Chapter 29
Alice rode beside Sid as they approached the rundown town positioned at the crossroads of two minor roads. Several dozen very rough looking men were leaning against buildings doing their best to look intimidating. They were watching the roads as if expecting trouble to appear any minute. Each man was well armed and touched their weapon from time to time as if to assure themselves that it was still there. Alice nudged her horse closer to Sid's and said, "Those men look dangerous."
Sid looked around and nodded his head in agreement. He said, "They are dangerous."
"Maybe we should avoid them," Alice said. She looked at the handful of Sid's men riding behind them and doubted they were enough to protect them. It had bothered her when more than half of his men had ridden away earlier that morning.
One of the men who had been leaning against a building stepped forward and placed himself in their path. Terrified, Alice stopped her horse in an attempt to keep as much distance from him as possible. The man glanced at her and then looked over at Sid. Frowning, he said, "We expected you yesterday."
"We had a few people to liberate," Sid said pulling the reins and stopping his horse a few steps from the man.
"These are your men?" Alice asked wondering how many men Sid had riding with him. Alice settled beside him staring at the man thinking that Sid must be a great hero if he had more than a hundred men in his band.
"Yes, they are my men," Sid said with a smile. He gestured down the crossroad and said, "Those are also my men."
Alice looked in the direction that Sid had pointed and swallowed heavily. On the edge of town was a huge camp with hundreds of men in it. Rows of tents lined the road with battle hardened men guarding entry into the camp. From her location she could see the kitchen in which the food was prepared. Based on the size and quantity of pots, she figured that this camp had to hold at least five hundred men.
She looked back at Sid thinking about what kind of child he was going to give her. The thought of it almost gave her an orgasm. She stared at the bulge in his pants wondering what he was going to be like in bed.
Sid managed to get her attention off of his crotch when he said, "Come on. We've got a little errand to run now."
She turned to him and asked, "All of these men are yours?"
"Yes," Sid said with a grin. It seemed to him that she had asked that question at least once every hour of the trip.
The pair entered the Three Sheaves Tavern with Sid leading the way. Alice followed behind him keeping as little space as possible between them. She amazed to find another dozen men sitting around the tavern. She recognized the place and shuddered at the memories it invoked. She moved even closer to Sid.
Looking around for the man who had originally purchased her from the slavers, she nearly fell over when she spotted him. He was tied to a plank that was hung from the ceiling. He was tied with the plank to his back, but he was hanging face down and was swinging to and fro with his nose twelve inches from the floor. He looked positively ridiculous.
A rather large man with an angry expression on his face was seated near the plank. He looked up when Sid entered the room and said, "This here fellow was beginning to get worried that you weren't coming back."
"You don't say, Gregor," Sid said. He pointed to the barman and asked, "What's he doing up there?"
"That's a long story."
"Give me the short version," Sid said.
"You take all of the fun out of the telling."
"That's my job," Sid said with a grin.
"The stupid fool tried to run off last night. Well, we couldn't have him trying to do that again so we tied him up so that he was hugging that post over there," Gregor answered. He lifted a foot and kicked the plank setting it swinging even more. The barman groaned behind his gag. Grinning, Gregor said, "He started complaining about his feet hurting, so we tied him to the plank and then tied the plank to beam."
Shaking his head, Sid said, "Didn't you know that you were supposed to tie him to the top of the plank rather than under it?"
"I considered that, but it was just too much work," Gregor said. He grabbed the plank bringing it to a sudden halt. Leaning down so that his mouth was next to the man's ear, he asked, "Why should I make a skunk who serves warriors drugged wine comfortable?"
The barman mumbled something that was unintelligible. Sid said, "Well, he told me where to find Alice."
"Does that mean that I have to let him go?" Gregor asked.
"Yes," Sid answered.
Gregor reached over and grabbed the ropes holding the barman to the plank. His knife sliced through the rope with ease. The rope slowly loosened until the man fell to the ground. Gregor leaned down and said, "You better run. If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."
