Lance stayed in Bastia for two days. At first he thought he'd be there longer, since the areas outside the city hadn't fallen out of control yet, and he'd planned to leave only after things stabilized.
But he hadn't expected that once they rushed over and announced they were breaking away from the nobles' rule, those people would so quickly throw themselves into Hamlet's arms. Even the few vested interests who wanted to resist were powerless to do anything.
Because the Earl and those nobles, after one war after another, fighting the Barbarian Tribes and then infighting among themselves—whatever the reason, the exploitation had already reached the breaking point. All sorts of fucked‑up taxes had been levied for years by now.
A lot of people's grain had been completely emptied out; only some landlords had a little surplus left. Even just getting through this winter would be hard. At a time like this, it's not hard to understand their reaction.
