A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 714 The Use of a Village - Part 3

Oliver noted the bundle that he held under his arm, and pointed at it. Judas pulled a face, as if he'd just remembered that he was holding the bundle at all. "Oh! This! Felly made it for you, for breakfast, she said, when she heard you hadn't brought any retainers with you."

"Breakfast? That's thoughtful of her. It sounds like you've netted yourself a good woman, somehow, Judas," Oliver said, taking the bundle off him. "Are you coming in? It's still cold out here."

He could feel the eyes of the villagers on him, as they looked over from their places in the market. Before he turned to go back inside, he spared them a warm smile and a wave. Their nervousness dissipated immediately after that.

The mood from the previous evening had mellowed somewhat, and it seemed to be awkwardness that replaced it, as it firmly hit home just who Beam had become, and how differently they were meant to interact with him. A mere smile and a wave went a long way to easing those concerns, especially for villagers that knew not to even look in a noble's direction in the past.

Judas followed after him. "You're good at this," he noted, as they entered into the passageway. "You're complimenting me on Felly – and believe me, I'm just as surprised as you – but it seems to me you've done a good deal more with people than I have."

"It was only a wave, Judas," Oliver said. "You may as well leave that door open for Greeves, and whoever else might wander in."@@@@

"See. Even that is strange. What kind of noble leaves his door open invitingly? Ferdinand never would. When he visits, he's surrounded by guards. You hardly catch sight of him unless you've got a meeting," Judas said, joining Oliver by the sofas where they'd sat the evening before.

"Your way is better, I think. Friendlier. But somehow you still seem like a noble doing it. How the fuck's that happened. Ah, shit. I shouldn't speak like that... I need to be careful, more polite." Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

"If you're being careful, then save that energy for making sure there's no one around to overhear you," Oliver said. "Otherwise, I'd prefer you to speak how you normally do. It's good for me to hear what you think – what you really think, rather than what you think you should be saying to a noble. Who else would there be to tell me what you've just told me before?"

"No, I meant..." He stopped himself midsentence, when he saw the threatening look on Nila's face. "Ah, yeah, you're right. I was a bit embarrassing yesterday. I think a man ought to be honest about that sort of thing. Embarrassing though it was, I ain't regret it. When else is a man meant to cry?"

"True," Nila agreed. "Men tend to hold it in more than they should. You don't even cry in battle. That being said... It was embarrassing. You should be ashamed."

Judas grimaced, holding back a shred of good-natured anger. Just that brief interaction was enough to tell Oliver how their relationship had changed since he'd been away. It made him feel a little lonely to realize that he'd missed out on that, being away as he was. But in the same moment, he admonished himself, knowing that he was being greedy, expecting the world to stand still as he was away.

One had to make sacrifices, after all.

"Oh? What's that?" NIla said, pointing to the package on the table.

"A gift from Judas' husband, I think," Oliver said.

"Husband!?" Judas said, overheating at the jab coming from an unexpected angle.

Nila giggled. "I've heard he's a good cook."

"You two..."

"Ah, there we go, the fire's lit," Oliver said, finally coaxing a bit of life out of the embers. They hadn't been well covered by the ash, and were weaker than he would have liked. It took a fair bit of effort to get the bundle of kindling to catch.