The Will Of The Kings.

Allience Part 2

Much had changed in William's world since his audience with the King. Balor now had the official title of Master of the Watch. A title that meant nothing outside their ward and did not sit well with Balor. Balor was thankful that most people continued to use his name, although William had made sure that everyone in the ward knew the title and what it meant. Balor's new rank meant that eight men, who were now watchmen, did what he said. So far, all that had been asked of them was to patrol the ward around the clock. To achieve this, Balor had split them up and now they all spent eight hours a day wandering around on watch. Balor was five hours into one of these patrols, his feet were beginning to hurt, and he could feel them swelling inside his leather boots.

The conversation in his group had died down and they were all waiting for the last hours to tick by so they could head home from what had become a typically uneventful patrol. Balor had led them out onto the borders of their ward, where there were few others around to bother them. They stepped out from the hedgerow and on to the south road, turning to head back towards Farnbreth. As they did so, Balor noticed a short column of men marching - or trying to march - towards them.

Rook stepped up beside Balor. "Looks like Cral, Warden Cotad's Man," he said, confirming Balor's thoughts. Rook was a small man, but he was hard and wirey from years of working the land, and he was far from thick in the head. The rest of Balor's group consisted of Farmer and his nephew, whose nickname was Crane, due to the fact he was tall and lanky. They moved to Balor's other side to see who Rook was talking about.

Cral was marching his band of men. Oozing with self-importance as he did so, he marched at their head with a rusty old sword at his side. There was no love lost between Cotad's ward and William's men.

"I will have to stop him," Rook said playfully.

"True," Crane said. "We must do our duty."

Balor smiled, confirming his agreement. They all loosened up for what would be an entertaining confrontation. Cotad's and William's wards had always held a rivalry against one another, as many wards did. However, William held the most respect from the other wardens and with it the highest unwritten authority, something that Cotad craved. Cotad continuously failed to knock William off his position, and so the rivalry had grown.

Cotad's current approach was to have more men patrolling his ward than any other. Whether there was any benefit to this policy, no one could say. What could be said was that his enthusiasm for the cause had led him to press many of his 'guards', as he called them, into service and consequently they had almost no enthusiasm for the job, and even less regard for Cotad.

Balor spoke up, while Cral was still a little way off, in a slightly mocking, and formal, manner. "Cral, always a pleasure to see you. May I ask why you and your friends are wandering through our ward?"

Cral had never had any patience for William's ward and always saw them as beneath him. His answer was short, "My Guards and I are heading to the forts, so stand aside".

Cral did not pause, and Balor was not about to stand aside. "Unfortunately, I will need a little more from you than that," Balor said. "We can't have people walking through our ward without giving a valid reason". Balor was ignoring the fact that the south road was open to all.

Rook and the others stood across the road as Cral approached them.

"Perhaps you misheard? We are going to the fort," Cral replied. "We like to keep in touch with our comrades. Unlike other wards." Cral's last remark was directed at Balor, as he stopped in front of him to drive home the point.

Balor did not like that one bit. "Even more reason to ask some questions then," he replied, his eyes narrowing.

Cral smiled mockingly. "Second-hand information again Balor, disappointing. I thought you would be going out of your way to ensure you don't miss out again. But perhaps that is too much thinking for you?"