Michael
Praanen was an impressive city, not in terms of size, Lionsgate was much bigger, but in terms of organization. The streets were neatly placed as if the whole city had been built according to a plan. Every street seemed to have a theme to it, he didn’t see a single road where homes and businesses were mixed as you would see in organically grown cities. The city guard was similarly efficient, moving the people along quickly at the gate and showing them the way to the duke’s estate.
Michael would have enjoyed a tour through the city if he wasn’t so distracted by his reason to be here. Solon and Michael had spent the entire journey here debating, switching roles to advocate or object to the king’s proposal, trying to find every possible argument.
When they finally arrived in Praanen, Duke Wallsten welcomed them with open arms together with his two sons. Michael had met them before but never talked much to them because they were much older than him. The oldest, Theden, was thirty-four, and the younger one, Serev, was thirty-one, if Michael remembered correctly.
Michael didn’t have much of an opinion about either, Theden was a muscle-packed warrior that liked to spar with the knights on Michael’s last visit. Serev was much different though, a slim man with a pretty face and a tendency to be more interested in female visitors than male.
Duke Wallsten’s wife had regrettably died a long time ago before Michael had been born and the duke had never remarried.
It only took a few minutes of polite conversation until Solon, Michael, and Duke Wallsten were alone in his study. Neither Serev nor his older brother seemed that interested in the visitors except for Eydis for obvious reasons.
“Well, Count Rowan. You have managed to create quite an interesting situation here,” the old duke said with a smile, Michael was as always, a little taken aback by the duke’s insistence to address him so formally even if he didn’t do it with other vassals like his father.
“Interesting, is certainly one way to say it. Outrageous would be my take on it though,” Michael replied.
The duke nodded slowly, seemingly lost in thought, “It is quite an aggressive move, one that I didn’t expect due to the good relationship you and the king enjoy. I think it is safe to assume that this order was heavily influenced by Duke Wulfen and his lapdogs.”
Michael and Solon had also rather quickly come to that conclusion.
Duke Wallsten continued, “He is an ambitious man. Quite successfully so I might add, since he took over his uncle’s duchy upon his death ten years ago. He probably sees the resources you have uncovered in the mountains as too great of a developmental boost to our frontiers which in turn strengthens the rest of the duchy and increases our influence.”
“He doesn’t even know half of it,” Michael said which raised Duke Wallsten’s interest, but Solon spoke before he could question what Michael meant.
“That is the kind of politicking and power squabbling that brought down many kingdoms, we can’t allow this to happen, but at the same time we can’t afford to let it drive a wedge of hatred between us and an important pillar of the kingdom.”
“I will not let them bring down the kingdom so easily,” Michael scoffed.
“You should listen to what your teacher is saying, not what you want to hear,” Duke Wallsten admonished him lightly. “The important point he was trying to make is that we have to solve this without irreparably destroying our relations with Duke Wulfen.”
Michael wanted to retort something but then stopped, it was true he was angry but that shouldn’t cause him to lose his head. He knew that antagonizing Lord Wulfen would make things harder for him, and if he did it to such an extent that they could never work together again, it would make things harder in critical situations for the kingdom.
“Okay, I will follow your lead, milord,” he finally said to Duke Wallsten with more control over himself.
“Excellent, Count Rowan.”
“Why are you calling me that,” Michael asked him, curious about the special treatment. “You never called my father by his title; I actually never heard you call any of your vassals by their title.”
The duke looked at him with a smile, his deep wrinkles throwing shadows onto his face. “They don’t need to be reminded of their rank; most nobles have an inflated ego so casually calling them by their name is often a good way to get them back down to earth. You don’t need that, what you need is respect. You are still a child so many treat you no different than a snoddering infant. By me calling you by your rank I show you that I do not do that and at the same time remind those around me of your rank and that you deserve to be treated accordingly.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“That is a lot of thought for such a small gesture,” Michael noted.
“Of course, it is something you should learn. Oh, just to be clear this doesn’t apply to anyone, with your father and uncle for example. I don’t call them by their title because I met them before, and they are my personal friends.”
Michael winced a little bit at the mention of his father and uncle in the same sentence and his blood began to boil again. He felt that it was easier to agitate him lately than a few months ago.
“My apologies, it wasn’t my intention to bring back painful memories so soon,” the duke said and looked apologetic.
“I do not mean disrespect, milord, but I think that was exactly what you were trying to do,” Michael replied.
The duke smiled sadly and took a moment to answer, “It is true that I do not mean to upset you, I was simply trying to ascertain how your feelings toward your uncle are. Have there been any advancements in the investigation?”
