A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Ah, right. This is your first time doing this, isn't it? When the ceremony is over, they push the platform into the bonfire as well. Everything burns tonight, or so they say," Nila told him.

"That sounds pretty ominous…" Beam noted.

"…It does, doesn't it? Mm, I guess it's my first time noticing that. It's just what people say, y'know," Nila said. "How have things been, anyway? You don't seem to have any scratches on you, but it's hard to tell, 'cos you're always hiding them under your clothes."

"I wanted to ask much the same question," Mrs Felder said. "You haven't come to me for treatment once in the soldiers' camp, despite all the work they're putting on you."

"They're working him that hard?" Nila said, a clear frown on her face.

"Oh, Nila!" Mrs Felder said, growing animated. "That's an understatement! You should see how they look at him – grown, grizzly old soldiers, scary men, they look at little Beam as though he's some weapon of war. All they talk about is how easy life is now that he's come. How many squadrons he's taken over for. How many squadrons was it again, Beam?

Was it four?"

"Six," Beam said mildly, though in truth, it was technically eight, but Lombard had stationed those two reserve squadrons just to make sure their defences were watertight.

Both women's jaws dropped, as they shared a look with each other.

"BEEEEAAAMMM!" They shouted almost at once, as Nila grabbed his arm to shake him, and Mrs Felder chopped his head.

"You can't let them force so much work on you! What are you, trying to get yourself killed?" Nila complained.

"You need to talk with the Captain! That's far too much! Even if they're nobles, you can't let them push you so hard!" Mrs Felder scolded.

Beam accepted that concern with a silent smile, grateful for it. But, just as he'd thought when the Captain warned him of such things, he found their worries unfounded. The amount of work he was given to do was comfortable for him.

"Still… six squadrons," Nila said quietly, looking at him in a new light. "I always knew you were strong… But it puts it into a whole different light now that a knight sees how strong you are as well. It's like… I don't know? Like you're already moving forward, you know? To better things…"

"It's incredible, really," Mrs Felder said, heaving a sigh. "You've got a true gift, Beam. But if you don't show weakness, they will assume you have none, and they'll only come to expect more and more from you. You're far stronger than I ever thought you were – and I knew you were strong! But I've also seen you struggle.

Without knowing how hard you've struggled, they won't know just how cruel they're being to you."

"Six squadrons is like thirty men, right?" Nila pointed out. "They're giving you the work of thirty men?"

"That's exactly what they're doing," Mrs Felder told her. "The soldiers are getting to rest far more than they were before, and they're cheerful for it, but all that burden has fallen to Beam here… I can't fathom it. How can so many grown men be outdone by just a single boy? Aren't they being a little bit shameless?"

"I think you're being hard on them, mother, comparing them to Beam," Nila said sympathetically.

"I suppose… It just doesn't sit right with me," she said with a frown. "Are they at least rewarding you properly for all that you're doing?"

"They treat me well enough," Beam said. "As long as they're keeping their promises to keep the peace amongst the villagers, and to protect the village, then I don't mind. It's only for a short period of time after all, maybe two more weeks at most."

"I guess they are keeping their promise… The Captain's 'authority' that he said he gave me – that seems to be working. When the soldiers start causing trouble, I go over there, and they listen to me now, even though it's just me by myself, with Rodrey and Rodrick, they still listen. So things are more peaceful than they were," Nila said.

"People are opening up a little more too… I finally heard something about Stephanie."

The already cold air seemed to freeze as her name was brought up. As soon as her disappearance was brought back to the surface, the stabbing pain that her family felt was more than obvious. David looked up at his sister, a sullen expression on his face as he held his mother's hand. Mrs Felder for her part looked towards the floor, and did her best to hide the weakness on her face.

They'd already heard what Nila had to say, but it didn't make it any easier to hear. "An old man told me that he saw someone, just before the light of dawn, as he was tending to his chickens, carrying a large parcel wrapped in cloth. He said he thought he saw it wriggling, but by the time they squinted to get a closer look, they were gone."

"What did they look like?" Beam pressed, immediately alert, his eyes as focused as they would be in battle. The Felders picked up on his sudden increase in intensity and gulped, but Nila was a little more used to it than the others, and continued.

"Black robes, like those shadows you saw in the forest," Nila said.

"It wasn't one of the Elder's servants?" Beam asked with a frown.

Nila shook her head. "Nope. Apparently, the shoulders were broad, and the shadow was big, even for a man. By the way, thank you for that – with the money you lent me, I was able to pay the Elder back, so they've stopped bothering us. I will pay you back too though. You lent me 25, so I'll pay you back 30."

"Think nothing of it. I'm surprised you managed to raise that much money so quickly. Greeves was as well. He actually seemed kind of angry about it. But this man..? Hm.

Did they see where he was headed?" Beam said.

"I won't be able to make money that quickly again, it'd harm the forest hunting that hard, and I'd be making enemies of everyone… Plus it's winter, so people wanted loads more meat. The man was heading westward, the old man said," Nila told him.

"Westward…" Beam repeated thoughtfully.