A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

For someone else to acknowledge it as difficult, with that much emotion, it pulled the rug out from under everything that Oliver was. His strength was built on a lie to himself – that he could do more, that he could withstand more.

For someone – a woman especially, one that he was so close to – to wield such a line, more effective than even the deadliest of spears, it pierced his heart straight through.

The tears came unbidden. The dam fully broken. All that he'd neglected to fully consider poured forth at once, as Nila tightened her grip on him, and he on her. Greeves glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, his own tears flowing. Judas sniffled, trying to clear up the two streams that ran from his eyes.

Everyone that they'd lost. Dominus, whom Oliver hadn't properly mourned, who had given him so much. A death that Oliver had taken in his stride, as though it was completely natural. He'd thrown himself forward, unwavering. Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire

"Loriel…" Greeves murmured quietly to himself, clenching his fist.

That was another name that he hadn't properly thought of. That beautiful woman, caged by her position in her world. Her eyes that saw light in him, before anyone else. Her heart that ached for so many people. And then, in the end, those hands that had killed for those same people. That body that had given everything she had for those people.

It was Oliver's true family as well, whom he'd grieved his fair share for. But no matter how much he grieved them, it would never be enough. It was a wound that constantly bled, filling a bowl that would always need to be emptied.

The dam of it all well and truly burst. The illusion of strength shattering with it. Oliver was a man that could now make hundreds of men now quiver. Yet, he too was brought low by their bond.

Nila cried herself out first. Hers were tears of happiness. After a while, she raised her head from his chest to look up at him, with a rueful grin. "Ha, stupid – you're crying," she said, her eyes teasing.

"I am…" Oliver said, trying to wipe his tears, but they simply didn't seem to want to stop. Eyes that held so many colours at different times were now their usual grey, shining from the sheen of tears reflecting the firelight, rather than from the golden flecks that demanded the kneeling of an enemy.

"Good," she said, gently wiping his cheek with a tender hand. "You've held it in for too long, no doubt, knowing you. I bet you're involved in all sorts of madness, now that you've entered into the noble world."

"If only you knew…" Oliver said, smiling despite the tears. In hindsight, his problems with the nobility were of the most ridiculous sort. Granted, they were life-threatening enough to have him put on trial and come within a single vote of losing his head, but when compared to life in a village, all that he'd left behind, they seemed like conflict without reason.

"You'll tell me," Nila said, wiping his other eye. "You'll tell all of us. Much has happened, but you're finally home again. There's lots that we need to discuss."@@novelbin@@

"From the look of things, you three have been busy," Oliver said, sniffing back the last of his tears, and straightening his back. Still, he didn't push Nila away. It felt good to have something so warm and so familiar near him. There was a safety to Nila that his fragile heart temporarily found solace in.

"We have," Greeves said, hardening his own voice. "That little girl there has been the busiest of all of us, I'd say. And she's become a right pain in the arse as a result."

Nila stuck her tongue out at him, seeming not at all fearful of the merchant's wrath.

"Fuckin' typical isn't it? After all I've built up, I get overrun by not one, but two children. It's enough to make a man go mad," Greeves spat, though he didn't look nearly as angry as he let on.

"She's done well for herself, lad," Greeves put in, more seriously. "Felder's Game is what she's calling it. A hunting company. Never seen anything with coin grow that fast in all my life."

Nila shrugged, feigning humbleness, though she couldn't hide her proud smile. "It was only a matter of time, after all. As long as there are things to hunt, then I'll find them and I'll hunt them. Besides, I had a bit of an advantage.

Greeves introduced me to some of his merchant friends, so I have trade routes going all the way to Ernest – they're far more willing to pay good coin than the villagers."

"Something you pressured me into, you little shit," Greeves said. "You were about as irritating as a rat infestation for about a week. You practically forced it on me, using the boy over there as a shield, no doubt."

"I didn't!" Nila protested hotly. "I wouldn't do that. That would be far too shameful."

"Not in words you didn't, but with yer confidence. You knew I wouldn't do nothin' to you, because ol' Beam would come swinging and take my head," Greeves said.

"Or maybe you just wouldn't harm a girl in general…" Nila tried, but from Greeves' raised eyebrow, they both knew that wasn't true.

"Already going as far as Ernest?" Oliver said, impressed by the thought. Ernest was still a respectable distance away from Solgrim, even if they were under the same banner. "You've done well. Your mother must be pleased."

"She is," Nila said, smiling. "Not as pleased as me, though. She was worried about me for the longest time, because I hated weaving and the like… But now here I am! I'm not useless!"

Oliver had to laugh at how much of an understatement that was. "No, certainly not useless," he agreed. "Seeing the noble kids at the Academy practising their archery – you'll be pleased to know that there's still not a single one there that could match you. Apart from the Professor, of course."