under the field

Karl

"Carl?"

"Honey, are you okay?" The tavern owner's wife stared at me with concern. "Is the food not to your liking?" Seeing that I had only drank less than half of the radish soup, I regained my senses and put down the spoon. "No, the food is good."

"Are you feeling unwell?" Hastin asked in a low voice beside me, seeing her slightly frowning brows, I shook my head.She leaned back slightly and called out to the young woman, and I heard her asking in a low voice if there was a doctor or clinic here.

"I'm really fine." I told her.

The lady of the tavern replied: "There are everyone here. There are not only well-known lawyers and sewing factory owners in our town, but actually all kinds of connections." She narrowed her eyes and smiled: "I There is even an aunt who is a nun in Wells St. Hospital." She winked at the Hastings girl and said in a somewhat condescending tone: "I don't think there is such an aunt like me? She even I don't know my past..."

Somewhat irritatedly, I explained, "No nuns, no doctors, Wellsburg has its own medical logistics." Best not to cause too much trouble or concern.

"Carl." Colin reminded me suddenly, but the tavern lady lowered her voice in shock: "Are you from Wellsburg?" She covered her mouth: "My God..."

"Are you from Jacob?" she asked, and I furrowed my eyebrows irritably.The atmosphere above the table suddenly became tense.She suddenly ran away, heading towards the back kitchen.

I looked at the people on the table who were looking at each other.Otis and Shay were still grabbing the last piece of rye bread, and Colin had already stood up.

"Very well, if they are royalists, if they rush in now, we will definitely not be able to escape." Nigel leisurely exhaled a smoke ring.

"I don't think Cartier will belong to them." The girl Hasting said with a frown.

"Then how do you explain her suddenly running away?" Nigel said, and everyone fell into a tense silence.

Immediately, Cartier ran back again and brought back the tavern owner. Seeing that their expressions remained unchanged, they walked back to the girl Hastings. I was afraid that they would suddenly do something harmful. I stretched out my hand to protect her behind me. Colin had already Standing between them step by step.

"Don't worry, we have no malicious intentions." Seeing the people standing up at the table, the tavern owner said, "Please don't act too panicked." He deliberately glanced at the rest of the tavern tables, not wanting to cause confusion.

"Sit down first." Colin turned his head and said to the others, before more people noticed here.

The tavern owner stood close to us, and he said with a serious expression: "I am Jon Taylor. In addition to running business in this tavern, we also have a 'wine merchant' stationed behind."

I quickly met Colin's eyes. 'Liquor Merchant' is a secret intelligence gathering organization in northern Carolina. They know the whereabouts and stationing of the royal guards, and obtain intelligence and information by trading wine with the guards.They had always had eyeliners among the guards, and a small fraction of the news from Wellsburg came by way of an exchange of letters they stashed in beer kegs.

Jon said a line: "Are you interested in appreciating fresh wine?"

"Of course." Colin and I said in unison.

The rest stayed on, and Jon led Colin and me down a corridor full of wine barrels.He took us through the back kitchen to the final wine storage room.Inside stood two raw faces dressed as merchants, wearing brown leather jackets, obviously the 'wine merchants' that Jon called.

"These are Lords of the Ridge, Colin and Mr. Rowett." Jon closed the wine room door and walked up to them.

They were travel-laden, as if they had traveled for many days, and I reached out to them.

"Peter," said one bearded, another Bob, and they shook my hand.

"We've just come from the inner city of Wells," said Bob.

Colin asked him, "How's it going there?"

The two shook their heads, their faces heavy. "They wantonly took the opportunity to plunder and search for the whereabouts of the lost princess. At present, all the areas closest to the Dorfu Palace have suffered."

Peter took the Creed out of his boot. "We can't get in touch with people in Lingli these days, and the news can't get in at all. It's lucky to meet you here."

I reached out to take it, and he said, "This is the last message that our 'eyes' hid in the wine barrel, and it was deciphered by a kid in our regiment."

Jon said, "They're approaching the Ridge on the outskirts."

I was reading the information on the paper, a little irritable and awe-inspiring. "They decided to go down there."

Colin said nothing, but I think he thought of something too.The area around the trough is the deep ditch swamp that enters the ridge.He said to me: "We can't wait for all their soldiers and horses to get there before facing each other head-on. We are familiar with the terrain and we will take the opportunity to lead them into the swamp."

The wine merchant spoke again: "This time it is the Queen's ultimatum to Sander. If the person is not found, Sander will be killed immediately."

Jon cursed sarcastically: "No wonder the mad dog started to bite people in a hurry."

Colin looked at me again, and I knew what was going on in his mind.This is what often happened when the relationship was still good in the past. It is ridiculous that Francis once called it a performance of a confidant.

Even if I hate him now, I can't deny the fact that he wants to be with me every time, which is of course more annoying.However, this often leads to me not needing to tell him too much, he can easily guess the answer I want, at least this can reduce the situation where we sit side by side discussing strategies, I don't want to waste a moment in this kind of nonsense on the believer.

"I think it's time for you to change your plans," he said, smugly.

"I won't give you more troops for this."

"Tomorrow night is the best time for a sneak attack." He continued, "They will reach beyond the swamp..."

"There's a bunch of trenches out there, and it's best to get out into the swamp." I finished what he was about to say.

He didn't speak, and I stood up and left irritably. "Carl." I didn't look back.

"I'll keep Nigel and Shay."

"I'm not interested in your people, Mr Nottingham."

"And Scarlett and Selena." He pretended to be relaxed, "Hide it so that they don't find it."

