Tribune Today Jan 1st 2039

The snow has been falling all night, and as I look out of my small bedroom window, the fields and walls are all dressed in the soft blanket of snow, as is the high wall in the distance. I feel somewhat lost as I absorb the peace and tranquillity of Loxley. I came here to dispel the myths of what has really happened across this country, but I also have began to realise I was looking for a motive as to why anyone would take on such a burden in fighting what a great many of the land felt was an un-winnable fight. On my way here, I assumed that Loxley was just another powerhouse looking to dominate, and was threatened by its greatest rivals the Knox family, I think I also thought they were both similar in their goals, but at this time I am seriously thinking that I was quite mistaken, as what I have seen and heard is contrary to what I had thought was the truth.

Day Four. December 20^th 2038

I have more questions now than I ever expected to have at this point. I am more than half way through my visit, and I am beginning to wish that I could stay on here for several weeks, which I feel is about, as long at it would take to get an answer to all of my questions. I presumed that Robert Lox was the landowner and overlord to this thriving small town, who was a man who wanted the fame and riches of running such a place, but having observed him in person as he answered my questions, I am now convinced that his sole aim is not one of domination, but one of protection of as many people as possible.

Somewhere in the Stockade is a member of the Specialists who was injured in the fight at Dunnottar in Scotland, he has refused to talk with me since my arrival, and I have asked several times. His Name is John Styles, and he has worked on the farm since he was 14 years old, he currently holds the position of Farm Charge hand, a very senior position indeed, but he is also a Specialist who has been at the side of Lord Loxley since he set out from here back in April of this year. John suffered two broken legs in the fight in Scotland, and was at Tintagel, and all of the other locations round the country, including Canterbury in May when Lord Loxley faced Mason Knox, and prevented him from taking the crown of the country. As you can possibly imagine, the chance to talk with an actual witness to all of the events that have been the source of all the rumours, would indeed be a prize beyond my wildest dreams.

My guide has spoken several times to John, and he arrived this morning with the news that John would answer some questions, but would not comment on any ongoing plans for the Specialists or Lord Loxley. I am eternally grateful to my guide and to John for this golden opportunity to clear away all the myths, and get to the real truth of the Cutters, Mason Knox and Lord Loxley.

It is shortly before 11am when I am taken to the cottage of John Styles. It’s a small cosy little place, but very clear it is the home of a single hard working man. The room has low beams and a large Stone hearth from which a good pile of logs spit and crackle to warm the room. The walls are stained plain white, although it is clear they have not been painted in many years, but they contrast with the dark beams and add to the charm of the house. John is sat close to the fire in an old battered armchair, both his legs are bound and splinted until they heal, and there are several bottles of some mixture on a small table at his side, which I take to be some form of painkiller. I take a seat on one of the three chairs that were pushed under a small wooden dining table, which is the only other furniture in the room. He is a big man, who looks like he can handle much of the heavy labour around the farm, and also the long heavy sword stood next to the fireplace. It is a rather sparse scene, broken only by a hand drawn picture on the wall in a small plain wooden frame. It depicts a large house set back amongst the trees of a woodland, and I ponder as to whether or not this is the famed house at Robbie’s Mere?

