Herald of Steel

"Father! Let's hurry! I feel all the soldiers are giving us suspicious looks."

As Lord Nolan and Lord Cassius almost sprinted through the western part of the mansion, the father son duo tried to make ground as fast as possible, particularly as they suddenly began to feel the surroundings around them change.

They felt the gazes around them go from nonchalant to curious to downright wary as many pairs scanned and re scanned them, as if judging them.

They also could see new groups of soldiers hurriedly pouring out from the mansion, in wave but wave, rapidly shouting and pointing at the various people around them, after which everyone in the vicinity who was not one of the guards and dressed as such was herded inside without any explanation.

It did not matter if you were working, going somewhere, relaxing, or simply loitering.

Regardless of the reason you were there, all men and women were 'captured', prevented from leaving, and then asked to return to the mansion

This of course created a bit of a rift with some of the tired hard working men and women, who tried to argue,

"What is it now? It's nearly evening. I got to get this to Mister Lambert or he will have my head."

"That's right! Move. We got a job to do. The sun is already setting."

"I am just taking a walk! What is the problem?

"I have already finished my work! Why are you dragging me back?"

"I just want to return home. My wife is waiting for me to bring her supper. Let me go or my children will starve."

"I also have kids all alone in the house. My husband is head. So if I don't return by sundown, who will protect them? What if a slaver sets his eyes on them? Please let me go, good sir! Please!"

"Yeah, we are all tired. What does the lord want with us? He's already docked our food in half. Does he intend to dock half our pay as well?"

The guards gave that last man a particularly hard smack on the face for slandering their lord, while they actually let the lady who had made the penultimate request pass through after one of the officers took pity on her and decided to intervene.

The woman was one of the cooks this man knew and so he was fairly certain she was not the one his lord was hounding after.

She was too ugly to be a noblewoman and certainly not a man, as described in the wanted order by their lord.

The others however were not given even a cent's worth of such attention, and all the rebellious outbursts were heavily rebutted with flashes of the legionaries' swords, shoved back with the body of their spears and be told phrases like, 'Word from above', 'That's the lord's decision', and 'Go back! It is an order' as all of them were herded inside.

This type of rounding began to get bigger and bigger, until there were very few people left, the pair of escapees being one of them.

"What now, brat? Looks like they are onto us!"

And seeing all this 'evidence' around him, Lord Nolan of course had the nose to smell that they had been detected and were being hemmed in.

So, while hiding behind the safety of a large shed, he turned to ask his large son if he had any bright ideas.

That was a mistake, as Lord Cassius could only produce copious amounts of sweat from his body as a reply to the query.

He cursed the current predicament he was in.

He cursed the fact that things were not going according to plan.

But most of all, he cursed the fact that he had not left with the love of his life, but instead chosen to take this more dangerous route.

And wouldn't you know it, he was about to be caught for it.

The threat of that happening almost paralyzed the cowardly man.

The thought about how he would never be able to see Miss Linda's face, hear her smile, and touch and smell her soft, fragrant skin, made Lord Cassius suddenly feel his world go darker, as his heart started to beat faster, his back became wet and his hands went all clammy.

The man began to only see darkness in front of him, and never being a quick thinker, Lord Cassius only clenched his teeth to squeeze out,

"Let us stay here till the sun goes down. Then using the darkness we can try to make a break for it."

This was the best plan the fat man could come up with.

"Fool!" And like so many times before, it only got him a loud curse from his father as the reward, as the old man pointed his bony fingers towards the flabby face and menacingly whispered, "Think! Think 'you head eaten by a maggot' fool! There is a curfew at night. How will we explain ourselves at all those checkposts? And without any lamp or torch, how can we even go around them? Do you have any idea how many snakes, rats, and other things crawl around these places at night!"

"No! We cannot wait so long. We must move quickly. We must move now!" The ever fearful for his life Lord Nolan then began to shout to his son to start walking right now, wanting to get out of the trap as fast as they could, before it could close on them.

Like his son, the pressure of their imminent capture was starting to get to him.

And when pushed by his aggressive father, although Lord Cassius wanted to object, he ultimately could not say no.

And so decided to take the risk, leaving their shelter and trying to cover the remaining ground as fast as possible.

But apparently not fast enough.

Because wouldn't you know it, they were both caught not even five minutes after leaving their shelter.

Without a doubt, they would have been much better off staying hidden and bidding their time, just like Lord Cassius suggested.

It might have not been the most thought through plan, but it was certainly better than Lord Nolan's.

However, there was no pill for regrets, as while attempting to escape, a pair of regularly patrolling guards quickly noticed the two men.

To them it appeared that one very fat and very thin was swiftly moving across the field, looking almost like they were scampering, which immediately raised alarm bells.

"Halt! You two!"

"Hey! You two hard of hearing? He said halt! Where are you going you curs?"

Lord Cassius at first tried to ignore the two rapidly approaching men, trying to pretend as if he had heard them.

But that soon proved impossible, as the legionaries closed the distance far quicker than Lord Nolan would ever hope to walk, and so very quickly the two noblemen found themselves facing their greatest challenge yet.

Towards this, Lord Cassius initially tried to be brave and imperious, ballooning his eyes the moment the two of them approached, and turning his face red with rage to shout,

"Wha… what is the meaning of this? Do you know who I am? I… I'm Lord Cassius, consort of the head of this family, Lady Miranda, and your lord's closest ally. How dare you talk to me like this? Let me through now and I promise to forget this offense. Now move!"

Unfortunately for him, Lord Cassius was never the domineering type.

He had never spoken with a raised voice to anyone, and thus his first time shout sounded less like an order and more like a toddler threatening to have his father 'beat them up'.

It was filled with so many stammers, too much eye movement, and frankly too long.

A general's orders were sharp, crisp, and concise.

But here it almost sounded cute.

Not to mention, these were not even his men, but Alexander's legionaries.

If they were from his family's perhaps just the name of Lady Miranda might have inspired dread and apprehension in them.

But as foreigners, these men had almost zero concept of who was who here.

The name Lady Miranda might mean a lot to those who actually know her, but these grassroot grunts were utterly oblivious to the political dealings of the highers ups.

Thus towards this imperious shout, one of the guards only grinned and taunted,

"Heh! Fatso! Our lord ordered that nobody leave! Got it! Nobody. We don't care if you are Cassius or Massius. Honestly …. you Sybarians have the most foul names."

If Lord Cassius had the ability, even the temperate man would have skinned the man alive for calling his names as well as mocking his name, the name his father had given him.

But now, seeing the complete dismissal of his case, the introverted man found himself tongue tied.

While the other legionary, who was scanning the pair from a bit back, whispered suspiciously, "Hey! Aren't you too fat to be a servant? In fact, you very much look like the people we were sent looking for! A fat man… accompanying a thin, old man." As he said this while turning his head slowly from Lord Cassius to Lord Nolan, the certainty in his tone became firmer, and his eyes sharper.

And so did his partner.

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