Anders gave the big lad a smile, he definitely looked more like a warrior than a noble. Dressed in a chainmail and with blond short hair he resembled the fjord people. The elven blood gave the boy a sharp look.

" Well if the deal for the land is accepted, then I am under your command lad... I mean my Lord."

The tier fourth dwarven king beside him started to turn red in anger again. He could understand how he was feeling, this was not a good mission to give a boy that hadn't even turned fifteen. And he must have realized the same thing that Anders had, that it didn't matter that the boy failed but what was important was how good the results would be.

"We do not accept!"

"He accepts!"

Father and son looked at each other, both had spoken at the same time.

" You will accept Elric, I know it is an shity move by Alex. But he probably only wants to see your worth. Think of it as a challenge."

The boy didn't seem to like what he was hearing.

" But father I don't need the mistwoods, and it wouldn't be fair to the people of west island. They don't need somebody so inexperienced to take charge."

He had a point, and it warmed Anders heart to hear the boy think about the people first.

" This is your chance to get that experience. The captain here is to make sure you don't starve the people or start a war."

Well now it was just getting embarrassing.

"Hmm, no that is not true. I actually have no such orders…"

The dwarf looked at him and smiled.

"Ha good one captain, almost had me there for a moment."

Of course he didn't believe me, I didn't want to believe it either. But the law was clear, a landowning noble can only be judged in a court by his peers. And only after the deed was done, if no higher ranking noble was there to stop him.

"I have no authority to detain or stop Elric, even if he wanted to burn the city to the ground. He is put there to rule and so it's his decision. I could report him to the court after the deed is done and a noble of equivalent status or higher might be sent to remove him. It's an old imperial law left from when Astrana was founded. But I do not believe the royal family would be happy."

-Elric-

Why did father insist on doing this, why not just back out of the deal. He knew I had no earlier experience or knowledge of leadership. And with the latest news that I didn't even have someone who could put me in place before I screwed up was just short of insane.

"What do you mean by old imperial law?"

Thorgrim looked just as surprised as I was starting to feel ill. The captain drew a deep breath before he continued.

" Well when Astrana chosen of Shyann, was offered to found the kingdom by the elves and the dwarven people, she believed it was her divine duty to do so. But there was a problem, she did not have the resources, except for a couple of thousand followers. So she started to gather funds and people but it was not enough. So after some thought she turned to some rich merchants and a bunch of richer low nobles, and was able to convince them to help. But then a new problem showed itself, and that problem was that Astrana herself was something of a zealot and wanted to create a theocracy centered around Shyann, let's just say that they were not impressed with her vision and were not going to support something that put them out of power. So they demanded that in exchange for their support, she would need to keep some laws from the empire and pass a couple of new ones."

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Well he was not sure if a theocracy was better than the feudal system, it still came down to the people incharge.

" Are you still sure this is a good idea, father?"

Thorgrim looked at me, he seemed unsure for a moment, when suddenly a smile started to spread.

"Well boy, let me put it like this. You have a good heart and a good head on your shoulders. Just make sure to seek out people with experience in the fields you are lacking and listen to advice. And if you still decide to put the city to the torch. Just remember that I will personally come find you, and you will not like that. Mark my words!"

His smile had now turned into an evil grin and I was sure he meant what he said. Well I was not getting out of this one it would seem.

"Well captain, we accept!"

Then I gave him a grin of my own.

"So... what do we do now?"

-Thorgrim-

The day after the captain had arrived was a hard one for Thorgrim and his wife. They had thought there would be more time to say goodbye. But the arrival of Captain and his two guards had pushed the timetable forward. His boy was leaving, and for a far longer time than he had planned. He had been lying awake tossing and turning all night filled with worries.

Sure he would only be a couple of miles away and the trip would at most take only half a day. Still he didn't like it, his heart was not ready to part from his son. For Idion's sake the boy was not even fifteen yet. Though he could understand Alexander's idea of putting the lad in charge of the region. It would give the lad experience in leading and what was needed for a settlement to work. If he ever wanted people to live in the mistwoods this kind of experience would be invaluable.

