31 Reinforcements

"Blake, one of the men of the band the Magnar brought in, wants to leave the tribe."

"Oh, the one who always curses, perhaps?"

"Yes, he's at the east gate."

"Well, come on."

Blake was in his workshop, carving a large toy of a wooden horse with wheels on the legs, where young lords could sit and ride, he thought it would be a toy that could sell dearly, and he was spending some of his time to make it look as good as possible.

It was not unusual for Free folk to want to leave the tribe.

Oswin had brought in several small settlements, loners, dying and even raiding gangs in the last few years.

Against the settlements he came with promises, promised women to the lonely, gave food to the starving, and showed off his strength and wealth to the raiding bands. Oswin was a man of great charisma, he got the men to follow him, but they had to follow the rules of the tribe after joining, otherwise, they were thrown out or killed.

And those members of the tribe who did not want to follow the rules, and knew what happened to those who broke them, preferred to leave while Oswin was not present.

Blake walked to the east gate of the tribe, there he saw a man carrying a bag, spear, and bow, while dragging a woman by the arm.

"Oswin told us we could leave any time we wanted, so let me through right now!"

"I don't want to leave!"

The woman yelled.

"I took you before I entered the tribe, you are mine and you will go with me!"

The warriors gave a lazy look without turning away from the entrance, if the man had tried to attack them they had orders to kill him, so they just waited for the first move.

"Yes, everyone who entered the tribe has the option to leave any time they want, but that woman doesn't want to leave with you, so you don't have the right to snatch her from the tribe."

Blake walked until he was a couple of feet away from the man, signaling to a guard who removed the man's hand from the woman, pushing her away.

"She's my woman, she's mine to do with as I please!"

The man, angry, shouted at Blake. Rattling his bracelets and bone necklaces, Blake was sure that several of those bones were human.

"No, all who enter the tribe become part of the tribe, and no one can decide on the life of another, neither men, women, nor children. The only one with this right is the Magnar."

Blake folded his arms, bored, as this had happened on numerous occasions.

"Keep her then, her vagina has served me for years, and it's already flaccid and unable to squeeze after having a couple of brats, I'll go and get a new one. You, who do not follow the traditions of Free folk, are doomed!"

Red with rage, the man turned again towards the door after shouting at the top of his lungs, attracting the attention of many members of the tribe.

Blake frowned, he didn't like vulgarities, neither in this life nor the previous one. He had had a good social standing before he died, so he couldn't help it.

"Clank, clank!"

The warriors at the entrance closed in on the man again, preventing him from leaving.

"There's one thing you forget, those who leave, must leave everything the tribe has provided for them."

Blake looked at the man in detail for the first time. He had short black hair, with a thin, untidy beard, his height hovered around 5'7", and most importantly, on his body, he wore full regalia, complete with cloak, hat, scarf, boots, and glove, plus a bag that Blake wasn't sure what he had inside.

"Leave behind the scarf, cloak, hat, and gloves. I will allow you to keep the robes and boots since the ragged furs you brought were already worked, you may also keep the spear, but that purse also leaves behind."

The man turned even redder from anger after hearing Blake's last words.

Several of the tribesmen had moved closer, looking at them.

The man seemed to get an idea and began shouting as the crowd was forming.

"Look everyone, that's what he wants, to take our belongings and thus force us to be held captive, like slaves, working for a Magnar who doesn't keep his word and a cursed child who was touched by the others!"

The man became excited as he watched the people continue to pile up at the east entrance, continuing his talk.

"And how to trust these traitors who allied themselves and bring into their homes the black crows, who have killed hundreds of our brothers, sons, and fathers. They tame us to become slaves, they won't let us look for women, they won't let us loot on the other side of the wall and they won't let us kill black crows. This place is a trap!"

The clansmen continued to stare at him, but the man quickly noticed that something was wrong, no one was joining in his words and no one was giving him the slightest sign of support. They just stood there, staring at him without moving.

"Are you done?"

Blake almost laughed at the savage's stupid attempt to start a rebellion.

Most of these people came from settlements where they led a miserable life where their children died, they had nothing to eat and nothing to wear, and every day was a constant struggle for survival. Yes, they were free but free at what price? Was it worth keeping that freedom when any day could be their last?

The people who usually felt disgruntled in the tribe were those who lived their lives as bandits and raiders. Who raided both villages south of the wall and Free folk settlements, people who had tasted blood so many times that any protocol made them angry.

Blake snapped his fingers and spoke to the warriors guarding the east gate.

"Take away his belongings, just leave his clothes, boots, and spear."

"Bang!"

The man was taken down in an instant as the tribal warriors followed Blake's orders.

"Damn demon, I'll get revenge for this, I swear, I'll drink wine in your skull!"

Blake glared at the man, who squirmed to free himself from the hands of the tribal warriors, speaking to him one last time.

"When the Magnar brought you to the tribe, your party consisted of 23 people, 18 men, and 5 women. But now you are leaving alone, none of those who accompanied you are willing to go with you. And remember, the black axe tribe will keep their promise, no one will do anything to you as you leave, but go far away and never come back. You conspire like the Southerners you despise so much, from now on you are an enemy of the tribe, and if you enter our territory you will die."

Blake turned to go back to the shop and he saw the man stand up, giving him no more of his attention.

"Blake watch out!"

"Crack!"

Blake heard a child's warning and turned again to see what had happened.

An arrow flew striking the man's heart, leaving him frozen for a few moments in a position where he was trying to attack him from behind with his spear. Blake noticed that it was a warrior who shot the arrow, who was watching the man from the wall at all times.

"Stupid."

Blake watched him slump and the word came out of his mouth.

It was stupid to leave the tribe, let alone try to attack him when they were surrounded by tribal warriors.

Blake was sure he had given them a better life than most cities south of the wall gave their citizens.

"Take off his robes before they get any more blood on them, and take care of the body."

Blake took the bag the man was carrying, opening it to see what was inside. There was meat, cheese, three onions, and two Wineskin, clearly stolen from the kitchen. The man had long been planning his departure from the tribe.

"Go back to your cabin with your children, tomorrow I will visit you to find you a new husband."

Blake tossed the bag of food to the woman as he spoke. He didn't care about these stolen goods, he had to improve security to prevent thefts from happening again, this could be taken as an apology from him to the man's children for murdering their father.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"

The woman bowed, thanking him repeatedly.

Blake, thinking he was finally free to continue working in his workshop, began walking to the center of the tribe.

"A messenger has arrived from the outpost fortress!!!"

Blake and several people remaining in the vicinity heard the shout as a warrior ran towards Blake at full speed.

"What was the message!"

Blake walked towards the warrior, whose eyes showed excitement as he spoke.

"The Ice-river clans attacked the outpost fortress four days ago, and they are calling for reinforcements!"

Blake's eyes widened at the news, for the attack had happened much sooner than he thought.

"Have Cam and Wymond immediately organize 3 fully armed teams that can run the phalanxes, we will leave in 2 hours!"

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Autor: uff, since I got home my internet service was down, so I had to write everything on my phone, there must have been a couple of things wrong, but at least I got it up to date.