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The murmurs were like a tide slamming into his ears. It stank of the putrid sweat and piss that was left after these men had all retreated from the battlefield. It was a horrible stench that gave Lucian a small thought.
These were not his people.
As sudden as it came he realized the folly in such words. These were in a sense his people but also were not. It was a mix of thoughts that ruined whatever wine was being made through their existence. He was a Peasant first, Squire second, for he had yet to gain anything more than nobility.
He had lived lives just like this and still do. It was rare within the forest to clean oneself of filth and the well was only touched by the more able body of their kind. In truth many did not feel they even had to commit to such actions for they had always lived their lives within such state.
Only when Lucian was saddled with responsibility beyond himself did he make sure to clean himself these last few days. In doing so he could now smell what he once was.
It was then something hit him in the chest. A spike of pain went through his mind as he realized that the man had thrown another of those stones. Fear laced the man’s face as he poised for another throw.
Lucian realized what he was smelling. It was the fear these people had for him. He was the Heir of Ruin, damned by the slaughter of his home.
Lucian took a step forward. Like a wave the Peasants all took steps back, each one backing into the other as their bodies betrayed their master’s. Lucian dodged the haphazard stone that was an attempt to keep his advance, Peasant quickly going to the ground in search of more stones.
The Squire took three steps and the crowd took six. The man quickly falling off his feet and onto the ground as his body further betrayed the spirit that was within it.
A decision needed to be made, Lucian realized. The sun slowly hid itself from the earth as he took the final steps to be directly on top of the man. A ghastly cold wind rolled through the hill that the crowd were standing upon as they knew the man’s fate was sealed.
