Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 433

Chapter 433: Among the ants(3) Chapter 433: Among the ants(3) Torghan sat straighter, his fingers drumming once against the metal of his breastplate before stilling.

He met his father’s gaze without hesitation.

“I swore fealty to him.” For a moment, there was only silence.

Then, Varaku threw his head back and laughed-a deep, booming sound that filled the hut, shaking the walls as though mocking the very foundation they stood upon.

He laughed long and hard, his shoulders shaking, his breath coming in short gasps as he clutched his stomach.

Torghan did not speak.

He simply sat there, letting his father laugh as much as he wanted, waiting for him to finish.

He had expected this reaction.

He had prepared for it.

Finally, Varaku wiped at the corner of his eye, shaking his head in disbelief.

“A month,” he said, exhaling sharply, amusement still thick in his voice.

“A single month away from home, and already you have forgotten where you come from.” His gaze hardened.

“You are willing to kneel to an outsider-to become his slave?” Torghan’s jaw clenched slightly, but his voice remained steady.

“I will not be a slave.” Varaku snorted, leaning back as he folded his arms.

“You can believe whatever you want.” He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing.

“But tell me, boy-if he tells you to kill your own kin, would you do it?” Torghan hesitated for only a moment.

“He would not ask that of me.” Varaku’s lips curled into a smirk.

“And if he did?” Torghan said nothing.

Varaku chuckled again, shaking his head.

“One month and you already forgot your real home.I think that in one more week you would be willing to kill your brother for a shiny stone.” Torghan made no move to answer.

”You are still young, still foolish.

You think a man who gives you armor and lets you ride beside him is your friend.

But remember this, Torghan-when a man owns your loyalty, he owns your blade as well.

And one day, he will ask you to use it.” Torghan’s fingers curled into fists, but he held his tongue.

He saw nothing wrong with it, what good was a blade if not to be spilled blood with Torghan exhaled slowly, his patience wearing thin.

He leaned forward slightly, his hands resting on his knees as he spoke, his voice calm but firm.

“He didn’t just give me an armor.” Varaku’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh?” Torghan met his father’s gaze unwaveringly.

“He gave me more than that.

He gave me the power to rule.” He let the words settle in the air, watching as the firelight flickered across his father’s face.

“Over those who will settle on our land.

From here.” For a brief moment, there was silence.

Then Varaku let out a sharp laugh, pointing a calloused finger at his son.

“Ah, there it is,” he said, shaking his head.

“The truth at last.

It wasn’t loyalty that swayed you, wasn’t it?

Wasn’t honor or fucking glory.” He scoffed.

“All it took was the promise of power.” Torghan clenched his jaw.

“I won’t discuss this any further,” he said, his tone final.

He stood up, his shadow cast long against the hut’s walls.

“Instead of questioning me, perhaps you should think about what you’re going to do next.” Varaku’s smirk faltered for just a moment Varaku’s eyes flickered with something unreadable-skepticism, perhaps, or something deeper, something uneasy.

He folded his arms across his chest, his voice low but firm.

“So, tell me, is what the outsider said true?” Torghan met his father’s gaze without hesitation and gave a slow nod.

“It is,” he said simply.

“I saw it with my own eyes.

I personally walked the lands where our people will settle.” Varaku’s expression remained unreadable, but Torghan pressed on.

“The land is fertile-more than anything even the Orthai currently occupy.

It stretches as far as the eye can see, endless plains where nothing hinders growth.

Whatever is planted, it flourishes.” His voice gained an edge of excitement as he spoke, remembering the rich fields, the orderly farms, the streams of clear water that wound their way across the land like veins of life itself.

“I have never seen its equal.” Varaku’s frown deepened, but Torghan didn’t stop.

“The prince has an army raised at all times,” he continued, “a thousand men all days of all weeks, all equipped with the same armor he gifted me.” He knocked his knuckles against the bronze-trimmed breastplate he wore, the sound ringing through the hut.

“And that’s just a fraction of what they can muster.” He took a step forward, his voice dropping lower, almost reverent.

“I saw things, Father.

Things beyond what I ever imagined.

Better than anything I ever hoped to lay eyes upon.” His fingers curled slightly at his sides, as if struggling to grasp the enormity of it all.

“It was everything… and even more than that.” The fire between them crackled, casting shifting shadows across the walls.

Varaku said nothing for a long moment, his expression unreadable.

Varaku let out a long, weary sigh, his shoulders sagging slightly as he brought a hand to his face, fingers rubbing at his temples.

