The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 4
It was almost the end of day one of the two day trek to Fort Deepslate. The Sun was beginning to set over the trees as the knights continued to march south. Alongside Marcus was his carrier slave. He was given a slave captured from the Southern Territories before they left. The carrier slave was in charge of carrying all of his equipment short of his iron armor and sword. Every knight had one. Before they left, he spoke to his slave and learned his name was Thomas. He was very slender, but that was to be expected of a slave. He had dark and mangy hair and was extremely pale, the side effects of being locked in a cell for a couple years. Marcus noticed that Thomas was struggling to keep up with him, he had a limp on his right leg that was slowing him down. He pitied Thomas, even though he was the enemy.
"Halt!" General Ausmin yelled from the front of the group on his dark gray horse. "Night is advancing fast. We will take shelter in the town of Morzen. Advance!" It took another hour to reach Morzen. The knights were exhausted and starving. General Ausmin addressed the troops at the entrance to the town, "Conserve your rations for the rest of the journey tomorrow, you can obtain food from the village. We leave at sunrise tomorrow. Dismissed." Marcus met up with Franz and entered the village.
"I don't have much money on me," Marcus said.
"Money? We don't need money, just take what you need," Franz replied.
"What," Marcus questioned, "You mean we can just take whatever food we want?"
"Of course," Franz answered, "We are the Miter Knights, we protect these people from the heretics. The least they can do is give us some dinner."
"I'm not so sure, I don't have much, but I can still pay for dinner," Marcus hesitated.
"These townsfolk owe us for the services we provide," Franz asserted, "It's a simple exchange of food for safety. If it wasn't for us, these people would've been slaughtered by the Southern Heretics or worse they would've been captured and forced to work as slaves." As the brothers rounded a corner, they saw a vendor selling rabbit stew. The vendor was laughing with what looked like his daughter. "Look at that Marcus, piping hot rabbit stew. We haven't eaten since this morning, and I want that succulent rabbit in my stomach. Now go get us some." Franz slapped Marcus on the back
"Me? Why me?" Marcus protested.
"You're going to be doing this a lot when you enter a town," Franz answered, "Now go, I'm starving." Marcus rolled his eyes and slowly walked forward towards the vendor. As he walked, he looked around and saw the townsfolk. Their eyes had a look of fear and resentment. Strange, he thought. Aren't they glad we're here to protect them?
He stepped up to the vendor and asked, "Hello, can I have two rabbit stews please?" The vendor turned to face Marcus and his expression immediately changed to a look of coldness and apathy.
"Holy knight, please, we are struggling, and I have a daughter to take care of," the vendor begged, "Could you please pay this time?"
"Oh, of course sir," Marcus pulled out some gold nuggets from his satchel. As he began to hand the nuggets to the vendor, he felt a hand on shoulder pull him back.
"What the hell are you doing?" Franz frustratingly asked.
"I'm just paying, he has a daughter to care for," Marcus snapped.
"You, are, a, KNIGHT!" Franz screamed. Before Marcus could utter a word, Franz grabbed two rabbit stews and shoved one into his hands. "Now lets go." Franz began to walk off. Marcus began to follow, but he stopped and turned to the vendor. He looked up at Marcus with hatred. Marcus opened his mouth to speak, but he stopped, and then he took another stew.
As Marcus was walking away, he turned back to see more knights crowding around the vendor and taking more stews. Shame began to fill Marcus. I shouldn't have done that. He thought. We're the protectors of these people. Will he be able to support his daughter now? But if it wasn't for us, neither him, nor his daughter would even be alive right now. If we aren't well fed, we can't protect either of them. This is for the best. Marcus caught up to Franz.
"Damn, you took two bowls? You must be hungrier than I thought," Franz laughed.
"No, it's not for me. I figured I might as well take another one for Thomas," Marcus replied.
"Thomas? Who's Thomas?" Franz asked.
"My carrier slave," Marcus answered.
"You know its name?" Franz's question surprised Thomas. From what he learned in training, a carrier slave stuck with their knight until either the slave's death or the knight's death.
"Of course, don't you know yours?" Marcus asked.
"Nope, no idea what its name is," Franz answered.
"Oh, did your old carrier slave die?" Marcus asked.
"No, it's the same one I had when I first joined three years ago," Franz answered.
Marcus found Thomas sitting on the ground next to a house with Marcus's supplies resting on the side. "Hey Thomas," Marcus greeted him, "Here, I have some rabbit stew for you." He handed the stew over to Thomas. Thomas gave a grunt as he took the stew which angered Franz.
Franz kicked Thomas in the side, almost causing some of the stew to spill out. "Show some respect, you damn heretic!" he yelled, "When your master shows you kindness, you say thank you master!" Franz went in for another kick, but Marcus put up a disapproving hand.
"Easy brother, I'm sure he didn't mean any disrespect," he argued.
Thomas with his head never rising from his stew, with a weak, gravelly voice said, "Thank you master."
"You're welcome." Marcus replied as the brothers sat down to eat. "So Thomas, we didn't get much time to speak this morning. I'm curious, where are you from?" Marcus asked.
Thomas hesitated, but he answered, "Stampton." Franz shot Thomas a glare. "I'm from Stampton master," Thomas corrected himself.
"Stampton?" Marcus was intrigued. "That's not far from the southern border. Maybe it's not too late for you to accept our savior, Notch." Thomas looked up from his stew.
Franz scoffed at Marcus, "Don't waste your time brother, this creature is a heretic. He doesn't care about our savior or any of us. He's not much better than the monsters of Herobrine."
Thomas interjected, "I do believe in Notch, master. Most of us do."
"Lying to your master can have you killed heretic," Franz threatened
"Hold on brother, he might be lying, but maybe this is a sign he can accept Notch," Marcus argued.
"It's like I said Marcus, they're heretics, they've already abandoned our savior, it's not worth trying to convert them," Franz replied. Thomas looked back down at his stew. "See, it can't even talk to us."
The three men finished their stews just as dark was setting in. "Alright, it's getting late, we should get some rest," Franz said while stretching his aching muscles.
"Alright, where do the slaves sleep?" Marcus asked.
"They sleep at the town entrance with all the rest," Franz answered.
"Well, you heard him Thomas," Marcus commanded, "Go find the other slaves and rest for the night"
"Yes master," Thomas replied, his voice was tired.
"Goodnight Thomas," Marcus called out as Thomas limped away.
Thomas slightly turned back and said, "Goodnight master," barely audible.
Marcus turned back to Franz, "So where do we sleep?" He asked.
"We'll find a house to stay in," Franz answered, "We might not get the best pickings as I'm sure other nights already claim most of the houses."
…
The Moon had risen, and the knights took refuge in the villagers' homes. Marcus wasn't a fan of sleeping in someone else's home, but it was what the villagers owed to the knights. The night was quiet and calm, the knights slept like babies.
It only took a few hours before screams could be heard outside.