Michael

Michael watched from the wall as his army approached Greyhold. It was an impressive sight, one that he had never seen. Even when assaulting the Ereic Mountains his troops had not been gathered like this.

Tara and Duncan Grim had joined him on the wall and gazed at the soldiers clad in the red and black of House Rowan.

“I had heard that you changed your house banner,” his uncle noted and strained his eyes to make out the metallic mountain on a black ground with the red Wyvern overhead. He must have seen it before on the knights or Michael, but this was the first time that the count had mentioned it.

“Yeah, seemed like a good idea back then,” Michael started but his uncle interrupted him before he could finish.

“It looks good. Cedric and I never had an eye for aesthetics.”

“So, you don’t want me to return to the old one?”

Duncan looked at him with a smirk. “No. They looked horrible, and we are not ancient families who can’t deal with some improvements.”

“I see. I will probably add the swords back in though,” Michael agreed.

Duncan nodded gratefully and turned his gaze back to the approaching army.

“There are more than you promised,” he said after a few moments.

He was of course right. In between the colors of House Rowan were two more.

“It seems like House Ragar and House Tengel are marching with my men,” Michael said. He hadn’t gotten any prior notice about this but due to both houses belonging firmly to the loyalist faction, he didn’t mind. It also helped that he considered their patriarchs to be friends.

“If they chose to do so then I will not complain.” Duncan shrugged. “Did we hear more from your spy?”

Unsurprisingly his uncle did not trust Eydis, and he had clearly stated that he wasn’t happy with Michael’s decision to let her go. But even he couldn’t argue that the information they got from her was good.

“They continue to gather in the old village of Clan Rescar. About a third have already arrived when the message was sent and more should follow soon. My source is certain that they will not back down,” Michael recounted the information from the last letter.

“A week or two then. That should be all we have left,” Duncan concluded.

“How is Eydis doing with all of this?” Tara inserted herself into the conversation.

Michael hesitated. The reports had all come from the operative with the code name ‘Rat’ and her estimation of Eydis’s loyalty had been less than encouraging.

According to the spy, she was integrating well, showing a sense of belonging, and might even have gotten close with one of the clan members. Overall, Rat was warning about her probably changing sides.

How much of his faith in Eydis was coming from wishful thinking? He couldn’t tell. If he thought about it logically, he would conclude that she would probably turn, but he still wanted to trust her.

“She is doing fine as far as I could gather from the notes. She had no problem infiltrating them and no one is suspicious of her,” Michael replied after the pause.

Michael could see his uncle’s thoughts on his face, but the man remained silent.

“That’s good. I hope she will be okay,” Tara said with a smile.

“Me too.”

- Some time later in the Greyhold courtyard -

“Samuel, Richard! What are you two doing here? And that with a whole detachment of soldiers,” Michael called out to the two barons as he approached them in the courtyard.

Samuel Ragar reacted first, bowed, and then reached out his hand toward Michael. “Milord. We got your message to be ready for a call to arms. After hearing what this is about and that the House Rowan guard is moving out, we decided to join you immediately.”

Michael grabbed his hand and gave it a good press before turning to Richard Tengel.

“Ah so you don’t want to miss your part of the glory,” he said and also clasped hands with the slightly older baron.

Older was only related to the nineteen-year-old Samuel in this case. Richard was only in his late twenties, after all.

“Of course, milord. You know that I always itch to throw myself into the thickest of battles if I am not held down by ten horses,” the man joked.

“I expect nothing less,” Michael said with a smile and let his gaze hover on both of them for a proud moment.

They couldn’t be more different even if they tried. Samuel was a fighter while Richard was much more of a scholar. Samuel was lean and tall, and Richard was shorter and a little corpulent. Samuel was blond and Richard had black hair.

Even with all those differences they had become friends due to their holdings being right next to each other. Probably also because they were both friends with Michael and came to Reen regularly.

“So, what have you brought?”

“Fifty battle-ready men-at-arms and five knights including Samuel,” Richard replied.

“I am not a knight,” Samuel corrected his friend.

It was true that Samuel was a good augmenter but hadn’t achieved the mana sword yet, so he couldn’t technically be called a knight.

“Okay so four knights and Samuel,” Richard repeated with a humorous roll of the eyes.

Richard sadly didn’t have much in the ways of mana. He did get lucky though. All six of his siblings were girls, which was probably the only reason he ever managed to inherit his father’s title. Michael wouldn’t complain, the man was a refreshing conversation partner.

“Either way, I am happy to see the both of you,” Michael said with a smile.

Michael then saw that Samuel was looking at something behind him. He turned around to see what it was. Sir Godfrey Pyke and his uncle stood a few meters away deep in conversation.