The fire crackled between them, the flickering light playing against the hard lines of his face.

Torghan watched him closely, waiting, gauging the weight of his father’s silence.

Finally, he took a step forward and spoke, his tone calm but firm.

“I know this isn’t an easy decision,” he said.

“I understand what you must be thinking, what you feel you have to do.

But that doesn’t change the fact that this is the right choice.” Varaku’s fingers dragged down his face, but he said nothing, so Torghan pressed on.

“We’re headed toward famine.

The herds are thinning, the game is disappearing.

We both know that when food runs short, sacrifices must be made.” His gaze darkened slightly.

“Surely, you would have already planned for the elders to walk the cliffs when the time came.” Varaku’s jaw clenched.

“How is this any different?” Torghan asked, his voice steady.

“Except now, they won’t have to die.

No one will.

Instead of famine, they will have fields-rich, fertile land where everything they plant will grow.

They’ll work the earth, and in doing so, they’ll bring food, supplies, and wealth back to the tribe.

Back to you.” Varaku exhaled sharply through his nose, but he still didn’t speak.

Torghan took another step closer.

“The tribe is going through hard times,” he continued.

“And this is the chance to turn the tables-to not only survive, but to prosper.” His eyes burned with conviction.

“If you don’t take this opportunity now, we may never get another.” The fire crackled between them, the silence stretching thick and heavy in the dimly lit hut.

Torghan’s gaze remained steady as he spoke, his voice calm but edged with purpose.

“The outsiders need settlers,” he said.

“This first payment… it may have to be made with our people.

But once we get what we need-the steel, the weapons-we won’t have to keep giving our own.” Varaku’s fingers twitched slightly, though his expression remained unreadable.

Torghan could see, however, the sharp glint of thought flickering behind his father’s eyes.

He was listening.

“We were driven from our hills,” Torghan continued, his tone measured.

“The ones who forced us out still live there, growing fat off the land that was once ours.

Why not take them instead?” Varaku’s gaze sharpened, his lips pressing into a thin line.

“With the steel we gain, we can settle along the border with the Azanians,” Torghan pressed on.

“From there, we raid them.

We take their people and sell them to the outsiders instead.

The wealth will flow to us, not just scraps, but true power-land, weapons, everything we need to rise.” The fire between them crackled, the shadows shifting along the hut’s walls.

Varaku sat back slightly, his fingers drumming against his knee.

He was silent, but the weight of his consideration was heavy in the air.

He was thinking.

Weighing.

Calculating.

Torghan remained quiet now, letting the idea settle, letting the vision of what could be take root in his father’s mind.

The choice had not yet been made, but Torghan could see it-see the way his father’s eyes no longer burned with rejection but with something else.

Possibility.

Varaku finally spoke, his voice low but firm.

“And this outsider prince… Can he be trusted?

Will he truly deliver what he promised?” His sharp eyes bore into Torghan, searching for any sign of doubt.

Torghan did not hesitate.

“I spent a week in his home,” he said, his tone resolute.

“I sat at his table, I spoke with his men, I saw the way he rules.

If he says something, he follows through.

That much, I am sure of, it is in both party interest to have such relation going.” Varaku grunted, still unconvinced.

“Words are easy.

But actions?” Torghan leaned forward slightly, the firelight casting shadows across his face.

“I saw the fields with my own eyes.

I walked on the land our people will be given.

Everything the outsider that came to us told was true.

They have more land than they know what to do with, but their numbers are small.

They need people to work it, to grow their land.

That is why they came to us in the first place.” He straightened his back, looking directly at his father.

“So, yes.

I believe he is trustworthy-at least when it comes to delivering what was promised.

He needs us as much as we need him.” Varaku sat in silence, staring into the fire as if searching for answers in the flickering flames.

His fingers tapped against his knee, his mind clearly weighing the risks and rewards.

Torghan remained still, waiting.

He knew better than to press his father for an answer before he was ready to give one.

Finally, Varaku let out a deep sigh, rubbing a hand down his face before meeting his son’s gaze.

“I will not force anyone to make this choice,” he said, his voice carrying the weight of a leader’s burden.

“But this is not a decision to be made in the dark.

Tomorrow morning, I will call for a meeting.

You will make your case before the tribe.” Torghan nodded, his expression unreadable.

Varaku continued, his tone firm.

“Whoever wishes to go may go.

But I will not force a single soul to leave if they do not wish it.

I suppose then that if you wish to gain the favor of your new master you should probably think of what to says at the morrow, after all their choice will depend on you and you alone.”