It’s somewhat funny how stress works. It’s been described by some as something of a mental state of tiredness, weighing you down and making your thoughts feel as though they are swimming through mud. Indeed, there have been those who said that trying to think while mentally overburdened felt the same as it did when one tries to run in dreams. The will to do it and the motions are all there, but the desired effect is lacking.

That was how Jack found himself looking at the raised hands in the crowd. The ones that decided whether Elia won or not. Mentally unprepared to realize what it meant. To actually get a visual count of the hands and come up to a conclusion.

Another funny thing about stress is how quickly it can go away, though. The mind simply needs the proper stimuli. Which is why when Elia spoke his name and he registered the awe and sheer relief in her tone, his thought clicked.

Elia had won!

There were more raised hands than not. Far more. Even now, some villagers were tentatively raising their hands, before dropping them down again, unsure on what their choice is, but those were few. There were those that kept their hands stubbornly pointing at the ground, but even those were not enough to change the result. No, the picture revealed before Jack told of a clear answer. Almost three quarters of the villagers had voted for Elia.

It was shocking. For some.

“You would choose her over me? Over me?!” shouted Mr. Winnow.

But his voice was quickly drowned out by the cheers. The crowd had understood by looking around who was the new Village Head and as the majority had voted for the winner, enthusiasm took over and manifested itself in cheers and smiles.

“I can’t believe it.” Said Elia, stepping closer to Jack.

“Believe it! You’re the new Village Head.” He grinned, former tiredness forgotten.

“It’s just… I knew I wanted this to happen. But now that it did…”

“Elia, you’ve won. Be happy!” said Lola, exasperatedly.

But a smile graced her features, as it did all of Jack’s companions. Mrk’s tail was happily swishing around, while Brom had made his way back to the stage.

“I think you need to hold a speech, Elia.” Jack half shouted.

The cheers from the crowd had only grown in volume since they had started talking.

“But what do I say to them? Oh, I should have prepared for this! I didn’t even think-“

“Elia. Calm down.” Jack laughed. “Just… speak from the heart. You’ve already won. They already picked you. Nothing will go wrong.”

“I guess… Well. Here goes nothing.” She smiled back and went to go speak to her villagers.

She would have too, if someone didn’t take advantage of their little group talk and stepped forward to air his own grievances. Someone who was very, very angry.

“Is this the best choice that the minds of Helmrest can make?! You clod-headed fools! Do you think she’ll be better than me? Her?! I have the Class! I have the Skills!”

The crowd had gone silent at hearing Mr. Winnow’s tirade. Most were bewildered. They knew him to be a man of dubious morality, that was why the majority had not voted for him, but they weren’t used to seeing him so… aggressive.

It should be said that, though most were bewildered at first, the villagers’ expression quickly grew clouded after hearing them being addressed and insulted like that.

“I have given you years of my life! Years! And for what? You resent me because I grew to be more successful than you? I’m more successful because I’m better! I kept this village stable. Me! And you picked her? She who fraternizes with whores and monsters and Jacks?!”

It was a rare sight for the villagers to see Mrs. Winnow try to calm her husband down, though unsuccessfully. It was usually the other way around. But she had the right idea, as the people had already started booing and jeering. Louis was split between a look of excitement at his father letting loose and fear of the crowd’s reaction.

“Do you think her plan will work? That Helmrest can stand alone? I would have given you protection! I would have made Helmrest a proud part of Ameron. Do you have any idea of what is going on in the bigger picture? Of what you have ruined out of sheer stupidity?! Of course, you don’t! Because you’ve just proven you are all a bunch of ignorant, dirt-eating, fucking-“

A heavy gauntleted hand came to rest on Mr. Winnow’s shoulder, reducing him to silence. It was just in time too, as both Mr. Winnow’s ‘speech’ and the crowd’s resentment were about to reach their respective crescendos. To perhaps explosive results.

Merial stepped forward, replacing Mr. Winnow in the public’s eye, with one hand raised towards them in appeasement.

