Time came and went, as winter slowly inched towards its end. It was quite harsh, and with the blazing cold, it became hard for both our youths to stay warm and comfortable, but it was slowly coming to an end. The snow had all melted away, leaving behind a sort of fertile quagmire.
The house had long been completed, but Dave kept visiting old Sophos and borrowing books from him to study or simply immerse himself in the stories they told. Some of them were written by ancient sophists, and talked about mathematics, rhetoric, logic and science. Some were eyewitness accounts of famous monuments in the world, their creators and the cultures that created them. Some of the books, when Dave wanted to relax, or simply wanted a good story talked about fantastic creatures, heroes from distant places and even more distant times, or travelers from other worlds, coming to steal maidens.
Of course, other than stuffing information in his big head, the books also made his brain sharper than ever before. The logic he had learnt made it difficult to have a winning argument against him and his cunning mind, and the stories he read gave him a huge vocabulary to choose his words from. Life was still challenging most of the time, and all that knowledge had yet to prove most of its worth, but he didn't regret learning any of it.
Eddie on the other hand fared a bit differently. He had finished with the ploughing and the sowing, but the cold wasn't doing any good on him. His work required much less time than before, but the frost made sure that time wasn't spent joyfully playing. What free time he had, he spent in the quarters, or talking with his friend. But they both hadn't forgotten what they had said. They had chosen for their escape to be just after winter, so that the weather and the elements would prove favourable for their escape.
"Dave, son, could you help an old man roll that barrel towards the wine room? I'm afraid my back is failing me", cried Sophos, with a wail about as fake as a three mark coin, and wearing a smile on his face
"Yeah old man, just leave 2 marks on the table and I'll get them once I do the thing. Work first, payment later right?", replied Dave with an innocent, angelic smile that was almost convincing in hiding his moneylust.
"What two marks?! Trynna run me dry now are we?!", cried the old man, but alas, his pleadings fell on deaf ears. Dave simply rolled the barrel, sat on the wooden chair next to the table, and awaited his just payment
"OH FINE!", Shouted Sophos, slamming a couple of coins in the table. "I swear…"
"Thanks old man, pleasure working with you. Do you have that book with the swordsmanship? I feel like that could be useful" Dave asked. He hadn't told Sophos about his undertaking with Eddie, and he didn't know if he should. It felt the right thing to do, but telling him was an extra variable, adding risk to the calculations he had to perform. 'I'll tell him before we go. We still have maybe two weeks till then'
He got the book, and walked back to his shed. He had decided to learn some basic swordsmanship, or at least be able to handle himself with a short sword, or a knife. Going on a venture like that was already dangerous, and at least adding a few close ranged slashes to his offensive repertoire was sensible. Being a hunter, He could handle himself excellently with a bow, and had extensive knowledge of where to strike, but blades weren't exactly his strong suit.
Knowing that, he went to the blacksmith of the town, and got two short swords, two new knives (he still had his old hunting knife, but it was as dull as a pebble at this point) and some light, inconspicuous armour. He got some weird looks from the blacksmith, but jingling some extra coin to his face made him willing to craft the weapons, and fast. Dave's pocket bled profusely at this, but it was a necessary sacrifice.
Some days later, he met Eddie again, and started drawing plans. He brought some scrap, yellow paper and some charcoal to quickly sketch the layout of the fields, the quarters and the Lord's estate. They slowly formulated a plan, which went as follows: Dave would meet him as any other time, either with game to sell, or with the excuse of visiting, and they would go towards the direction of the old tree, to not arouse any suspicion. Once they reached the spot closest to the gate of the barbed fence surrounding the fields and the estate, they would run towards the it, somehow take out the guards, and run to the thickest spots of the woods, that Dave knew well. That was the gist of it. Of course, a lot could go wrong with that plan. For one, Dave wasn't 100% confident in his ability to take out the guards. Two people running through fields, one as armed as a lobster would surely give them plenty of time to prepare for the clash. But it was still the best plan. They carefully sat down and calculated the course of action they would need to take in any situation they thought would arise. But, alas, plans would never meet execution.
A couple of days before their departure and escape, Dave decided to inform old Sophos of this. It would have never been possible to escape without his invisible hand of help, and even if it was, Dave felt like he owed him a lot. The knowledge he had given him was nothing to scoff at. The youth would be able to face any intellectual problem he met face on because of the old man's teachings.
"Do it, lad. Find the balls within your pants and do it. I've grown attached to you little runt, but I realize that this is the best way for you to evolve. You told me how you have lived your life, and the gossips in this town seem to confirm it. You have the skills to make it on your own, or at least with your friend", Sophos seemed to agree with Dave's decision, to his surprise. "I never liked the institution of slavery, or serfdom, and I think following your beliefs is better than bowing down to flags. Now fetch us two pints of beer and let's review your plans"
"Thank you old man, really. I don't think I would have ever done it without you", Dave said, with a knot in his throat, as emotion overfilled him, and two tears streamed down his cheeks
"Don't worry about any of it kid, you're doing the right thing. Visit sometime, preferably while my aging ass is still alive" the old man said, with a kind smile on his face
"Take that with you wherever you wander, and read it whenever you find the time. It's written by yours truly. You might find it fun", Sophos said, handing Dave a small booklet made of aged and brown paper, bound together by string and with a cover of black leather.
He was ready to leave, as was Eddie. They would just wait a few days, to bring their minds to the reality, and then make their escape