“I assume you heard about my uncle,” Michael guessed and turned back to the nobles.

“Just about everyone has by now,” Richard nodded. “No one can blame you for what you believed. Most of us believed the same.”

“I am sure the noble faction will anyway. Either way, I will have to make it up to him.”

“And this sense of responsibility is why we are glad to have you as our liege,” Samuel assured him.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“That is nice to hear. Let’s get you in now. You both must be looking forward to some comfort,” Michael said.

“Idas knows, yes. If I have to sit in a saddle for one more minute, I am gonna throw myself into a river and refuse to swim,” Richard complained and walked toward the castle.

He would of course not get the comfort right now. First, they would have to introduce themself to the lord and lady of the castle, then take care of their men's provisions and housing, and after that, they could get a semblance of quiet.

Michael left them shortly after they started planning the logistics and went over to his retainers who had arrived with the army.

Sola and Geron stood together with Zeke, and Kiran was in conversation with Pan at the edge of the yard. Michael headed for Geron and Sola first.

“Michael,” Sola called out and hugged him. “How are you doing?”

“I am fine thanks.”

“Really?”

Michael smiled. “I am good enough.”

“That has to suffice for now,” Geron said. “Where is Eydis by the way? I haven’t seen her yet and would like to talk about training.”

“She went back to her people to gather intel for us,” Michael explained. If there was anyone who could understand his decision, then it would be them.

“I see,” was the only thing that Geron managed to say. Geron and Eydis had a rocky start or rather a rocky first few years, but Michael knew that he trusted her.

“She will be tempted, but I think she will come back to us,” Sola declared confidently.

“You are probably right,” Geron said absentmindedly.

“Did any problems arise in my absence?” Michael asked to change the subject.

Geron and Sola exchanged glances before Sola answered. “Not much. Viscount Telp has everything under control. The mood of the nobles is a little bit tense though. Mostly because they aren’t sure how to handle our new relationship with Grent.”

Michael frowned and looked at them puzzled. What was there not to understand?

“To put it bluntly some think that you have been manipulated and are still certain that your uncle is at fault for the death of your family,” Geron explained.

“That is ridiculous,” Michael scoffed but then thought about it more. Maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous if all one got were rumors. “Anyway, that is a problem that should be easily solved after we return home.”

“I agree,” Geron said. “It is nothing but typical politics.”

“You shouldn’t dismiss the mood of a powerful group of people so easily,” Sola admonished him.

“I would be busy the whole day if I even tried to keep up with the noble’s moods,” Geron replied with a smile.

Michael left them to bicker while Zeke watched passively and walked over to Kiran and Pan.

“A forced dimensional shift, you say?” Kiran asked with a concerned expression.

“Yes, he simply vanished from in between us and I couldn’t find a trace. Michael told me later that he thought he had gone to another plane or dimension,” the satyr mage confirmed.

“It is as she said,” Michael spoke up and instantly had the burning attention of the old mage. “The being called Nayk abducted me to show me scenes of the past.”

“Not only potent space magic but also time? What kind of creature did you meet?” Kiran mumbled to himself. His mind was visibly working as he tried to come up with any theory about this strange magic user.

“I don’t know but I doubt she was human.”

“I agree,” Kiran nodded. “At least none of our time.”

Michael wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but the mage had already started rummaging through his pack and consulting books,

On the other side of the yard, he spotted someone he hadn’t expected to see. He excused himself as quickly as he had arrived and walked over to the part-giant woman.

“Ho adventurers,” Michael called out as he approached Clara, the silver-ranked adventurer who he had hunted with in the Cleansing of the Ereic Mountains and her group.

“Ho, little lord, who is not so little anymore,” the tall woman answered with a warm smile. “Just a little more, and you might even be able to look me in the eye.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. But what are you guys doing here?” Michael knew that the actual reason for the mobilization was something that was kept vague so they couldn’t know about the impending invasion.

“Heard that you made up with your uncle, and so we thought let’s check out his lands after the number of adventurers shot up in yours. Less competition,” she explained.

“Makes sense. We did have some problems with Rangda if you were interested in some extra work,” Michael offered.

Clara shook her head though, “Sorry, not getting involved in wars and politics if we can avoid it. We generally try to avoid fighting people. We aren’t mercenaries, after all.”

“I get it, so then good luck in monster hunting but please make yourself familiar with the laws here. A certain magical creature was put under the lord’s protection just a few weeks ago,” Michael explained, which garnered him an interested expression.

“I mean it, you will not only get a problem with the Grent authorities if you harm any of them,” Michael added.

“We don’t want any trouble in our home zone, so no worries,” Clara waved him off and then looked around a little. “Where is little Eydis by the way? She should be with you, right?”

“Don’t let her hear you call her little Eydis.”