“People of Helmrest.” He intoned. “I urge you to excuse Mr. Winnow’s words. The weight of his burdens has taken its toll and has made him act in less than gallant ways.” He said, sparing the man a look.

Mr. Winnow himself didn’t look at all apologetic, but said nothing more, returning to his wife and son.

“But he is right in one thing. There is more happening that you do not know. Helmrest is viewed by Ameron to be of strategic interest. Ameron desires Helmrest. And what the kingdom of Ameron desires, the kingdom of Ameron obtains. Please, hear me. I know you have not been moved by the gifts that could have been received by this village. By the improvements and safety. Yet I tell you this.”

He squared his shoulders and addressed the villagers at almost a shout.

“If you do not willingly accept to be part of the kingdom of Amenor and cherish the improvements to your lives that could be granted, that my kingdom will Annex Helmrest forcefully and you will receive nothing of what could have been offered.”

His words passed through the crowd like a shockwave. Cries of dismay and of anger were heard. The people had just won. Their candidate guaranteed their independence. And now they were told that it would be taken from them?

“You did not just say that!” Elia shouted. “You’re telling us that if we do not accept your yoke around our necks, you’ll put it on yourself?”

“I am informing you of what will happen, Ms. Elia.”

“You realize we can just take you prisoner, right? You just declared an act of war.”

The knight half-way turned to look at her.

“I could have withheld this knowledge. Said nothing and appeared later with an army at your gates. Does this not merit good-will?”

Elia hesitated, but rallied quickly.

“Even so. Is this the way Amenor acts? By forcing itself on communities that wish nothing of it?”

“It is the way all kingdoms act.” The knight said and turned to the crowd again. “People of Helmrest. I will give you one final chance. Accept the offer of Amenor and enjoy our generosity. Or decline it and await our army. Raise your hands, those of you that would pledge fealty to Amenor!”

Jack watched with his heart in his throat. They had just won. It couldn’t just go away like that… could it?

To his deep-felt relief, it didn’t go away. Very few of those present raised their hands. And of those who did, sheer peer pressure exercised through dirty looks had a number of them to drop their hands again.

The knight looked at all of this, a look of disappointment on his face.

“Vey well.” He said. “You have made your choice. I hope you will be able to stomach the consequences.”

He retreated off the stage after that, taking the Winnows and their goons with him. He spared a look at Jack as he was leaving and Jack thought the knight looked pondering. He also noticed that his eyes never landed anywhere near to where Brom was. The dwarf must have made an impression.

“Uh, Elia? I think it might be the right time to make that speech of yours.” Said Lola.

Indeed, the villagers had been enthusiastic before, but though they resisted the knight’s attempt at strongarming them, they were now much more subdued. The idea of facing an army was alarming, even if it might have been just words in the wind on the knight’s part.

“Right. Whew. I… should go do that.” She said and smiled at them, though the hint of panic was still there on her face.

Stepping forward on the stage, she straightened her back and raised her voice.

“People of Helmrest. Do not despair. You have just witnessed the true face of the Winnows and those they call their allies. This is what would have awaited us if we would have allowed them to stay in power. Years of subtle or not so subtle abuse. But we have freed ourselves of them. You chose not to remain under their yoke, but to step forward into a new future.”

She was smiling as she was talking and her own words regrew her courage. The villagers took heart from that as well.

“I want to thank you for giving me your trust. I will to the best of my abilities try and live up to it. You have heard my plans and my ideas. All that and your own I will try to make reality. Security is an issue. But I have hired guards and plan to hire more. And let’s not forget, the nymph may be gone, but the forest, the Refuge, now has three individuals and they all have Classes.” She said, pointing at them.

Jack felt the spotlight moving back to him. He gave a weak smile and wave.

I have Classes, Elia, not combat Classes.

