It took them three days more to finally see the far edges of the village. Or at least find that it was actually a small city that could barely fit ten thousand people inside, but what Jonas knew well was that it was not a tiny village as Tedder had explained. They made it sound like it was nothing more than a few huts made of leaves, grasses and sticks and nothing more. 

It even had a wall surrounding it’s large buildings and markets. Though no where close to the hulking monstrocity he had seen by  what the people of the colony would consider cities--frickin hundred meters of nothing but solid stone--but was still large enough to be imposing at roughly fifty feet high. 

When questioned, Tedder looked confused and responded like it was natural for ‘villages’ to have such ‘small’ walls. He even began apologizing for their ‘low standards’ and ‘inability to prove worthy of Jonas’s strict standards’. 

That left Jonas flabbergasted. The man didn’t even understand what he meant, much less assume anything. In the end, he decided to keep quiet and let them knight think what he wanted. He didn't have the mental energy to deal with it. 

But, as they neared the village, a few things became extremely obvious even to the common soldier. First and foremost, was the lack of any traffic in and out of the village. There was no one outside the walls just tiny critters and small animals that hid as the army marched closer to the gates. Why they would need to lock themselves in, Jonas didn’t know, but he was sure to find out. 

It brought a frown to his face as he began to think, they should have seen his small army make its way towards them from far. At the very least they could assume someone important had arrived with such a large entourage of soldiers and cavalry with them. Other than trying to stop him from entering, what other reason could he have not to open the gates, much less actually show up on the walls. 

“Ash,” Jonas called.

In a split second, she appeared next to where he had paused the entire line of soldiers to watch the walls from far out. She rode her horse next to his towering bull. “Yes, Master.”

“I...don’t understand. Why haven't they opened the gates? Do they deny me entry?” He fumed as a burning rage forigen to him invaded his senses, it took great effort to not demand the entire village razed to the ground. 

“Master,” She sounded unsure of what to say next. Her eyes were stuck on the walls. “You will understand once you enter. Commoners have it worse here than anywhere else in the empire. The colony is far too militaristic to care about those they deem not worth the effort to take care of.”

Jonas frowned at the side of her face. Something struck her deep, but what it was, he could not understand for the life of him. “I still don’t understand, Ash.”

She turned to look at him, her teeth clenched on her lip. She did not respond. 

“But, I will wait. We are almost there. Let’s hope I do, or you will have a lot of explaining to do.” 

Jonas tapped the bull, Arnold--the name fit for some reason, something about muscle on top of muscle--who responded by moving forward towards the gate at a lumbering pace. The line followed behind him. 

As they reached the walls, the gate began to creak open. The thing caused a ruckus just to swing causing Jonas and the others to wince at the sound. Was there no maintenance being done?

Now that he looked, the walls had thin but long cracks flowing along its width and height. It was like they never touched them ever since it was first built. 

Tedder huffed in displeasure, his expression mirroring most of the cavalry soldiers. 

His own Blackguards looked on without a single emotion on their faces. They did their usual thing.

Behind the walls were five men standing behind twenty others. They each wore armors that did not fit them and were a mismatch of color and quality. In the forefront of the group, one of the first five, was a hard looking man that seemed to have gone through a hundred battlefields. His face was covered in scars, some were still pink and raw. 

His short, salt and pepper hair did well to accent his tough soldier look, but even he look skinny. The armor on him was just as dented and scratch as he looked, though it was too large on his frame. 

To Jonas, the entire group looked starved and dehydrated. And they were supposed to be the best of the village to meet outsiders, he could only imagine how the normal people looked. 

“High nobility here? Color me surprised.” The man said from his side, his voice was raspy like he had a dry throat. 

Tedder visibly shook and face reddened. The man looked ready to break his own jaw by how hard he gritted them. “Dishonored Knight,” he said in a curse. “Watch your tongue or it will be severed with your limbs. Learn to speak to your betters with respect.”

The man laughed. “Destrian respects no one not worthy. If you wish to take my tongue...come and get it.” He spread his arms, taunting Tedder. 

Tedder almost charged at the man, but Jonas just raised a hand. What the hell was going on? Why were they so combative towards each other?

“Enough. I will not have people of my kingdom fight each other. We have more worthy opponents beyond our borders.”

The man, Destrian, looked surprised for a moment. He looked at his men before he schooled himself back to the roguish smile he had begun with. Tedder, on the other hand, lowered his head in embarrassment. He should not have responded in such a way when Jonas was literally right next to him. 

Jonas stared directly into Destrian’s eyes. He held it for long seconds until the man broke contact first with an uncomfortable face. 

“Take me to your manor. We have things to discuss.” Jonas said as he tapped Arnold to move forward.

They barely fit into the gates, if Jonas stood up and reached with his hand, he could have touched the top of the gate with his fingertips. Thankfully, it was more than wide enough for them to get through. His movement forced the knights  and soldiers that were standing in his way to move or be crushed by Arnold. 

He stared at the emaciated knights as he passed by them, a bit of contempt creeping into his emotions. Could they not do better for themselves? Do they not hunt, farm, or at the very least, buy food from some random merchant? But as he continued to survey them, his eyes caught movement farther into the empty streets of the village. 

Hiding in the alleys and buildings were hundreds of thin skeletal forms covered by nothing more than rags wit a hole for their heads and hands. So many people without a shred of meat on their body making the knights look like fat pigs compared to them.