Guard Captain Pt 2

A meal hall conversation

Cassius wasn't oblivious to the glances, thinking however that some of the more exaggerated looks they were receiving made him sure that his body's previous owner must've been quite craven towards Jacobs. 

Jacobs, taking note of his amused expression, guided Cassius to the meal line and they waited patiently. The pair were handed a large wooden plate, where a curiously aromatic stew was poured into a cavity dug into a stale loaf of bread. Cassius looked around for utensils, realising with some frustration that he could not look at any he looked over to Jacobs to find that he was currently somewhat amusingly watching him. Cassius had an eye for facial reactions, and although it was subtle, this scowling man absolutely was amused with him. 

"Are utensils provided here?" Towards this question, Cassius received no immediate answer but watched in quiet horror as a grin stretched across Jacobs's face in what must have been his first attempt at such a show of joviality. It looked predatory and would have fit more on a battlefield than something a child should ever have to experience. If this was his smile, he could one-hundred percent understand now why the old Cassius was petrified of the man. He was certain serial killers used this man's portrait as inspiration.

While he physically grimaced at this display, Jacobs retrieved a set of utensils from a pocket in his cloth pants and handed them to Cassius who had to sigh in resignation. 

Moving between the tables Cassius started to look for seating and finally spotted an excellent spot. The two younger men who were so surprised earlier were quietly eating their morning meal, completely oblivious to Cassius and his plan. 

Jacobs, who was following the young man, realised where he was headed. 'Why them?' he thought to himself, subtly looking forward to whatever Cassius had planned for them. 

Cassius glanced back and gestured for him to go around the table and sit opposite to him, directly beside "Never mind that", the loudest of the two, while he would sit beside " Isn't that". The pair, happily eating their morning meal were completely oblivious to their impending doom and were chattering away until it was too late. 

With an almost timed precision, Cassius and Jacobs both sat their plates down and took a seat, noticing again that the twinkle in Jacobs's eyes had become virtually blinding, and the fear-of-god was suddenly etched into the faces of both young guards. Ahhhh…. He missed this feeling. There was nothing better than scaring the dog shit out of young troops, especially with a 'Bulldog' in tow. 

"So, I understand being awake this early is unusual is it?" Cassius started with a rhetorical question, sternness lacing his otherwise childish voice. 

The young men, obviously rather panicked, were unable to come up with an answer and just stared rather dumbfounded at suddenly being put in the limelight. Other tables started to turn and look, elevating the pressure on the two young men.

"Lord Cassius asked you both a question," Jacobs stated plainly, playing along with whatever the young lord had planned. 

The one furthest away from the refrigerator-sized sized apex-predator barely concealed in the form of a man, was the first to speak up. "W-we meant no disrespect, M'Lord." 

Cassius was realising his status within the garrison must've been lacking if even regular guardsmen felt able to comment about him so freely in his presence, might as well correct that while he's at it.

"Then what was meant by it? Was it so shocking to see a Noble with the Captain of his father's garrison? Is it strange to see a Lord walking around his castle?" Cassius asked with a level tone, hoping to get a reasonable answer from one of the two young men.

Now, it had to be mentioned that yes. It was indeed rather strange to see a Noble, let alone a Nobleman's scion such as Cassius to be awake before dawn. It was typical of the era for Noble's and their children to awake shortly after or around dawn, if not later depending on the region. So seeing Cassius, a child of 11 awake before first light was indeed quite strange, but this thought had never crossed his mind when he had first awoken. 

This point was not lost on the guardsmen who shot each other a blank, slightly confused look. 

"M'lord… we've never seen you rise before mid-dawn.." The younger of the two seated beside him started nervously.

Cassius looked back towards the two with his own blank gaze. "Ah, I see, so then it's normal to gawk at your Lord when he enters?"

Evidently, they had garnered Cassius's ire by speaking so loudly of his unusual visit this early in the morning, which frightened the eldest of the two. It wasn't unheard of for some of the more zealous Houses and Families to send men like who had commented on their Lords out of turn to some far-off garrison, or just straight up executing them, which although rare, still occurred with some regularity across the world. 

The older of the two guards seemed to grow slightly panicked at this realisation, having must of heard the brutal rumours of nobles who would inflict such harsh punishments on their peasants for even the slightest provocation, he immediately snapped his head towards Cassius.

"We didn't mean nothing by it, M'lord! He's like a brother to me! He's just been kicked out of his family to come serve here M'lord!" he was becoming quite loud now, the outburst of which surprised Cassius, who did not expect his little prank to elicit such a reaction.