A cry to the side turned the attention of all three toward a woman, running and screaming for her husband. She almost got to the flat rock off to the side of the wall where the dead were being piled before a pair of Kingsmen intercepted her, one shoving her hard to the ground and ordering her away.
Stimson realized that his task concerning Coiyusade would be much more difficult if such actions became common. He looked to Earl DePaunch, expecting a scolding of the soldier, who continued his harsh treatment of the woman, even kicking her a couple of times.
But Earl DePaunch just laughed again, and Giulio Jannet joined him.
Chapter 24 Making a Man of Him
On a cold and snowy winter's day, when folk this far out in the Wilderlands to the west were usually huddled before the hearth, families and friends close together to share body heat, all of the citizens of Festertool were outside, lining the main cart road through the small and remote village. They waved red kerchiefs and jumped up and down, cheering for their young king - this man, Aydrian, who had once lived in this town, and who had served all the region as Tai'Maqwilloq, the Ranger of Festertool.
Sadye hardly paid the jumping and shouting townsfolk any heed as she rode beside Aydrian, surrounded by the guarding cavalry of the few Allheart Knights who had accompanied them out from Palmaris. A score of Kingsmen had gone into the village before the main parade, ensuring Aydrian's safety. The rest of the troop, more than three hundred strong, marched behind Aydrian's group, with drumbeats cutting through the dull and snowy winter air.
And Aydrian was soaking it all in, beaming more proudly than Sadye had ever before seen him. They had come through several towns before this, of course, and with similar fanfare, but this one was different, Sadye recognized. This town had been Aydrian's first real experience with a human community after his escape from the Touel'alfar. In this town, he had learned how to speak the language of Honce-the-Bear, and had learned the other manners, subtle and not-so, of human interaction. In this town, Aydrian had risen from wayward boy to hero in a short period of time, and now he was returning, the ultimate conquering hero.
He seemed a beautiful person to Sadye in that moment, his face aglow with the cold and the pride, rosy cheeks and bright red lips accentuating those marvelous blue eyes of his. He wore no helm and had pushed the hood of his heavy cloak back off his head so that his golden hair, all tousled and unkempt, was shining above him with an almost supernatural glow.
Everything about Aydrian seemed larger than life to Sadye at that moment.
Truly he was the king here, in every aspect of the word, and just being beside him sent a shiver coursing along her spine.
She was still staring at him when they reached the end of the lane, and Aydrian dismounted to stand before the town elders. He paused and glanced all around, surveying the group, and Sadye could tell by his movements and the sparkle in his eyes that he recognized more than a few.
"Hey, boy, are ye still needin' old Rumpar's sword?" one old man cried, and those around him laughed and tittered.
Until Aydrian fixed them with a warning glare.
Slowly, very slowly, Aydrian drew Tempest from its sheath on his hip, sliding the blade out into the air before him and lifting it high. That alone brought many gasps, and those only multiplied a moment later, when the brilliant blade erupted into leaping flames.
To his credit, Aydrian chose not to respond any more than that, and he promptly let go of the magical fires and slid the sword away.
"Good people of Festertool," he began, turning as he spoke to take them all in, "you knew me as your ranger, defending your boundaries from highwaymen and monsters alike. And now I have returned to you as your king."
A great cheer began somewhere to the side, and rolled along the line of townsfolk, growing with each passing second. No doubt, the Kingsmen standing among the crowd were urging them, Sadye knew, but in truth, it didn't seem to her as if many needed that prompt. Their cheers seemed genuine, the hopes of a nondescript and usually ignored little town who saw one of their own step forward to the highest glory in all the world.