Falkenheim, Nobart

  “Are ya men or boys to be defeated so easily, ya louts?” a senior sergeant shouted at the men trembling under his gaze.

  Some of the recruits were groaning, lying on the ground, while some were being helped up by the veterans. Godwin’s mercenaries weren’t gentle with their training. Nor could we afford to be at the moment.

  “Up!” the sergeant barked.

  They rose. Slowly and sloppily.

  From a balcony above the sunlit courtyard, I almost chuckled out loud. The poor sods had been thoroughly beaten in every mock battle. Expecting the peasants to stand against experienced veterans was like expecting sand castles to survive a wave. Their shields overlapped unevenly. Too many had their spears pointed at the ground.

  Yet out of the hundred or so participants of the Battle of the Bog who had answered my call, only these sixty had accepted my offer to join the new standing army of Nobart. The rest had left for their homes with the silver I had promised them. Sadly, none of their retelling of the march had revealed any hidden co-conspirators of Zock against the crown.

  The men might not have skills, but at least they were brave, or desperate.

  “That one will break first,” the large knight standing next to me pointed to a young man covered in sweat, his spear low.

  As the veterans lunged, the line buckled. The shields moved aside as if welcoming them inside the formation. The man Godwin had pointed stumbled backward, making the man behind him fall, causing a chain reaction, until the formation was a tangle of wood and curses.

  The sergeant smacked his forehead. “You hold or you die!” he roared.

  “What do you think of them?” I asked. “They have seen war.”

  “I heard their accounts, my lord. It sounds more like a slaughter than battle,” Godwin replied.

  My gut clenched. “It was.”

  “Their experience will only help them in not freezing. They have no proper training, so they won’t be of much use in the upcoming fight.”

  “I don’t want them as fighters for this one, just crushers of hope. Visible threats. The bigger our force, the more likely our enemy surrenders without fighting.”

  “My men can prepare them in time for that, but I doubt the defenders will give up easily.”

  I grimaced in discomfort. I wanted to build roads and schools, but here I was planning death and destruction.

  “I have planned for that. What do you think of my house’s soldiers?”

  He stiffened. “They are fine.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “I appreciate honesty above everything else, Sir Godwin.”

  He exhaled, then looked me in the eyes. “Your father took his best men with him when he marched against you, leaving the rest to defend the castle and city.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  The forty-two men left behind were barely enough to guard and patrol the city of Falkenheim and clearly not the best of soldiers. Now I really needed Godwin’s company to become the county’s official force, but I couldn’t just offer the position to them easily. They wouldn’t value it without having worked for it.

  “I will enroll them in the training as well. How is the security situation in the county?” I asked.

  “Our patrols have had their effect. No large bandit attack has been reported in the last two weeks in the entire county.”

  “The border with Ironfeld and Stormhaven?”

  “The Iselau is the perfect barrier, my lord. Unless the Ironfelds have collaborators on this side of the river, the only way they can cross it are the bridges next to Blackrain and Nordhaven.”

  “You should assume there might be some.”

  “I am. There is a dedicated patrol alongside Iselau’s shores, although I fail to see why they would attack you.”

  “They haven’t responded to the Queen’s letters. I fear they are in cahoots with Stormhaven, who might be planning a rebellion. If you and your men have any family in either county, I suggest you immediately call them here.”

  His face turned grim, but he nodded all the same.

  Below, the men raised their shields in unison for the first time. Far from perfect, but it was a start.

  “What do you think of Sir Garwin?” I asked.

  The young man had agreed to be evaluated and begun working with Godwin to patrol the lands.

  “An honorable young man and a good warrior,” he said, making me smile.

  Reshma also seemed to like him. Now only one other person’s opinion mattered about the claimant to the barony of Nebelhain.

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  I invited Dowager Nebelhain to join me for lunch.

  She arrived with a faint smile on her lips and gracefully sat down across from me at the table on the balcony, almost glowing under the midday sun. I wanted to savor the open skies as much as possible before the rainy season would cover them for long stretches.

  “So, my lady. What do you think of your new suitor?”

  She almost blushed. “Sir Garwin is an honorable man.”

  “You don’t have any objections to marrying him?”

  She shook her head. “I have found him... agreeable. He met my daughters and I could tell he would make a good father.”

  I was worried the sly woman would have him wrapped around her finger, but according to Reshma the man wasn’t that weak to a woman’s charms. That was good enough for now; I didn’t have time for one barony’s internal politics at the moment. I just wanted the chaos to subside so I could on the real task at hand. My new council would have to deal with the rest.

  “That’s good to hear. We will finalize the terms and declare your betrothal soon.”

  She inclined her head in thanks.

  Then I turned to the other person sitting on the table with us. “Elric, what is the status of the items I asked you to acquire?”

  “A shipment enough for one of your ships has been already sent to Nordhaven, Sire. Fifty sheep, sacks of seeds of every vegetable and fruit tree that grows in the county and two tons of coal. I also acquired two tons of grain for our stores and two hundred kilos of iron for our armorer.”

  That was just enough for fifty crossbows.

