The High King: A Tale of Alus Read Online Free

Dust fell from the ceiling without Simon's noticing as he stormed out of the house. "Gerid, where do you think that you are going, boy? You've still got chores to do!"
    Gerid stood with one of the shepherds. It was his best friend, Janus. Simon saw his brother look over at him first and then mutter something under his breath to the shepherd. The young man finished with a sigh. As Gerid turned grudgingly towards his brother, Simon caught a final rolling of the younger man's eyes. "I need to go, Simon. I've done everything that needs to be done today. Whatever's left, I can always do tomorrow. There's always something that needs doing on this farm anyways."
    Simon's eyes narrowed with fury. "No, you'll do them now. You can put off whatever you two have cooked up, not the chores."
    "No, Simon," he answered firmly, "the others are waiting for us as it is, so I am going. You can't stop me."
The elder brother finally caught sight of the sheathed sword strapped to the young man's side. Janus wore one as well. "Don't count on it," he muttered. "Where do you think you're going anyway? You seem to be carrying that sword of yours an awful lot lately."
Gerid folded his arms defiantly for a moment before the boy suddenly softened. "We've been training with swords."
Shrugging with his hands spread palm upward, Simon asked, "Why? Why do you need to practice with that thing?"
The younger man suddenly looked
uncomfortable. "Well... you see many of the farmers and townsfolk are starting to have problems paying King Merrick's tribute. People outside the guilds are being forced to pay well beyond their means. Stephen Tarsis started meetings with many of the men a couple of months ago. He heard about what I did to Merrick's soldiers and asked me to come join them that I might teach them how to fight."
Suspicions quickly flew into his mind. "Is Tarsis trying to start a rebellion? I'll have him taken care of if he is. Father would rise from out of his grave, if you were killed trying to do something stupid like that!"
"You don't understand!" Gerid growled. "Stephen isn't doing this because he wants to rule in Merrick's place. He has been in contact with several other towns and farms. The people are all looking to the coming winter in fear. If Merrick keeps taxing them the way that he is, then many of them will be left to starve before next spring."
Simon shook his head unwilling to believe it. "No, it's nowhere near that bad. The taxes we pay are only a minimal portion of what we have."
"That's what I said at first, Simon. The guild protected itself very well, but the common men outside the guild are in serious trouble. You're deluding yourself, if you truly believe that Lord Merrick, the so called Warden of the North, is taxing fairly. Open your eyes. Go to the town and talk with them. Look at the way that they live now and it’s actually getting worse.
"Soldiers have been rumored to have been attacking those that can't pay. I've even heard that they've raped women and burned down several families homes to the ground.
"Stephen is simply trying to unify the people. If we form together and explain what is fair to King Merrick, maybe then he'll relent. If not..., then maybe it will be time to put a new ruler in his place, one that takes care of his people, instead of taking advantage of them."
"That's treason, boy!" Simon replied. "The words that I hear sound like they are someone else’s though. If you continue to dispute the lord's actions like that, then you'll wind up getting yourself killed in some foolish rebellion. I cannot allow that."
Gerid sighed and held up his hand to stop his brother's words. "Enough. I am going. If you want to talk about it tonight, fine. I won't change my mind, but we can talk about it." The young man turned then and started towards the road. Janus looked briefly at Simon and sighed. He too turned and followed Gerid.
Simon stood watching their backs a moment longer before he finally decided that he should follow.