Heartstone

Soldiers

With Azamont obediently trudging behind them, Arwin, Harl, and Aoi strode towards the village proper.

Harl limped along, a measure of pride on his face as he glanced over his shoulder at the prisoner, the blueblood now meek in his collar. "The tables have turned. It feels good."

"You wore a collar a long time?" Arwin asked.

"Most of my life." Harl nodded. "The nobles were already in charge since well before I was born. But it was only in my twenties that the collars were introduced. At first, they were only put on criminals: spouse abusers, thieves, and the like, people guilty of serious offences. But then they were used for lesser and lesser offences. Nobles began collaring people over a bad debt or a word against them. Soon enough, half the village was wearing them."

"And that's when they started raising some of us as belles and beaus," Aoi added.

"That's right." Harl agreed. "At first, the nobles gave compensation to the families. They treated it like a kind of employment. They got parents on board by promising large sums of money and offering to educate the kids they picked. So, of course, many parents bought into the idea. After all, at that time, belles and beaus were supposed to be educated servants and aides. At least, that's how it was portrayed."

Aoi huffed. "They probably lied right from the start. I'll bet they abused everyone they took into their houses from the moment it began."

Harl looked sad. "I suspect that's the case."

Arwin shook his head. "I think, most of the time, most of us don't intend for things to turn out this way. Nobody wants to become oppressed or manipulated. It usually happens gradually. People are just going about their lives, trying to survive. But then selfish people show up, like those nobles. They push a little bit here and there, doing things that seem small on their own. They take advantage of our willingness to compromise or let the small things go rather than create conflict. We don't realize these compromises only work in their favour, and they build up over time. Next thing you know, there's a whole system in place that only works to their advantage, not ours, and it seems like we can't get out of it."

"Until now." Aoi looked over at Arwin, serious. "Thank you for this."

That caught him by surprise. "I didn't—"

"You started it by freeing Bleu's father and the others. You helped inspire us. You even joined in. And now I can live a normal life in the village instead of being someone's abused sex toy. I'm very grateful."

As am I, lad," Harl added. "You were the spark we needed. You're right: the rest of us grew into the system and got used to it without thinking about doing something about it. We needed a wake-up call." He slapped Arwin on the shoulder. "We're lucky you came along."

Aoi's face brightened, and she gave him a blue-lipped smile and nod of agreement.

Arwin flushed a bit, embarrassed. He wasn't used to praise, nor was he sure he deserved it. The others were giving him too much credit. "You guys were pretty impressive yourselves. It was a team effort."

Harl stood a bit straighter. "Well, we're not done yet. Let's see how well things went for the others, shall we?"

It was soon clear that the actions of the freed workers had caused an uproar in the village. A crowd was gathering in the circle at the center of the village. Nobles had been captured. Harl pointed out members of the village council. All of them now wore the same blue collars that had been on the workers, leaving them pliable and weak. Many had bloody mouths from losing teeth. Villagers were going about the crowd and removing collars from all their peers.