Ramuse Manor, Fornall

Count Sebastian Ramuse

“That is all the reports for the day my Lord” advisor Capet informs me.

“Very well, leave me be then” I say in a dismissive manner with a wave of my hand.

I watch Capet leave my study and close the door behind him. Leaning over my work desk I review the last report given to me by Capet. It contained a message from Lord Marshal Martel and had arrived by carrier pigeon. The contents of the message were simple, send men to Dantor with all haste or have part of my lands seised by the Crown.

“DAMN IT!”

*More shit I have to deal with*

I slam my the quill in my hands into the desk, snapping it and causing the inkwell next to my hand to topple and spill over my desk. I had received the original command to muster troops for the Crown just over two weeks ago and had sent word to the outlying villages and towns to send men to place under my banner. A few settlements had resisted but in the end had sent the require number of men, save for one village. I had sent men to bring them to heel and to use the village as an example to those who ignored Provincial Decrees. A decree from a Count was almost on par with a decree from the Crown, to have dismissed it was a grave crime and could not go unpunished. My men would return soon with the last of the levies and I could finally send them to Dantor. If the peasants hadn’t resisted in sending men, I would not have this threat looming over me.

Once my troops were ready to march, I would need to send word to the Lord Marshal informing him that my men were indeed on their way to Dantor. This would of course require an apology for the delay in sending troops and other platitudes. I was already in a politically weak position and this would further undermine my rule. The previous Count had been a drunkard and had wasted most of my families wealth during his rule. This had caused many rifts to form between the Ramuse family and other noble houses. Upon taking on the mantle of Count from my father, I had inherited an almost bankrupt treasury and a city full of nobles who wanted me dead.

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For the past few years I had been slowly mending relations with the other noble houses but it was a slow process and not all had been willing. I had also engaged in less honourable endeavours in the hopes of retaining power. These ranged from assassinations to criminal enterprises, which I had justified as necessary to keep my family ruling Fornall and its province. The Ramuses had founded Fornall and I would carry on their legacy even if it meant tarnishing my own name.

Trying to placate the other nobles had also come with its own share of dangers. I had recently accepted a proposal to marry the eldest daughter of house Navier and would be wed to her in the coming weeks. The danger in such a proposal was not the woman I would be marrying, who was quite beautiful, but the family of said woman. The Naviers were one of the most wealthy and influential families in Fornall and I feared that once our houses had been tied they would have little use for me. I needed an heir but I had no doubt that once one was born I would be murdered by the Naviers and my heir used as a puppet for their own agenda.

I had agreed to the marriage so that I could have access to the Navier family’s wealth and I had achieved that with the dowry. The price and terms for the dowry was outrageous but they had accepted it nonetheless, which further confirmed my suspicions that they were planning to kill me once an heir had been sired. Now that I had filled my treasury with the dowry, continuing with the marriage was not something I desired.

I stand up from my table, ignoring the spilled ink and wander over to a shield above the fireplace which held the family crest upon it. I gaze upon the figure of a hound and muse over its symbolism.

*Quite fitting that our crest is a dog. I have had to beg and perform for the nobles, but soon they will learn how dangerous a cornered dog really is*