North America / Kingdom of Yorkania (Western Grain Route): January 14th, 1518.
It was an ugly evening for the world. The road was quiet, the carts moved slowly, and every tree looked like it was waiting to confess.
(Morgan's POV)
The bait convoy moved exactly as planned.
Four grain wagons.
Two seed wagons.
One false treasury chest.
And enough visible incompetence to make a raider believe fod had personally wrapped stupidity in wheels and sent it down the road just for me.
I watched from the hill beneath a black cloak.
Galahad stood beside me.
John crouched in the trees below.
Isabella waited farther west with the shield women.
Michael and his wardens were hidden near the ditch.
Jonas sat inside one of the wagons with a bell cord in his hand because apparently I now employed children with better instincts than most nobles.
Merlin stood behind me and adjusted his throat while saying "Your majesty, using a child as bait is…"
"He is not bait. He is an observer in a dangerous educational environment." I said calmly with a dismissive wave of my right hand.
Merlin stared at me.
I ignored him.
He sighed.
Below, the convoy stopped.
A wheel broke.
On purpose.
The guards began arguing loudly.
Also on purpose.
"I TOLD YOU THIS ROAD WAS SAFE." Said one of them loudly.
I closed my eyes.
"Too much." I said calmly with w sigh.
Galahad nodded and said while rubbing his bearded chin "He is new."
"I can tell. Only new men think stupidity requires volume. He's a lame so release him from duty when this war is over. God my head hurts." I said calmly with a groan as I held my head.
The trees moved.
Not wind.
Men.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Forty.
Then more.
Masked raiders slid from the woods like rot learning posture.
They were too quiet.
Too organized.
Too clean in the way they spread across the road and watched the wagons.
"Not bandits" I thought calmly while taking my hand off my head and looking closer.
Their leader wore no banner.
But on his finger was a black stag ring.
My eyes sharpened.
"There." Said john's voice from the shadows below.
The raiders surrounded the convoy.
The leader laughed and said with a snicker "Yorkania truly does learn slowly."
I raised my hand.
The road went silent.
Then jonas rang the bell.
*DING*
Once.
The raider leader blinked in confusion.
*DING*
Twice.
The ditch opened.
Road wardens rose.
Bows aimed.
Shield women moved from the west.
John's shadows dropped from the trees.
Galahad walked down the hill.
Not ran.
Walked.
The raider leader's face changed and said "Trap."
"Yes. How unfortunate that you discovered intelligence only after entering it." I said calmly while stepping away from the hill.
The first raider moved.
Galahad cut him down.
*SPURT*
The road erupted.
*CLANG*
*BOOM*
*SHK*
The raiders were trained.
Not common thieves.
They fought in pairs.
They protected the black stag man.
They tried to break east.
Isabella met them with shield and spear.
*BOOM*
Her shield smashed into one man's chest.
He flew backward into a tree.
"Old bones still bite." Said Isabella with a very wide grin.
Michael struck another raider behind the knee.
Jonas pulled the bell cord again as arrows came from the wagon slits.
*SHK* *SHK*
One raider tried climbing into the wagon.
Jonas froze for half a breath.
Then a small dagger stabbed through the gap between the boards.
*SHK*
The raider screamed and fell back, clutching his hand.
"Good. The child has decided to remain alive" I thought while rubbing my smooth chin with my eyes squinting.
The black stag man tried to run.
John appeared in front of him.
The man froze.
John tilted his head and said coldly "Wrong road."
The man drew a dagger.
John broke his wrist.
*CRACK*
The dagger fell.
Galahad grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
*THUD*
I walked over slowly.
The fighting faded.
Bodies covered the road.
Some dead.
Some groaning.
Useful.
The black stag man wheezed in galahad's grip.
I looked at his ring.
"Pretty. Did joseph give it to you, or did rome allow you to feel special first." I asked calmly while staring at the ring.
The man spat near my boot.
Not on it.
Near it.
Poor aim.
I stared at the spit.
Then looked up at him while saying calmly "You had one chance to be dramatic and missed the shoe. Disappointing."
Galahad tightened his grip.
The man choked.
"Alive." I said calmly.
Galahad loosened slightly.
The man gasped.
I leaned closer.
"Here's a little secret. You attacked my roads, my food, my villages, and my people. You did it quietly because you mistook silence for safety." I said calmly with a whisper like tone.
The road went still.
I smiled with my eyes and said calmly "You will now speak loudly."
The man trembled and said with fear in his eyes and said with a raspy tone "I know nothing."
I glanced at john.
John held up papers taken from the man's coat.
Papal wax.
Jersey payment marks.
Route lists.
Village names.
Lancelot's seal.
The raider's face went pale.
I took the papers and said calmly, "Good. Then your ignorance has excellent handwriting because no one ever seems to know anything."
The road wardens laughed softly.
I looked at percival's scribe.
"Write this down." I said calmly with a wave of my hand.
The scribe nodded quickly.
