A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

He heaved a sigh, and stepped through the snow towards them.

"Lombard," Beam said evenly.

"Boy," the Captain said back. They had merely said a word to each other, but both of them had conveyed their thoughts, their resoluteness. They needed to harden their will against an unknown threat.

The air stirred between them, and the snow disappeared in a temporary whirlpool. Then there appeared a man who would have preferred to have remained unseen. His straw hat, and his simple clothes were untouched by the snow, as though he had somehow made it all the way here whilst avoiding every drop.

Tolsey made the mistake of reaching for his sword. Lombard merely stood stoically.

"Ah. When the boy claimed to have a master, I had wondered who it might be," Lombard said. There was a smile on his lips as he said that – a genuinely happy smile.

"You know my name, but I ask that you do not speak it, Captain," Dominus said.

"There are few enough already that would know to speak it, and fewer still that would say it with a pleasantness. Would an old ally not earn you some much-needed warmth, o' scorned knight?" Lombard said, his tone heavy with respect, yet playful.

"Ally? I suppose we were for a time. I did not peg you for a sentimental man though, Lombard," Dominus said.

"Sentiment or not, it is hard to forget greatness when one bears witness to it," Lombard said.

A long sigh escaped Dominus' lips. "This was why I hesitated to reveal myself to you… You're one of the few that see far more worth in my abilities than I am deserving of."

"Arthur saw the same worth in them. How can I presume to know what he did not? I merely followed his gaze, and looked where he was looking," Lombard said.

Beam looked back and forth between them, almost forgetting the cold. It was odd. Such a peculiar sight. His master was being almost bashful – an emotion that Beam would have assumed was far removed from him. And then there was Lombard, the normally grim and stone-faced leader, who was showering him with such obvious reference that it was uncomfortable even for Beam.

"I jest, of course," Lombard said, seeing Dominus fall into silence. "But only to a degree. The kingdom has great need of your power. I was sorry to hear that you had died in the attempted purge of the Pandora Goblin – but here walks a dead man. If you were to head east, the tide of battle would soon turn in our favour. You would save a great many lives."

"The kingdom needs a king," Dominus said gruffly. "Not the swordsmanship of a near-cripple."

"Ah, but we do have a king," Lombard said with a smile. "I see you are as outspoken against him as you were in the past. But that is not our place as nobility. We must merely serve to carry out the orders that we are given. Why not view it as a service to General Blackwell, rather than his highness?"

"I have nothing against that old goat – but I say again, my swordsmanship will be of no use to you. A poison afflicts me, as a residue of that battle. To exert myself would be to perish. My interest now is in the boy – that, and the final boundary that has ever eluded me," Dominus said.

"You seek the sixth boundary?" Lombard said, his eyes widening. "Is such a thing possible?"

It was only now that Tolsey was able to follow the conversation. "Captain – who is this man?" He asked desperately, realizing that a warrior of the fifth boundary stood before him. But to his mind, it was only Arthur that had ever reached that pinnacle.

"I will not speak his name. Know only that a hero stands before you, Vice-Captain, and act accordingly," Lombard said, returning to his usual curtness for a second, before looking at Dominus expectantly, seeking an answer to an earlier question.

Dominus sighed again. "Aye. I do," he said. "The boy inspired me to chase it again. I made some headway, enough that I thought I might break through, but alas, the river of progress seems to flow away from me once more. I doubt that I will make it."

But for Lombard, it was as though through those self-deprecating words he'd heard something else entirely. "For that to even be an option for a knight as accomplished as yourself…" he murmured. He spared a glance at Beam. "Yet you attribute that to the boy?"

"I did," Dominus said. "The little monster has a touch of heroism in him. His burden is great, yet he bears it admirably. It's enough to excite even someone as jaded as I."

"To think you, of all people, would take on an apprentice," Lombard said with a shake of his head. "But of course, I should have known – if there was any knight fool enough to apprentice a peasant, it would be you, who scorns even royalty, and earned the scorn of a whole country in return."

"Such is the way of the fool," Dominus said with a shrug. "And now my foolishness reveals itself once again. It would seem I have overestimated myself. I had begun to hope beyond my station. Even the years have not tempered my wisdom as well as I would have hoped for."

"I think, if anything, you underestimate yourself," Lombard said thoughtfully. "I for one am inclined to believe you capable of that feat, even if you doubt it yourself. Alas, why is it that such a rogue like yourself would show yourself to us now? Have you not undone all the hard work you put into remaining hidden?"

Dominus' face darkened at that. "A hint of regret, I suppose. I debate whether I should have spent more time training the boy, rather than chasing that lofty illusion of mine… You felt it earlier, did you not? There's a great darkness approaching."