A half an hour later a flustered yet clean Cheese rushed out of the washroom as fast as his legs would carry him. He walked straight into Torv who had been patiently waiting for the Bladesman. Torv turned, looked at Cheese and tried to hold back a chortle that slowly ripped from his throat like a suffocating hyena.

"Where are your clothes?!" Shouted the Bannerman as he bent forward and held his sides.

Cheese had fallen backwards and landed on his rear as he hit the larger man. A scuffle of feet sounded behind him and the ginger haired maid — she had confided in Cheese that her name was Piper — shouted "Master Switzler, you need to let us dress you, you cant be rushing around in the nude!"

"Help me" Cheese pleaded to Torv, a look of stricken horror on his face.

Torv couldn't contain his amusement, and laughed even louder as he responded. "You want me to stop them from dressing you? Why in the hells would I do that?"

"They won't stop, and they won't listen to anything I say" pleaded Cheese. "They insist on putting their hands in unnatural places. And that one" he pointed yet again at Piper "Insists on me standing before her like a doll. She won't do anything I say, and won't listen to me. Please you must help."

As he finished the other woman—Lillie she had called herself — Walked out with a robe and placed it on the young lords' shoulders saying "Master Cheese. You must allow us to do our duties. If we do not, then the baron will lose face. Please." Her voice was soft, and Cheese felt a large deal of shame for his actions.

His reply came in a whimper as he stood saying "Can you... can you stop her from trying to do that again? I see no reason the baron should ever see THAT part of my body, so there is no reason for her to try to rub perfume down there." He tried to sound resolute, but his words came out more as a whimper.

Piper smiled broadly as they ushered him in, and as the doors closed Torv heard her say "Well, the baron might not have told me to do that part. It just seemed like the thing to do."

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It was another twenty minutes before Cheese was allowed to descend the stairs and eat. He was told the baron had led an excursion out into the city, so while he waited for him to return Cheese had what felt like the first real meal, he`d eaten in days.

As he was the person in command of the garrison, he had a spot reserved for him to the left of the Baron. No one would consider Cheese above the baron, even in this place, so the baron reserved the head of the table. Yet as Cheese sat in his spot, he felt quite comfortable.

The meal was a simple one, yet it reminded Cheese of his home. It was made of piece of a simple flatbread thin as parchment. On that was thrown a local cheese that had been chopped into long strips and salted. That cheese was then topped with the already cooked body of a chicken that had been pulled apart by the fibers making a loose layer of meat. Then a paste made of herbs and peppers was added, and more cheese to ensure the paste was sealed. A second flatbread was added to the top, and then the entire concoction was put on a pan to be cooked. The person cooking this simple meal had today added even more salt, which cheese found he liked quite well.

With this meal came a cup of milk, still quite warm to the touch. Cheese had always been a fan of milk with lunch, so he was quite happy to drink it now.

As Cheese and Torv ate they talked about the changes in the keep since the barons arrival.

"This is just how it is" said Torv with a shrug. "Nobles, they have a way of writing things, making people feel normal. And this is what normal looks like in a war camp." He took a large bite of the meal and continued "Once the people had the Baron explain that the goblins were not going to storm the walls then this was the natural course of things. Especially if the King is going to soon be here"

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Cheese took a sip of his wine and asked "But why is he so sure the Goblins will not take the walls, there are thousands of them, and we number hardly five hundred able bodied men, many of which are simply children."

Torv had finished his food, and he stood, but before he could reply Cheese heard a cough come from beside him. He looked and saw Gelrocks diminutive form, and as he turned Cheese noticed quite a few men around him were listening intently to his conversation with his bannerman.

"The truth of it" said the smaller man as he sat down and began eating at his own food "Is that the goblins lack both power and direction." He took a big square of his meal and put it into his mouth, chewing greedily as he did. After a time, he spoke again "The baron, myself, and to an extent you are able to hold these walls indefinitely. Sure, they have numbers, but no number of apprentices would be able to fell these walls. So they must rely on siege weapons. Ladders, towers, whatever you will. That is why the Baron rides out today, and why we send out scouts. The foe facing us lacks the numbers or discipline to surround the keep, so their camp is open to us. Because of this we can see when they try to construct anything. And due to that we are able to strike at those constructs. We are also able to harry their raiding parties." he spoke as if teaching a class, and Cheese found himself enraptured along with everyone else.

"Yet" continued the smaller man. "They are many, and we are few. We have killed around 300 of them in the past day. Mostly the baron and his elites during night raids. Tonight we will kill more if I have the right of it. Will you accompany us Bladesman?"

The last words were said with a gleam in his eyes, and Cheese was forced to suppress his excitement at the words. he replied tentatively "I am not one to politic, yet I must ask master, will that be allowed?"

The small man shook his head saying "No master here, this is not the pitch. You and I are simply two retainers of our lord Baron at this table, and you yourself are the master of the table. But I believe it will be fine, so long as a member of your house holds the wall while we are away. That large one, Waff. He will do, he is martially inclined. Though I do not know how you will convince him to stay from the fight, he constantly begs the other officers to let him out, indeed he is with the baron as we speak."

That was a surprise to Cheese, yet not an unwelcomed one. "Who then has the wall?" he asked.

"The old man" came the reply from behind Cheese. He turned and saw Mauren walking towards him. behind him were a series of men who looked to have just gotten off the walls. "He came to relive me. May I have the honor of your table lords? Mauren asked, looking to Gelrock as he spoke.

"Sit" came his reply. He didn't look up to Cheese, simply scooting on the bench and making room for the other man. "Any news to report of the goblin camp?"

"No" replied Mauren as he took off his gauntlets and placed them at his side. "The creatures still camp to the east between us and the city. The Baron and his men closed on horseback and shot them with arrows for an hour or so. They did damage, but not enough to matter, and then left to scout."

The Master at Arms shook his head and said "Learn this. A cut may be superficial, but a hundred will fell a giant." He rose his voice for all to hear. "We do not have their numbers, but if we kill a hundred a day, then in fifty days they will all be dead. We kill more than a hundred every day. And once half their men are dead, they will flee. If this does not change then in a week those creatures will have fled this place, or they will seek open battle. They may even do us the favor of charging the walls and ending our work prematurely."

Cheese felt the wisdom in this and nodded along with the words. Then he chose to put his own sense forward to the conversation. He noted as he did that even the low voices ceased when he spoke. "Say that the enemy holds five thousand creatures, even double that. And we hold five hundred men able to fire a bow or stab a spear. That means we can rid them in ten days if each man kills but ten foes. I have seen our men fight Mauren, I`d wager each could kill ten of those creatures quite easily."

Mauren thought for a moment and then nodded his agreement. "There is truth in this, they only defeated us due to that magic. I wish we had an inkling of what that was."

The two men did not reply to these words, there was no reply to be had, yet it was Torv who broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Fairhaven is in truth gone. The city is destroyed, and we know that this magic needs to be emplaced beforehand. So, I do not find reason for us to worry. They cannot place their magic under our feet like before. I would like to learn it for our own purposes, for it has great strength, but I do not fear its application. So long as we are wary in the future we will be fine."

There was a great stamping of feet at this, and Cheese turned his attention to more pleasant things, as he realized Piper had just delivered a second helping of the meal to his plate. He nodded his thanks at her and smiled as he began his second helping.