After the king left, the room fell into an eerie silence. Nicolas took a deep breath and prepared for a long talk with Alfred.

“My friend, do not hold it against him. The weight of the crown has been particularly heavy these past few years.”

Alfred, who was playing with a coin, looked up and into his friend's eyes. “Nicolas, he looks like your brother but his spine is not there. The king I know would not adopt wait-and-see tactics when facing such a threat.”

Nicolas could only shake his head, he knew the duke had a point, “Alfred, I will personally try to mitigate the situation in the south, with some luck we should be able to avoid any troubles with them.”

Alfred stopped playing with his coin and looked at the map that was hanging on the wall. “That is another concern, why are the southerners acting like that? What is the news from your people in the South?”

Seeing that Alfred did not have much desire to waste time with the people he disliked, Nicolas treaded carefully as he shared the information he had on the situation inside the kingdom. “My people claim the marquess is a loyal man, for the most part and, to be honest, I see no reason to consider those reports false. Our people in the West also report that the duke over there is quite upset that his bribes are not working on the people he wants in his camp.”

“Well, that brings me some relief, how certain are you in your people?” Alfred’s words were spoken in a soft tone, as his trust in Nicolas was absolute, on the other hand the people around him were not that lucky. The duke did not wish to anger his friend, who took great pride in his network, yet at the same time Alfred wanted to be sure the archduke was confident his spies were trustworthy.

“They are handpicked by me, personally. There should be little doubt about their loyalty.” Nicolas was a bit upset that Alfred would suspect the people who served the kingdom for years and had no smears in their records.

Seeing his old friend angry Alfred quickly raised the white flag. “Calm down, if you trust them with the kingdom's future I will do the same.”

Nicolas calmed down a bit and looked towards the map that was hunging on the wall. “My friend, at times I wonder what is keeping you in the kingdom. You doubt everyone and don’t like most of the people involved with the government.”

Alfred shrugged his shoulders, before speaking, “I am loyal to the kingdom and will remain loyal for as long as the kingdom respects my rights. On the topic of doubt, you trust people too much.”

“Alfred, you should watch how you speak, I know your heart, still if someone else hears you…” Nicolas stopped once he got a glimpse of Alfred’s rage.

“Who will question me? Benjamin? A man who fought beside me since we were children? Or perhaps the southern nobles, the men who cannot even protect their own border against a handful of brigands. Western nobles who are as black as the demon's blood? Who exploit their poor serfs; do not think I will return a single one of them if they reach my territory.” Alfred’s voice was calm, too calm.

It was now Nicolas’ turn to pick his words in order to calm the other side down. “Alfred, not all nobles are corrupt, among the ones in the center I can vouch for dozens who love the kingdom and care for its people.”

The dam that kept Alfred’s anger had broken down and his dislike for the group his friend was defending came pouring out. “High nobles of the central region, all they know about is prancing around tournaments and parties. There is little honor left in their bloodlines.”

“Is it possible to finally forgive, you had your way…” Nicolas had to spot before finishing that sentence.

“If it weren’t for Eleonora I would have…” Alfred took a deep breath and smiled, “I would have shown them a true tournament.”

Nicolas smiled, he knew the heart of the man before him, “Alfred, sometimes you scare me. Still, you will do what is right, but do try to forgive them. We will need to be united before the storm that is approaching, if we want to survive that is.”

“I forgave them plenty, if any of them causes the slightest discomfort for my family I will not hold back, at that time, pick your side, and do it fast.” Alfred’s reply was not something Nicolas did not hear many times in his life already, so he was quite prepared for what he said next.

Smirking, Nicolas declared, “If there is such an idiot who would pick a fight with you I will personally deal with them, so stay your hand.”

They talked some more, luckily not about politics, before Nicolas excused himself and left for the castle.

***

While they were eating breakfast Alfred decided to offer his son a chance to be a part of his family’s work for the day. “Henry, today we will be going to the orphanage. Would you like to join us?”

