Fort Karsam - Part 1

The bearded man that the elder had called his son bristled at Vol's tone. He was well into his middle ages, with grey in his hair, which just went to show how old the elder himself must have been, to be the man's father. "You can't threaten us," he said. "This is our land! Our place! Your people can't come in here and push us around. Earl Maddon has shown what happens when others have tried it in the past."

"Quiet," Penelope warned him, her voice had a rare hint of ice in it. Vol wondered how she'd managed to follow the drawing of his axe, when no one else seemed to have noticed. "You have overstepped. Return another day, if you wish to be heard again."

There was a different element to the way that Penelope said it. Hers was an urging, not an anger. It seemed very much as though she had the villagers' best interests in mind as she gave that warning. They must have felt the same, for they listened, rather than growing angrier.