Red Rock

Chapter 22: Toeing the Line (Part 1)

Chapter 22 Toeing the Line

Daire shook his head frustratingly. In the distance he saw that Dominick had sent thirty of his military units to accompany his workers in assuming control of the sambu field. The presence of Dominick's military made Daire tense and bitter. Dominick had only been accompanied by twelve of his armed men on his first visit. The fact that there were eighteen more showed that he was expecting something to happen.

"What do you think?" Daire asked Luke, seeing the vibrancy of the yellow robes getting closer.

"I can see about thirty of them, nothing that should be a problem, they are outnumbered," Luke said with a smile, secretly hoping for some military tension.

Jacob and Zack stood at either side of Daire with their eyes completely glued to the men and women approaching. "No one says anything," Daire made clear in a loud roar.

The armed yellow robed men situated themselves in front of their workers. The workers were smiling and laughing amongst themselves, excited to get to work in a glorious field of sambu. Each of them made a conscious effort to stay quiet and let the two parties negotiate. The change of scenery and opportunity to work elsewhere was all too thrilling for them to stay physically content.

"Lead the way to the field," one of the yellow robed warriors demanded, walking forth from his formation.

Daire scanned front to back of the large group that stood in front of him. "Where is Dominick?" he asked, disappointed that he was not present.

"He has other matters to attend to."

Daire wasn't satisfied. "Well, I expected him here."

He didn't reply. The man in the yellow robe stood there and did not move a single muscle in his body. He was disciplined and patient.

"Show me the gold," Daire said, snapping his fingers, not appreciating the game the leader was playing.

The man turned around and yelled a word in a different language. Two scrawny looking men emerged from the crowd of workers. The two workers didn't dare look up. They were trained to be obedient and cooperative. They set a wooden chest a few feet away from Daire before slowly retreating back to their places.

Daire bent over and opened the chest. The gold shone a satisfying glimmer into his eyes, but the quantity was clearly under what he demanded. "This isn't a thousand," Daire said, looking at the robed man to confirm that he was not stupid.

"There are four hundred gold coins. The other half will be delivered in a couple of weeks."

Daire's head went into a flaming ember. "What do you mean the other half?!" he asked, escalating his tone. "There is supposed to be one thousand gold coins in that chest right now!"

"That is not an issue that I am concerned with. You must take it up with our leader himself."

"I did! And he said 'One thousand coins upfront!'"

The crowd of workers was no longer smiling. They were fearful. The political dispute was beyond their realm of expertise and they felt in no way comfortable to be there. Not a word was spoken between Daire and the leader, each slowly retreating back to their aggressively planted military.

Luke waited behind Daire, ready to give an order to attack at any moment. He was excited that it had come so far and hoped for further escalation. The fifty men he had with him were armed with spears and knives, and standing in a ready position. The yellow robed men sensed the same concern as well, laying their fingers on their sheathed weapons.