John gives me a nod, and although quite an imposing figure, there is a life to his bright blue eyes that convey a strong sense of kindness. I smile and thank him for allowing me to interview him. I break the ice and explain that I have many questions and would hope that he answers all of them, although I am aware of his terms and will abide by them if he chooses not to answer any of them. I enquire as to his health and the severity of his legs, and with a soft smile he begins our interview. His voice is very broad even for the north, but there is a reflective gentleness about it that is quite appealing, and shows something of the man before me.
“I am fine, I have all I need and Lady Alice has taken very care of me, it’s not so fun being sat here all day, but they are healing fine and so I will back before long.”
Lady Alice is the daughter of John Lox, and by all accounts heavily pregnant. I was not aware that Alice Lox was trained in medicine. John gives a nod.
“Aye, since Len has been gone she has took over, I mean they use to work together anyways, but she is now the leading light in these parts when it comes to curing folk, bless her, she is a good sort she is.”
Looking at him it is clear he had quite a fight, and so I carefully ask about his injuries and how he acquired them. This happened to you up in Scotland, I am not sure if know, but there are many rumours going around about what happened up there, can you tell me why Lord Loxley was so far from here, and what he was doing?
“Folks up there needed our help, so we gave em a lift like… You know helped em with her and her guards.”
Her? Do you mean a Knox family member?
“Aye we call her the Dark One, she is his mother. Well he went up there years back and built his little city out of stone, and she took over when he left, so we… Lord Loxley and us I mean, well we went up and gave em lift sorting her out.”
I have heard many rumours of a woman who wears black helping out the cause of Knox, but this is the first time anyone has actually mentioned she is in fact the mother of Mason Knox. I have also heard many things about her via members of the church, and the rumours are that she has some kind of ancient powers or dark magic. I must add at this point, most well educated people within my church do not believe this nonsense, but I am very interested in what John has to say. You say that this woman is Mason’s mother; do you know this to be a fact? He gives me a very reassuring nod.
“Oh aye, she is his mother alright, she even refers to him as her son. If you ask me they suit each other, nasty buggers the pair of em.”
This is fantastic, so you have actually spoken with her and she has mentioned him. He nods again.
Aye that’s what I said… well I personally have not spoken to her, but I was there when Rune confronted her, and they both spoke then, well actually they was shouting and screaming and the like at each other, but aye she called him her son.”
Lord Loxley’s wife Runestone confronted her, I am right in hearing that am I not?
“Its what I said.”
Just for a moment I am caught for words, I can see by the look on John’s face that he is very serious and sincere, but that alone makes a cold shiver run down my spine. John you have obviously seen a huge amount first hand, so you can confirm that there is a family conspiracy in the Knox household to run the country? He frowns for a moment.
“Well Yeah! I don’t wish to make you look stupid but have you not been listening to what we have all been saying for the last year? Look you need to be clear on this mate, that lot are planning to kill anyone who gets in their way, I know cause I have seen what they do to folks who oppose them, and I am telling you now it aint bloody pretty. Robbie and Rune have been fighting this lot and telling all the woodland realm about it now since last April, Mason aint your problem Mate its her and her brood we need to watch out, because these buggers want all of us dead, you get that don’t you?”
I am a little surprised at the force of his tone, but I can see that he is real McCoy, and the look in his eyes is that of someone who knows full well what will happen at Loxley and every other woodland dwelling if the Knox family are not stopped. John, can you tell me of some of your encounters with the Cutters and what it was like to fight with them, because I have readers all over this country who have heard all the scare rumours and live in fear of them arriving in their towns and villages.
“They should be scared, and they need to arm themselves, because the Cutters are fighters with no souls, they do not care who they butcher, be it kids, women or men, it makes no difference to them, because they have been ordered to kill anyone who will not submit to their slavery in the cities. Everything you have heard is pretty much right on the nail, they turn up without warning and slaughter everyone, then steal the crops, the food, and anything else they can cart off. Every village and town should have a watch in place, because as we have seen they can turn up just about any bloody where.”
So what you telling all my readers is that the rumours about them being brutal are true?
“I have heard every rumour about them, and to be honest I think they do not go far enough.”
Really… what I mean to say is that you think they are worse than all the horror stories we have heard? He leans forward, and for a moment his expression changes as some memory comes across his face, I sense his apprehension as his tone lowers and he speaks very slowly.
“There was this one place…. Oh hell, it still gives me the willies thinking of it…. Believe me when I tell you they did things to the folks who lived there that I could not even imagine before I walked on the blood stained grass and saw it for myself. We are a tough bunch of buggers when we need to be, but I will tell you this, I saw hard men cry like children and throw up in the bushes that day. It was hell itself, and there will never be real words to say how it felt seeing what they had done there, them Cutters were not human to do that, because no real man could do such things. You will never know what the word horror means until you see something like that, and if I am honest, I hope no one ever has to again, chilled me through my bones it did.”
I could see the goose bumps on his arms, and feel a similar wave pass over my own, it was a few seconds before it suddenly hit me what John was referring to. John are you talking about the rumours of the slaughtered town in Hornsby? He does not answer, but gives a solemn nod and the gravity of the moment hits me. Hornsby has been spoken of often, but most of us believe it is just some myth to scare towns people into taking action, are you serious telling me that its true, and the Cutters hacked up everyone and left them hanging in the trees? I was sitting staring into his haunted expression and I felt scared, because for someone to actually admit that such an atrocity happened, and was actually there to see it, was a revelation I had never in my wildest dreams expected.
