6th Hermatite, 222
Lattice was at the depot, preparing construction supplies: one of the miscellaneous tasks she's been doing for the last 5 days. Right now, she was gathering some to continue to reinforce the riverbank.
As she neared the bank, she’d noticed a big griffin sitting on the bank. He was looking over the river, holding onto his halberd and shield. Fargo had taken small break sitting by the bridge. He had been on patrol all day and figured now was as a good a time as any to take a break and deal with some personal business. He knew that Lattice was working the bridge, so he figured he’d rest there and wait for her to show up.
Lattice continues working, pretending not to notice the griffon there, as she was still having difficulty working up the courage to talk to him again. She’d left him a note yesterday during his shift, but didn’t feel comfortable around him afterwards, especially since she doesn’t know how he reacted to it.
Fargo just sat there and let her continue to work, waiting until she put her rock down before he’d think of saying a thing to her. He’d just keep looking by the river and try to seem relaxed.
Lattice scrutinized the river's current. While by no means an expert, she did her best when considering where the rocks would be best. After careful consideration, she ‒ paying careful attention to her hoof placement ‒ made her way down with the first of the stones and placed them along the partially excavated riverbank. She repeated this until she was done with the load, before bending down to re-attach the cart, so she could repeat the process again.
Once she finished, Fargo got up off the ground and turned to face the mare. “Pardon me, but um, would you mind if I took a moment of your time?” He wanted to make sure he wasn’t too pushy. “If not, it’s fine. I understand you’re probably busy.”
“Oh… uh... hey…” Lattice stammered, “Sorry, I didn’t see you there, Fargo.” She paused for the briefest of moments, contemplating what to do, before deciding that the issue wouldn’t go away. Fargo heard her continue in a barely-audible voice, “So, what was it that you uhh.. what is it you want to talk about?”
“Well, nothing really.” He said, before walking up to her slowly. “Just I wanted you to know you’ll be safe in this town.” He made a small smile. “And um, if anybody from the town you were at before tries to get you I’ll personally scare them off.” Or gut them like a fish with a axe-spear.
Lattice was shocked. Did he know what happened? Did lucky tell him? “What… whatever do you mean? Why would there be a problem?” She took a step back, her ears splayed down. Internally, all sorts of alarms were being triggered, and she prayed it wasn’t showing in her expression.
“Please, do not get stressed out about it. On the back of your apology you had a journal entry or something about erm... what happened.” He said, frowning a little. “And trust me, I’m simply want to make sure know that you have me protecting you.”
Lattice didn’t know what to make of it. She was sure she put the pages removed in a safe spot, but evidently they ended up with the scrap paper. “...How much do you know? What dates did they span?”
“I don’t have the pages with me, but it was just enough to get a general idea of what happened.”
“...Up until the day before I left Buckington?”
“Yeah...”
“...And you don’t hate me for what happened the other day?”
“I don’t.”
“...Did you really mean what you said? He’s powerful enough to do ruin the town before it even starts up with just a few words. I’m touched that you’d be willing to scare a noble off for me, but I’m not worth it.” She thought about it for a moment, before continuing, “...It’s better for me to just hide if he ever shows up than to confront him.”
“Yes, it would be best for you to hide away, but if his men ever tried to drag you off I’d halberd them in the gut. I’m supposed to keep these towns people safe, and those soldiers of his are nothing more than crooks.” He smiled for a moment. “And I’m too big for some ponies to take down.”
Lattice frowned. “That doesn’t do you any good if one of his thugs vaporizes you. Please, just let him drag me off if it comes to it, I’ll find a way.” The mare sighed forlornly, but didn’t say anything further.
“I’m sorry, but I know to hit the one with the pointy hat and robes before anyone else. It’s hard to vaporize someone when you’ve got a halberd in your chest.” He made an awkward chuckle. “But eh, that’s not the point.” He patted his wooden shield. “I’m supposed to stand between danger and those who can’t fight back and if a guard dies he’s a martyr, if an innocent person dies it’s a tragedy.” He was still smiling. “It’s my duty to fight and possibly die in your place.”
“There’s nothing saying he only brings one magus… nor is there anything preventing him from repeating what he does to you to the whole town. He… he… he’ll just say the town was destroyed by diamond dogs before he arrived, and nobody will question it.” Lattice looked at the guard, but it was clear that he didn’t believe a word she was saying. “...Nothing I say will convince you otherwise, will it?”
“Then it won’t be his magi who are cleaved in half, it’ll be him who is struck down,” he said, frowning for a moment. “Regardless, I doubt anything will happen. You’re safe here, and nobody has any reason to sell you out.”
“I…” She was speechless for a moment, until her ears perked up and she smiled, before saying “...Thank you, Fargo. I think I needed that.” She stopped, before adding as an afterthought, “...It’s just scary to not know if he’s looking for me.”
“If you’re gone, he’s probably not going to bother. This town isn’t under his jurisdiction either.” He said before starting to walk away. “Eh, and if you ever need some help, just talk to me. I’m usually not too busy.”
“Thanks. If you could, give those entries back to me when we’re done working. Now, though, I should continue with this. It’s important this bridge still be here for the future.” Lattice finished hitching up the cart, and turned around, for once being in good spirits, even when relegated to menial (but important) labor.