Chapter 33: Chapter 33

They left an hour later.

The carriage took them somewhere north from Easterwel.

Oliver didn't lose orientation, but one didn't exactly need specific tracking skills to know they were getting pretty far away from everything that included people wandering around.

The coachman stopped at the end of the road and the two of them headed to the place Callum was given the address of.

They paused before the old, presumably empty building.

"Did they choose this place?" Oliver asked and stopped to take the place in.

" I wasn't in the position to negotiate. "

"How many of them are going to be in there?"

"Two."

Oliver took another look around, confirming there really wasn't anything nearby. That was never a good sign.

"You know they'll be more than that. "

"I should hope not that many."

The Lord adjusted his hat and straightened up.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, let's get this over with. "

Callum hesitated, a frown clouding his face and he said "I want you to know that if..."

"You'll tell me later, right?"

"Right. "

They exchanged a nod and headed in.

The first thing Oliver saw were two men.

One of them was standing guard, while the other one was sitting in a chair, placed in front of the big door, opposite the entrance on the first floor.

It was semi-dark and dusty and Oliver caught the smell of something stale, or moldy.

It definitely wasn't a place where people spend much time or had hot drinks in the afternoon.

"Good day, gentlemen, " Callum greeted and the short one pointed at them.

"Check them."

The man who got up was huge, bigger than Oliver, but he was also moving way slower than him.

"Who's this?" he grumbled and tried for Oliver "We said no... "

"None of your business. Now back off with the threats, yeah? "

The big man looked at his superior in confusion, then at Callum.

"If you even touch him, " Oliver pointed at the Lord with his chin " I'll cut your hand off. I swear. Now you either fuck off and let us in, or there's no meeting. It's up to you. "

He glanced at Callum, who was standing quietly by his side.

Oliver knew what he looked like when he wanted to sound threatening. And even though he hated to be in a position to abuse his intimidating posture, now was one of those times he simply had to.

"No tricks, all right?"

The smaller man said, the question directed at Oliver.

"That will depend on you."

They held each other's eyes briefly, yet challenging, and the man turned to the giant.

"Show them the way. But make sure you don't lose them. Especially the soldier."

The giant nodded and led them up.

At the opening of the door, Oliver saw three men, sitting around a table.

Callum and him were seriously outnumbered and Oliver could only hope they would find a way to really talk to the men.

And if those men had already made their minds up to just shoot the two of them and be done with it, Oliver's only wish was it was done efficiently.

One of the men had his gun on the table.

It was a navy pistol ,the same as the ones Oliver had seen being introduced in the army not long before he left it.

Bad sign, but not the worst.

Oliver strategically took the seat closest to the armed man, and Callum sat down next to the older one.

The third man turned to  Callum.

"We agreed to no company."

The man next to Oliver grabbed for his pistol, and Oliver only heard a gasp from the man opposite.

Good. But Oliver was faster.

He quickly took hold of the revolver and pointed it at its owner.

The two other men tried to get up belatedly, but Oliver shook his head.

"No, no. Sit back down. "

"I know you're the only one armed in here because you thought the lord would come alone. And you" he told the other two men

"Judging by your size and reactions you seem to be way too inexperienced with fighting . I'd guess you'll do the talking. "

The two men glanced at each other and sat back down. Oliver continued.

"Now. There are five bullets in here because the gun is slightly lighter than when it's fully loaded. You probably fired a test shot earlier, to see if a bullet would get stuck in the barrel. Those malfunction, it's a bother, I know. I also won't ask where you got it from."

He saw the look the men shared and glanced at Callum, whose eyes were wide blue crystals in the murky room, glinting with something close to surprise. And maybe wonder, but Oliver decided he could ponder over that later and went on.

"I can kill all three of you before the men outside come in. I know only one of them is armed and I have a knife on me. You don't want to check if that's true and whether your brainless guard missed it. And I'm much better with knives, that I can assure you.

When the police come and you can be sure they will, I'm going to tell them it was self-defense and that you brought us here forcefully to ask for ransom, or no- anything works, really. It is going to be a Lord's word against that of peasants and radicals. “ Oliver gestured with the gun between them ”Well, not you, in particular, but the people supporting you.

The few of you living will hang.

Now shut the fuck up, stop playing Robinhood and his Merry Men and listen to what the Lord has to offer you before I blow your brains out."

*****

"Give me one good reason not to order Tennyson's death."

The older man said and Oliver had correctly guessed he was the more leveled one. He was also right about assuming he'd be the one doing most of the talking.

The other two were listening quietly.

Callum had said they'd need their support too, however.

"You'll die before him," Cal said. "And if you don't, it won't lead to anything. We all agree the government has to change. But a riot simply won't lead to anything."

The man crossed his arms. "Cut the head of the leader... "

"And four more will grow." Callum finished. "Even if you kill government officials, new ones will come. And they will still support the same ideas and people from their ranks."

"And? We'll keep cutting until they rot."

One of the men said, but the older one silenced him.

"Let them finish. What do you suggest, Fernsby?"

It was the first time Oliver heard someone address Cal with his last name. With his father's name and the Lord sat on the edge of his chair.

"We'll have new elections. And if you support the new party, you'll have seats in the Parliament."

Oliver looked at Callum and it was like all pieces fit together and it dawned on him.

"Why should I trust you?" one of the men said.

"You have bigger chances of surviving if you do."

Oliver said flatly and ran his finger over the trigger.

"Don't threaten me, boy."

"I'm not. I'm only saying your cause is doomed. You have no organization and no formal leadership. You are also very few and your plans are well-known. Give yourselves a chance of winning and not having more men die for a lost cause."

Callum added, "We can change the things only from the inside."

The man scowled and after he’d thought what had just been said over declared.

"All right then. What do you suggest? "

The Lord laid the plan out. It went much better than Oliver had expected. Granted- there were things he hadn't known about and tried not to show it, but the men's initial moodiness seemed to be decreasing the more Callum talked.

The lord was wrong about what he'd said about himself- he could actually be very good with people.

If Oliver had created the image of a threat at first, Callum's great skills and well-thought arguments seemed to have eased the atmosphere.

The men were now nodding in agreement to what Cal was saying. They'd even stopped the occasional peeking at the gun in Oliver's hand.

He thought he could allow himself to assume they'd probably won them over, or something close to it.

The man asked some more questions, all of which Callum managed to answer and the older one said, concluding.

"I hope it works and it is as you say so. "

"You have my word."

Callum said.

They got up to leave, and one of the men outstretched his hand to Oliver.

"I'll keep it in case the Lord needs more guarding," he told them and put the gun in his coat pocket.

They headed for the door and right before exiting when one of them said

"I never thought I'd meet someone who despised the Minister as much as I did. And now I see his own family is ready to stand against him."

"You reap what you saw, "Oliver said and urged Callum out. "Come on."

"I see you've found yourself a guard dog, my Lord. "

The other one said, "I hope he doesn't turn against you and bite you too."

"Yes, let's go, Oliver. "

Callum said and they headed out.

"That was..." Calum said once they were at a safe distance from the place. "How did you know?"

They saw their carriage a few feet away and headed quickly towards it.

"About?"

"The gun, everything. "

"I didn't."

"You did."

"I just guessed, and I've used the same pistol in the army."

"And you don't have a knife, do you?"

Oliver shrugged "Not really. "

Callum shook his head and continued walking "Is there anyone, ever who thought you are a servant?"

Oliver searched his mind and said thoughtfully.

"My sister."

Callum burst out laughing and they headed back to Easterwerwel.