Birds die for food

The Strega Valleys

Far North Of Greenfields...

Along the Quilton-Algrim Border

.......

A convoy of carriages and steeds mounted by lightly armoured men rode among the trees via a dirt path in the direction headed towards Quilton.

Most of the convoys and groups that would use a dirt path such as this one to cross the Quilton-Algrim border were mostly either, small penny-pinching merchants who are trying to save cost by clustering together in large groups to travel under the protection of hired mercenaries or suspicious characters with ulterior motives like the numerous bandit groups prowling this region hunting for weak-looking prey.

Due to the close proximity of the Strega river to this dirt path, despite the road being fairly usable, it is most of the time overlooked when individuals decide to travel between the two kingdoms because travelling via the river is almost always faster, safer and more comfortable than going via the road.

And while the cost is inertly higher than travelling by road, the time saved and the safety assure all make that extra cost worthwhile. So unless for special reasons most would avoid going by road and take the river instead.

But this group was clearly very organized much unlike the usual rabble that originally used this route, in fact, the entire convoy looked well trained and disciplined which made them look more like real soldiers and knights in contrast with the more commonly encountered mercenaries that escorted sleazy merchants in the region.

'Given their disposition, it's highly unlikely that they couldn't afford the fee to go by sail so it had to be something else' The few merchant convoys they came across speculated discreetly but not without stopping respectfully and giving a wide berth for the menacing travellers to go by.

The truth was that they weren't avoiding the Strega due to lack of funds but be because they were afraid of something... or more specifically someone.

The convoy is exactly that group of deserters who under Sean's coercion robbed the treasury of the von Greifenberg household and fled Greenfields immediately after.

They had been persistently pushing on for several days now in a desperate bid to put up as much distance as they could between themselves and Redwater in case the Heras suddenly decide to get a share of the loot they snatched from Aden's treasury.

They were almost certain that they were in a very precarious situation. Out in the open with just slightly over a hundred men and the entire wealth Aden had amassed after being banished to the border wasn't the best of situations to be in.

As the saying goes a man becomes a sinner when he possesses that which he can't defend...

While a hundred men are enough to protect themselves from bandits and dissuade mercenaries from having perverse thoughts to their newly amassed wealth, it would take a lot more for them to prevent Gilbert from forcefully snatching everything away from them.

For this reason, they couldn't flee by sail because to reach the harbour they had to go pass Redwater which was like delivering themselves to the wolves den. So they unanimously decided to flee via this path while hoping that Lancelot's foolish resistance would be enough to buy them some more time to escape.

What they didn't know was that while Gilbert was indeed interested in the wealth they stole, he didn't have any major plans to snatch it for himself.

His plan was to make the most gains while keeping his losses to a bare minimum so going after them to steal the looted treasures wasn't the best of choices.

While he had enough men to overwhelm the fleeing nobles and claim the wealth for himself, he was certain of the fact that even a rabbit, when cornered with little hope of survival, would fight back viciously, talk less of prideful, well trained and armed knights.

The wealth could always be easily gained back but knights usually took years to groom, and while he could always take in freelancing knights it was horribly hard to secure their loyalty with just gold.

Gilbert should have been really proud of himself for having excellent foresight but his arrogance left a flaw in him for Levi and Lancelot to exploit leading to his eventual downfall.

Despite all this though, while the Heras weren't really chasing after the deserters, the fleeing nobles were unaware of that as they continued to flee for two more days before finally deciding to stop to take a break when they had ascertained that they were far enough to take a breather.

They quickly set up a camp to have some proper rest, to make do for the lack thereof.

. . . . .

Later that evening...

A tall brown-haired man in leather armour stood outside a somewhat large tent, standing seemingly unaware of the low thumping sounds and deep grunts echoing from within it. Faint fatigued moans lightly rang out intermittently for several minutes before ending in two almost synchronized sensual groans.

A few moments later a rather good looking servant girl with dishevelled brown hair, dressed rumpled clothing lifted the tent cover and shakily walked out, her face was reddened and beaded with respiration while her body carried a faint musky scent, tale-tale signs of what just transpired inside.

When she saw a person standing outside the blush on her tanned face deepened, although unnoticeable under the dim light of the campfire. She bowed her head a mumbled a greeting before hurriedly scuttling away from sight, all while being totally ignored by the brown-haired man from start to finish.

