The Paladin

"Please. We were friends! Please God you don't have to do this!"

Ander's neck rubbed raw against the thick braided rope circling his neck. Shade danced across his face from the last leaves that hung from the hawthorn tree the noose was tied to. He sat on his horse, the rope already pulled tight as he sat on the calm steed's saddle. The afternoon sun burned down hot and unrelenting, the air still in anticipation for what was to happen.

"No, Ander. As a matter of fact, we were business partners. And so long as our venture was profitable, I was happy to uphold that relationship, but I'm afraid that it now has to come to an end."

"PLEASE YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THIS."

"Ander. The king has made it clear someone is to hang for the crimes that he has, in retrospect of the contract when he realized he didn't like it, made law. I lost all my money paying back the needed fines from him, and, seeing this is an even partnership, I think it only fair you pay this half of the debt."

The knight, covered head to toe in glistening armor, his face hidden by a visor, slapped the horse hard. It rode off quickly, and the sound of stamping hooves mixed with the snapping of the man's neck overhead.

The knight pulled off his helmet, his horns and red skin stained by the shade of the tree overhead, and the now hanging body. "Nothing personal, Ander. Just business." He mounted his own horse, and set off. He knew just where to start business anew.