A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Do you really think that you'll be able to keep that side to yourself… I could go all the way downstream, and find a better crossing there, if I wished," Nila said.

"You could," Oliver agreed. "But then it would not be my territory you enter into first, it would be someone else's. Do you think you can negotiate with the rulers of those lands?"

"Since when have those lands had rulers..?" Nila muttered. "Ah, that's it, I'm sick of this game. I'm going to get across, whether you like it or not."

"Let us see," Oliver said, like some all-seeing wise ruler, betting against the futile plights of a mortal.

The first thing that Nila seized was the thick branch of a long rotted tree. She picked it up, and was surprised by its lightness. Oliver wondered what that said for its structural integrity. It seemed very much like it would be just as likely to snap as it would be to support her weight.

Nevertheless, she slid it across the width of the stream, trying to align it with the stakes where she could, as if hoping they would offer it further support.

"Who goes there?" Oliver said lazily. "You've no right to be laying down bridges on land that isn't yours."

"Then I'll conquer your land," Nila declared bravely, though it was quite clear that she was doubting her own bridge. She took a careful step onto it. The branch was no wider than her feet. She had to swing out her arms for balance, and when she looked down, she was made acutely aware of the cold rushing mountain waters below her.

"Give it up, Lady Felder," Oliver said. "You know no one has crossed these waters in a hundred years. And you think you can do it on some rotten old bridge? That's arrogance."

Nila didn't have the leeway anymore to think. She had to concentrate all she had on her task. She must have known just how likely the wood was to snap, and she must have guessed that it would be most likely to snap at the middle – and she neared that middle rather quickly.

She tested the weakest section with the gentlest tap of her foot. It held, but likely only barely. She looked up at Oliver, her eyes ever-so slightly misted over from the trap that she'd put herself into. Oliver found it to be quite the endearing expression, especially when it sat on a face as pretty as Nila's.

He slunk away from the branch that he'd been sat on, and squatted by the shore, like some Lord that had actually decided that the opponent coming his way required the fullest use of his attention.

"Is this all you have, Lady Felder? You declare yourself a conqueror, and yet, you hesitate when the moment falls upon you?" Oliver said.

Egged on by Oliver's jabbing, Nila took another step forward, past the middle section. By some measure of luck, it held for her. She took another step forward then, and it held once more. The courage started to return in her eyes. She almost started to grow arrogant. She was in full reach of the shore now, just a single jump, and she would be—

CRACK!

Nila yelped when the branch gave. There was no longer any stake that far across the river to give her any sort of support. She spun the full way around, looking as if she were to land back first in the water – but then, like a cat, she spun even further, and was back towards landing on her hands and feet. Still, to land in those cold waters was a landing at all.

Her hands went in first, and then her boots. The shock of the cold water hit her at once, just as a sudden shocking change of direction hit her.

Oliver's hand grabbed Nila by the scruff of her coat. She dangled like a meek kitten as she was lifted to the shore, her feet and her hands dripping wet from the water. Oliver plonked her down unceremoniously on the bank, and he laughed aloud at her expression.

"You certainly hate to lose," he laughed.

She swung out her hand to hit him in the leg. "So do you, stupid," she said. "Why did I let you trick me into this..? Now my feet are wet, and my hands are cold… This is miserable."

This time, it didn't seem as if she was feigning that distaste. But Oliver found he did not mind. A grumpy Nila was far preferable to a frightened Nila. This was as close as they had been in the longest time, side by side, and there wasn't even the slightest hint of the mask that she'd begun to show him recently.

That was not until she looked up at him, and realized just how close he was, and something caught in her throat.

But Oliver put a finger to her forehead before it could go any further. "Don't," he said. "I don't wish for you, of all people, to fear me."

That was all he said, before turning, as if nothing was said at all. He looked through the trees around them, and pulled off the hatchet at his belt. "Here seems as good a place to make a fire as any. I suppose I'll bid you welcome to my kingdom, Lady Felder. I'll let you warm yourself by my hearth, after the journey that you've endured."

He began to pluck up the smallest pieces that he could from around them, but all the wood seemed to be damp, even when it ought to have been protected under the cover of the trees. All Oliver had with him was a flint and steel, so even as he grew the pile of his wood, there seemed to be little chance of lighting it.

"I'm cold…" Nila complained. "Why did I do something so stupid? There were better pieces of wood around, I could have waited…"

"Ah, but what fun would that have been?" Oliver said. "With the risk of the water below you, the balance is at its most worthwhile."

"Is this how you train all the time?" Nila asked. "I don't remember you ever doing anything like this before."