But perhaps that was enough to instill hope. People who had Classes were not common. And his Refuge sporting three such individuals gave the villagers a sense of pride, through proximity alone. Perhaps even reassurance. They did see the Jack and Brom take out a knight.

Brom himself didn’t look like he minded the public’s attention. He didn’t look like he was even that aware of it, truly. Mrk however was preening like only a ratling could.

“I want to thank them. It is through them and their hard work that my wish to become Village Head was possible. It was their help and Lola’s which made all this a reality.”

The girl in question smiled and waved at the crowd as well.

“It is customary to have an evening of celebrations after the new Village Head is chosen. Well,” she said, with a rueful grin “it’s only mid-day now, so I imagine our celebrations will last a little longer than it did in previous years. Still, there is one last thing I wish to address.”

She grew more serious and the crowd looked at her with attention.

“We have all heard the knight. We do not know if it was an attempt at intimidation or a promise. But I will tell you this. Helmrest will grow. It has the potential. We will not be stopped by anyone, be they bandits, monsters or kingdoms. If the kingdom of Amenor comes for us, we will face it!” she shouted the last words, raising a fist in the air.

The roar from the crowd was delirious. Faint promise that, a village facing a kingdom, but it seemes to be just what the people needed to hear. The cheering eventually died down, allowing Elia to speak for a final time.

“And now, my dear neighbors. I think we can all use some drinks!”

It seems that a celebration after choosing a new Village Head really was tradition of Helmrest. The village didn’t have many such events, so the people took to it with gusto. Normally, the former Village Head would dine with the new one, trading stories and perhaps even engaging in a sort of mentorship for a few days. Of course, there was no chance of that happening. Jack learned that the Winnow’s were preparing to leave for Amenor, with some of the families of the Mr. Winnow’s goons following them.

Tables and chairs had been brought in the square, with people pulling out what food they had prepared and what ale and wine they had with them. Some villagers brought out flutes and drums and tried their best to make music to which other villagers tried their best to dance to.

All in all, it was a festivity, with people making merry all around them. And since Elia seemed to never catch a break, she had to leave them for a few hours, citing matters left unattended by Mr. Winnow as he dropped everything he was currently doing in favor of leaving the village quicker.

The four had gotten a table for themselves and spent the first hour or so wolfing down all offered food. Well, three of them did. Lola actually had a thing called tact. Jack also got to have his first experience with ale, though Brom did make sure to pester him about ale not being water, shouldn’t be treated like water and generally be a no-fun guardian figure.

It was interesting to notice the public’s opinion regarding them. Mrk was no longer treated as a monster and some of the younger villagers even came by to ask of him and his race. Brom had far less attention, but Jack did notice that quite a few women were giving him looks that he didn’t know explicitly what they meant, but instinctively he had a pretty good idea.

I don’t really get it, but I suppose he is rather fit.

Lola herself was viewed much more positively. People came by to offer her food and drinks. That there were young men who did was not surprising, since even with her first Class, she still received some attention. But that older men and women, those who may have scorned for before, stopped by to ask her of |Herbalist| remedies and lotions or simply to thank her for her aid to Elia was astounding. There was not a hint of subterfuge of the villager’s faces, though some did have hints of regret. Lola was enjoying it fully, finally being able to act as another member of Helmrest.

Jack wasn’t sure that this turnaround was caused by the people finally finding out and accepting Mrs. Winnow’s role in Lola’s Class or them being respectful of her new Class. Perhaps both.

Speaking of Jack, that was where the change in the people was the most noticeable. They didn’t treat him badly, even at first. But now they were almost reverent of him. He did have a few feats under his belt. Being the owner of the Refuge, fighting against the monsters, having multiple Classes, helping to defeat a knight and making it possible to oust the Winnow’s from Helmrest. Several villagers came by to either thank or congratulate him, all smiles and warmth.

That was how they spent a few hours, until Elia finished her chores and caught up to them.

