrupt money as you would have from Tunmod in the past."

As people shuffled out of the room, I turned back to Elf. He shrugged.

"Well, I suppose a time limit works. I'll make sure Romance sends a squad to raid Tunmod's estate tomorrow and gather anything of value. We'll sell it off for sceats, and I assume you plan to use it to pay the locals' wages as they build for you?"

"Correct. Now, we have a long day ahead of us, and plenty more work to do." I paused as the last of the freemen left the hall.

"So we should make sure we get some rest."

"It's nearly midnight, and we wake at dawn," Elf said.

"It's less than some."

"Sorry." I looked him in the eyes.

"Just hold on a little longer, and soon, we'll be out of this." ~ ~ ~ Since my room in the hall was still ruined, I returned to the barracks. As usual, we kept our guard up. When I returned to my squad's room, I offered to take the first watch. Anchor was second, as expected, but when he relieved me from my duty, he whispered, "Sarge, are you sure you're being safe about this?"

"No," I replied, keeping my voice low. Brawl was snoring, and every time Sage breathed, Morph's branches rattled.

"But we don't have a choice. Hinlaw will retaliate even if we do nothing." Anchor scowled.

"Yes. He will. I just hope you know what will happen. People are going to suffer and die because of the choices you make." I shut my eyes and nodded. I'd already lost people who served under me, and I was going to lose more. Probably innocent people, too.

"I met plenty of old Dupes in my time on the front, Levi," Anchor told me.

"There's no way you get out of this without a scar or two."

"I... I know. Do you want me to give up?"

"No. I want you to be ready, so you don't give up. I'm guessing the toughest days are ahead, and things are going to feel impossible."

"I'll keep it in mind," I said.

"But you don't have to worry about me giving up."

"I'm far more worried about you taking a step too far, a step you can't take back, and dying before you can fix anything. That is what you want, correct? To fix things?" I pressed my tongue against the roof of my mouth.

"What I want? Anchor, I've only ever known a crumbling world. As long as I could remember, my parents were always bickering, always at each other's throats. Then they separated. Constantly moving homes, constantly watching my situation getting worse, and not being able to do anything about it. I tried to escape it by going to a…well, you guys would call it an academy. But the world wasn't that kind, either. And you know the story of how I got here." Anchor said nothing.

"I'm not going to let this world crumble, not if there's something I can do to stop it." ~ ~ ~ In the morning, before sunrise, a horn sounded at the edge of Hyrdford. It was deep and woody. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my helmet, then the rest of my equipment. I still slept with most of my armour on, so it only took about thirty seconds. It took Anchor and Sage a little while longer to get ready, but Brawl had been taking the last watch, and he didn't have to gather any equipment.

The others would catch up, but I wasn't going to wait any longer. I rushed outside, then ran up to the watchtower at the edge of the barracks. Faint light glimmered on the eastern horizon, but most of the town was cloaked in dark blues and purples. I squinted, straining my eyes in the darkness.

"Do you see anything?" I asked the Dupe currently manning the watchtower.

"Central plaza, right in front of the bridge. I think they're friendly. They're certainly not cultists." We needed a gate sooner than later, so people couldn't just ride right into the center of the town. But we were working on it. Taking the fastest route I could think of, I vaulted over the watchtower's railing and landed on the street below, then sprinted with Brawl to a city square in front of the old bridge, where an ancient statue pedestal stood—no statue on it anymore, though.

Three riders sat in the middle of the plaza. Though the light was dim, I made out their emerald-green cloaks and light leather armour. None of them carried any obvious weapons, though a few of them had rings on their fingers.

"Greencloaks…" Brawl whispered. I raised my eyebrows.

"What are you guys doing here?"