“Yes, can I?” Henry was quick to accept as he was not a fan of staying inside the mansion. This was not the life he wanted and not the life he was used to back home.

As her son did not have experience, Eleonora decided to explain their plan for the day further. She knew her son as a kind child, however she had seen many noble children behave rudely to the commoners who did not have the required knowledge to communicate with them properly. She could only pray her son was not one of them and that her education prepared him to behave the right way in life. “If you wish, we will be giving the children there some gifts and food to celebrate your birthday.”

Alfred listened to his wife and added some basic information about the place they would visit. “It is full of children who are just like you, most of them have no parents and depend on people like your parents and the kingdom for food and a home.”

Henry nodded, he knew quite well what an orphanage was and he could only imagine the harsh conditions children of this time would have to endure.

Seeing her son make a sad face, Eleonora sent him off to get ready. “Then go and get ready, we will be waiting for you right here.”

Henry ran off and quickly returned, dressed in his usual clothes, the ones he would use when going outside to play.

Alfred was impressed with his son’s speed and took him into his arms. “That was fast, now shall we go?”

Eleonora approached Henry and fixed his collar before taking Alfred’s hand and going outside. As always the carriage was there ready to take them to their destination. Soon everyone was inside and all that was left was Alfred giving the order to depart.

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“Then, let us depart.” As Alfred said these words the whip snapped and the carriage started rolling down the busy road.

***

Sigurdsons soon arrived in front of a big building with a huge front yard. It was nothing like the dirty place Henry imagined. The children waiting outside were wearing clothes that were no worse than the ones you could see on commoners in the city. Standing next to them were three grown ups.

“Greetings my lord, my lady.” The middle aged man stepped forward and bowed.

“Hello father Thomas, have you been well?” Alfred said while shaking the man's hand.

The man, Thomas, replied while looking at the children, “I cannot complain, you keep us well stocked and all I have to do is make sure these little rascals learn as much as they can before we send them to the big world outside.”

Happy to hear this, Alfred placed his hand on the father’s shoulder. “Good, if you need anything, report it to the mansion.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Thomas bowed once more and the two people behind him as well as the children did the same.

“Thomas I see you have not changed one bit in these years. Sadly, you still insist on the lord and lady talk, we are not strangers you know.” Eleonora complained lightly while smiling.

“Welcome back, we hoped you would visit us at some point during your stay.” A young woman stepped from behind Thomas and gave Eleonora a hug.

Eleonora took a moment before she recognized the child she once knew, “Anya, could that be you? You look gorgeous, have you been well? Are the young men of the capital chasing after you?”

“Eleonora, don’t tease the girl.” Anna interrupted her lady’s greeting before continuing, “Anya you grew up into a fine woman, I hope you still remember my lessons.”

“Of course lady Anna, I do my best to teach them to the children here.” Anya responded with a wide smile on her face.

Anna nodded in approval, “That is so nice to hear, tell me child, are there any troubles with the young men?” As she said the second part of that sentence, Anna’s eyes turned sharp.

The girl fell into silence, so Anna pressed on. “You can tell us, like it or not, your beauty will attract a lot of attention.”

Sensing that his guests will not drop this topic Thomas decided to move the children, “Say, young Henry, would you like to meet the children and have a look around?”

Henry nodded and Thomas called over a tall, older looking boy. The two went away and Thomas showed an apologetic look.

Once he saw them walk away Thomas started talking about recent events. “We had a bit of trouble with a baron’s son, he was infatuated with our young Anya so he pestered her, but he stopped after one of your men had a chat with him.”

“Just chat?” Alfred knew his men, most were reasonable, however, he also knew that most nobles were not used to being told what to do.

“Please don’t punish him, he only did that to protect me from that maniac.” Anya frantically bowed and started tearing up.

“Don’t worry, he won’t be punished at all, I just want to know what “chat” means.” Alfred spoke these words with a smile on his face, “Which one of my men did the talking?”