"Let it be recorded that on the western grain route, Rome's hunger was caught with jersey's coin in its pocket and brooklyn's perfume on its sleeve." I said calmly with my eyes squinting.
The black stag man shook his head and said Immediately "No. No. You do not understand. The pope will…"
I slapped him.
^PAH*
His head snapped sideways.
The road went silent.
"I do not fear men who need god to threaten a woman." I said calmly with a chuckle. Yet my face didn't move a inch.
The wind moved.
John stepped closer and said coldly "There is another mark."
Galahad tore the glove from the black stag man's hand.
Underneath it, burned into the skin near his wrist, was a small symbol.
A cross inside stag horns.
The road became silent.
Merlin stepped closer and looked down at it and said calmly "Hm…"
I slowly looked at him.
Merlin sighed and said calmly "Yes, your majesty. It is useful."
"Good. You're learning. Now exit my peripheral view." I said calmly with my hand shoeing him away.
Merlin crouched slightly out of view and said calmly "Recent. Branded, not born. A shared mark between rome and jersey's inner men."
I looked back at the black stag man and said calmly "How lovely . A religious leash with antlers."
The man clenched his jaw while saying lowly with his teeth grinding hardly against each other "You are damned."
"No. I am busy." I said calmly with a sigh.
Isabella snorted softly.
I looked at the road wardens and said calmly "Strip the dead. Teeth, rings, boots, hems, mouths. If they hide paper inside themselves, remove the hiding place and wash your hands after."
One young road warden went pale.
I looked at him and asked calmly "Do you wish to vomit."
LN…no your majesty." Said the boy Immediately.
"Liar. Do it after the search." I said calmly with a sigh.
"Yes your majesty." Said the boy quickly while holding his mouth.
Jonas climbed out of the wagon with the bell cord still in his hand. His face was pale.
I looked at him and said calmly "You rang on time again."
"Y…yes your majesty." Said jonas calmly with a stutter.
"And stabbed a hand." I said calmly with my eyes squinting down at him.
Jonas swallowed and said Immediately with a stutter "I…I didn't mean to."
I stared down at him and said calmly "Mean to next time. You have a promising future ahead of you."
Merlin sighed behind me.
I raised one finger without looking at him and said calmly "Do not begin."
Merlin said nothing.
I looked back at jonas and said calmly "You are not to chase battle. You are not to seek blood. But if a hand enters your wagon trying to kill you, it no longer belongs to the man who brought it there."
Jonas nodded quickly and said with a bow "Yes your majesty."
"Good." I said calmly with a nod.
The black stag man wheezed again.
Galahad still held him like he weighed less than furniture.
"Take him to the capital. Wash him enough that I can smell his lies clearly." I said calmly with a dismissive wave of my right hand.
John bowed.
Galahad dragged the man away.
The man struggled.
It did not matter.
I looked at the road.
Blood ran between wagon tracks.
Red over brown.
Red into black.
Red into the same dirt that carried grain, seed, tax, letters, soldiers and every stupid hope a kingdom was arrogant enough to place on wheels.
The road was bleeding.
But for the first time, it was not only yorkania's blood.
"Good." I said calmly with smiling eyes.
Michael stepped closer, leaning slightly on his pitchfork and said with a hoarse voice "Your majesty."
I glanced at him.
"The villages will hear about this by morning." Said michael with a serious look on his face.
"Yes and..." I said calmly. Not seeing the issue.
"They'll believe they can fight." Said michael calmly with a serious look on his face.
"They should. I don't accept Inconsistency of incompetence. It is a disease and I refuse to die from it." I said calmly with a cold look in my eyes.
Michael was silent for a moment and said with a serious look in his eyes "That may make them bold."
I stared at him for a moment and said calmly "Good. Cowardice has had centuries to govern. Let boldness embarrass it for a while. It'll do some good for this fucked up world for awhile."
Michael bowed his head.
John returned from the trees with another parchment in his hand and said coldly "One escaped rider went south before we closed the ditch."
I looked at him and said calmly "You allowed it."
John bowed slightly and said with cold eyes "Yes your majesty. He carried no papers. Only fear."
The road was silent.
I nodded and said calmly "Good."
The false treasury chest remained untouched in the middle of the road, still looking stupid, expensive and proud of itself.
I walked past it while saying calmly "Burn the chest."
The scribe blinked confusedly and said "Your majesty..."
"If the enemy reports a treasure chest was left untouched, suspicion will grow. Burn it. Let them think panic ruined value." I said calmly.
A torch was brought.
The false chest caught fire.
*FWOOSH*
Gold painted wood blackened.
Smoke rose into the evening like a message.
I looked at the western road and thought of rome.
Joseph.
Lancelot.
All these men stretching hands across my kingdom like they had not learned the cost of touching things that belonged to me.
"Let them come again." I said calmly.
Galahad looked at me and said "So we can kill them your majesty."
"No." I said calmly.
The road went quiet.
"So they can teach me every road they thought I had forgotten." I said calmly while turning and taking my leave.
The blood continued running between the wagon tracks.
And the forest, at last, confessed.
…
THE END…