"Human meat? Have I heard this correctly? My heart is beating in true terror as I wonder if it is my life which you think will be forfeit. What are you preaching about holy father? Why would the dreaded ogres normal supply of food not be enough for them as they have been living isolated for so long? We avoid their paths and they are usually the ones who go out of their way to avoid ours. It is not usual for them to leave the deep caverns and gulches from which they live. I have trapped them as my training dictated by the one who sat on this chair before me."
"Training? You've only been fighting against other humans, my exalted one. You have returned crowned with glory from fighting your own kind. There is nothing wrong with having your own beautiful cruelty for your own and knowing nothing about the darkness which ruled the ground you walk. Your hands have slayed the foreign foes of human origins, not the demons of the depths of the earth. A dark sickness comes upon those who make a habit of slaying them, the former duke would not like it if you, the heir, choose to pursue such a foe. All those who assume your exhaulted position knew this."
"Father, I am aware that governance is different from being a general and a soldier. I am woefully unprepared for everything that is ahead of me. I understand little about what is the best for this fief of mine. Are you saying that your lord has been avoiding some of his duties in the pursuit of vain glories? Speak frankly. Your head if of no use to me on a pike. I'd like some ogre heads on a pike and I require a hunt if I am going to have a horde of skeletons to show."
"I would never speak beyond my position. I am merely a servant of god who is here to serve you in pursuit of heaven." The bishop's mouth twitched as he spoke. "I think heaven would be brighter without these demons which the common people call – ogres. I find their presence so close by to have much to fear for myself and those whom I serve."
"I see, you have the light behind you as you are a man of the higher power. I am comforted greatly to have such an advisor by my side. It makes you look like the real voice of reason here doesn't it, Father. I'll come get your advice soon. Take care on your way back to the church. I will send some men to distribute rations to the refugees to avoid their clashing with the local folks. Be good as I will have a solution soon with how to deal with our common foe."
=//=
It was always a gamble if things were going to get better or if things are about to get much worse.
Lot looked up at the men distributing the charity meal of the day as there were people around her in the clothing distributed by the Onem church. It had been where she had been directed when she had said she was fleeing the ogres who had come to her village. She hadn't even been allowed into the city proper yet as she did not have the permits needed to get inside. The city dwellers were smart with their token system, but where would she get one of those at this hour?
There were thousands who had come swarming to the city. Many with more money than her. Many with family members who were inside and trickling out support.
Lot knew no one.
She had strapped Komi to her chest and she could feel his fear as he turned to hide his face as she raised up her wood bowl to get the gruel that was being offered to the populace. There were so many refugees that were pouring into Onem that she could see everywhere was grubby faces who looked at her full bowl with envy.
It was not really all for her, she wanted to explain, and show that she would have to convince Komi to eat some of it. She wasn't really getting more. She was getting half and to be jealous of a mother was foolhearty.
There were ransack small villages on the edges of the town where she knew things were going to get a lot worse before they were going to get better. There were women who tied their legs together before they slept. Children often went missing and immediately afterwards there was a strange meat soup that appeared and was passed around. It was gone before, it could really be asked where the meat had come from.
She had avoided all of that for now, but she knew, it was nowhere to raise her child. She wasn't even sure if she was going to have a child to raise if she stayed in such a place. It was dark and dank.
Lot had been silly to think that it would be easy to find work here. She knew some of her regulars were among the locals here, but there were so many vagrants who were going house to house begging for scraps and coin. If she went like this, she knew that she did not look like a proper woman who should be hired in any shop or tavern. Still, she did not have enough gold to even rent the barn in any of the inns in the town. Every single place was filled to capacity as if there was a voice speaking from above that she should be anywhere but here.
It didn't make her feel welcome as she looked at the spires of the black stone castle reaching out above her. She had imagined for so long that it was like a person holding out a hand for her, telling her that she should go there to ask for help. But the hand was there to pull her into the mire of poverty, deeper and deeper until she could not get out.