Chapter Text
Great Tree Moon 1200
Gautier Estate
As the snow melts away and spring comes in, the manor grows more lively with the influx of chores and visitors. The Margrave is occupied with his work, while his children help their father in-between their assignments, leaving Saza on his own.
Only the Margravine stays at his side, and she teaches him letters and how to sit at a table and the different ways to eat off a plate. Saza thinks she’s an odd lady, never expecting anything from him in return. The Margrave is weird too: he’ll ask Saza about his day and make jokes to make the others laugh. He’ll take him to see the horses and touch them. He’ll treat Saza like his own children.
Some days, the Margravine helps with the kitchen or the gardens and the Margrave is pulled to work on his estate. The other children almost always have lessons. Saza is left by himself. He’s used to being ignored.
In the troop, you keep quiet and you follow orders or else you didn’t get fed. The horses and grown-ups would eat most of the food. At night, the grown-ups would take the horses and bring back more kids. They would pick up and move camp every few days.
Your job was pick up a weapon and you stab until the enemy stopped moving. Sometimes they would attack another camp, sometimes other people attacked them. Saza can’t remember how he survived his first raid. Not many kids did.
This place is different. The Margrave and Margravine never force him to do anything. There’s food everyday. Nobody yells or hits each other. The kids here use wooden swords for fun. He doesn’t know what to make of it.
The home he had before he joined that troop was different from this place too. He doesn’t remember it too well, but he knows it used to be warm. He remembers having a mother but her face is blurry in his memories. They’d move from time to time, as weather changed. The night those men attacked, the village lit up in flames. He remembers pain and his vision growing dark. When he awoke, he couldn’t find anyone else. He wandered around until a wagon picked him up and carried him off to that troop.
The troop was scary, scarier than anything else he’d ever seen, but they gave food and he had nowhere else to go. So he stayed. They fought enemies over and over again; he doesn’t know why. When you stab one person, it always seemed like there were more. The enemies terrified him; failing the troop terrified him even more. Sometimes people didn’t come back. Saza wondered what it would have looked like if he never came back.
Then one day, they got attacked. He doesn’t know who or why. The desert sands are filled with hiding spots for the small and quick. Without thinking, he hid away while the others fought. The screaming and yelling raged on for hours. When things finally grew quiet, he looked out.
The air smelled bad as he found the bodies scattered about. He was used to bodies. If he stayed out much longer he was going to end up like them.
He snuck as much food and water as he could carry and wandered through the desert at night. The camp was far away and his legs hurt. When the sun rose up, he hid underneath the shade and rested.
He ran out of food fast. The animals were too dangerous to hunt. So he looked for people. People had food with them. If he could grab some food, he can survive to the next day. He followed the smoke in the distance until he found the military camp.
In their armor, all the soldiers looked like monsters. At the time, his hunger won over his fear. He observed the soldiers until he found the supply tent and charged in with his knife, stabbing a few. A death sentence.
The soldiers wanted to kill him but the Margrave said no. Instead, he takes him home and feeds him. Saza thought he was going to be joining another army, but he so far he hasn’t done anything other than studying. He can’t really figure this place out.
About a month into spring, the family prepares for their seasonal tours within the region. Under the leadership of the new Kingdom, the Gautier region flourished but the churches in the rural and urban areas still provide a great number of support to the commonfolk. Thus, at the turn of each the season, the Margrave and Margravine pay a visit to the various churches in their territory to provide them with food and supplies for the upcoming months.
It is a tradition they’ve held to strongly throughout their marriage; even when the Margrave joined the siege up North, the Margravine still continued her charity work along with her children. This is the first time in over a year where everyone will attend together.
They travel early morning, with a caravan of supplies and the Margrave’s men guarding them. Saza sits besides the Margravine, rubbing close to her arm for warmth. The Margravine smiles and happily takes him under her arm. It’s so warm and soft, kind of like how a chicken roosts atop an egg. Or at least, that’s what he thinks it feels like.
As they approach the orphanage, he catches sight of some waving kids and Saza buries his head in the Margravine’s arm. A few months ago, Saza was in the same place as all these kids. This place looks a lot better than the orphanage to the north, but it’s scary to go back. The Margravine pats his head and encourages him to join her off the wagon. He follows suit, weak to her guidance.
Everyone gets to work. Some of the knights assist with chores, others with repairs. The Margrave’s eldest daughter helps with the sewing and washing while the youngest daughters help with the cleaning. The Margrave himself speaks with the priest running the church about supplies and maintenance, while his eldest son observes his leadership. The Margravine heads off to the kitchen and speaks to the nuns about their meal preparations. Saza follows suit, watching the Margravine at work.
She handles the kitchen with such ease, working alongside the nuns. She acts like a nun, so patient and enthusiastic. She chops and peels and arranges the food flawlessly, creating a large hearty meal for everyone. He’s mesmerized as she scours for additional ingredients.
“Alright, let’s see. Hmm… do we have enough vegetables for this stew?”