“I weren’t no myth, it happened and I know it because it was Rafe and me who found em. I have heard all the talk, but I am telling you straight they do not even come close to the horror we all saw and cleaned up that day.”
I am shaken by his words. “They say Lord Loxley ordered all the villagers to be cut down and buried, that cannot have been easy? He shook his head.
“I weren’t… Hardest day of my life it was, and I don’t mind saying I cried like a child as I did it, but we did em proud and laid everyone of them to rest.”
For several long moments there is silence, and John just stares out in front, not really looking at me. I am sorry to make you remember that John, I honestly did not think it was true. They say you all caught up with the men who did this, and that Lord Loxley tortured them.
“Aye we caught em, they were about to it again to the next town, and we captured them, but we did not torture them, Lord Loxley ordered them hit and hit hard but not killed. I tell you at the time I did not agree, I wanted to kill every last one of them buggers, but he left them wounded and gave them the chance to live or die, something they never gave them poor sods back in the village. As I say, it did not sit right with me, but I have had a lot of time to think about it, and I think now he was right to do what he did, because those Cutters that did survive, have all their life to think about what they did, and I hope it haunts them to their last breath. From what we have heard the word got out into the ranks of the black army, and they fear us more than they do the Knox now. As far as we know they have never done it since, just in case Lord Loxley is about, so we have helped some folks in a big way.”
From what I know about John, he is classed as one of the most loyal to Lord Loxley, so I find it interesting that he felt that Lord Loxley was at first wrong in his decision. It is obvious that John has spent a great deal of time thinking about those sombre events from earlier in the year, and I feel that maybe I should change the subject. Can you tell me about the cathedral and the crowing ceremony?
He gives a shrug. “There is not that much to tell that has not already been told. We sized up the place for a few days and then Robbie made his plan, it was strange sitting up there all night, but it paid off. To be honest we all knew it was going to be a big risk, and I don’t think any of us thought we would get out there alive, but we all agreed to try and at the end of the day we pulled it off. We did what we meant to do and Knox lost the crown before he had a chance to wear it. That’s about the sum of it I guess.”
So Lord Loxley did challenge Mason Knox face to face?”
“Oh aye he did that… although it was no so much face to face, because Mason was hiding behind a Bishop. Robbie told him like, to come out and face him man to man, but he was too much of coward I guess, anyway all hell broke loose and we missed hitting Mason, but we got the crown away from him and he ran off from what I can gather. We just fought like hell, I am surprised we made it out alive.”
To be honest some of it feels hard to believe, because if I am completely honest with you John… Well there are not that many of you are there?”
I see a sparkle return to his eye, as he smiles a broad smile. “Well we have beaten the odds a few times thanks to Robbie and Rune’s planning. It does come at a price, our last trip cost us Matty, he was a really good mate and I miss him. We have lost a few this year what with Lee, Hog and Eric, folks out there don’t see it, they hear all the fancy tales about us, but they do not know what its like to be face to face with some pretty tough enemies, I reckon we are pretty lucky to have got this far.”
I know so many who have fled the Cutters, and have heard their stories; I can imagine the bravery it takes to face them. He gives a chuckle.
“I got to admit there have been times when its felt more like madness than bravery, but you know at the end of the day, Mason started this years ago, and I honestly think he though it would be easy, but he never bargained on us lot here. Someone had to make a stand, and I suppose that was for us to decide, and when we did, we had no other choice than to follow it through, and that is what we have been doing ever since. It is hard and big as we are it scares us, but we pull together with a smile and a joke and we get on with it, I reckon the time is here for everyone to join in and stand up with us as allies.”
I was talking with Megan two days ago, she gave the impression you are all very close friends who watch out for each other. He gives a nod and smiles.
“We are a team, we go through hell together and watch each others back. Yeah I suppose we are close, but when you live together out in the wilds facing danger like we have, then you rely on each other, that’s the law of the woodland and we live by it.”
I cannot help but admire him, but I have to ask John what to me is probably the most obvious question. I know it might sound odd, but why do you all do it, surely it would be easier to wait here behind the solid walls of Loxley for the Knox army to arrive?
John gives a big sigh, and scratches his very stubbly chin.
“I dare say folks might think that, but to be honest I am not sure why we do it the way we do. I guess the simple way of saying it, is that we set off from here on an errand last April, and that errand took us further than any of us thought it would. Out there in the wilds and fields you hear stuff, and if you happen to be the kind of man Robbie is, then you just act on it and try to do something about it. Yeah that’s it really, and that is what we have been doing, I would be out there now if my legs were not broke. I can see that doesn’t make a lot of sense to you, but when you are there in the moment, you just act on instinct and before you know it, you are involved in something you didn’t expect. I suppose we could sit here and wait, but I look at it this way, by the time them buggers do get here, they will not be in such a rush, I mean lets be honest, they have met with a small group of us already and have taken some pretty nasty blows, can you imagine what will go through there minds as they walk up the road to face all the men of Loxley? As I said, they will not be in a rush to start a war on our doorstep, and so while we wait we will keep whittling them down.”
In a strange way it does make a great deal of sense, and when my time finally comes to an end, it is something that stays in my mind. From all accounts and from those I have spoken to, the Knox army is huge, and yet they have had some pretty tough fights with those of the woodland realm. Looking at what lies behind the walls of Loxley, I would have to agree that if I was a soldier about to face and fight those who defend here, I too would be very cautious about how quickly I ran into the battle.

Tomorrow I will reveal more of what I have learned behind the high walls of Loxley, about life here and how the enemy operate, but until then I hope this and future news letters find you safe and well. There is so much more to know about this war, and hopefully I will get to find out more and let all of you know, until then stay vigilant and keep up the fight.