But did Alexander have any clue about the task he had given, Kevin's harbour was a city in decline. Left without proper leadership and authority for years the city had slowly fallen to thieves and other unlawful elements. They would not take kindly to anyone who tried to restore law and order. On top of that was the garrison, Thorgrim was not convinced that any deal made with the dark elves could end in anything but blood. And that problem would be Elric's to fix.

So when Helga and he stood outside the house that had been theirs and Elric's home for almost fifteen years. Waving their son goodbye as he rode away with Belinda running beside him. He felt worried, maybe he should have said no to the whole thing.

"He will do fine Thorgrim, and we can still check in on him whenever we want."

She was trying to put his mind at ease, but he could see that she was just as worried for their boy.

" At least the mage is still on the island if he needs help."

As a thought struck him, a smile started to spread on his lips until he was laughing.

" And his nephew just became his commander. I need to inform him that there has been a change in command."

Shortly thereafter you could see a dwarf hurrying down the road leading to the garrison.

-Elric-

It took us around three hours to reach the gates of the city. Belinda had happily run beside them and sometimes darted off into the high grass when she smelled something interesting. The guards had been nervous at first but soon they got used to the young wolf. The walls around the city were around 20 feet high, and they looked to be in need of repairs. A guard was sitting behind a table outside the gates, and when we came closer the deep sound of snoring reached us. He looked and smelled as if he had come right from the tavern only to stumble to the ground in some alley and deciding that some rest was needed before guard duty. His equipment was also rusty and in dire need of maintenance.

We stopped before him and waited, I could see how Captain Anders' face was starting to turn red in anger. Belinda crept closer as if to scare the guard, but the smell drove her away. I was about to speak up, but the Captain just shook his head. So we left without saying anything, it had been Anders' idea to inspect the city before announcing our arrival. We entered the city unchallenged and the first look I got on the city was not promising. It was not only the walls that were in need of repairs but the whole city stank, the paved stone road was littered with dirt and waste, and many of the houses lining the road had seen better days.

The same could be said about the majority of the people that we saw, as we rode towards the castle. Many looked to be having a hard time, and almost none seemed happy. Still we made good time towards the castle as most people walked out of the way for the four riders and the young wolf.

Kevin's castle was to our surprise in good shape and was located on a rise in the northern part of the city, and except for the guards outside everything was in good order at least from the outside. Their gear was worn and looked to be second hand, nothing really fit. And as we closed in on the gates one of four guards called out.

"Halt! Identity yourself and state your business!"

Anders held up a hand for us to stop, and moved his horse forward so he was in front of our small party.

"I'm captain Anders of the royal army and with me are two royal guards and the lord of Mistwood. We are here under orders from the royal family to take control of the county of West Island. "

The surprise on the guard's face could not be mistaken, and the tears that started to well up could almost be seen in his eyes. A low murmur could be heard from the guards behind the man.

"About time…" "Finally.." "Took them long enough."

"Well we bid you welcome to Kelvin's castle and hope your stay will be pleasant. Open the gates!"

The last words were told in a high voice from the guard who had stopped us. It took a minute before the gates were opened. And he gestured for us to pass.

We rode through the gate house and entered the castle grounds where we dismounted, an older man halted over to us.

" Good day Sirs! I'm Ricard the stable master, so if you would please pass me the reins of your horses I will take care of them."

I looked the man over, he was an old man well past fifties with a bad hip. He was bald and clean shaven but the clothes were worn. And normally you would have a stable boy or two who helped the stable master.

"It's no problem master Ricard, where do you want the horses?"

A fleeting look of surprise crossed his face, before a smile of gratitude took its place.

"If you all would please follow me Sir."

He turned around and led us to the east side of the grounds where the stables were. We tied the horses outside and thanked him before heading over to the keep where I could see a middle aged woman hastening out to meet us. The keep had four floors with the first having maybe ten feet ceiling height. The whole keep was around thirty five feet high and maybe a hundred feet wide, it was made of some grey stone, but still it did not look too depressing. The castle wall around the keep was around twenty feet high and had four towers on the south wall, two of them were part of the gatehouse.

As we walked towards the woman, I noted that she was middle height and had long brown hair. She looked somewhat worried and her clothes and the extra pounds around her waist made me guess that this was probably the castle's cook.