A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 359: A Greedy Man - Part 2

After all, if he had not defended them, who would have? Ingolsol? Or Claudia?

That line of thought popped into his head as well, unbidden. Though he had no notion of who 'they' were. Nor what he was trying to protect them from. Ingolsol and Claudia, they too were names that he did not recognize, but the moment the names popped into his head, the room changed once more.

There was a sudden distance between him and the throne, a cascading set of steps. He was at the bottom of them, like a knight about to kneel before his king. The throne itself was no longer empty. At least, its armrests weren't, as two children, a boy and the girl, fought over it.

"Give it to me!" The boy said. His voice was unusually stern for a child.

"I will not!" The girl said back in return, prying the boy's hands off her arm, and quickly trying to shift her rear into the chair.

The boy grabbed her by her long blonde hair, and without an ounce of hesitation, he pulled, dragging her back. "It's not for you," he said unkindly. "You're too weak."

She cried out from the pain.

"You shouldn't treat your sister like that," Beam said to the boy. His words came unbidden, without thought, as though he had no control over himself.

Only when he'd spoken did the two children finally look at him. The boy narrowed his eyes, and tutted. "And now a mortal intrudes on our battle," he said, with far more haughtiness than suited a boy his age.

The girl seemed to be of the same opinion. She regarded him kindly, but there was a look to her eyes that made it clear she knew herself to be above him, as though she knew he was nothing but a dog, in the throne room of royalty.

Explore more stories at M-V-L

Before his eyes again, the children shifted. They were older now. Both seemed to be in their teens. The boy's clothes shifted and changed, and were given shape. Black leather armour, with golden threading running through it.

The girl's hair shifted from silver to blonde, as she too grew, wearing a skirt of silver and gold, and a weighty-looking chest plate of white steel, and a plumed helmet above it all. They looked at him as kings might look down on their subjects. Their eyes were daring him to say something more.

When he seemed certain that Beam would no longer interfere, the boy drew his dagger with a smile, and once more lunged his body towards the seat. The girl wasn't looking, and he managed to get a whole leg on before she caught him, and her silver hammer came after him, chasing him away in dismay.

"Hehe, you're too slow, much too slow," the boy said, laughing heartily. "You're a woman after all. A woman is weak. Why not kneel to me, mm? We both know who wins this battle."

"I will not!" The girl said firmly, righteously, swinging that heavy-looking hammer with a single hand. Beam wondered how her skinny arms managed it.

The boy's dagger slashed, and he drew blood, marring her unprotected arms. Another cry of pain, this time she took a step back. Delightedly, the boy went for the throne again.

"Stop," Beam said firmly this time. He had a foot on the bottom of the steps. Once more the children looked at him, and once more they regarded him as one might regard an insect. He had no place in their warring, they made that much clear.

"Your intentions are good, but you would do well not to interfere," the girl said firmly. "This is not your place. You will get hurt."

"And you're weak," the boy said. "Do not trend on hot coals when you do not have the shoes nor the stomach to tolerate it."

Once more Beam got the sudden urge to defend himself. Once more he lowered himself into a fight stance, as he looked over his soldier, searching for the source of the threat, his full awareness directed outwards, ready to defend against anything.

But again, there was nothing, only him and his sword.

They looked at him differently this time. Then they shared a look with each other.

"Did you just take some of my power, worm?" The black-haired boy hissed, his eyes narrowed like a snake eyeing prey.

"I felt some of mine disappear too," the girl said. She looked just as unhappy.

Beam felt the muscles of his jaw tighten, and a smile rose to his lips. He took another step on the stairs.

"So that's what's going on," there was a sense of profound understanding then. No thoughts passed through his head, he still could not pause to consider his situation, but somehow, that emotion still sat there, as though everything made sense, as though everything was falling into place. "It's you two that's protecting me, is it?"

They shared a look at that. Their fighting had stopped for a moment. Both their eyes were still on the chair. One wanted it just as badly as the other. Beam could see the hunger in the girl's eyes just as strongly as it was in the boy's.

Beam took another step up the stairs.

"Mortal, cease your disrespect, remove yourself from these stairs," the boy spat indignantly. Again, the boy appeared older. Beam didn't notice when the change had happened. Now he was a man in his twenties, tall and imposing, his shoulders broad, his armour heavy, and a sword at his hip now, instead of a dagger.

"I have love for you," the girl told him all the same. "But this is not your place. I will be made to strike against you if you come any further."

She too was older. She was a full woman by now. A startlingly beautiful woman, with purple eyes, and silver hair, and a full two-handed war-hammer now, rather than the smaller single-handed hammer that she'd wielded before.