A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Righto," Judas said. "What do you have in mind? I sent the boys to the soldiers\' camp again this morning."

"And I\'ve sent Rodrick and Rodrey to gather information, as well as to keep an eye on the children," Nila told him. "You\'re not going to go into the forest again, are you? I understand there\'s a buildup of monsters, but you really need a break. You just collapsed this morning, after all."

"Alright, well, I guess we can continue off where we were yesterday," Beam said. "I think we should continue building on what Nila started yesterday. There are a lot more people in this village. If we can get them to trust us, we\'d learn more, and we\'d learn stuff faster.

If, instead of us having to find them and ask questions, they instead knew to report it to us, it would make our work a lot easier."

"It would," Judas agreed. "But how are ya gonna do that? You\'re like me, ain\'t ya? Well, maybe not quite as bad. Everyone\'s scared of me, \'cos I\'m always shaking them up to pay back the money they owe the boss, but I guess with you, they just don\'t really know you. Still, you\'re always with me n\' Greeves, so they\'ll probably see you as trouble as well."

"I want to know what you plan too," Nila said. "It was a struggle yesterday getting anyone to talk to us. Everyone\'s closed off and afraid with the threat of the Yarmdon attack. I guess they\'re just thinking that it\'s better if everyone protects themselves."

"The Elder is meant to be playing the role of bringing people together," Beam mused. "So are the village higher-ups. The old lady at the bakery would probably help if we put some work in… and then some of the wealthier merchants and hunters with influence… But as we are now, we don\'t really have a hope of unifying the village. We\'ve just got to help individuals."

"Help them with what?" Nila asked.

Beam smiled. "Well, there\'s a problem right now that everyone is starting to hate equally, despite them being on our side – the soldiers."

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Nila said with a gulp. "What do you plan to do?"

"Yeah… I\'m on the side of the lass. I don\'t want to be picking a fight with no soldiers," Judas said cautiously.

"Naw, we won\'t be picking a fight. We have to keep them on our side after all, we just intimidate them a bit, get them to settle down. We\'ll do a bit of peacekeeping," Beam said, his smile growing as he started to warm more to his own idea.

"I never thought I\'d see you volunteer for some peacekeeping," Judas murmured. "To be honest, I never thought I\'d see you do anything other than hunting monsters, but here we are, I guess."

"It\'ll be fine," Beam said with a grin. "Let\'s be off then. It\'s midday, I\'m sure the soldiers are causing trouble already."

He started forward towards the village centre with a confident stride, leaving the two of them behind.

"Hey! Wait up! Are you wanting us to come with you?" Nila asked.

"If you don\'t have any other immediate plans, then yeah," Beam said in reply. "I think the villagers will trust you more than they trust me and Judas. And the soldiers will probably be more intimidated by Judas than any of us."

"You\'re serious about this?" Judas asked, rushing to catch up with them. "I\'ve got nothing but bad feelings about it."

"I\'m sure it\'ll be fine," Beam said with a wave of his hand.

"I just realized but… you\'re literally looking for trouble," Judas said, a frown on his face as he scratched his cheek.

"Mm. And from what you\'ve been telling me, it shouldn\'t be too hard to find," Beam said. "What were the villagers even looking for me for, by the way?"

"Ah, I managed to get them sent away… But I was telling people if they were worried that they might be in danger, that they should come to you," Nila said. "Was that the wrong thing to do?"

"Not at all… I\'m just surprised anyone actually listened to it. You must have been pretty convincing," Beam said.

"I think you\'re underestimating yourself, Beam," Nila said. "You\'re a topic of discussion now, since you\'ve been at the centre of the stage more than once, standing beside Greeves. People are wondering what you\'re like. Plenty of people are wary of you – but the others seem to think you\'re a kind person," Nila said.

"Kind?" Beam repeated.

"Mhm. Because of what you did for people – helping them prepare for winter. And then there are a couple of other stories mixed in there, about how you\'re hunting monsters for the good of the village. But not a lot of people seem to think that part is true."

"Ah, so they finally caught on, did they?" Beam mused.

With light chatter between them, the unusual trio soon arrived in the centre of the market square. With winter being so close – in fact, the solstice was due to be celebrated on the evening of the following day – the marketplace was as busy as ever, and it would continue to be, all the way up until the first snow fell.

Even from a distance, Beam could see the shining armour of a few soldiers catching the dim daylight afforded by the grey sky. There was a harsh atmosphere in the air, as though everyone was feeling the strain.

Beam could see it on the face of the people bartering – there was an urgency there, as though they were feeling the pressure of an uncertain future. They haggled hurriedly, eager to get back home with their goods. And even whilst they were doing so, they would look over their shoulders as though afraid of what might be coming from behind.