  “That’s not a lot of iron. How much did it cost me?”

  “Six hundred forty small silver coins.”

  “That’s,” I did the math, “more than ten gold coins! Half a Crown for a measly two hundred kilos of iron?” my voice rose in pitch.

  He looked at me, confused. “That is the price of iron. With Ironfeld not selling to us and Blackrain not under our control, it would have been even higher, but I bargained hard on your behalf.”

  I sighed. At that price I would lose more than a hundred gold coins just buying two tons of crappy slag-ridden bloomery iron, which would have to be remelted in Chadom’s furnaces to be purified later anyway. But time was of the essence, and nothing could buy time.

  “Keep buying as much as you can.”

  He nodded, then spoke up. “Sire, are we not building those repeating crossbows here?”

  “No. The techniques to make their steel and their design will remain in Chadom. I won’t risk a traitor getting their hands on them.”

  He nodded in understanding.

  Once alone, I checked my status:

  Even after setting aside money for the families of the fallen of the Battle of the Bog, a year of pay and equipment for the new recruits and buying seeds, animals, metals, cloth and other items, I still had a significant amount of money left. I could afford to spend a little.

  With a nasty battle a few days away and preparations underway, I decided to focus on something less pressing.

  I took Reshma, Lady Erenna and Isanna along to see the jeweler who had acquired large quartz pieces I had asked from Elric. The man was also a skilled gem cutter.

  While the ladies browsed through the jewelry, I joined the jeweler in his workshop, where he showed me four large fist-sized pieces of quartz. He had polished their surface and they were as clear as glass.

  “These are the largest clear pieces I found, my lord.”

  Big enough for lenses. “I would like you to cut them into a specific shape, master.”

  All it took was a general description a sketch and he assured me he would have some ready for me within days, as he already knew how to make eyeglasses.

  I didn’t tell him how a spyglass exactly worked, as it was too important strategically. I hated that we had enemies not just outside the national borders but inside as well and thus had to keep such useful tools secret.

  After buying the ladies some jewelry, I decided to take a stroll to the poorer parts of the city with Reshma to see how the common people were fairing. They bowed in deference as we walked by on the main road.

  “They seem to genuinely like you,” Reshma commented from my side.

  “It’s probably the lowering of the milling fee.”

  She chuckled. “10 to 1%. Do you not like money?”

  “I do, but I don’t mind the loss if it means more food in the people’s bellies.”

  Poor Elric had looked constipated at the loss of revenue, but I stood by my decision. I wanted the people well-fed, as many of them were clearly stunted from lack of proper nutrition. At least they weren’t living in complete squalor like people from the slums of Aldersthron. Their clothes, even if simple, were made of sturdy wool Nobart was known for and their houses, small wooden buildings, were well built.

  Still, their lives could be better. Much better.

  “You genuinely care for them. Why?” she asked.

  “Is it so odd I want my fellow humans to have a good life?”

  “A bit, yes. That’s not what nobles do.”

  “That’s because they are don’t know that uplifting the common man uplifts everyone. A rising tide lifts all boats.”

  High pitched laughter reached our ears. Turning around, I noticed some children kicking a ball of some sort. I guess some things were universal.

  Then the ball bounced off the ground. More than anything made of rags should.

  My eyes widened in surprise.

  Ignoring everything else, I ran toward the children. Noticing me, they stopped in their tracks, their smiles vanishing.

  I caught the black ball and squeezed it. It pushed back.

  “No need to be scared, children,” I said softly, kneeling. “I just wanted to ask you a question. What is that ball made of?”

  “Milschaft, milord,” the tallest of them replied.

  “What is that?”

  “It’s a sap from a certain tree,” Reshma said from behind me.

  I turned back to face her. “You know about it?”

  “Yes. I used to play with it as a child. The trees grow in hot and humid regions. You won’t find too many here.”

  “I want as much of it as possible.”

  “The sap?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  I didn’t bother hiding my smile, and whispered in her ears. “This, my dear, is a miracle material. It’s the best choice whenever you need to make something strong yet flexible. Seals, tubes, valves, footwear and belts. It opens so many doors.”

  Sympathy showed on her face. “Jack, it’s not a very tough material and doesn’t last very long. It becomes soft and sticky after a while.”

  “In its natural form, yes. But vulcanize it and it becomes super tough and resilient.”

  “Vulca-what?”

  I put a finger to my lips. “Secret method.”

  I placed a small silver coin in every child’s palm, who stared wide-eyed at them.

  I decided to head back and celebrate the new discovery, but as we were walking back to the castle, suddenly my body felt as if it were burning.

  “Ow!” I screamed out loud as my eyes felt as if they were being cooked. I immediately closed them, but found no relief.

  “Jack! What is it?” Reshma cried out, holding onto me. Her voice echoed in my ears like needles puncturing my eardrums.

  “Quiet!” I hissed.

  Thankfully, they all obeyed. Still, the noise of the city was overwhelming. I put my fingers in my ears, which brought some relief.

  In the dark, I noticed a green icon blinking in my peripheral vision.

  What is it now?

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