The barman took one look at the expression on Gregor's face and ran out of the bar without looking backwards. The look of terror on his face was not faked. He didn't even take the time to remove the gag in his mouth.
The man's actions made Sid wonder what had really happened while he had been gone. Putting an arm around Alice, he led her over where Gregor was seated. Gesturing to the man, Sid said, "Alice, this rather angry looking man is Gregor of the Rider Clan. Gregor, this is Alice."
"I'm pleased to meet you," Alice said looking over at Sid for protection. Half whispered, she added, "I think."
Gregor grinned at the addendum and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Sid sat down and said, "Tell me what really happened."
Gregor took a long swig from his mug of watered wine and then said, "The man is a coward and a fool. After you left, I was stuck trying to figure out what to do with him. I figured, hey he's a barman so I'll have him work the bar. There's enough men in here that he won't be able to go anywhere, so why not?"
"Sounds reasonable," Sid said.
"So anyway, we had him working at the counter handing out drinks. Last night, the idiot gets it into his head that he's going to escape. Two hours after sunset, he drugs the wine and serves it to the men I had in here watching the place. You know how I feel about that."
"I'm surprised you didn't kill him," Sid said shaking his head.
"I was sorely tempted, but I knew that you'd want to question him if you didn't find Alice," Gregor said. He took another sip of his wine and said, "Well, the men notice that things aren't quite right when a couple of the fellows fall asleep in their mugs after a single tankard. The call went out as the idiot was trying to slip out the back door. He ran into me."
"So you tied him to the plank and played with him," Sid said.
"Actually, I did tie him to the post and he did complain about his feet hurting. That's when one of my men suggested that we ought to tie him to a swing like one of those women in the fancy houses. Well, we didn't have a board the right size, so... You get the idea," Gregor said.
Alice laughed and said, "He looked so stupid hanging upside down like that."
"Where's Derek?" Sid asked. The man who normally went everywhere with Gregor wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"He was one of the men who were drugged last night. He's sick as a dog," Gregor said.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe we should have kept the barman here for a bit so that Derek could have talked to him," Sid said.
"Derek would have killed him in the old way. Today, we reserve it for only the most cowardly of men who hurt the tribe through treachery," Gregor said with a hard expression on his face. He looked off to the side as if wanting to avoid an unpleasant memory.
"What does it involve?" Sid asked looking at Gregor. Based on his behavior, it was obvious that Gregor had delivered that punishment at some point in the past.
Gregor reached into his belt and pulled out a small knife with a slightly curved blade that wasn't more than an inch in length. The knife was typically used by the nomads to trim leather and was kept razor sharp. Gregor said, "He'd have worked him over with his leather knife until the idiot died. It probably would have taken a day or two."
A look of horror crossed Alice's face as she imagined what that would encompass. Staring at Gregor, she asked, "Why would you do that?"
"So that the coward learns the real meaning of pain so that in the next life, he won't be a coward. It also assures that anyone thinking of violating the trust of the tribe thinks twice about doing it," Gregor answered. He took another sip of his watered wine and looked over at the bar. He slipped the knife back into his belt.
Looking over at Alice, Sid said, "When a member of the tribe does something treacherous against his tribe, he's bringing death to people he's known his whole life. In a clan, everyone helps everyone so that all can live. If you destroy that spirit, then you destroy the clan and everyone in it. That can't be forgiven."
"He wasn't of the tribe," Alice pointed out.
"He was allowed a position of trust and he violated that trust. You have to trust that the person who feeds you won't poison you instead. He may not have been a member of the tribe, but he attacked Gregor's family in a very cowardly manner," Sid said.
Alice looked at Gregor and asked, "The people who were drugged were members of your family?"
"They were all of the Rider Clan. We're all related one way or another," Gregor answered looking at Sid. Although it shouldn't have, it amazed him that Sid understood Clan justice. He sighed and looked into his empty tankard.
"You're not happy," Sid said.
