As Henry sat outside the, Thomas started throwing knives at a carved target on a nearby tree, William reading more of his books, Sara who liked carving picked a wooden piece and started making a dragon head like object out of it, as for John, he went training Isabel on handling sword fights, she seemed too inexperienced in that subject, for she kept of falling and dropping her sword one time after another, Henry sat beside William on a log covered by the shadow of a tree
"You are still reading the same subject I see" said henry peeking on the book in William's hands with curios eyes
"Someone needs to uncover the truth behind the plague, there is no way it started by a giant spitting on the lands," said William
"And perhaps are you doing it pity on the oppressed Vikings?" asked Henry in a tongue of one who already knows the answer, just wants the receiving end to understand it, William stopped reading for a moment giving the thought sometime to settle in before answering
"I'm doing it out of pride, I'm no fit for a warrior and I'm not ashamed of it, its just not me, but at least this way I can prove myself" said William with sparkling eyes
"To whom?" asked Henry raising his eye brows" To the people? The Vikings? The king? You don't need to prove anything to us none asked that of you, and if to the people forget it, they've grown on ground built on that thought and they won't accept the truth, the truth is too harsh for them, and for the Vikings expect no thanks or applause, they hate us alike," as Henry took the book out of William's hands he continued saying
"And if by chance you wish the king to make a party for you, expect yourself to be the main dish" said Henry before closing the book putting it down and looking William straight in the eyes "the king is no fool, none will be in that seat if they were, he already knows the truth whatever it might be, but he wants to keep it like that"
As Henry stood up said "I'm not telling you to give up what you wish to do, quit the opposite actually I envy you for that you found your calling, but I want you to question why you want it and if it's truly what you like" and then he went towards Thomas to train with him on knife throws
"He sometimes seems more mature then the normal isn't he" Said John who left Isabel flat on the ground of exhaustion "who knows maybe some of us would have survived the brutal environment we lived in" as he went towards Sara looking at what she was making
William did not talk, he looked at the closed book beside him for a moment before he started to stare at the ants beneath his legs, walking a straight path, he stared at them for sometime just to get up and walk towards Sara and John who were joking amongst themselves with Isabel who joined them for she already got some rest
2 guards scouting the surrounding area at night, for there shift is near its end
"You still remember the fire of the girl yesterday?" said the first one
"Yuh I can still smell the burning flesh till this point, but I can't remember what happened properly, was she already dead, did we kill here before or after?" replied the second guard as if he wasn't there
"Thinking about that, I myself don't know, it's as if I was hypnotized or dream walking" said the first one removing his helmet as the light brightened his facial futures
"I guess it must be fatigue from the consistent preparation we did for everything to work out perfectly" said the second one before looking at the face of the first guard with shock and fear
"What in hell is that" shouted the second with a terrified look
"What do you mean? Is there something in my face" replied the first guard as he put his face down near a bucket of water to see his own reflection, his mouth opened wide no words coming out as he saw his eye pupils have doubled on one side
"We can't leave this unreported we need to- "said the second guard before the first one closed his mouth with his hand
"Silence if you speak it won't be just me, they take" said the first guard
"But we can't leave it be, they will find out anyway" said the second guard
"Not if we escape" said the first guard as the other one looked at him confused "with the symptoms already this clear it means the infection has reached the rest of the camp, it a matter of time before everybody else notices it"
"So do you want us to hide till we all go mad?" said the second guard
"No, we will leave the camp, you must've already got it too, the sickness, if we take some gold from the chief's tent and ride some horses, with enough luck we will be able to reach safety before they notice it" said the first guard
"So, you want me to steal? Do you think he will just let us take whatever we want" said the second guard
"He doesn't need to let us, worst case we will end up with a dead body" said the first as the second looked at him in disbelief and was about to go report, but the first turned him again to talk to him putting his hands on his shoulders " if we don't act now, others will, and if we end up being the only ones sick its better for all and worse for us, they will stay safe and we will be test subjects and in best case burned alive"
The second guard thought about it for a second before saying "lets do it, only option we have anyway" as he turned around wanting to lead the way
"Do what?" a voice said calmly from the dark
With fear grinding on their bones, they turned the lights towards the sound to see the masked man standing there unarmed
As the second one smiled awkwardly and wated to explain himself the first told him "Don't try, he already knows about it for we don't know how long he have been there" as they both unsheathed their blades showing they are ready to cut him down
"You both would've made excellent soldiers, sadly you want live up to that dream," said the masked man
They both started walking slowly to surround him, one to his left and one to is right, they thought that with his mask the field of view would be limited to him, as they got closer they charged at him at once, one tried a low slash and the other a stab, with his armed feet he stepped on the sword trying to cut his leg, and used the stab to his advantage making the other guard stab his friend in the face killing him
As the other guard back up into a defence stans, the commander picked the sword of the dead one and threw at a high-speed breaking the guard's sword and going throw his guts
With dawn the rest of the guards woke up they buried the body's after burning the worm infected parts, the commander ordered a through search for everyone, most of the infected were the ones at the body of the burned girl from the other day, they were all executed and the infected body parts were burned
When the middle of the day came the carriage was ready, the children went inside one while the commander boarded the other with the chief, as they started the walk with their knights towards the capital