Chapter 50: Chapter 49: Of Marches and Payment

One, two, three, four, the synchronized steps of the poor bastards marching under the rain made an echo on the dark roads. Even with a storm shaking it all, Lucrece could still perfectly distinguish the march of the four guards protecting the cart she was sleeping in. Sure, it was uncomfortable with all twelve people lumped together in the humid, dripping wooden box, but it certainly beats having to walk all the way from Pornic to Caen! And to Lucrece, the luxury of a guard certainly helped to rest her head.

 

She had been one of those poor bastards in the past, guarding caravans was a very profitable job and, if you were lucky, you usually had to do very little besides walking and looking big beside the cart. Not that she could look the part very well: at her sixteen years of age, Lucrece remained a dark-skinned, blonde and lanky girl! Her tendency to eat just the very necessary to keep herself walking didn’t help at all… but the scar of her empty left eye socket certainly helped give her a more intimidating poise.

 

Honestly, keeping that scar very visible was incredibly useful to keep most folk away and clients interested. It gave her an air of experience, of survivability and professionalism when it came to mercenary work. And since leaving her last company, she needed that more than ever.

 

“Hurts like hell in the cold though”, she thought, letting out a soft grumble while shifting in place. “Maybe I should consider investing in an eyepatch…”

 

Lucrece gave the idea a nice thought before shaking her head, soon deciding that an eyepatch would be too expensive for what it would be worth; this was her opinion of most things, to be honest. She cut costs in everything that wasn’t crucial, from food to clothes, her most expensive possessions being her trusty halberd and the feathered hat she wore everywhere, sun or not.

 

“I spent way too much on it and I am using it until it breaks.” She often reminded herself, nodding at a mirror. “It’s not a waste if I use it!”

 

Coin had a very special spot in Lucrece’s heart, it was the motivator to many if not all her decisions, including this very trip! Caen had one of the few reliable bank services in all of Normadia, and Lucrece only visited when her purse grew too big to carry in the open. The girl smirked, her hand sliding under her brigandine to feel the heavy sack of Empires cozily hidden hear her chest, just waiting to be deposited.

 

“With this I should be around six hundred.” She thought, always keeping good tabs on her savings. “That’s six hundred closer to a state…”

 

The blonde’s smile only grew wider and wider, until suddenly the cart stopped all motion. People were jerked awake by inertia, looking around in bewilderment while they could hear mumbles coming from outside. Someone had seen something, a shadow in the rain? Lucrece immediately took her hand off the sack and pretended to sleep, closing her eye and trying to pay closer attention. She cursed under her breath, already missing her halberd, but it was standard practice to take any weapons carried by the civilians and set them with the luggage.

 

“Bastards better not lose it…”

 

People kept quiet, ears open and ready, listening to how all the guards walked over to a side of the cart, rain clanking softly against their heavy armour. Silence…

 

Lucrece was already thinking of the quickest way to get to her halberd, meditating on how long would it take for her to climb up the cart and find it among the trash the other passengers had brought. Maybe it would be a great chance to “accidentally” find some extra coin here and there! This didn’t have to be so bad, right?

 

She needed to keep her mind positive, and think of every crisis as a new opportunity. It didn’t matter if they were attacked or mugged, as long as she could get to her weapon Lucrece was confident she could turn the situation around.

 

But what if she couldn’t?

 

Doubt crept into her mind, naturally. What if they were too many for her to fend off, what if her halberd was buried under way too much luggage, or worse, already in the hands of an enemy?

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What if the assailants weren’t even human? 

 

Lucrece gulped. That was always a possibility these days, it wasn’t a secret that bog walkers and other undesirable beasts had been roaming the forest since the disappearance of the Demihumans, and those things were tough. Fear started taking over, negative and catastrophic thoughts pushing their way deeper into Lucrece’s mind.

 

“Too many chances, saints damn it…”

 

Maybe it would be best to run, she thought. There was no need to be a hero anyways, and they couldn’t be that far from Caen! Maybe she could just take her things and run as far and fast as she could, reach the city on foot… After all, in this world it was everyone for themselves, no? Why even try to waste time defending the cart if she wasn’t even being paid for it?

 

“I can’t get myself killed, not when I am finally getting close…!”

 

A state, it was simple like that. Just getting herself a state, preferably with people to work it with. Once she secured herself economically she wouldn’t need to worry about a thing anymore, everything would finally be fine. No more hard work, no more fighting for survival, no more fear of being backstabbed every night. 

 

She didn’t need to be opulent or incredibly rich (even though that thought wasn’t objectionable at all), Lucrece simply wanted enough wealth to separate herself forever from the life of a peasant, leaving all that risk behind and never looking back. Just like Father would have wanted…

 

Of course, all this was harder to achieve if she was dead.

 

“I am not falling here, this is probably just paranoia.” The girl repeated to herself, hands balled with tension. “The cart will start moving again in no time, Caen can’t be that far away anyways right? How long have I been sitting again?”

 

Lucrece moved slightly, feeling her body ache from a long period of uncomfortable inactivity. She didn’t remember how long ago she had boarded the cart, or for how long they had been traveling through the woods, but it had to be a long time right!?

 

There was a shake, the sounds of horses being whipped, and then relief for every single passenger. Eventually, the cart started moving again. Lucrece sighed, closing her eye again and finally relaxing as the guard returned to their rhythmic marching… Good, good. Nothing to worry about at all, she was simply overreacting! There was nothing to fear, plans were still in motion and the winds of Destiny still blew favorably. 

 

She just needed to reach Caen and everything would be fine. Nothing could stop her.

 

Not even the sudden screams coming from outside…

 

And with this, we have officially entered Volume 2.

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