'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 2: Here Comes The Witches

Old Mann

"O-U-C-H... I had never been told off in that kind of manner and with a kind of air before. That Lord's intention may be true and respectable but maybe he used  to choose those words when seeing complacency and a lack of interest."

"His words do carry some weight in telling us that if we don't move to his town, there would be no difference in his part, but the ones who lose out would be us. The talk of land acquisition of this village shows that he understand about development for governmental uses."

"Besides, looking at our current situation, there are only 14 folks here and the 8 of you had just came back from the battlefront and looked rather scrappy, and had been considered as invalids by the militia."

"Would you prefer to be a liability to others and not rise from the depths of despair that all of you are in?"

Old Mann stood before the rest of the inhabitants and had a rather open discussion based on his personal point of view.

After receiving a rather harsh reality moment of truth from the visiting Lord, he had somehow find renewed strength to forge his path forward.

Or else, he would just prefer to sit back and relax and tend to his vegetable patch and enjoy his so-called retirement.

One of the invalids named Tomlinson with a bandaged hand after losing a thumb from the militia voiced his sentiments, "Old Mann, I guess what you had said is true."

"That Lord may be used to see indifference from the general public and that's the reason he spoke about the land acquisition as if one day he would be taking over this village and turn it into part of his town in the future."

"I believe the town is something like 7 or so miles from Adewera, right? Do you think it is even possible for him to take over this parcel of land?"

Tomlinson inquired since he was worried by that time the privileges being part of the town that the Lord had offered would different then and present.

"Old Mann, look at me. I'm not ambidextrous and I lost my right thumb during one of the skirmishes at the battlefront. Without my thumb, it's almost near impossible for me to wield anything in my right hand. I can't even hold a spoon...!"

Tomlinson pointed out in exasperation due to his disability, even if the injury may not look like much to others.

Another invalid by the name of Armstrong held his left arm that was bandaged and in a sling and spoke up, "Same here, Old Mann. I've got a dead arm with totally blown out nerves, and had to rely on my good arm to wipe after I poop and to eat from it as well."

"How would I be sufficiently employed in the future, so I would not be a liability for others except myself?"

Old Mann looked at the scrappy men before him and knew that they had little chance of being properly employed if they moved to other towns to try their luck. There were men with bandages over half of their head, arms, legs and torso and these were the ones discharged from the militia.

The loss of income monthly was a great blow to them and Adewera doesn't have enough crop harvest to go around with the extra mouths.

These men had to rely on the town folks for charity and handouts instead. The compensation they had received was just an additional month's salary and this could never be able to tide them over for several months, not to mention half a year even.

"We are truly in a fix right now. To go or not to go, is the ultimate decision. We know that the window of opportunity is right before us in that town yonder and maybe... Just maybe there's something good for everyone that we don't even realise at this moment right now." a man with a bandaged head highlighted his point of view to the rest of them.

Everyone wished for a better situation than they were in right now. Life was truly harsh and they can't depend much on the paltry crop harvest since its already autumn and winter would be approaching in about 3 months time.

By then, most the wild game would be in hibernation and fish would take a longer time to get hooked. Besides, during this season, there would be some appearances of a known mutated wild beast that looked like an armadillo.

It towers more than 5 feet and weighs more than 2500 pounds. Its meat cannot be consumed as there was a bacterium that could cause leprosy if ingested.

And that's the only wild game that would be seen scampering during winters.

A wave of murmurs cascaded within the inhabitants as they furiously debated within themselves about the move that was offered by that Lord. "Would there be anything to lose? If we don't like it on the first or second day, we all could head back there then. At least we tried and also to see if there are any provisions that we could buy from them."

Tomlinson raised his bandaged hand high above as he tethered precariously on the wooden bench as he called out to his fellow townfolks. If that Tomlinson was to lose his balance, we wonder what other parts of his body would be bandaged.

"Alright, everyone. Please calm down....! This village is not going anywhere and so does that town that Lord had mentioned."

"In 3 days time we would head there and give it a try and if we like it, we stay, and if not we head back here once again."

"We won't want to be a liability to them to look after us old folks and for those who had just returned from the battlefront."