“Hi, sorry for the wait- oh, is this for us?” she said, grabbing a chicken leg. “I had to put a few things in order- oh, this is so good- since Mr. Winnow neglected to attend to the transition of duties -gulp- and I also did a quick check into what he was up to until he left- Brom, pass me that cup please?”

“Elia eat like ratling.” Said Mrk.

“Yeah.” Laughed Jack. “Elia, why don’t you grab a bite to eat and only tell us what you learned after you’re full?”

She only nodded, since her mouth was too full was any word to make it out.

“Right. My compliments to the cook.” She said after she was done. “Now, business.”

Jack would have groaned if not for the serious look on her face.

So we’re still not out of the fire.

“I managed to grab a hold of what Mr. Winnow has been looking into these past few days. He had lists made up, consisting of every able-bodied man in Helmrest. He also had a list of everyone in Helmrest who had Classes and of those, underlined were the ones who had Classes that could be geared for combat. Only our |Hunters|, though. You see what this means?” she asked, looking at them.

They shook their heads, with the exception of Brom.

“He was looking for soldiers.” The dwarf said. “Or at least, those that could become soldiers.”

“That was my thought as well. And I bet that information has already been passed along to Amenor.”

“Wait, so it was for real? Amenor really is looking to annex Helmrest because it wanted to grow it’s army?” Jack asked.

“It sure looks like it. Perhaps not only because of that. I also saw information detailing Helmrest’s geographical position, nearby resources like clay deposits, proximity to trade routes. Even the coin Helmrest realistically can make in a given year. But I think the main reason is the men it can spare.”

“Amenor is looking to go to war.” Brom said.

“You sure? As in, positively sure?” asked Jack.

“I see no other reason for this interest in Helmrest. This village is grand and has potential of being something more. Yes, taking it over now would send coin to Amenor’s coffers. But that is no real reason of sending an army this way or annexing it by force. I have told you before, Jack. Few raids have been done by Amenor this past few years. I believe it had been saving up strength. Their lord is looking into sending out one massive assault on my kin. And adding the men of Helmrest to their own forces would only help that.”

“So, it’s real then.” Said Lola. “What the knight said. “They really are planning on sending an army our way and taking Helmrest by force.”

“I think so.” said Elia.

Jack thought it all to be stupid. Subjugating a village just to send their men fight in a pointless war. But he thought back to what Merial said. That was the way of kingdoms.

“How do we stop them?” he asked Elia.

“…I’m not sure we can, Jack. Not at our current rate. We don’t have fighters and the guards I hired will flee in the face of an actual army. Not that I think it will be a real army, but even a smaller attack force would be enough.”

“Then… what? You’re not saying we should give up, right?”

“Of course not!” she bit out. “Sorry, I’m just a little on edge. No, we will most definitely not give up. But I’m not sure what do to moving forward. We could try and train our own force. Not to win, but to make us a poor target… make it so that Amenor would lose men trying to take us over.”

“I might be of assistance on that matter. I could help others train.” Spoke Brom.

“Thanks, Brom. But I’m not even sure if that would be the correct course of action. If we train our own soldiers, those men would not be able to work the fields or have a profession. Helmrest would stagnate. Or even go down.”

“What other choice is there?” asked Lola.

“…we could try buying protection. Use the coin that Helmrest makes to hire a decent guard force. But… that would also make Helmrest fail to develop, since we’ll be using most of our coin. And of course, no matter what we choose, we will still need to fortify the village itself. Some walls around it, at a minimum.”

She was morose and her mood was infecting the others. Yet, Elia did notice that and tried to take it away.

“Sorry everyone. I just won and I’m acting like the sky is falling. We’ll figure out a solution. Don’t you worry.”

“Eh, we worry that you worry.” Said Jack. “But yeah, we’ll find something to make it right. We did it with Mr. Winnow, didn’t we? We’ll handle Amenor as well.”

“To beating Mr. Winnow!” said Mrk, raising his mug of ale.

“To beating Mr. Winnow!” said everyone, sharing a toast.