"The kind of vile treachery that I've seen on this campaign makes me sick to my stomach," Gregor said. He felt like the people in this whole area had no sense of honor.
"Why don't you head home?" Sid asked.
"I'll support you as long as you need me," Gregor said sitting up. The idea that Sid would dismiss him before the campaign was over angered him. His life had been saved by Sid and he owed a debt of honor. That debt would not be paid until Sid was victorious.
Sid said, "Tomorrow, I'm leaving. We'll go to the twin valleys battle field and pick up Dracos. From there, we'll go to the Drake Citadel. I'll meet with the leaders of my army and turn over the clean up of this area to them. Then I'll head down to River Crossing to pick up the other three Damsels waiting who are waiting for me. We'll return to my citadel."
"You're done?"
With a thoughtful expression on his face, Sid said, "The enemy army has been destroyed. There are little groups of ten to a hundred men scattered over the entire area. Most of them will drop their uniforms and return to life as civilians. It's no longer a war."
Gregor pursed his lips as he considered the situation. He knew that Sid was right. There wouldn't be any more pitched battles. The Citadels were captured. The major towns were occupied by Sid's forces. The smaller towns had been liberated and the former slaves had taken up arms to protect their new homes. Nodding his head, he said, "I'll send out a call to gather the Clan. We'll escort you to River Crossing and then head home."
"It will be nice to be so well protected," Sid said meaning exactly that. Gregor would have almost three thousand members of the clan with him since many of the single men had married women from Masterson's brigades.
It finally dawned on Alice what Sid had said earlier. Looking around, she asked, "Three other Damsels? What do you mean there are three other Damsels waiting for you?"
Gregor laughed and said, "Oh no, Sid has woman trouble. I can't protect him from that."
Sid, Alice, and Gregor rode at the head of a column of three thousand mounted warriors. They were heading to where the last major battle of the war had been held to meet up with Hunter and his men. The landscape had not changed, but the atmosphere of the land was subtly different. The men and women working in the fields they passed were working because they wanted to be there. Their efforts were far more energetic and the overall productivity across the area was higher. When all is said and done, slaves are not a very effective workforce.
In the course of the few weeks since being freed, large estates had been broken into smaller holdings with temporary structures put into place. Most of the structures were made of wood that had been salvaged from the outbuildings of the estates. A few were previous cottages that had been abandoned when the previous owners had been enslaved. All of them would be uncomfortable when winter came, but it was a start on a new life and the discomfort would be tolerated.
In a year's time, it would be hard to see that slavery had ever held there except in the attitude of the people. Despite the fact that Sid's army had liberated, each person stopped working and watched them pass by with apprehension. The concern could easily have transitioned to violence. Every person working in the field carried a knife or club with them. All knew they owed Sid a debt of gratitude, but the presence of armed men riding past their houses or into their towns reminded them of the time when men with less honorable intentions had visited them.
Fred and Derek rode behind Sid and Gregor talking about the campaign from their individual perspectives. Derek said, "I'll be glad to get home and see my family. It's been three years since I've seen them."
Having lost his family when taken as a slave, Fred didn't have that potential for a happy ending to his tale. He said, "I'm happy for you."
"What will you do now that the war is over?"
Looking at Sid, Fred said, "My place is beside Sid."
"The Rider Clan is basically a nomadic group. Most of our lives are spent moving from one place to the next, but we do settle down now and then. We even have a citadel. Sid is an adventurer. He's never going to stop moving," Derek said looking over at Sid. The man looked as fresh as the day he had first met him. The time spent traveling and camping appeared to have no effect on Sid.
Fred asked, "What are you trying to tell me?"
"You're never going to be able to rest," Derek said shaking his head. He felt sorry for Fred and the future he faced.
Overhearing the conversation, Sid knew it was time to address the problem that had been bothering him since Fred had sworn service to him. That problem was what to do with Fred when he returned back to Crossroads. Fred would not be able to join him in the trip. Many restless nights had been spent trying to resolve that problem. It was time to see what Fred thought of his solution.
