The Progenitors

Chapter 6

"To protect these resources, the law I propose would set forth a hunting season - a season where those animals can be hunted - and all other times of the year the creatures would be safe. The law would also prohibit any destructive practices regarding honey gathering, so that the hives around our town may continue to be productive and healthy." Mordecai finished his admirably short speech with a look of pride - and was met by complete silence by the audience. The first person to break that silence was one of the popular bullies of the world; Hallen had no trouble discerning that he brought down those around him for enjoyment, feeling safe in the company of people who idolized him. Most of his followers came from the mob of people that were frightened of him - it was best to be on his good side, after all.

"Wilhelm's survived without a single law for a thousand years - and some upstart like you's going to change all that? It's worked fine for our fathers, our fathers' father's, and all of our ancestors in between, after, and around'em! Why'd we mess up such a system for you? The idiot heir to Dule; Mordecai the Just! We don't need justice, power's done just fine by me! The strong take from the weak - that's the way it should be. Messin' with the natural order of things just to suit yourself and weaken the rest of us may be fine with all of you, but I won't stand for it. The people of Wilhelm probably won't stand for it either - they said as much a few days ago. Quit trying to be an 'honorable and just lord' and leave town if you know what's good for you!" Mordecai's face had pretty much lost all of it's color, and proceeded to lose what remained under the barrage of boos and general hatred that emanated from the mob of noblemen below.

"I agree," added Lord Dule himself, "that my son has some odd notions. That, however, is no cause for the disrespect you're showing this night; if you refuse to act as a noblemen should, you'll be removed from Wilhelm forcibly as is your due." He turned back to the table and growled quietly, "And now Mordecai, if you would just drop this scatterbrained notion of yours. Laws? Honestly - I've heard peasants come up with better ideas!"

As the gathered nobles dispersed and the last of the festivities ended, Hallen bee-lined straight for his quarters. The sooner he got to bed, the sooner he would stop thinking of all the things that were guaranteed to happen to him tomorrow. While he felt mildly sorry for Mordecai, as he shared roughly the same world-view, he wasn't nearly sorry enough to want to help the man. Anything that Mordecai needed he would have to do himself.

The hallways in the wast wing of the palace (for that was essentially what the keep was) were largely vacant, and walking alone through hallway after hallway was a fairly creepy affair. The echos of his boots on the flagstone carried back hundreds of feet behind and in front of him - creating the errie sensation that he was walking in front of duplicates of himself. He stopped for a moment to dispel the odd imagery.

And the boot-steps behind him continued for another few seconds.

Hallen didn't want to look over his shoulder at the moment. Logically, that was the thing to do right now - but who really needed logic? Maybe if he pretended he didn't hear the oddity, the people following behind him would cease their existence to fit his worldview.

Then again, he thought as he heard the rasping of steel, the chances of that were small. Nobles were much too stubborn to fade away at a peasants insistence. Rather than fighting however many men were following him, Hallen decided that running was probably the best option - fighting with a few small knives like the ones he carried on his belt was always a bad idea when your opponent had anything bigger. Nobles generally carried long-swords for dueling purposes, so he expected that was the noise that he heard. Why exactly he was being chased was beyond him, though. He was just a peasant! By the 7 Gods of War, why was he even worth killing?

He was sure it wasn't the money, he thought to himself as he fled for his life, as the money truly wasn't all that much to a nobleman of any stature. What else had happened to him then, that prompted such a reaction? The only thing he could think of was...

"Mordecai you cursed, pathetic, idiotic excuse for a human being!" This was all Mordecai's fault - the situation seemed like the sort of mess that the nobleman would get into. Which meant by saving Mordecai, Hallen had just made a very likely lethal mistake by inserting himself in something much to large for him.

That also explained the reward - it was a punishment for saving Lord Dule's son. By the gods, even the man's father wanted Mordecai bumped off? What was the man doing to rile everyone up this much? Even all the talk about laws he had been spouting at the feast wasn't enough to excuse such a breach in tact from the other nobles - there was still something he was missing. Hallen ducked and dodged down a side corridor with another growl of frustration as a throwing knife hit the wall behind him.

The ignorant always died - that fool Mordecai was getting a knife in the back, if the job wasn't done already when Hallen got there!

He wasn't all that far from his chambers, however, so he put out the last of his energy in one explosive sprint to the door. Hoping that it wasn't locked - the time required to open it would be his undoing - he tried the handle, then stumbled into the room and slammed the door behind him.

He then fumbled with the lock, and in a wonder of logic and survival instinct, locked himself in a tiny room with no visible way out.