“It was sir Belford, he came over and stayed until that pest came over with a few thugs. Sir Belford asked them nicely to leave, but they said a few words. What they said I cannot even guess but whatever it was, sir Belford proceeded to break them with no mercy or regard for their cries and pleas. As a former soldier I must say he was quite methodical about it.” Thomas said with a strained smile, “What worries me, my lord, is that he started crying after that and we had to pull him away from the unconscious men. He wanted to keep beating them for wasting his time or something along those lines.”

“He has learned nothing I guess, I will put him in Joshua’s regiment. They could use a berserker like him.” Alfred held his head, “Don’t worry Anya, that is not a punishment, rather a reward for him.”

“If you say so, my lord.” Anya was still feeling bad and thought that the knight was in peril because of her.

“Trust me, that place is the best for the kind of man he is, once he gets tired of battles he might even become a decent husband to a lucky girl.” Eleonora said teasingly.

Anya blushed and the people quickly put the incident behind them.

While this was happening, Henry was with the boy going around the rooms and the yard. The guide turned around and timidly asked his guest. “Lord Henry, would you like to meet my brothers and sisters?”

Henry nodded happily, he was eager to be around people who were not trained servants or warriors. “Of course, please call me Henry. If I may, can I call you Philip?”

The boy fell into silence for a moment, then his face, which was a bit dark, brightened up and he nodded.

***

Henry met the children and spent some time playing with them. They were cheerful and seemed healthy so he felt much better and enjoyed his time with them. After a while they sat down in the dirt and started talking.

“Henry, will you come visit us again?” A little girl asked.

“Of course, I will come again soon.” Henry answered with a big smile as he could not refuse such a cute request.

“Sara, I’m sure lord Henry has a lot of things to do and a lot of friends, he won’t have time to play with you.” A boy reprimanded the girl who became teary eyed.

Henry was deeply moved by the sad face Sara made so he quickly waved his hands, “Hey, don’t say that, I will come over. I have only four friends. Three are not here and the one who is in the city, we sadly only exchange letters, all in all I don’t really have people to play with.”

It was now Sara’s turn to feel bad for Henry, “Are you lonely?”

“No, not really. I have a lot of fun learning and spending time with… everyone around me.” Henry almost said his parents but quickly recovered as he did not want to cause anyone discomfort.

“You don’t have noble kids coming over to play with?” Philip, who was in charge of Henry, was quite curious about this child who was a high level noble, yet did not act like the others he had to entertain.

To everyone’s surprise Henry shook his head, “No, to be honest they can’t keep up with me like you guys. Some who come over are into boring games or reading books.”

“It sounds boring, well you can come over anytime you like, we will play with you. This is a promise I, Philip Morgar make to you.” Philip said, puffing out his chest.

“Thanks…” Henry’s mind lit up, ‘Philip Morgar was a knight captain in the game, could he be that guy?’ As this thought ran through his mind Henry came up with an idea. He did his best to make an innocent face and asked his host. “Hey, Philip, will you play with me for a bit?”

“Of course, what shall we do?” Philip answered with a kind older brother tone in his voice.

“Let us spar for a bit.” Henry’s innocent face was ruined by his grin.

Philip did not notice this as he was excited for the opportunity to spar with someone who received proper training, “Sure, but I must check with father Thomas first, we can’t put you in any danger.”

“All right, if he refuses, just tell my father that it is my request.” Henry agreed while thinking about the possibilities for future recruitment that were looming on the horizon.

After Philip left Henry joked around with the children who were mostly younger than him. They listened to his stories about the battles he learned about and about the balls he attended. Soon their talks were interrupted as Philip returned with two wooden swords.

“Shall we?” Philip asked in a cocky tone.

“Let’s go.” Henry answered while smirking. ‘Now we will see if you are the one I think you are.’

Philip looked at the children who were eagerly awaiting for the show to begin, “Sara, can you help us a bit? We need someone to look at us and yell when someone gets hit, ok? Don’t worry it won’t hurt.”

Sara nodded so the two boys took their positions on the open field. Surrounded by children and under the watchful eyes of battle hardened adults the two awaited for the words that soon arrived.

"Start!"