about it boy? Want to come with us and perhaps become a citizen of Kudrania, or would you rather follow your old man?” Nathaniel looked up at the man, “Will I have rights as a Kudranian citizen?” The officer laughed and holstered his revolver, offering Nathaniel his hand. “Of course you would. You would enjoy all of the rights of any Kudranian, but are you okay with abandoning your country?” Nathaniel nodded, “You're obviously going to win. I'd rather be a part of the winning side than dead.” The officer laughed again, “Perhaps you people can learn. Get the boy a horse. He's coming with us. Bind his hands for the time being.” A horse was brought up for Nathaniel to mount. Another soldier lit the canvas of the wagon on fire before they rode back to the battle. Nathaniel looked back at his father and the burning wagon, hoping his brothers would be safe.
When the boys could no longer hear the Kudranians they hurriedly got out of their hidden compartment in the wagon, trying to not get burned and coughing from the smoke. Alaric sat next to his dead father in silence. Charles began crying,
“They killed pa and Nathan just went with them. Why would he do that?”
“They would have killed him too if he didn't go with them. It was the smart thing to do.”
“But they killed pa! I would never have gone with them. I would have died!”
“You idiot! Don't talk like that. Pa had us hide so that we would survive. He wants us to live. Don't talk about dying!”
“Well what do we do?”
“We bury Pa and then try to get home before the Kudranians get there.”
The boys dug a shallow grave, not having the tools or strength for a proper one. After covering their father they began the long walk home, hoping to run into someone with a horse to warn the rest of the country. The Kudranians had made it up the mountain without anyone noticing. Life for the citizens of Estad was about to change.
Chapter 2
Alaric and Charles rushed back to their home as quickly as they could. Every person they passed that had a horse got told what happened. Many of these people took off immediately to warn the government and the many military encampments. When the boys finally made it back to their home, Alaric wasted no time in getting his father's company signed over to him. At first there was some question as to whether or not Ezekiel had actually died; however, after telling the story of what had happened and word having already reached the town that the front line had in fact been overtaken, the business was finally signed over. It was in his father's will that the business was to go to Alaric and Nathaniel to co-own, but with Nathaniel gone it was signed completely over to Alaric. Alaric knew that if he and his brother were to survive, he would need to run his father's business at least as well as his father had. For the next week or so Alaric spent his time trying to figure out how many goods they had stocked and who his customers were. He continually drilled himself on the various prices on the goods.
Charles spent most of that time, hiding from everyone. Wallowing in his own grief, Charles wanted nothing to do with anyone. Alaric tried on several occasions to get Charles to have dinner with him or help around the store, but he wouldn't agree to anything. Eventually Alaric grew frustrated and went next door to speak with a woman that he had known most of his life. The woman's name was Edith and she had helped Alaric's parents out when they were too busy to care for him or his brothers. When anyone in the family was sick, Edith would bring over soup or tea. Alaric could remember several times that he had been upset and Edith always seemed to have the answer. Alaric approached the door and knocked; no one answered. He knocked again and still there was no answer. Just as he was about to give up and walk back home, Edith came around the corner of her house. “Alaric my dear! I'm sorry for making you wait. I was around back in the garden and couldn't hear the knocking.” Alaric smiled brightly, he walked over to Edith and gave her a hug. She returned the hug and then looked at him worriedly. “I heard about your father and brother; how are you and Charlie holding up?” Alaric sighed, “Charlie hasn't come out of his room much. He hasn't been eating much either; he's worrying me. I'm not really sure what to do for him.” Edith nodded slowly in understanding, “There isn't a whole lot you can do. Just be available to him when he finally decides he needs someone. Don't push him too much or else he might run.” Alaric took a deep breath, “I'll try. It's just hard to see him like that.” Edith patted Alaric on the back, “I'm sure it is. I'm also sure you'll do fine with your father's business.” Alaric blinked, she had already guessed the other thing that was bothering him. Alaric gave Edith a hug and smiled, “Thank you. I knew coming over here was a good idea.” Edith smiled him, and then a question formed on her face. “Have you thought about going to church since you came back to town?” Alaric frowned and shook his head. “You know I haven't been to church since mother died.” Edith sighed, “You still blame God for her death then.”
“Who else would I blame? If he's so powerful, why didn't he save her?” Edith looked sad for a moment, but then nodded and smiled at him. “I will go for you then, and one day perhaps you will find your way back.” She stepped forward and gave Alaric a hug. Alaric exhaled and returned the hug, simply happy to have the hug after everything that had happened. “Thank you Edith.”
A few days later word reached the boys that the Kudranians had attacked one of the cities near the mountains. The citizens, who were armed since they were legally allowed to own firearms in Estad, fought tooth and nail. The rumor was that while most of the soldiers stationed in the city fell fairly quickly, the citizens kept Kudrania from taking the city for several more days. There was no reason to doubt the claim, since Kudrania enacted a policy of rounding up firearms and killing a third of all able bodied men in all of the towns they went through. Alaric became fearful that when the Kudranian army finally made it to where he lived, the same would happen to him and his brother. So he began packing what goods he could into their last wagon. Alaric couldn't get Charles to help him pack, being too engrossed in his own grief to do much of anything. The packing ended up taking two days. Finally finished, Alaric went to the bank to withdraw all the money his father had, in gold and silver only. The banker was a bit confused as to why Alaric would want to carry something so heavy, rather than the lighter paper money. Alaric only said that the metals would be more useful. With everything that needed done finished, Alaric went back home and told Charles to prepare to leave. As Charles grabbed his essentials, Alaric went into his father's room. Opening a trunk, he removed his father's revolver and belt. Before Ezekiel had become a merchant, he had been a sheriff, and kept this revolver in his house as a safety precaution. The revolver had a frame with an extractable cylinder and a spare cylinder to decrease loading time. The extra cylinder was extremely important because it took some time to reload the cap and ball weapon. Putting on the belt and grabbing a coat, Alaric walked back out into the main part of the house to meet Charles, who was at this point, ready to leave.
The boys were heading to the southern border, into a land dominated by independent city states. These city states tended to attract inventors and merchants from all over the world, and, thus, were somewhat wealthy. Being that they were individual states, they had all elected to only trade in precious metals and stones, not accepting the credit type currencies of many of the sovereign nations to the north. The value of precious metals for the most part never went down, but the individual currencies of nations, fluctuated frequently, especially if said nation, collapsed. It took about a week in their laden wagon to reach the border. As they got closer, the brothers discovered that they were not the only ones who had decided to flee. The roads were crowded with people on foot and in wagons, all trying to leave the country. Alaric realized with so many refugees some of the city states may start closing their borders. He hoped that having goods for sale and being a merchant, would give him and his brother a better chance of being admitted.
One evening when they had stopped to rest for the night, Alaric was pulling out their dinner, which consisted of bread and cheese mostly, when a person in a long coat approached the wagon. There were many people around, all stopping for the night. Alaric wasn't really sure what sort of person this might be. He couldn't get a good look at the person in the dark. Alaric realized this person was shorter than he was and was carrying a pot. Alaric stepped towards the person, “Hello there.” The person stopped, held up the pot a bit, placed it on the ground, and then walked