Walker 02 Ch. 01

GO TO 12 MINS TO SKIP INTRO

The weeks had rolled by and the excitable fear of another attack simmered to a nervous angst. The weather had changed sympathetically, long low clouds of grey had swept over the forests and the hills and ruminated as a mist of sleet.

Word about the attacks had been sent down the Estwyn Castle and a letter soon arrived by a runner slave with news that the king had been slain on the field of battle. The Elderman had toured the town with the letter but Lumbertonians scoffed at the dead king and the legions of royal hangers on engaging in the subsequent war of succession. A cousin managed to fall from a belfry, another from the battlements, several of the landed gentry had been poisoned, ambushed by robbers on the roads or had simply been slain in their beds; one had burned to death in a barn as he put his slaves to bed. A royal consort and her entire brood had been found swimming in a pool of blood in her own bathtub. The letter greatly upset many in Lumberton as their own plight was mentioned almost as a post-script, some vague assurance that a small retinue of knights might be sent out to Lumberton, sometime in the winter, "should the conditions be favorable".

The implication was easily understood; help would come if the royal administrative staff managed to stave of the chaos of familicidal royal slaughter. 'They take our boys for the armies. What's the fakkin' use if they cain't protect us?'

None of the loggers or the business owners complained for too long or too loudly at the Elderman's new tax. And when Edwin and the remaining dozen guards collected the taxes in gold and slaves the grumbling was not too much for too long. All in all, several thousand silver had been collected and some loggers overpaid on the tax, wishing the captain luck. The unhappiness which persisted revolved around the necessity of Edwin insisting on training the thirty-six fittest and strongest slavejacks for war.

The novelty of seeing the Tigreni had worn off and Shuq, working with Tullius, the tavern keeper and host of the gambling bouts, had decided to condense the events to the weekends with a focus on more organized displays. Walker danced around weaker opponents, the crowd chanting how many hits he could land before the sand slipped through the glass. Sometimes he would face three opponents simultaneously. Sometimes, wagers were made up on the spot and curated by Shuq as Walker's representative. The flood of silver from the early bouts had become a trickle that they hoped could be saved by scarcity and showmanship. Walker bristled that he'd become a performer, but Cedric was a calming presence and reminded him that he had a home and expenses. The Tigreni had relented, not from some fear of poverty but under a sense of resignation to the situation he found himself in. So, he gamely complied with the week-end wagers as they came in.

Walker stood between Captain Edwin and the old guard Cedric, looking over the three dozen slavejacks, trembling in the icy moisture of a mid-week drizzle. The women stood in lines of six by six averting their eyes from Walker despite the opportunistic glances at the broadheaded catman, who scanned them with large golden irises.

'No.', Walker said walking towards the gate the traffic beyond.

'Hey now,', Cedric said from his right, 'we need you here.'

The tiger had begun to read humans better and he detected the obvious anger and disappointment in Edwin's voice, 'There's a weekly wage attached, thirty silver.'

He ignored the men and stopped only when Cedric grabbed him by the arm as he was about to leave through the gate. Walker turned and faced them, flashing his canines and ripping his arm away. 'Walker in Norrish lands, simple story; come, wager, fight, tell stories. Friendly catman reputation makes for easy travelling. This,', his eyes flashed at the women in the training yard, 'will kill me.'

'Oi,', Edwin had his arms folded, the grey tips of black eyebrows lowered, 'don't say we ain't treated you fair.'

'You have.', Walker responded. He continued, 'Lumberton trouble is politics. Norrish politics.', he pointed at his feet, 'I am here.', he raised his finger at some distant point into the town, 'Want Norrish politics there. Far away.'

'You ain't a matter to Norrish politics...', Edwin began but Walker cut him off.

'They kill each other for leadership in your capital. They hear story; Lumberton attack, unknown enemy of woman, man and beastfolkd. Tigreni is in story, they think I'm beastfolk. Walker wants small story, Norrish problems not my problems.'

Edwin scoffed, 'The elderman and I have vouched for you. You're perfectly safe.'

'Oh, aye? And when knights come, they find foreign beastman training human females. Training Norrish females for war! Already I hear anger at the fights for this plan. I want no part.'. Walker turned, intending to step into the traffic of log wagons and the women pulling them.

'Fifty silver a week.', Edwin called.

Walker ignored him.

Edwin looked to the dour faced Cedric then resolutely at the wide tiger back, 'You are conscripted!', he called.

Walker stopped, stood quietly for long moments then turned to Edwin, 'You must have paper, right? Show me paper.'

Edwin dug into his oiled coat and produced a scroll which he held out, forcing the Tigreni to come back. Walker took the scroll and unrolled it; it was indeed a conscription order from the Elderman's office; signatured and stamped. The tiger gripped the document in both hands and ripped it down the middle before lashing it into a puddle. He flashed his teeth then turned again.

Cedric jumped forward, 'Then you're under arrest.'.

The motion was so casual, so lackadaisical that it seemed strange to Edwin's eyes when Walker's left arm stretched across Cedric's chest, grabbing his shoulder and then sent him tumbling away to the mud. Edwin pulled his sword from its scabbard and faced the incensed Tigreni. 'Aren't we friends, Walker?', he entreated with a thinly veiled resentment. The tiger fell into a readied crouch, his head swaying side to side, his catlike eyes murderously intent and his manner strange beyond human experience. Edwin felt the certainty of his own death as a shuddering electricity in his chest. Swallowing the strangeness he pressed, 'Twelve guardsmen against a horde of maniacs, women and crazed beastfolk? If another attack comes, we'll be dead long before those knights come. Do you care so little that you'd murder us in this way?'

The muscle in Walker's neck heaved and his maw flew open. The deep growling roar echoed through the buildings and all the din and clatter of Lumberton melted instantly to silence. A wagon-puller, so startled that her feet slipped, caused a cascade as the women fell over one another and the wagon trundled to a stop. 'You threaten?', Walker asked, his voice dangerously calm.

'Hey,', Edwin's grip on his sword relaxed and he spread his arms, 'you fought for your people. This is my people, my home, my family. Don't you understand? Just train them.'

The tiger kicked the dirt, pacing between the road and the broad wooden gates. 'Fifty silver, a week.', he growled eventually, 'Cedric takes two thirds of my fighting tax, town get one third.'

Edwin sheathed his sword, nodding somberly, 'I could arrange that.'

Cedric picked at lumps of dirt in his boots, he looked up, 'Thankee, Walker.'

Walker looked past the Captain at the cold women, 'If they must be fighters, treat them like fighters. No abuse, no rape. Eat with guardsmen, sleep together, train together. Yes?

'Treatin' em like men is what's gonna be the problem.', Cedric stood straight now.

Edwin's eyes were fixed on Walker but he spoke to Cedric, 'No, it makes sense. We'll put them in the barracks with the men. There's thirteen barracks slaves for that kind of thing.'

'Need spears, axes, bows and shields. I hunt by nose, find best hunter to teach tracking.', Walker continued lowly, 'I come tomorrow. I go now.'

'Aye, we'll find a man.', Edwin replied, 'We got a bunch extra weapons on account of what we captured after the battle.'

When Walker was gone, Cedric turned to Edwin, 'Think this is a good idea, Captain?'

'It's what we got.', Edwin said, feeling suddenly relieved and guilty as he watched the Tigreni stalk off towards the market square, 'That's what I'll plead if the next king has me arrested.'

'We ought not have that kinda talk around Walker.', Cedric warned, 'Or anyone.'

'Aye. True.'