It was still the ridiculously conceited look, issuing instructions so that people could follow them. For this person who was always the proud son of heaven, "I think you need to recognize the fact that you and I are no longer friends."

"Only a friend will do what you say, believe you like a fool, and end up like a poor dog in the end."

The effect of pureed wine is too strong, I don’t remember how many times I feel irritable and want to leave, even the wine storage room reminds me of the taste of clichés, the classics make people feel boring, like stagnant water waves flowing here every corner.

The music outside became livelier. At first it was a breezy treble ballad, and later the rhythm was mixed with flute. There were men and women laughing and tapping dance steps.In the lobby of the tavern, all the tables and chairs have been piled up against the wall, the roast lamb has been picked up and placed on a plate at the bar, Nigel and others are standing on the edge of the leg of lamb.

I skirted the dancing crowd in the center, and thanks to the invention of the five-line notation, there is no one in this land who doesn't love to dance.I took a look at people's dance steps. It is the most traditional kingdom folk dance, which happens to be a classic.

I let out a long breath, and caught a glimpse of the most eye-catching figure among the cheerful silhouettes in the middle of the crowd.She hooked Shay's hand, and the two of them looked like unfamiliar radish heads who were not familiar with the dance steps. They imitated the dancing steps of the people around them shyly. Soon the rhythm came to exchange partners, and she took the hand of an old man again. Fortunately, this is a skilled dance partner. She no longer seems to be moving slowly, and is quickly led to blend in, like a cheerful and lovely elf jumping out of circles one after another in the crowd.

Otis came back from the circle panting. He supported his waist and picked up the beer and leg of lamb: "No, the pace is too fast, let me take a breath..." Selena leaned forward with a smile and tore off a mouthful of lamb. Standing next to me and talking: "Handsome guy, don't you dance?"

"No." I refused.She stared at me with a half-smile in her green eyes, her face was dripping with sweat from the high-frequency dance, and after leaving "You are as boring as ever", she dragged Otis back into the crowd.

The sound of the flute and the violin became louder and faster, and the crowd formed a circle. At this time, the girl Hastings was holding a child again. He was wearing a red mandarin jacket and stood up to her waist height. Still holding her hand in a gentlemanly way and kicking short steps, the men and women beside him couldn't help laughing.The girl Hasting stepped on his little feet accidentally, and he actually started to cry. She held him up in her arms in apologetic at a loss, teased and comforted the child softly, and finally he broke into a smile and turned to her face kissed.She laughed, handed the child back to his mother, and then ran towards here, pulling the hem of her skirt.

"Dancing?" She ran in front of me, staring at me with shining eyes like stars, her cheeks were as red as apples because of the violent dance, which made her look like she fell into the world, a beautiful and seductive fairy , if one is not careful, one will sink and be secretly abducted by her.

"I don't like dancing," I said.She was still a little afraid of me, because she didn't force me any more, and after clinking glasses with me with a slight smile, she turned the yellow skirt and asked the same question to Nigel behind: "Dancing?"

"Hahahaha, little girl, when I was your age, I had successfully invited all the beauties I met to the prom! Spare me, my old bone..."

"Come on, Nigel!" she said coquettishly, and Nigel flicked her forehead lightly.In the end, Nigel promised to go over immediately after eating the lamb in her hand, and she was willing to leave and return to the dance floor.

She was definitely the center of attention, giving any exchanged dance partners a genuinely sweet smile.She doesn't seem to belong here, but she blends into it without any violation, like an elf who strayed into the mundane world, cherishing the only carnival tonight. They have their own tasks to carry on, but just tonight, let go of the damn tomorrow, they are willing and happy to revel in the music, forgetting about it and enjoying the present moment.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Nigel said behind him. "Every time I see her, I feel that the world is not so bad."

She suddenly turned her head in the crowd, her eyes curled up in joy as if seeing something she liked the most.She's been smiling tonight, many times, but it's by far the most content she's ever smiled, at least she'll never show it to me.

She ran in front of Colin, couldn't help but pull up the embarrassed man, and forced him to join the crowd.She put his hand around her waist, then squeezed his palm and started to spin around.Some people are clapping and cheering, they are dancing to the rapid dance music.This night seems to overlap with everything. I seem to see Francis and Joyce that night, but they are even more crazy. had to stop.

"If I hadn't been pregnant, I would definitely have joined the carnival." The tavern lady suddenly appeared behind her, and she sighed and looked at them snuggled together in the center of the circle.Jon put his arms around her shoulders, "Dancing with the baby later, like we used to do every day."

She pointed to Nigel, who joined the dance floor later: "If I were old, I would be like him, happy soul." Jon laughed in response.

A small figure stood in front of the shoes. I looked down and saw a little radish head with shofar braids.

"Don't you dance?" She looked at me with round eyes, and I had to squat down to talk to her. Too many people asked this question tonight.

"I can't dance, so I don't like it." So you better hurry back to your mother's arms.

"You'll love it with me," she said.I laughed, "Who said that?"

"Dad said it." She told me seriously: "He said that boys who really like you will not make fun of you because you can't dance."

"I won't make fun of you." She stared at me, "You look good, I want to ask you to dance." She stretched out her chubby hand and grabbed my hand on my lap.

I don't know where she got the strength, but I didn't have time to retract my hand, and I was almost pulled by her and accidentally fell down.She pulled me into the noisy circle, and I heard Otis and Selena leading the cheers, while the little carrot head in front of me had already pulled the hem of her skirt slightly, waiting for my next move.

Forget it, Carl, I told myself, that's all for this night, just try to cooperate.