After waiting for a few more moments the young man called to the occupant of the tent in a low voice.

"Lord Sean, may I come in?"

"Oh... Drake, is that you? Come in..." A fatigued masculine voice replied from within.

The one referred to as Drake lifted the tent cover and crouched to walk into the tent when his nose was suddenly assaulted by the thick musky scent still lingering in the air. It smelled very similar to the scent wafting off the maid from earlier only more potent and probably even slightly repulsive.

Although the young knight was disgusted by the smell contaminating the air he hid his emotions well as his features only scrunched up a little for the briefest of moments before easing back to a neutral expression, all of which went completely unnoticed in the dimly lit tent.

"Pardon my intrusion, My lord, I have completed the task which you entrusted to me earlier," Drake said to the handsome bare-chested blond with goatee laying across from him.

Although he wasn't as handsome as his adoptive younger brother, the young blond had a wild unbridled charm of his own, one completely absent in Levi's previous disposition.

Sean von Greifenberg...

Aden first adopted son.

A youth with seemingly endless passion and ambition. His cold-blooded attitude towards enemies on the battlefield, stunning intelligence and persuasive charm was made him gain Aden's recognition and become his adopted son long before lord Aden had even wedded Lady Luna and had Levi.

Amongst the nobility he was renowned for his charm, a promising young man predicted to someday surpass Aden's many great achievements.

But this was also his biggest flaw. His unbridled nature, combined with his ruthlessness and his endless thirst for power turned him into a self-centred being existing only for himself.

A sly fox with an eye for gold and power, the ruthlessness of a vicious wolf and the misleading charm of a winter bunny.

This didn't go unnoticed though, but while Aden had tried several means to set him on the right path after noticing the bad traits, all seemingly was for nought.

Aden had unknowingly brought a snake into his home and cuddled it in his blossom, only to bite him when he least expected it...

"Hmm, So how was it?" the youth's interest was suddenly piqued at the report.

"Our intel was correct, the Bluemoon and Rapierhawk households seem to be conspiring against us. I believe they plan to make their move tomorrow after we finally cross the border into Quilton." Drake said sitting crossed leg on a small cushion across from Sean.

"Hmm..." Sean hummed lowly in deep thought as he ruminated on the events leading to this situation.

When they had been fleeing from a collective nemesis everyone had stuck together and avoided infighting, but...

Now that it could be almost certain that they were finally a safe distance away, they had started to turn their greedy eyes to each others' wealth.

It was clear that they never truly planned on letting each other off while being content with what they have. There is a popular saying even in Uodris that 'birds die for food whilst men die for gold', and looking at the current situation Sean was almost certain that a lot of people would be dying soon.

"How did the negotiations with Vilen household go?" He asked Drake.

A profound light flashed in the eyes of the brown-haired youth before he replied.

"They have agreed to render assistance but persisted on sharing the loot sixty-forty."

Normally to completely wipe out affiliated noble households of the size of Bluemoon and Rapierhawk only about a quarter of the troops from main households such as the von Greifenbergs was needed, but a huge chunk of the knightage was sent to Greystones to help defend the capital.

The number of the remaining knights dwindled even more after the raid on the treasury as many knights lost their lives in the chaotic scuffle at Greenfields causing the power of the main household to lessen a lot more.

And while the affiliated noble families also lost a couple of men those numbers couldn't hold a candle to the number of knights in Aden's former knightage who had to succumb to the embrace of death in just over a few weeks span.

The point is that while Sean still has enough men to wipe out the other two families, it would cost him the lives of even more men. It wasn't that he was concerned about the knight's well-being he was just worried about not having enough to guard and move such a large amount of treasures at the end of the battle.

So to deal with this predicament he had reached out to the third affiliate household- the Vilens to help bolster his forces and seize the wealth of the remaining two while he simultaneously thought of a way to get the 'burdensome' wealth of the Vilens off their hands as well.

"Never mind that, as long as they agreed to cooperate there are no problems then, besides everything they have swallowed up they would soon have to cough it all out when I'm done with these troublesome fellows."

They plotted their next plans for a few more minutes before Drake left the tent for his own and allowed Sean to get his much-needed rest.

But Just as he was about to enter his resting place, Drake stopped with clenched fists as he glanced back one last time to where Sean's tent laid...

Under that dim moonlit night a cruel hateful light flashed in the depths of his amber eyes...