A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Evidence is to be gathered. That comes first, above your revenge. Your child is missing, are they not? Would you really allow eagerness to destroy clues as to his whereabouts? If the whole village comes storming in, everything but the most obvious things will be lost," Beam said. "But all the same, I can not guarantee that letting me go alone will prove to your benefit either.

I simply ask for this: fifteen minutes of patience. I will search the place thoroughly, and then you can go in as you will."

The old man still had fury in his heart. Nila, as she pushed her way through the crowd, was quite sure that he would simply brush forward anyway, ignoring the logic of Beam's words, choosing to put his fate in his own hands.

But as the soldiers made their way behind Beam with their torches, as Judas stood like a monstrous shadow at his right soldier, something seemed to make the man pause, for he bit back whatever answer was on his tongue.

There was a shift, Beam felt, the same shift that was on a battlefield. He could feel it just as clearly – a shift in hearts, like the momentum of a fight.

There was something about the sight of the boy, covered in grime as he was, that seemed to have an effect on him. It wasn't the words that had turned his heart around. It was a look in the young man's eyes, glancing at a fury that nearly matched his own. It was glancing behind the boy, and seeing those soldiers, and seeing Judas, all looking towards Beam as one would look towards a general.

These men, as they looked towards Beam's leadership so readily, were staring down the crow with the utmost ferocity. The most dangerous man in the village – or so they had thought for years – and five members of the Serving Class, all following the directions of a boy of fifteen as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

"…I'll trust you then," the old man declared finally. "Fifteen minutes is it, alright? And then it's all mine?"

The old man stuck his hand out. Beam took it, and shook it firmly, reaffirming the man's trust. "Fifteen minutes," Beam agreed. "And if there's anything in here that we can use, we'll find it," he promised.

With the crowd tamed, Beam looked over them. "Nila," he said, motioning with her head for her to join them.

She looked surprised, having expected to be left to control the crowd. "Leave it to Rodrey and Rodrick. We'll need those hunter's eyes of yours."

She smiled at those words, and hurried to join them. The crowd looked at her as she passed. She was merely pleased for a respite from the responsibility, if only for a short time.

She didn't say anything, not until they'd turned around, and began walking up the village Elder's path, with his house sitting ominously in wait. Then, she could hold it in no longer. "You stink…" she said emphatically, as she twisted her face.

Beam raised an eyebrow in surprise, as he looked down on himself, then slowly but surely, his face broke out into a grin. "Yeah, I suppose I do," he said. "Good job controlling the villagers, by the way. The Captain was pleased."

She frowned at that. "Did you not see? By the time you came, they were already not listening to me."

"Maybe – but you steered them away for a whole day. And no one died. From the talk of the tensions, that's a certain achievement," Beam said.

"Aye, I was expecting to see at least a few bodies piled on the street," Judas agreed. "Always happens when the crowd gets excited."

Nila spared him a distasteful look. "Of course, there'd be no bodies. Not everyone is as violent as you."

"Did ya not just see a crowd full of axe-wielding peasants, little princess? That seems plenty violent to me."

She bit her tongue, unable to fire back at that. The giant was right, after all. They'd walked a paper-thin line. For a crowd that size to be gathered, and all of them dangerously armed. It truly had been a miracle that nothing had happened.

"But here we are now," Beam said, bringing their attention back to the current moment. "I don't know what we'll find here, but if it's connected to anything that has been happening, then you can bet it's not exactly going to be safe."

"That's why you didn't allow the villagers in…" Nila murmured. Though safety wouldn't have made for a good argument against a dozen angry parents worried for the safety of their children.

"I'll want the men on their toes then. Draw your weapons, boys," the sergeant said. The soldiers shared a few anxious looks. It was magecaft, after all, that they're fearing. There were talks amongst the soldiers of such a thing. Magic was synonymous with evil, and with great power.

It was a thing to be feared with all the heart a man could muster.

Their swords came clear of their sheaths in a fluid motion, Judas hurried to draw his as well, though he didn't have the same command over the metal that they did. It seemed clumsy and out of place in his hand – more liable to slow him than help him.

They paused at the door to the house. The light of their two torches cast a dim glow against its features. Even in the daytime, the house seemed gloomy and dark. At night, it was only worse. There was a palpable feeling of animosity radiating from it, as though it was trying to scare outsiders away.

"That's a thick door," the sergeant commented. It was indeed. It was the type of door that wouldn't have been unsuited in a castle's keep. It was made of thick, dark varnished wood, with black steel rivets running throughout it, reinforcing it. Seemingly their only hope of getting in was that angry black ring handle.