B.O.K. Part 3

Captain James Hanson filled his mouth with a handful of sunflower seeds, he had recently given up chewing tobacco and he found that sunflower seeds helped with the cravings. He watched the ordinary tax collecting procedures with mock interest.

He had gone through the same monotonous routine many times before.

 The KDOTC or Collectors as the general population had come to call them, would pull into a town and demand the king’s taxes. Those who couldn’t pay would be gathered into the center of the town and one by one they would be executed, while they made the others watch.

That way they’d make every attempt to pay their taxes again the next time. The same process had been going on ever since the New King had taken over and demanded large amounts of taxes from the general population.

Hanson watched as the last of the tax evaders had been gathered into the town square and were beginning to be eliminated. He leaned back onto the grill of the truck and exchanged the empty shells in his mouth with fresh seeds. He let out a sigh, he felt old. Hell, he was old, at forty-seven he was past his prime, but he enjoyed his work and didn’t want to give it up.

His thoughts were interrupted by some commotion going on in the square.

“Well maybe this won’t be as ordinary of a collection as I thought” Hanson thought about intervening but the discarded then idea, He’d let his newly promoted Corporal take care of it. “Fiore, get your ass over there and figure out what’s going on!” He barked.

 Hanson watched as Fiore ran over and assessed the situation.

Hanson liked Fiore; the kid had a lot of potential. The boy possessed determination and a desire to prove himself.

All good qualities if he hoped to advance in the rankings. Hanson smiled as he saw Fiore take control of the situation and handle it appropriately. He looked towards Hanson for the order to continue. Good the boy knew who was in charge; it’d keep him out of trouble in the future. Hanson nodded and a few seconds later the man lay on the floor dead as Fiore took a step back.

“Well I better get over there and congratulate him on a job well done” Hanson thought aloud. He stood with some effort, noticing that age had also brought some extra pounds.

****

Adrian felt someone put a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see the grizzled face of his Captain.

“Good work Corporal, You did a fine job.” The Captain barked.

“Thank You sir, I did what I felt was right.” Adrian replied.

“Well then you got the instincts for this line of work.” The Captain turned and began to issue commands to the other soldiers to load up. Adrian watched the Captain with some interest; he radiated authority even though he didn’t have the look of authority. He was short, old, and somewhat plump, yet all these men hinged on his every word, waiting for an order. It wasn’t just his ranking that caused everyone to act that way but his background and the stories of what that man had done.

 Adrian had heard one such story a few months ago at a bar. Supposedly Hanson had been given the responsibility of tracking down and killing the last surviving royalty of the Kingdom of Old.

He had been in charge of taking down Princess Isabella and her newborn son.

Hanson had managed to get the princess but somehow he never managed to find the boy. It became a rumor that the only reason Hanson had never been more than a captain was because of never finding the baby.

Adrian found that to be incredibly interesting, not the fact that Hanson was never promoted past captain, but the fact that most likely that baby was still alive. That somewhere a prince was alive and most likely didn’t even know it. Adrian shook away the thought and moved toward the convoy of trucks that were lined up on the road, climbing into the second truck. He sat in the passenger seat and grabbed the clipboard that was on the dash.

He slid his finger down the line of cities and towns that they’d be stopping at until he reached Richmond. Adrian made a mark by Richmond and noted the amount of money they had collected and the amount of tax evaders. He then scanned the next few lines to see where they would be heading. He stopped when he saw New Boston listed a few cities down. It looked like he’d be going to his hometown, for the first time in ten years.