A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"What?" Nila asked, not understanding the look.

But her mother merely shook her head. "It's nothing. Quickly now, come inside before you get a cold."

Mrs Felder closed the door behind them. When she turned her head and the light of the fire caught her face, Beam could see the deep lines of worry that had already wormed their way into her skin. In less than a day, she seemed to have aged several years.

By the fire, under the covers of several furs, David lay fast asleep. There was a distressed look on his face as he slept, as though he was forcing his eyes to remain tightly closed. When the door clicked shut, the sound must have awoken him, for he opened his eyes in alarm and took in the whole room like an owl.

His mother tried to offer him a smile to comfort him. "It's only me. There's Nila too – she's brought Beam as well. He's helping to find your sister."

Beam could see as the hope disappeared from David's face that he'd been daring to wish for good news. But his shoulders sank again and his fear heightened, he pulled the covers further to him, fighting to stop his teeth from chattering.

"He hasn't stopped shivering since then," Mrs Felder explained. "Even though the room is so warm and he has so many covers on him, he doesn't seem to feel the heat. I keep checking him for a temperature, but his skin is dreadfully cold."

A look of pain flashed across Nila's face, as she crossed the room and sat on the end of David's small bed. "David…" she murmured, taking his hand. "Everyone's looking for Stephanie – we'll find her, you'll see. You don't need to be so afraid."

But even with her soothing words, he did not look relieved in the least. His fear only heightened, as he seemed to recall what he'd seen that morning. Nila turned back to look at Beam, her expression hopeless. Beam noticed the look and nodded. He could feel Mrs Felder's expectant gaze on him as well – for she was the one that had requested he be here, after all.

Beam crossed the room, not knowing at all how he could be of help. He imagined that, with his appearance, he'd be more likely to unsettle the boy than comfort him – what with the mud and monster blood and the sword at his hip. He went to stand beside Nila, as he fixed the boy with a look.

"You saw your sister get taken?" He said, his tone sterner than it might have been in the past, but he couldn't help himself. Something about the chaos, it made his soul stir. He knew not whether it was Ingolsol exerting himself, or whether it was merely his own attempt at control, but there was a permanent intensity to him now – he couldn't bring himself to relax.

David slowly nodded in response. Mrs Felder's eyes widened in surprise. The boy had not even responded with a single gesture to her earlier, as though his eyes were firmly fixed on the past.

"And what you saw, it frightened you?" Beam pressed.

Again the boy nodded.

"What you saw – do you think I could defeat it?" He asked.

David paused for a moment, looking at him intently, before he slowly shook his head.

"How about now?" Beam said, slowly loosening his hold on his aura. Nila gasped at the intensity, seeing the look in Beam's eyes. She'd only ever felt that pressure as the boy was fighting with the Hobgoblin… And now, if anything, it was greater than before.

'He's getting even stronger…' she realized with a shudder. 'Frightently so. He's different to what he was before. I'd sort of noticed it – but now I'm certain. There's more to him.'

David did not respond, but his eyes similarly widened, as he attempted to hold Beam's gaze. But with the nature of Beam's pressure, with that look in his eye that even monsters struggled to handle, the boy was frozen in place. "What did you see?" Beam asked, with more authority this time, like a general demanding an explanation from an incompetent soldier.

"A shadow…" David croaked, the spell broken. "We were playing… We were spinning… And then there was a shadow… A cold shadow."

Beam listened carefully to every word. When the boy was done, he relaxed his expression and smiled at him. "You've done well. Now we know what to look for, we'll be sure to find her." He turned to Nila. "Let's talk outside."

She nodded grimly in reply, before giving David's hand a gentle pat. "Good work, David. We'll put this to good use."

The two of them left the house again together, as Mrs Felder watched, rooted to the spot. Normally, she might have followed them. She might have been able to give them sage advice that would assist their endeavour. But now, as she was, she'd lost another important piece that made her whole.

With her husband gone and now her daughter and with only a meagre few years in between, it was wearing on the woman. She who had served as the rock for a young family for the longest of times. Now she sought something that she could rely on.

Only looking into the fire seemed to wake her mind up once more, as she heard the sounds of discussion from outside her door. She saw its flames grow and twist, feeling its heat. "So strong," she murmured, recalling the boy that had come into her home merely a month prior on the verge of death. And her daughter whom she had always worried for.

Now they stood as rocks, as central pieces in the village. She had seen that very same boy standing on the platform as the whole village watched on. Her heart had stopped when she'd seen the look he dared to exchange with a noble, and how he treated the most powerful man in the village as an equal.

It was as though time had flashed her by without her knowing it. Something had happened – a great dam had broken and now the young generation were rising up.

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