He dropped back and said, "Being my sworn man involves more than fetching things for me or preparing my meals. I can hire some attractive young woman to do that. Being my sworn man involves more than acting like a bodyguard. I can hire a dozen men to do that. Being my sworn man means that there is a sacred bond between us."
"It is a bond I would never break," Fred said nodding his head in agreement.
"That bond means that I can trust you to put my interests first," Sid said looking over at Fred.
"Of course," Fred said. As far as he was concerned, Sid was stating the obvious. If Sid were to become injured, then it was his duty to provide for Sid. It didn't matter if it meant that he had to take a job to earn money and hand over every dime to Sid. The oath he had given was binding.
"No amount of money can hire that," Sid said.
"That's true," Fred said wondering what point Sid was trying to make.
"I need you to watch over my interests," Sid said. He rode along for a moment and then said. "As Derek rightly pointed out, I'm an adventurer. You won't find me settling down."
"I'm prepared to follow you anywhere," Fred said.
"The fact that I won't settle down is a problem for me. How can I manage my properties when I'm not there? How can I collect money that is owed to me by renters when years pass between visits?" Sid asked.
Fred rode along thinking about the questions that Sid had asked. Frowning, he couldn't see a solution to Sid's problem. He said, "That is a difficult problem."
Nodding, Sid said, "It is a problem that has bothered me for a long time. I have given it a lot of thought, but I can only see one solution."
"What?" Fred asked thoughtfully.
"You must act for me when I am not around," Sid said.
"What? Fred asked shocked by the suggestion.
"Yes. I need you to take care of my interests when I'm not around," Sid said.
The suggestion that he would serve Sid by not attending to Sid directly bothered Fred, but not as much as he had thought it might. The level of trust that Sid would demonstrate by giving him responsibility for his interests was a compliment. It was an awesome responsibility; one that could seriously test his oath. He said, "I don't know what to say."
"Then say nothing for now. Think about it and we will talk about it later," Sid said feeling like the talk had gone quite well. Several more such discussions would allow him to leave Fred in charge of his properties without worry for either Fred or his properties.
"Yes, Sid," Fred replied.
Sid nudged his horse to catch up with Gregor and Alice. When he reached them, Gregor gave him a nod of approval in how he had handled the matter with Fred. Alice stared at Sid wondering how he had managed to get someone to swear service to him. Derek was watching Fred trying to judge the man's reaction. The only one who seemed himself was Sid.
Deciding that it would be fun to shake up Sid's complacence, Gregor said, "Now that the campaign is over, I guess it is time for you to start considering how you are going to rule your kingdom."
"My kingdom?"
"Yes, you are king of this area. What are your plans for a castle?"
"King? Castle?" Sid asked not having given it much thought. That he would be king had been mentioned, but he had not really thought about it. He had expected to slip away and allow things to return to normal, but that didn't seem to be possible.
Alice looked at Sid with huge eyes and, without saying a word, mouthed, "King?" She let out a small moan as an orgasm washed over her at the thought that her child was going to be fathered by a king. All of the men looked at her wondering if she was okay. The only one who realized what had caused the moan was Sid. She screamed, "You're a King?"
"I don't know," Sid answered.
"Of course you are. You have taken this territory through force of arms. You know the rules of warfare. This land becomes yours because you were the leader. This area has several citadels and towns that you have taken by force. It is up to you to decide who gets to run them unless the person already running it has sworn allegiance to you. If you grant someone ownership to the citadel or town, they become a Lord," Gregor said. The area controlled by the Rider Clan was basically considered a kingdom and the head of the Clan was the king, although they called him The Horseman.
"Uh, I don't really want to be a king," Sid said thinking that the whole purpose of the campaign was to rid the area of slavery, not to become king.
"You should have thought of that earlier," Gregor said with a grin.
Alice asked, "Why wouldn't you want to be king?"
"I'd rather be rescuing Damsels," Sid answered.