Lucian cursed his luck for the dozenth time, he should have never sold the family business, he should have never come to the Western Marches and he should have never bought the misserable beast refusing to pull his wagon.
"Go! You stinking flea-bitten brute! This would be faster if I pulled the cart and you rode back here."
Lucian struck out two more times with his rod at the flanks of the ox hitched to his cart with no result other than a plaintive groan from the over-worked beast. The track was uphill and rutted, large rocks protruded here and there, it was not easy going for a wagon laden with tools, pulled by an ox past its prime, and driven by a man with little experience of such things, but this is where Lucian found himself and he'd come too far to back down.
Lucian had inherited his trade from his father, like most men of Wallonce, but he was never a very good smith, his arms lacked the stamina and his fingers the deftness of a craftsman. Unlike his late brother Fredric, Lucian did not try to make up for a lack of skill with toil, hard work was not for him. Thinking of that now he wondered why he had embarked on his undertaking, but then he remembered the fat sack of Guilders he'd been promised if he could deliver the tools of his forge to the garrison of Stonespire. The plan had been simple, and perhaps that was where it was faulty, gather up the tools, anvil, bellows; load everything into the cart, hitch the last ox up and drive it on for a fortnight or so. Get his payment for the forge supplies, and then trade the ox for any old nag he could ride away on and Lucian could set himself up in River Ford or Almsmarch as a pawn broker, gambler, or scoundrel; live a life of wenches and wine.
He should have known better, it had gone wrong as soon as he tried to pack it all up in his home of Hedgemire. The locals had gathered in a mob and demanded that he not dismantle the forge, they needed it, to mend the tools and implements of farming, it was a necessary thing to everyone's livelihood. They had even scrounged up some Guilders to pay Lucian to leave without the tools, but it was a pittance compared to what he could get from the Lord rebuilding Stonespire, by the Western Hells he could have gotten a better price for the stuff in Almsmarch. Lucian spat into the dirt at the thought, why didn't he just go east to Almsmarch, he'd probably only get half what he could in Stonespire but he'd already have the coin in his purse and likely wine in his belly.
Lucian looked ahead on the road past the groaning ox tugging his cart, he could just make out a noise, hoof beats. The sound grew louder and soon he could make out a rising cloud of dust being kicked up by a dozen or so riders. The cavalrymen slowed as they approached the cart obstructing their path. Lucian could make out more of the approaching riders, they carried two pennants, one blue and white, the other crimson with a tower emblazoned on it in black.
Lucian called out to them. "Ho! Are you from Stonespire?"
The riders halted in the road and a single man on horse approached Lucian. He wore heavy plate harness and a bushy black beard stuck out from under his sallet. The rider had a lance held in his right hand and it rested on a hook on his breast plate, he circled Lucian's wagon and regarded him like a carrion hound might gaze at a wounded lamb.
"What's your business on the Kingdom's road?" The booming voice of the rider had Lucian regretting every decision that had led him to this moment.
"I am a blacksmith... that is I was a blacksmith, but I heard that the garrison at Stonespire was to be rebuilt... and well I thought..."
The rider cocked his head as he looked at Lucian, "We've no need of retired blacksmiths at the garrison." The riders seemed to chuckle and relax their postures a bit. "Besides the place isn't really much to look at so I have no idea why you would want to retire there."
Another of the riders dismounted and made his way to Lucian and his cart, the man yanked back the cover over the wagon and began to rummage through the bundles of tools and supplies, Lucian turned in his seat to see what the man was doing when the first rider spoke again.
"We have had troubles with smugglers on this road, and bandits too, but you don't seem like a bandit, the bandits don't normally stammer and piss themselves when we stop them."
The riders burst into laughter and pitifully Lucian tried to laugh along with them.
"The smugglers tend to sweat a bit though, you wouldn't be a smuggler would you? Trying to evade the Kingdom's taxes?"
As he asked the question the rider tipped his lance into Lucian's cart and took a few exploratory jabs, seeming to be satisfied with the result the rider raised his lance again hooked it back on its rest. The dismounted rider nodded to the first and made his way back to his mount as Lucian tried to answer the question, "I just wanted to make my way to the garrison and sell my tools... so a smithy could be established there."
The first rider nodded, "Well that should be fine, my Lord has been acquiring quite a bit of the needed materials for the garrison, I'm sure you'll find a market there, but there is the matter of the toll. One guilder per draft animal, you do have a guilder on you don't you?"
Lucian struggled with the drawstring of his purse and quickly produced the single silver coin, he thrust his hand out, "Here... no problem at all."
The rider drew closer and took the proffered coin. "Two of my men will escort you the rest of the way, you should be at the fort before nightfall." The first rider spurred his horse and the rest followed flowing around Lucian and his cart kicking up dust and startling Lucian's ox in the process.
Lucian tugged at the reigns till the beast calmed, as he caught his breath he regarded his new escort. One man looked much like the other, almost fully armored in plate harness but one wore a blue and white livery coat with a red gate on his breast.
The rider in the livery coat spoke "Lets get moving goodman, we still have our trade to practice even if you have given yours up." the other rider snorted with laughter as the trio set off towards Stonespire.