The waves of murmurs turned into a buzz as they discussed on the latest highlights from Old Mann as he was the elder of the village and also an appointed spokesperson and decision-maker for everyone else.

They soon calmed down, had cups of brewed tea in front of them and amidst nibbles of biscuits, began to plan what they would be doing and expected to do in the next 3 days to come.

=*=

"Eagle, what do you think of the last conclusion that I had made to the inhabitants? Do you think they would be moved to at least try to accommodate themselves here like the Irish Travellers before?"

"At least we hope they won't be so dumb as to refuse the whole deal before even coming here to Gracehaven."

"Well, Your Majesty, to be frank, your last speech there got them startled. It's like a wake-up call for them to realise that there are people like Your Majesty who would trouble himself to come over and visit them."

"Moreover, who would have thought that royalty would take the trouble to head to their small settlement and to talk sense to them?"

"I commend your speech earlier, Your Majesty. It seems that you had upped your diplomacy and could have a better understanding of certain structures and governance laws."

"We would wait for their news in 3 days time. Old Jack and Kayla would be heading there with 2 wagons to transport them, and if they wished, they would head back with them, but if not, don't be too disheartened, Your Majesty."

"At least you had somehow tried, albeit your best to give them a heads-up about their current situation and the expected future that beholds in Gracehaven."

Eagle chuckled lightly as he traversed the wagon back into the compounds of Gracehaven and deftly parked the wagon near the banana plantations before he hopped down to untether the horse.

He never expected that I would sound so serious when faced with people with such deadpan looks on their faces. Besides, he guessed that I had grown matured over the past few months since we had upgraded our village into a small town.

The developments we had faced had put me on a higher level as to reach our personal objectives with the assistance of the Priests and Priestesses and the incoming winter and barren months ahead.

=*=

"Alright... I have decided. In 3 days we would be heading to the town. We would wait for the delegates to arrive and we would follow them back."

"Remember folks. What is there to lose? We could head back here anytime once we had given some time to ourselves over there."

"The choices are ours to decide and if we happen to find it comfortable and to our advantage over there, would you be heading back here to this desolate village?"

Old Mann spoke up to give reason to his findings and letting a chance for the inhabitants to actually experience being in the town.

"That's right folks. What is there to lose... If it is good then we stay, if it is to our disadvantage and the condition is worse than here, then we head back instead. At least we did take a look at the conditions there." Old Laura voiced her opinions, backing her old man and also hoped deep inside her that matters would be better over yonder.

"Old Mann, Old Laura... What you had said is true. To expect the unexpected. If that Lord openly offered us invalids to be protected under its rule, then it would be considered as something good instead. It won't hurt to try, don't you think so?"

Tomlinson, the militia that had a thumb missing on his right hand spoke up and was gesturing to everyone about his thoughts aloud. Of course, if yonder has greener pastures, who would not want to be there and enjoy the benefits and privileges, right?

Besides, he agreed what old Laura had mentioned about 'there's nothing to lose' and this gave him the motivation to make the move and to crawl from the abyss of despair and helplessness he was in right now.

He was not alone. The rest of the militia that was were injured in the battlefront and treated as invalids all thought the same too. There were 8 of them and they had gone through hell before they were disposed of aside like an old rag.

Old Mann had deep feelings and thoughts about these invalids as he had served the battlefront and had persevered long enough for him to retire peacefully.

Even if he had a certain wealth given to him for his commendable service in the Pikeman Division, if there was no place for him to spend his coins, there would be pointless holding on to those coins at all.

The rest of the folks that were left to fend for themselves with whatever little they had wanted out as well. They wished to have a better condition than what they had right now.

Enticed by the bread and biscuits, they had a feeling that there was more goodness where it came from and they wanted to be part of it. Indeed, food was their main driving force to make a move to the town yonder.

In a single vote of confidence, Old Mann spoke up loud enough to be thunderous in that afternoon and concluded, "Alright, we move in 3 days time. Pack light. We would wait for the delegates and hope we don't have to walk or hobble all the way there."

With that, the remaining 21 of the inhabitants clapped their hands exuberantly and was delighted that the leader that was appointed to decide for their wellbeing had finally spoken in one voice for everyone.

As discussed earlier, if things were to go south, they would head back here in their old village and most probably die of starvation when winter comes.