“Ah, she likes it.”

Michael raised an eyebrow but didn’t prod any further. “She is out on a long-term scouting mission.”

“Scouting mission, so so,” the adventurer said but it was obvious that she had gotten suspicious in just a moment.

“Well, I will see you guys around, I expect,” Michael said and left them behind.

The day continued with much to do. Getting five hundred men settled took a certain amount of effort, negotiating, and goodwill.

Lord Grim decided to host a small feast as a welcome to their allies so Michael ended up sitting at his table watching the knights and nobles drink and eat.

It wasn’t bad though. He didn’t have to care much about the Grent noble’s scheming and the only ones that were here from his lands were friends. This was also more of a soldier's feast than a noble's party which meant loud laughter, war stories, and songs.

“I really hope they don’t drink too much, or this will end in a brawl,” Tara said while shaking her head.

“Your father is not drinking so I think they will behave,” Michael noted and pointed toward Duncan with his head.

“He did enough of that in the last two years. It is only right that he takes it a little bit slower now,” Tara brushed it off and let her eyes wander.

Michael did the same just to see a group of chanting knights around Geron and Sir Helbrect as they were arm-wrestling, presumably with the honor of both knighthoods on the line.

They seemed to be quite evenly matched as both of them started to get red-faced from the strain.

“They are going to tear a muscle,” Michael said but didn’t get an answer.

Just as he wanted to turn to Tara to see what was distracting her, the table let out a loud crack and crashed through. Geron and Sir Helbrect both crashed into each other and the remains of the table as their support was suddenly gone.

Loud laughter echoed through the hall as the knights helped up their commanders. Sola was with them, her clear laughter cutting through the hall like the ringing of bells.

Michael couldn’t help but smile at the scene and then turned over to Tara. The girl was watching something else entirely, too distracted to notice Michael. He followed her gaze, and his heart began to warm.

Tara was watching her parents who were sitting a few spots to their left. They were chatting like a young couple in love.

“They seem to be doing better,” Michael commented and startled Tara out of her stupor.

“Yeah,” was the only thing Tara could say before she looked away to hide her smile. “It is embarrassing though; they are old so they should act like it and not like teenagers on a summer night.”

“Teenagers on a summer night? Where did you catch that?” Michael asked with a raised eyebrow. That phrase somehow seemed familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite place where he had heard it before.

“Just thought of it,” Tara blurted out, but her face began to redden.

“Wait isn’t that the name of that romantic song that the bards sing up and down? About the two teenagers from the hostile families that —,” Michael started but Tara physically stopped him.

“I said, I just thought of it. Do you understand?” she stared him in the eyes threateningly until he laughed and surrendered.

The evening continued but Michael didn’t feel like staying much longer when people started to get seriously drunk, so he excused himself and left only to be joined by a tipsy Sola.

“Finally managed to catch you alone,” she said as she slowed down to match his step a little bit unsteady on her feet.

Michael looked at her with a curious expression. “Was there something you need?”

“I just wanted to talk a bit. You know how it is; men tend to act strong when others are around, so I just wanted to see how you are really doing,” she shrugged casually.

“A leader can’t show weakness, or he will lose the unwavering faith of his subordinates. Something like that?” Michael asked.

“Something like that,” she confirmed.

“Well to be truthful, I am not doing great,” Michael didn’t even hesitate to open up to the priestess. She had always been his moral rock. “I was too sure of myself. Maybe that was because I had nothing else to cling to but now, I find myself doubting my own judgment, especially when judging people. Every time I do I think, ‘What if I am wrong again?’.”

“This is about Eydis, right?”

“It is. I am scared that she will leave us,” Michael admitted.

“You know her better than any of us. What does your heart tell you?” Sola looked at him with a comforting smile.

“I don’t trust my heart right now,” Michael said.

“You made a mistake, and I am not going to beat around the bush it was a bad one. You were not the only one to make the same one and you had your reasons for it, but it was a mistake no matter how you look at it. That doesn’t mean that you can disregard all of your intuition and gut feelings just because you were wrong.”

Sola stopped him and looked him in the eyes.

“You can’t sacrifice trust because suspicion has failed you.”

Michael stared at her and something inside him clicked.

“You are a guiding light in the darkness, thank you,” Michael said and smiled.

“Glad to help,” she said and suddenly began to sway again.

“Sola, how much did you drink?” Michael asked worried.

“Oh, not that much or a lot. I don’t quite remember,” she replied happily.

“How did you just give me life-changing advice while being this drunk and I didn’t even notice?”

“All a matter of practice, my sweet summer child,” Sola began to clap his shoulder and then fall in his direction.

“This makes no sense,” Michael complained as the priestess turned from moral support to physical burden in a matter of seconds.