A nun shakes her head. “Milady, it seems like we’ve run short.”
The Margravine places her hand up to her cheek, contemplating her options. “Then I’ll need to head into town and buy more.”
As the Margravine grabs her bag and requests to borrow a wagon, Saza follows her, tugging on her skirt all the while. The eldest son, Emile, spots them and assists his mother in loading up the wagon. As she heads out, a frantic knight intercepts her. “Milady please, send one of the squires into town. It’s too dangerous for the Margravine to travel by herself.”
“Oh, I’ll be alright," she assures in lively spirits. “I’ve gone into town by myself plenty of times. Besides, I have my sons with me, so I’ll be very safe.”
Saza leans into the Margravine, feeling her warmth radiate through her fluffy coat. She smiles, pulling him and Emile closer. It’s been a long time since he’s felt such warmth.
In the town, the villagers wave at the Margravine and help her with parking the wagon. The boys step down and gaze in awe at the villagers gathering around the Margravine. It looks like she’s popular.
They head over to the market and explore the stands for ingredients. It’s amazing to see so much food in front of him; Saza wants to reach out and grab all of it. The Margravine sees him, smiles, and guides him towards her coin purse. She gingerly lays her coins on the table, demonstrating how to pay, when a strange kid in tattered clothes catches his attention.
The kid, hiding behind a rusted barrel, eyes them suspiciously and Saza tenses. The Margravine places her coin purse on the stall and the boy leaps from his hiding spot, lunging in to grab the money. Saza pushes forward, catching the kid off guard and knocking him against the stall. Emile stares, stunned with the sudden attack but he quickly catches on and dives down to hold the stray kid, loosening Saza’s hold.
The kid squirms, kicking and screaming, as more and more people gather around. Shouting echoes throughout the crowd and Saza’s stomach drops. He clutches Mercedes skirt, his heart racing. It’s just like before, back at the camp, except now he’s not the one pinned to the ground. A guardsman breaks through the crowd.
“Hey! What’s going on here?”
“It’s that boy! He’s a thief! Tried to take the Margravine’s money, that he did.”
“Let me go!” The child screams, kicking in vain. ”Let me go! I have to go back!”
“Alright ya whelp, no more of this!” The guardsman gives Emile a nod, giving him permission to let go. The boy tries to escape but the guard manhandles him. Saza watches as the kid struggles, kicking and biting powerlessly against the indifferent guard. He’s desperate- it’s not selfishness, like those men who took him. He’s trying to live.
Pleadingly, Saza looks up at the Margravine, and tugs on her hand, begging her to stop this somehow. The Margravine gives him a smile and releases his hand.
“Excuse me, sir?” She politely inquires as she walks towards the guard.
“Ah, milady!” Baffled, the guard attempts a bow and nearly drops the kid. “Pay this no mind. We’ll ensure that no harm ever befalls you or anyone else in our town because of this ruffian ever again!”
“That’s very good, kind sir, but you see I am not injured,” she replies sweetly. “This young man did no harm to me. There’s no need to keep restraining him like that.”
“B-But milady! He tried to make off with your gold!”
“It’s a bit of money, kind sir, no real harm done. Now let him go. I would like a word with this young man’s parents.”
The boy suddenly stops kicking, his eyes wide. The Margravine catches on to his sudden shift and bends to his level.
“I get the feeling you didn’t try to take my coins for the thrill or for greed. Do you mind telling me what happened?”
The boy whispers something to Margravine and her demeanor changes.
“I see.” She rises up, wiping the dirt from her skirt and turns to the boys. “Emile, Saza. Go get your father. I’ll be going on ahead with this young man in town.”
Emile’s eyes widen as he steps in. “But Mom-!”
“I’m fine Emile, really,” she assures with her gentle smile. “If what this young man said is true, we’d be neglecting some sick people. I’ll go help while your father brings in more supplies.”
Saza clings to her skirt, hugging her leg. Her soft hand pats his head. “Don’t worry dear. I’ll be fine. This guard will escort me.”
The guard, stunned, looks nervously at the crowd of witnesses. The pressure with following through on the Margravine’s request is too strong to ignore and he agrees.
Emile huffs, grabbing onto Saza’s shoulder. “Come on Saza. Mom pulls these crazy stunts all the time. Better inform dad so that way the others don’t start worrying.”
Reluctantly, Saza lets her go and returns to wagon with Emile. Emile takes hold of the reigns and guides the horses back to the church with the additional supplies. Saza gazes longingly back at the town, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Margravine. The Margrave and Margravine are both such strange people.
Why did they do that?
Why did they both step in for people they didn’t know?
They didn’t yell or scream or hurt people the way other people do. He didn’t think the Margravine could stop the guard but she did, just by asking nicely. She made it look so easy. How can she afford to be so kind?
Then again, Saza’s not a very nice person. He’s done a lot of bad things. If he was nice, he might have died like everyone else in his village. Maybe…
Saza looks back, annoyed at his confusion. He snorts.
The Margrave and Margravine are weird people… but he likes them.