A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

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?"

"I don't know. Nila? She'd say it better. Besides, what's even the worth in saying it? It's just me making comments. I'm sure when the Boss hears me, he'll call me an idiot for saying it," Judas said, somewhat bashfully.

"No, they're useful alright. I don't have a clue what I'm doing, Judas. If I'm behaving off enough that even you notice it, then maybe I should change how I carry myself. I'm a peasant – you know that as well as I do. I should be acting more to fit in, rather than stand out.

There's enough of that already," Oliver told him, as he exposed the embers of last night's fire with a poker, and set about rekindling it.

"Don't you want to just relax, though? I mean… I would. In your position, I mean. I think it's harder to do what you're doing. It'd be easier to sit down and cross yer legs, telling everyone to fetch shit for you. You could be ordering me to make that fire, and damn it I should be, but you're doing it without a second thought, and without criticising me either," Judas said.

"You're being awfully open this morning, old friend," Oliver pointed out with a smile.

"We were being just as open last night, weren't we, as embarrassing as that was… The Boss reckons that the Nila girl ain't even going to want to show her face today. She's usually as fearsome as an angry cat around that marketplace. The only time you see a hint of softness from her is when she's with her family. She'll be embarrassed that the lot of us saw it from her," Judas said.

"Who would?"

Oliver smiled. He'd sensed her approach through Ingolsol, but hadn't turned from the fire in order to confirm it. He felt somewhat bad at Judas' ill-timing. It was Judas himself who'd brought up that topic of conversation, after all. He couldn't likely have timed it worse.

"You're joking…" Judas groaned, turning to face her. "Damn it… Morning, girl."

"Morning," Nila said, her cheeks a light red. It could have either been from the cold morning air, or from what Judas had said, but Oliver wasn't in a position to ask which. "What were you saying about being embarrassing? You meant you, didn't you?"

"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.