“Nothing, less than nothing. Most of the prisoners we took from back then are dead, either from our attention or self-inflicted, and not a single one spat out anything regarding the attack. It is infuriating.”
“And you think your uncle would be able to induce such fear into them that not a single one wants to talk, despite what you are threatening or doing to them?”
“Who knows to what lengths he went to finally overcome my father,” Michael said dismissively much to the grief of the old duke.
Michael noticed the worried look that Solon and the duke were exchanging but they couldn’t understand. Michael knew deep in his guts that he was right, that his uncle had murdered his family. A gut feeling that had served him well in his short life already and he wouldn’t cast it away without any real evidence.
There were many explanations as to why the prisoners wouldn’t talk. Maybe his uncle had their families imprisoned, maybe the men were trained to resist this kind of interrogation and were completely loyal, or maybe one part of his uncle’s story was true, and he had utilized a barbarian shaman but in a different way than he had said. Every good lie contains a shard of truth, after all.
Whatever the case, Michael would find the answers one day and then he would avenge those he had lost.
- Sometime later –
Michael wandered through the hallways, lost in thought. If it were up to him, they would have left immediately but Duke Wallsten had said, “We are not in a rush. We can leave tomorrow at first light.”
They had coordinated on a conservative strategy, trying to show the advantages of leaving the mines with them while avoiding any accusations and blame. Michael wasn’t sure if that would work but if it didn’t then he still had the chance to get annoyed and yell at someone.
The castle in Praanen was bigger and sturdier than the one in Reen and much more practical than the palace in Lionsgate, so Michael liked to walk the defensives to study them. It wasn’t the first time he was here; he had visited with his father once before on direct order of the duke, but the stone construction still impressed him. He planned to build one of his own in Reen one day and it was a nice way to pass the time to plan the castle.
Left to him, down the wall was the eldest son of Duke Wallsten, Theden, he was currently fighting in a spar with a knight with expertise that rivaled the great knights of the kingdom.
Michael watched as Theden moved with determination and pummeled the other knight with his great axe. The knight tried to defend himself with his shield with little success. Theden showed strength that even exceeded that of most augmenters to such a degree that Michael pondered if he had a mana affinity that boosts strength. He observed a little bit longer but couldn’t see any indicators of an affinity.
“What do you think,” Duke Wallsten’s voice appeared out of nowhere.
Michael turned and saw that the duke was approaching him from the next guard tower.
“Your son is a strong warrior,” Michael answered and looked back to see the knight had tripped and fallen to the ground, but Theden was still hitting his shield until the knight gave up.
“Strong but foolish. He would solve every problem with his axe if you gave him the choice.”
“It is not bad to have the resolve to fight for what is right,” Michael tried to stay polite, but the duke simply laughed.
“There is no need to sugarcoat your opinions with me, even if I appreciate you practicing for our negotiations in the capital.” Duke Wallsten stayed silent and watched as Theden pulled the other knight back to his feet. He looked up and saw his father on the battlements, with his axe raised he grinned up and got a smile in return.
“Theden is someone you want to have in your service, strong and unquestioning, but not one you want to have as a leader. He lacks cunning and long-term planning.” Michael stayed silent, not quite sure what the man wanted to say.
Duke Wallsten simply looked ahead as he continued, “Serev is even worse if you look at it from a neutral perspective. He only has eyes for the women, he could do so many things if he only put the effort into them that he spends on chasing fair maidens.”
“I love them with all my heart,” the duke said and turned toward Michael, “but they are both governed by their emotions, unable to put what they personally want and desire in the background. Theden will never try to solve something with diplomacy which he could also solve by striking someone down, because he loves to fight. Serev will never choose to not chase a woman he wants even if it will destroy his reputation and lead to war.”
“Michael, don’t be like them,” he said with urgency, “Feelings can’t matter to people in our stations, we need to be ready to do what we have to regardless of if we hate to do so, regardless of if the others have insulted us, regardless of how we feel.”
The old duke swayed a little bit after talking with such intensity for a long time and for a moment Michael saw the weakness of an old man. He stepped forward and supported the duke while burning some mana, even if he was much taller than him.
“I have great hope for you, my boy,” he said while gratefully leaning on Michael’s shoulder. “But I also feel a great deal of anger and hate in you. It wasn’t fair what happened, you should still be the child that is allowed to learn everything, but you can’t leave all the lessons behind just because it wasn’t fair. Anger will never help you; anger is a weakness no matter the circumstance.”
The duke looked at Michael, but he didn’t reciprocate the glance. “I hope you can win this battle. For all our sakes.”
Michael said nothing, there was something that bugged him about what the duke had said but he couldn’t pinpoint it. So, they stood in silence.