read my new story : American Fast & Furious NSFW
The night wind began to pick up.
A clearing had already been made in the center of the market.
The bodies of several raiders had been dragged to a corner, and Cerwyn soldiers were busy extinguishing the scattered, lingering fires.
On the muddy ground, mixed with blood and torn fabric...
Earl Medger stood wrapped in a heavy felt cloak.
The body of the cloak was a deep green with rolled white edges, and the silver-backed black battleaxe sigil was embroidered on the back.
At this moment, his face had lost its usual gentle demeanor.
His eyebrows were knotted together tightly, every inch of his facial muscles radiating fury!
"Lord Earl."
Don Quixote reined in his horse, brought it to a halt, and dismounted.
Earl Medger turned around, his gaze falling on Don Quixote.
This knight, who had earned so much of Ser Kyle's appreciation, was covered head-to-toe in blood, his chainmail dented in multiple places.
His face was splattered with drops of blood, but his eyes remained sharp and steady, without the slightest hint of panic.
Earl Medger suppressed the fury burning in his chest and nodded:
"Don Quixote, your performance today tells me that Ser Kyle was not wrong about you!"
Don Quixote replied calmly and steadily:
"Lord Earl, it was my duty.
"I just wasn't strong enough on my own to stop all this from happening."
Earl Medger took a deep breath, looking around at the utterly devastated market.
The charred wooden beams, the scattered goods, the blood that had yet to dry.
And the low sobbing of the smallfolk coming from not far away.
Everything in his line of sight made Earl Medger fall silent once again.
His cloak snapped violently in the bitter wind.
The black axe on a silver field flickered in the alternating firelight and darkness, looking like a dormant beast.
Earl Medger suddenly let out a cold laugh, the residual anger clear in his voice:
"Duty? Promises? Some people certainly don't see it that way!"
Saying this, he gave Don Quixote a meaningful look:
"Two freelance knights broke their promises and fled without putting up even a sliver of resistance!"
"Flynn, Wood!" Liam, who was lying heavily wounded on the ground, suddenly looked up at Don Quixote and spat:
"Those two bastards turned tail and ran at the first sign of trouble!"
Don Quixote, who had already noticed Liam, nodded to him in acknowledgment.
After being saved by Don Quixote, Liam had gotten back on his horse and returned to the market to save people and kill the enemy.
If Liam hadn't fought as desperately as he did, the casualties among the smallfolk in Cerwyn Market tonight would undoubtedly have been much higher.
The fury in Earl Medger's eyes burned even brighter as he said coldly:
"I will see to it that their honor is utterly ruined!
"I will make sure every lord and bannerman in the North knows what they did! An oathbreaker has no right to remain in the North!"
In Westeros, an oath was a sacred contract, witnessed by either the Old Gods or the Seven. Breaking an oath wasn't just a breach of contract; it was an offense against the gods themselves!
Eddard Stark had once said: The most dangerous man in the world is an oathbreaker.
Because they had lost their bottom line and would do absolutely anything to survive.
As strict as the vows of the Night's Watch.
Once the vow was broken, it was a fight to the death. Any lord who captured a deserter could execute them on the spot, without trial.
Next was Guest Right.
Guest Right was the most sacred unwritten law in Westeros.
Guest Right = Roof + Bread + Salt.
All three were indispensable. It was an iron law passed down in Westeros since the time of the First Men.
Once enacted, the host could not harm the guest, and the guest could not plot against the host or their family, until the guest departed or the host explicitly ended the right.
Witnessed jointly by the Old Gods and the Seven, those who violated it were guaranteed to suffer divine retribution.
Legend had it that violators would suffer the curse of the Rat Cook:
A cook who killed a prince and baked him into a pie was turned into a massive white rat by the gods, doomed to eat his own young for all eternity, symbolizing "reaping what one sows and the severing of one's bloodline."
Next were the vows of the Kingsguard.
When Jaime Lannister killed the Mad King, Aerys II, even though it was to save King's Landing...
And even though the Lannister family backing him was one of the wealthiest and most powerful houses in the Seven Kingdoms!
He could never shake off the label of "Kingslayer." He bore the infamy of an "Oathbreaker" for the rest of his life, despised by the world!
As for the oaths of hedge knights, freelance knights, and mercenaries—sometimes they were treated as a matter of reputation, and other times they seemed to be treated as sacred vows.
A light consequence meant their reputation was ruined, blacklisted by employers across the entire continent.
A heavy consequence meant being silenced by their former or new employers, or even subjected to torturous revenge to serve as a warning to others.
————
Liam ground his teeth and said:
"We have to make sure everyone in the North knows the true faces of those two bastards!
"The North Remembers those who break their promises!
"Let them be spat upon for the rest of their lives!"
"Don't worry!" Earl Medger sneered:
"I will write down their crimes—fleeing before the enemy, breaking their vows of employment, and abandoning the smallfolk and their lord!
"I will send ravens to Winterfell, to Last Hearth... even to Karhold!
"I will make sure every lord in the North sees these cowards for what they are. Their names will be forever tied to 'Oathbreaker,' and they will never recover!"
With that, Earl Medger glanced at Don Quixote and Liam, saying coldly:
"Don Quixote, although you didn't break your promise and arrived in time to help!
"But...
"But with such a massive number of raiders creeping up on the market, neither of you noticed a single trace of them!
"Your incompetence truly disappoints me!
"Liam, you are fined one year's pay!
"Don Quixote, go tell those freelance knights that you are all to leave Cerwyn lands by tomorrow!"
"Yes, Lord Earl," Don Quixote accepted calmly.
No excuses, no fighting back.
Earl Medger was clearly in a state of fury and wasn't likely to accept anyone's explanations.
Especially an explanation from a commoner with no status or standing!
Watching Don Quixote ride away, Liam, still lying on the ground, endured the pain to explain:
"Lord Earl, the main responsibility for this lies with me. Don Quixote and his men were off duty earlier.
"Furthermore, those raiders clearly planned this well in advance and hid themselves perfectly!
"Things have been very quiet around the market these past few days. We patrolled day and night without finding a single trace!
"They must have been lying low somewhere else and only moved to the market tonight."
Earl Medger said coldly:
"Which is exactly why I'm only giving you a minor punishment instead of having you hanged!"
Ser Kyle, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly asked:
"Lord Earl, shall we interrogate the prisoners?"
Earl Medger shook his head:
"You go. Bring me the results of the interrogation tomorrow morning.
"Don't let these raiders die, but don't go easy on them either!"
He paused, then added:
"Kyle, are there any familiar faces among the prisoners?"
Ser Kyle thought for a moment and shook his head:
"No, they're all unfamiliar faces. And they all seem like nobodies!"
Earl Medger continued:
"Any familiar faces among the corpses?"
Ser Kyle immediately replied:
"My Lord, I haven't carefully examined the faces of the corpses yet. I will go look immediately and report back to you tomorrow morning along with the interrogation results!"
Earl Medger nodded: "Mm."
"My Lord, do you suspect these men have an unusual origin?" Ser Kyle asked, his brow furrowing as his voice turned cold.
...