Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 15.3: Distant Dreamers

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ILIAS VAN PAYNE

The next day while we were going around town asking for jobs and being rejected repeatedly, there was a commotion down a nearby street. Personally, I didn't care much for it and wanted to continue looking for jobs, but Jaime was nosy enough to pull me away to see what was happening.

The commotion involved three farmers and a dwarf warrior who was obviously a leader of a mercenary company. The dwarf warrior's men were nearby, watching everything unfold.

"Please, Sir," one of the farmers got on his knees. "Bandits are going to attack our village and the brigadier can't spare soldiers to protect us. We don't have much to offer, but as long as you stay with us, you can eat your share."

Why are they asking for help from a mercenary company? If food is all they can offer, they'll run out if they hire a band of mercenaries consisting of what looks to be eighty men. These farmers should be asking for help from a couple of strong warriors.

In their situation, less is more.

"Don't be a fool," the dwarf laughed. "If someone were to hire us, they'd give us food and pay us a handsome reward."

Defeated, the farmers then went off looking for other warriors. We followed suit.

"I thought we're supposed to be looking for jobs today?" Jaime questioned. "Why are we following them still? I was just curious as to what the commotion was."

"They're looking for people that can protect their village. That's a job."

"Didn't you hear them? They offer no reward but food."

"I heard them. Food and shelter are the biggest factors chipping away at our expenses. If we join them, we'll get a place to stay and food to eat until the bandits attack."

"But they said they offer no reward. We need money to pay for our fare, don't we?"

"Like I said—I heard them. Bandits raid settlements for riches and food and they bring everything they have with them. Once the bandits are defeated, we can negotiate for their things."

"That's smart. It's like the gods answered our prayers." Jaime grabbed my hand and marched towards the farmers. "Let's go introduce ourselves."

I pulled away. "No, not now. They'll think we're just trying to prank them and they won't even give us the attention to show our skills."

"So?"

"So, we'll watch them keep getting rejected and rejected. Once all hope is lost for them, we show up to offer help. It'll be the end of the day by then and at that point, they have no time to lose, so they'll be more willing to see what we can do."

Jaime understood everything. "And we'll blow them away with our skill."

"Exactly," I said as we high-fived each other.

Just then, a group of people gathered around an open part of the street. We followed the flow, but even if we didn't want to, we would've been dragged to it by the crowd.

Since Jaime and I were small, we pushed ahead of everyone to get to the front. The farmers we'd been stalking were right beside us.

A drunk man held a little boy hostage with a knife pressed against his throat. The town guards surrounded them.

"Hey, what happened?" Jaime asked one of the farmers.

The youngest one with a bow answered. "The soldiers were going to arrest the drunkard for being disruptive and he got into a fight with them. He ran away, got cornered, and took the boy hostage."