Shit! He should have known that Zoricus would pull something like this...

Levalas tried to think about why Dosol hadn't tried anything like this until now, before he remembered that this was their last night in this village, which meant if that guy was going to try and kill the baron, it had to be tonight.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, realizing just what he was panicking about. Even if Dosol was out to kill the baron, why was he worried about it? That bastard would just be making his life easier if he did all the dirty work by himself, wouldn't he?

No! He didn't like it!

As surprised as he was to be feeling like this, he didn't like this at all! After everything he had seen here, he didn't want Lord Kivamus to be killed because of the greed of that gluttonous bastard, dammit!

Levalas took a deep breath, trying to think about this new situation calmly, ignoring the various frowns coming his way, since he was still standing in the middle of the hall. What if... What if this was the sign he wanted from the goddess?

Before returning to the servants' hall, he wasn't sure at all about what to do, but realizing that someone else was already trying to kill the benevolent ruler of this village had made him hate even thinking about such a thing happening. He had never even heard about a noble ruler doing this much for his people, so it had to be something planned by the Goddess to help the people of this village... right? And who was he to go against her wishes? The greed of that Zoricus bastard be damned!

His mind finally finding a sliver of peace in his chaotic mind, he nodded slowly. He didn't want Lord Kivamus to die, whether by his hands or at anyone else's. Yeah, this plan felt better. Much better.

This meant he had to stop Dosol before he did anything. Thinking about it, he realized that reporting about him would probably also reveal the fact that he was here to do the very same thing. Most likely the baron's guards would also find out that he was the same person who had tried to kill the baron before the winter.

He gave a morbid laugh, knowing that it was quite possible that he wouldn't live to see the morning, since after he had revealed everything, he was likely to be executed alongside the other assassin. He did wish that the baron would forgive him once again, but that wasn't likely, was it? Hah! It would probably be exactly what he deserved for trying to kill such a caring and benevolent person.

Perhaps, it would be a fitting end to his miserable life which began from his father getting murdered by the Count to steal his power, and would end with him being executed for trying to murder another noble. He exhaled loudly, his mind feeling peaceful for the first time in months. Perhaps he would be able to escape from the clutches of Zoricus, after all. One way or another...

His decision already made, he looked around, trying to find someone to help him. It wasn't like he could go charging into the manor house claiming that he was trying to stop an assassin. Most likely he would be considered the assassin in that case, which would give the other guard enough distraction to do his dirty deed.

He scanned the guards sitting here, hoping to find a familiar face. Where was everyone he had seen the last time? He could only see new faces here. That was when the outer door opened and a burly guard walked inside. For a moment he flinched, thinking it was the guard captain coming to execute him, but no, it wasn't that giant guy who always had two swords with him. This was someone else - someone he remembered seeing from his last visit here, since this was the only guard rivaling the guard captain in his build. Uh... Tesyb, he thought the name to be.

He quickly jogged to the man, and showing both of his hands to be empty so he wouldn't be considered a threat, he urgently pulled the guard outside of the servant hall, and took him a little distance away from the door as well as any prying ears.

"What's wrong with you?" Tesyb grunted with a frown.

"Just listen to me! It's important, and the life of the baron depends on it!"

Hearing about that immediately made the guard alert. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know that four guards came from Cinran along with the knight and his squire, right?" Without waiting for a reply, he added, "There are only two of those guards inside the servants' hall right now. Do you have any idea where that fourth man is? He's called Dosol. Perhaps he went to the alehouse?"

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Tesyb glanced at the manor house. "No, the knight had returned with all his guards earlier. Nobody went out after that. Wait, why do you think Lord Kivamus is in danger?"

"Shit!" Levalas clenched his fist, looking around for that guard.

Tesyb put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and pushed him back to the wall. "Speak! How do you know what he's going to do? Are you also a part of his plan?"

