"So Hangro says he has work in a blacksmith's in town. If Elden gets the job, I can finally leave this retched place and raise my kids in peace." The head cook told her assistant. "I mean this isn't the worse job in the world, but the secrecy and lies aren't good for an older woman."

"You've said." The assistant smiled as she bustled around the kitchen. "How are you going to tell the lord?" She asked as she propped her self up against the counter.

The cook shook her head. "I honestly don't know. " She stopped speaking and peered out of the window. "He's back." She hissed. "You better not be late." Her assistant perked up and ran out of the kitchen.

She ran down the stairs and out of the door to join the line of servants outside. As the the gates opened she slid to her place.

The lord of the house walked into the courtyard. He was followed by his son and a flank of guards. The servants one by one bowed. Once the lord entered the house the guards began to drag people from the cart.

They were all bound by their hands, men of all different ages. The guards were ruthless and didn't have anything against whipping children. Some of the servants had left. The ones that had remained outside stared at their feet hoping not to witness anything.

The assistant looked up. It wasn't the first time she had witnessed the beating's of the lords prisoner's and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. She counted eleven men. Three of them were children, five of them were grown men, two of them were old men and the last was a boy who looked her age.

As he passed he caught her glance. His face was bruised and he looked weak. She nodded slightly to him and watched him as he disappeared into the barn behind the house. She let out a sigh, he wasn't going to last five minutes.