Leverage Middle Ages Fic
Written for a challenge over at leverageland I got the prompt 'Middle Ages'. Of course this was what came to mind :p
Everybody knew the king was slime. He cared little about his people, and only about his wealth and power. He didn’t care that while half the countryside went hungry, he had marvelous feast every night, in which most of the food was thrown out anyway. He was a selfish, disgusting pig of a man, and that is why Nathan and his band of merry men(And women) decided to make him their biggest mark yet.
The plan was simple. The king was going to be traveling to his summer castle, putting him right through the wood in which Nathan’s band operated.
The king would be hiring extra men to accompany him on his travels, to ensure he was safe on the dangerous, bandit infested roads.
Eliot, who spent many years serving as a knight and then many more as an assassin, would come with great recommendations from the king’s trusted cousin. Of course, the con will be done and Eliot long gone before the King could possibly ask his cousin, who lived far, far off, about the very much fake recommendation papers.
Those papers were thanks to Hardison. Nathan had found Hardison as a child, orphaned and trying his hardest to keep himself alive. Nathan quickly learned that he had a knack for forgery, amongst many other things. Hardison was quite useful, Nathan was glad to say.
With Hardison’s fake recommendations, Eliot would surely be hired as one of the king's bodyguards on his journey. He would gain the trust of the king and his other men, and lead them right past Nathan and the others. And that's when the real heist would go down.
~*~
The journey had already been long, and they were just now reaching the wood in which Nathan and the others were waiting. Eliot had gained the trust of the other men as well as the king, drinking and making merry with the men on their stops to inns, as well as taking out many a bandit group that had already tried, unsuccessfully, to overturn their carriage and rob the king.
Eliot took up the back so he was in position. The king was nestled comfortably in his carriage, with four men outside with Eliot. Three took up the front, one on each side of the carriage and one driving, and two in the back including Eliot.
“There is a woman in the road!” One of the men called, halting the carriage.
That would be Sophie. She was an ex- lady in waiting, whom Nathan somehow managed to convince to run away with him in the night. She was very good at convincing others she was something that she wasn’t. For instance, a poor woman whose caravan had been hijacked by bandits.
“Please!” She called. “I need help, my...my family. They took them.” She sobbed.
“Stay back, it could be a trap.” Eliot said, wanting to seem loyal till the last second.
“Doesn’t seem like one to me, she looks hurt!” The man next to Eliot said. He turned his back to Eliot so he could go inspect Sophie with the others, giving Eliot the perfect opportunity to knock him out, silently so not to alert the others, from behind.
Suddenly, everything started to happen at once. Sophie managed to knock out the driver of the carriage, who had gone over to help her. Meanwhile, a young blonde woman swung down from her hiding spot in the tree to knock out one of the two remaining guards up front.
Parker grinned at the remaining guard, who was now pulling his sword. Another orphan that Nathan had managed to pick up, Parker was nimble, good for surprise attacks like this. She was also a master pickpocket. They often went into towns and let her have her run. She always managed to pull in a large haul for them.
“Bandits!” The remaining guard called, right before being hit over the head with the butt of a sword, too distracted by Parker and Sophie to see Eliot coming up behind him.
Parker and Sophie nodded to Eliot, who nodded back. Eliot then laid down on the ground as if he had been knocked out too, wanting to keep the possibility of working for the kingdom in the future. It was always useful to have an inside man.
Nathan walked out of the woods. “Nice work.” He said to Sophie and Parker, before strolling up to the carriage to open the door.
“D-Do not kill me! Please, I- I’ll give you everything I have!” The king said, like a coward.
Nathan smiled at the king and nodded. “You will.” He said. “And do you know where this will all go? Back to as many of your people as possible.” Nathan said. “So in the future, remember. For every one guard you have, there are ten more angry, unhappy citizens of your kingdom. When Citizens get angry and unhappy, they group together, and pull things like this.” He said “If you were a wise king, you would start changing things. But you aren't a very wise king, and I have no doubt after this encounter you will go right back to being the selfish, pompous person that you are.” Nathan said. “But just remember. You can take more men, but we will always out number you. We will always out smart you. We will always win.”
The king trembled in fear. “Wh-who are you?”
Nathan smiled. “Well I guess you could call me Robin Hood.”
The End