Levalas flinched. "Uh... yes? I mean no! Forget it! We don't have the time for it. You can interrogate me later all you want. Just get a few more men and find out where that bastard is right now. He might be trying to kill the baron right now."

"Shit!" The burly guard glanced around with indecision for a moment, before he glared at Levalas. "What does he look like?"

Levalas gave a brief description of the man, before he added, "Dosol was wearing chainmail earlier, but he might have dumped it by now if he's trying to blend in with others."

Tesyb nodded. "We'll find him. But first, give me your sword and any other weapons you have!"

"But I..."

"Do it right now or I'll consider you a part of the plot to kill the baron," Tesyb growled.

Levalas nodded and handed over both of his long fighting daggers as well as his sword. He hesitated for a moment before he pulled out a small dagger he had hidden in his boot. At this point his life was probably forfeit anyway, and having an extra dagger wouldn't save him now.

The burly guard glared at him as he took all the weapons. "Don't move from this place! If this is a trick, you won't leave this place alive."

Levalas gulped, before Tesyb jogged to the servant hall again, calling up the names of some other guards. Soon, nearly a dozen men were standing in front of him.

Tesyb started giving orders. "Yufim, go and find Feroy and report to him about this. Calubo, look for the guard captain, and bring him to the manor house. The rest of you, follow me!" The burly guard stared at Levalas for a moment. "You! Come with me. We'll need you to confirm his identity."

***

~ Kivamus ~

He was sitting in the manor hall waiting for dinner along with the others. Tuilas had finally returned as well, and seemed to be in a sour mood right now, although he had stopped threatening to take slaves after finding out that all the tax had already been paid. Duvas and Gorsazo were sitting nearby while Feroy still hadn't returned. Hudan was also present this time along with two other guards, who were standing in the corners of the hall, as usual.

Kivamus looked at the knight, wondering if there was even any point in asking for help. He knew that Tuilas was unlikely to stay any longer - not that he even wanted him to - but there was no harm in just asking, was it?

"We have gotten reliable information that a very powerful bandit group is going to raid my village soon. Could you stay here for a few more days to help us deal with them? You and your guards will be a big help to us."

"Not in my hands to stay here any longer than I absolutely need to," Sir Tuilas replied with a lazy shrug. "I only follow the orders of the Knight Commander and the Count, and they had told me to return as soon as I had collected the tax."

Kivamus sighed. There went the hope for help.

"Why are they in such a hurry anyway?" he asked, already knowing the reason, but confirming an unreliable news from another person was always a good idea.

Sir Tuilas frowned. "Binpaaz has again started sending some small groups of knights to harass our farmers in the east since the snow melted this spring. Some of them have even been trampling and burning our crops, so Cinran needs all its knights there to deal with them."

Kivamus nodded. That confirmed that the raids were indeed happening frequently and they were at least somewhat serious, even if it wasn't a full scale invasion or the like at this point. That being said, while there was no doubt that being a nephew of the Count would have given Tuilas a pampered life, it was good to hear that the knight wasn't trying to safeguard himself selfishly and actually wanted to go to the border to help defend his homeland - for all the help just one more knight would be against the might of what was easily the most powerful kingdom in Cilaria.

"Actually, I had even asked uncle Ebirtas to send me to the border a week ago," the knight continued, "but for some reason he sent me to this good-for-nothing village instead." He shrugged. "I still thought it would be a nice vacation before I went to show the binpaazi knights right where they belong - which is six under the ground - but I couldn't even find a bottle of damned wine here!"

Kivamus snorted. He had praised this selfish bastard way too soon. A pampered nephew of a noble would always remain spoiled, after all.

That's when the outer door opened with a bang and a group of guards thundered inside, looking more than ready to kill.

Kivamus' heart skipped a beat seeing their intense expressions, momentarily fearing it to be a mutiny, before he shook his head. No, that wasn't possible here. He had done nothing to make that happen. But... What if... What if they had found out about his origin?