Chapter 221: Friends in Low Places
Three people were ignoring the mayhem that was happening inside Baron Pinchpenny's keep. The first was the Baron himself. His hearing was not good, and even if he had noticed the screams of panicked horses and the shouted orders of guards, he would have ignored them. He paid good money to those men, and he could care less what little problems they had to solve by abusing a few peasants to stifle a rebellion.
The second person, was the Legion Centurion in charge of the far side of the Baron's keep. The Legion paid money to the Baron to be here, but was not responsible for what happened in the other half. In fact, they had expressly been told not to interfere and to leave the Baron's half of the keep alone. Pinchpenny didn't want anyone poking into his business, and the Legion didn't want to have to deal with it. If problems spilled over to the Legion's side, then they would make the problem go away. The lookout reported that it was one small animal on the loose, surely a dozen guardsmen could handle that, couldn't they?
The third person who was ignoring the screams was Mordecai. He had faith that his pet could handle themselves, and if actually threatened they would find a place to hide. The brain inside that reptilian head was much smarter than anyone suspected. So far, he had identified 37 meanings to the word 'fishies'. When used by the little wyvern, it was a language in just one word. It was all about how it was pronounced.
The man in the cell next to Mordecai had been scared at first when the sound of screaming horses and roaring wyverns had reached him, but had eventually relaxed. Lorcan, a sage of the Natural Magics College had been having a long discussion with Mordecai on the training and raising of several species of fantastical animals. Lorcan lacked much of the field experience that Mordecai seemed to have. For his part, the sage was giving Mordecai a great amount of knowledge about about the creatures that inhabited the barony, and many small details about the barony itself, the castle, the Baron's collection of rare moths and butterflies, and the types of things he was looking to collect.
"Personally, I think the man was foolish to not accept your offer. Live specimens? Unheard of to acquire in this day and age with the lack of great heroes venturing into the swamps. The wyvern population is simply too out of control, and will probably get worse in the future. They just don't have many creatures that prey on them. Our Baron is foolish. He saves a few gold today, and loses on the opportunity to gain so many more rare samples. I think you were the last legitimate procurer that he will encounter. A pity. Also, a pity that the two of us have to pay for his stupidity."
Mordecai seemed unconcerned. "It's a small price to pay."
Lorcan shook his head sadly. "I find your lack of concern somewhat baffling. Do you value your freedom so lightly?"
Mordecai simply smiled. "No, freedom is a treasure that should be taken away from no man, and must always be guarded. I only meant I wasn't staying long." Turning to the huddled families in cages, he asked. "Hi, I know this next part might be a bit scary. But would any of you like to leave?"
Many hands were raised by confused peasants. Mordecai nodded. "Are you all here for not paying taxes or similar? I'm heading north and I can take you with me. Maybe get you started in a better town. It's a bit of a walk, but I'm sure you need to stretch your legs."
One peasant spoke for the rest. "Nothing to stay for. Get us out, and we'll follow you. We'll need a wagon for the little ones though."
"Right then. Lorcan, remind me to get a wagon and steal a horse. I'll be back in a few moments, folks. Stay here, stretch your legs and get ready to go." At that moment, the door opened and a small wyvern hopped into the room, a set of keys on its tail. Mordecai took the keys, opened all the cells, and quietly left the room. The chaos outside intensified. Then a half hour later he returned and beckoned them to come with him. Just outside the jail was a covered wagon pulled by two frightened horses.
"Lorcan, I need you to guide the wagon north. I'm sure you can handle it. Pay no attention to the moth, it's on our side."
The children piled into the wagon, one of the men drove with Lorcan next to them up front. As they pulled out of the courtyard and onto the rutted road that ran by the castle, they all saw a glowing orange-brown moth with a 12' wingspan glide by. It stopped to hover and unleashed a bolt of lightning at a tower. Lorcan noted that while several of the buildings on the Baron's side of the keep were on fire, the Legion outpost was unharmed. He filed that fact away and helped the driver of the wagon avoid the worst parts of the road. He also pulled a well used notepad and pencil from his pocket and on one of the few pages made a sketch of the monstrous insect attacking the baron. He almost started to hop off the wagon to go watch it, but the boy next to him, wise beyond his years said, "Pa always says that if the rabbit didn't stop to take a piss, the hound wouldn't have caught him. You need to go that bad mister?" Brought to his senses, Lorcan concentrated on getting some speed from the horses.
Mordecai caught up with them two hours later, driving a small wagon filled with boxes of large books full of preserved samples of butterflies and moths. A small wyvern was sitting next to him, eating fish from a basket, looking pleased with itself. He'd also managed to find quite a bit of food and blankets. He spent some time making sure everyone was warm and had some food. They pulled off the road an hour later and camped in the woods for the night. Three of the freed peasants came over to him after their children were fed and asleep.
"We appreciate you getting us out of there. But what now? We aren't going to join a bandit gang or anything like that. We're farmers, and we can't do that in this barony."
Mordecai nodded. "I can see that. He's forced you all off your lands, and still wants to tax you. There are other baronies though, and other towns. Have you ever heard of a little town called Sedgewick? It's a bit north, but I know the mayor and she'll work out something to help you rebuild. We can make sure the kids are safe and fed."
A quick vote was taken, and the next day the two wagons headed north.
A very tired guard reported for duty at the doorway to Baron Pinchpenny's suite of rooms. It had been a long night, and the Baron had been wailing and crying like a banshee. "Is he still in there blubbering?"
The second door guard nodded. "Yep, been at it all day long. Keeps going on and on about his missing bugs. He went up to his telescope on the tower to see that monster bug that was attacking us. He couldn't get back down. Someone locked him up there. The next day when the servants came back to the keep, they heard him shouting from the tower. During the chaos, thieves stole his bug collection."
"Bugs. Always bugs. Half the castle is more ruined than it ever was, the prisoners have escaped, horses are missing, and he's worried about bugs. I'm sick of it."
"There's always the Legion. I think I'll head over now, see if they are recruiting."
"Hold up, I'll head over with you."
Our Dearest Baron, who we hold in the highest esteem,
It has come to our attention that you like butterflies. So do I! I've recently come into a vast collection of them. I hate to inform you that many of them are fakes. I'm very disappointed in the quality of your collection. I'd be willing to give them back to you, but only when you've had some time to appreciate your loss. A word of warning: You're new corporate friends can't be trusted, so I wouldn't go running to them for aid. In fact, doing something like that is exactly what will cause you more problems, and your collecting will be split up for sale all across the empire. We'll be in touch as to what favors you can do for us in return for your collection being returned.
Be a good boy, and I'll include a lovey specimen of a Dragon-Tinted Fallow Moth, free of charge.
Yours truly,
A fellow lover of large bugs.
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