Elia left not long after. She needed sleep or so she said. Privately, Jack thought she would go to sleep, but only after going through every document Mr. Winnow left behind. He didn’t say anything, though, since he knew how focused his work-obsessed friend could be.

Lola left soon too, swaying a little and saying that she needed her sleep as well. The days before had been busy, with her taking part of Elia’s work on herself. The future looked busy as well for Lola, since Elia would still be working as a |Herbalist| and |Potioner| alongside her new job of Village Head, but everyone knew Lola would start to take up more and more of the woman’s chores. Not that she minded. An honest job and a Class alongside it made Lola happier than she had been in years.

The celebration was still going strong when Jack, Brom and Mrk got up to leave. Kegs were being opened and new dishes were brought out, with moderately inebriated people calling out to them to stay for a while more. But they couldn’t. They knew their trek back to their clearing would take some time. Because, if Lola had been slightly swaying, the three were all over the place.

Oh, they could still walk. They just needed to course correct every once in a while. They did have the option to sleep in the village, but in their state of mind, they wanted to sleep in their home. Their Refuge. Their home. Which they built themselves.

Truly, alcohol is a wonder.

It amused Jack, as they went their way trough the forest, guided by torches, that while Brom advised him on drinking moderately, the dwarf gulped down the ale like there was no tomorrow. Perhaps that was due to the fact that he hadn’t had any in quite a long time.

Since their trek took much longer than normal, they found a way to make the time pass faster. Like singing. Every culture had its drinking songs. Jack didn’t know his and the song Mrk tried to teach them was unpronounceable. So, they turned to Brom.

The first song he tried to teach them was deemed too somber. They asked for a drinking song. Brom informed them that the song was indeed a drinking song. They asked for another song. This new one had a quicker tune to it, but it still sounded quite serious. They then asked for another song.

This went on for two more songs. By the time they reached their clearing, Jack and Mrk had made up their mind. Dwarf songs were not happy songs.

Still, they reached their hall in a happy mood, even managing to sober up a little. They went to directly to sleep and thus committed the first and most common error of drunkards everywhere.

They did not drink any water.

***

The morning after sucked.

That may be a pretty abrupt term, but it was how any of the three thought about it. That woke up at mostly the same time and wordlessly made their way down to have breakfast. They acted like a trio of zombies as that methodically took out foodstuffs and put on a pot of tea. Not real zombies, the ones who liked to bite your face of and drop parts of themselves everywhere they went. No, more like social zombies.

It was as they were eating that a knock was heard on the door. The sound of which made them all wince. That was… odd. The only people who visited them weren’t people that needed to knock.

Jack shared a look with the others.

“Are we expecting anyone?”

“Mrk not knows.”

“Not that I heard off.”

Whoever it was at the door, knocked again. Since they didn’t have a clue as to who it was and the knocking was more torturous than annoying, Jack called out.

The door opened and in walked another proof that Jack knew very little of this world. Since he had no idea what she was. She was a she, the breastband proved that. She also wore a loincloth, that was too short to realistically be called a skirt. But the fur on the lower side of her body took care of any indecency issues that might have arose. Oh, and she had hooves. And horns. You know, as a bonus to all the confusion Jack felt.

“Uh, hi? I hope I’m not intruding…” she said, before spotting their breakfast “…too much?”

Jack felt a wave of… something hit him, as she spoke. It’s not that anything changed about her and more like he felt he suddenly understood something intrinsic to her. He felt that she might not be the nice type of character to enter his clearing. Like there was something dubious about her.

He also felt like the feeling washing over him was familiar.

Well, that was Jack’s reaction. Mrk’s and Brom’s ones were similar, but more… enthusiastic.

“Stay back, Jack!” Brom shouted, as he got to his feet, hangover forgotten.

Mrk had similarly stood up and was flexing his claws dangerously.

“Move a single step and I will take you down.” Brom spoke with barely restrained anger.

Ava just tensed, sighed and muttered.

“Shit, not this again.”