A swarm of adults and children alike formed around a peculiar spot in the middle of the town, near the brick wall, right under the keep.
"We break our backs bowing to that arse that sits at the edge of the world with tea in his hands and shade on his pale olive skin to give him sustenance and this is how you repay us?" The town leader's oldest son, Reno scorned face twisted in utter disgust at the thought of the Count. He spat out vehemently - trudging away muttering profanities beneath his breath until finally throwing an explicit finger towards the trail that leads to Romani Manor.
"That piece of shit arse wipe is going to have a field day- readying his dollies to chop off half of our heads just to make an example of our "menial," and disposable lives." Namu, one of the locals sighed.
"Fiba, what have you done? Do you wish for all of our heads to be staked and burned alive?" A heavy-set woman sneered, shoving the big limbed boy in the side, making him topple over himself.
"Arse wipe or not- he is still the keeper of this Domain and has remained in absolute power since his acquisition. We must remain level-headed and negotiate with the Count of other possibilities." Yusef, an orphan of Elva had been more reasonable than any other person in town, and he had saved them more times than could ever count so his answer and advice were things that were never questioned however there was always one person who didn't quite agree.
"Negotiate with the Count? That dastardly bastard cares of no one but himself - and has shown to do so- you've seen it all. The drought. The famine. He was too vain to step away from his throne to even - glance at our well-being and wish us health- to hell with even aide- we nursed our arses back to health! Negotiate?! Hell, I say take his fucking head, yeah?" Genabu of Elva, the bastard child of a noble in the King's Court- was fishing for scraps to target anyone associated with them.
"Okay, let's take his head, and then what? Our domain will be assumed by the King's court and you've seen what they've done to Town Elva 3. Would you rather be slaves?" Yusef retorted.
"The way we work we might as well be! Working ourselves to the bone like a dog! And what does that no-good count do? Barges us with tariffs and ridiculously absurd rules and regulations. To hell with him- there's a special place in hell for people like him." An older lady spoke up her expression too complicated for anyone to understand.
"Perhaps there's another way." Yusef tried reasoning.
"Ain't no reasoning, these two chucked exorcist incantations to accursed bloodthirsty hounds and ran for the hills of Romani estate itself to be killed off." Nita of Era pat the heads of the two boys, out of pity.
"The count will not have mercy boy!" A man as skinny as a rotting stick screeched dauntingly, his eyes throwing daggers at the smaller boy who had his head hung low - and his body shaking at the thought of the punishment they'd receive. His name had been Genof, one of the smarter children in the town - it had been questionable if the story was believable considering how he'd always been the most tolerated by the Count.
"What's going on? What happened?" Ambra's voice was enough to bring calm to the clamoring of the folks. She was an ebony-skinned woman kindly moving her way into the crowd that sought her guidance - her purple eyes peering at the crouched-over forms of two boys, the utter fright in their demeanor alarmed her.
"What is the matter? You've gone blue, the both of you- and why are there bruises all over your bodies." She examined them, her scarf secured around her head - her body dropped in a brown fabric loosely. Her soft hands cupped each side of their faces beckoning them to entrust her with their greatest bearings.
The two boys looked at themselves- for a while the townsfolk had been outraging over their speculation - the boys never said a word of the incident but at that moment they were lost in her violet eyes, finding the truth wanted to leave their chests.
"Ambra Bani, it was Fiba- we were 'posed to walk right back home after delivering the papers a few days back, but Genof insisted on taking the forbidden trail and once we got lost we were frightened by what we saw and-"
Ambra placed her hands softly on each of their shoulders, embracing them both.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay."
"Okay? The Count already sent his summons - demanding an audience with the whole of town at his manner at the break of dawn 'morrow. Right there innit."
"Failure to comply is a result of execution without trial." She read to herself shocked to see the bold print with a photograph of the two boys front and center. In utter horror, she gasped her hands covering her mouth.
"That would be inhumane. What kind of a monster must you be to execute children?"
What kind of a monster does she ask? Well, the Wolf at the Edge of the World is the answer.