Friend or foe?

"Oliver," a soldier called as he slammed through a set of doors. Six men were sitting round a rectangular table. They were interrupted by a man bursting through the doors with a panicked expression on his face. This man had tanned skin and sea green eyes. His hair was swept back and his muscular body fit his uniform nicely. His eyes were darting around the room and he kept looking behind him.

"What is it?" The tallest man asked as he got to his feet. He was also very muscular, but not as much as the man who was now retreating from the room.

"They've all vanished," he stuttered as he walked backwards.

"What, what's vanished?" general Oliver asked as he followed the man.

"The horses Olly," the man muttered as he looked down at the floor.

"What, Harry, are you being serious?" Oliver asked, as he began to panic.

"Yes Olly," Harry responded as he lead thegeneral to the stable.

Oliver and Harry made their way through the fort that they had set up. They only had a few little buildings and stables.

All of the men were coming out of their huts to watch. They had probably already heard about what had happened.

"What are we going to do now?" A man asked as he watched his general storm through the camp.

"How did they get taken?" Another asked as he followed the general.

An hour later and all of the men were seated in a field with the general standing on a raised platform. He had a frown on his face and seven men were standing behind him. They all had grim expressions on their faces and their arms were crossed tightly.

"Silence!" The general bellowed, as he stepped forward, his robes snapping behind him ominously.

He began his speech by rubbing his hands on his sword and making eye contact with as many soldiers as he could, when he spoke he kept his eyes on the men and he tried to command everyone's attention.

"Whoever is responsible for this will be punished, but first I must order a party to visit my family estate. On this estate we own 150 horses. And yes I know that is not enough. These men will then separate and head to other estates. For example Mr Douglas will give us 100 horses. All of my council members will also give 50 from their estates," he explained, before asking, "Now my question is, do any of you have any horses to offer?"

A few men raised their arms and after negotiating with them the general wrote their names and family estate addresses on a paper.