Hypatia and Silvius entered Cid’s quarters, both of them holding a box of papers in their arms. A desk made a dark wood with a chair of similar wood situated behind it. Nearby was a simple bed, a light beige wood box frame and a mattress resting inside. A woolen rug rested on the floor and a fireplace burning a short distance away. Several bookshelves lined the wall with tomes and a few mementos of Cid’s pervious years as a mercenary for The Cold Company.
“Cid,” Silvius said to him, “we have the papers you requested.”
“Excellent,” Cid said, holding his hand out over the desk. “Put them on here and let’s see what we have.”
Silvius and Hypatia placed the papers on the desk, spreading them out over the top slab. Cid grabbed a few, reading over them. “I see the Kolvilles have been busy, very busy.”
“Well, that seems to be a standard when a war of succession is in play.”
Hypatia unfolded a long parchment, on it was an image of a long and extensive tree, with names attached to the branches with the names of the respective families. All of them attached to a missive trunk marked with the name Normaunds. “You know, these are fun to look at when you’re not trying to figure out who actually has a claim to a throne.”
“Just be lucky none of the illegitimate children are listed on here,” Silvius replied.
“You shut your mouth,” Hypatia threatened. “Those make these lineage trees look like something out of a haunted forest. And usually with a bad mood behind it.”
“I couldn’t think they’d want to test their luck,” said Cid, reading a parchment titled Chronicles of the First Year of Strife with a raised eyebrow. “Especially if half of this is true. And who exactly are trying to get this throne?” Cid asked.
Hypatai looked down at some notes next to her, turning back for a quick glance at the tree periodically. “Hmm, looks like High King Aethelwulf and his first cousin, Grand Empress Adelize.”
“And how strong are their claims to this throne?” Cid asked.
“Uh, Aethelwulf is the first son of Princess Elenore, the only daughter of Osbern the Victorious. And Adelize is the only surviving child of King Adelart, Osbern’s third son.”
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“What of the other two sons?” Silvius asked.
Hypatia looked back down to the tree. “The eldest, Rufus Longblade, died without any children of his own, and the heir to the next king, Adelart the Builder, died in a shipwreck, leaving no clear heir to the throne.”
“Well, that would throw succession into a right mess,” said Cid. “And these two will want anyone who doesn’t have an issue doing their dirty work.”
“You think we should consider throwing our services into this?” Silvius asked.
“We are mercenaries after all?” Hypatia followed.
“I’m not saying your wrong, but we don’t have the numbers for such a campaign. We’d merely be a small platoon than anything else compared to other units being levied by lords and other mercenary companies.”
“How many would we need to go on these campaigns?” Silvius asked.
“At least a hundred so we could be a full company, though I’d like for us to be fielding a bigger force to account for casualties.”
“So, what would the objective be if we go over there?” Hypatia asked Cid.
“Probably be specialized bounty hunters, bring in the Kolville Brothers, get this bounty off of Jeanne’s head, and then get ourselves out of the area as fast as we can.”
“Wouldn’t that put the rest of us into the ire of those wanting to bring Jeanne in?” Hypatia asked.
“There’s always that chance. But I know if I was the one with a price on my head, she’d do the same for me.”
“And not try to collect on the bounty?” Silvius asked.
Cid gave Silvius a narrowed glare. He opened his mouth before having a second thought. “Actually she might, depending on the situation. But she’s still break the person out.”
Silvius and Hypatia nodded. “That’s fair,” they said.
“Still, this isn’t going to be an easy task, even if there was no warfare going on.”
“It could be something to our benefit from a certain point of view,” Hypatia said to them both.
“What do you mean?” Silvius asked her.
“Well, this realm is in some form of chaos. These bandits are participating in activities of a highly dangerous nature. Should something happen to them, who can say if they didn’t of mysterious causes?” Hypatia said, with a shrug at the end.
Cid rubbed his chin in thought. “I’ve been entertaining the same thought. It’s just figuring out how exactly to pull this off.”
“Too bad we can’t just saunter into a battle, kill the brothers and then be on our merry way.”
“Gods if only it was that easy,” Cid said, rubbing his head.
There was a knock by the doorframe, Kveldulf ducking his head inside. “Hey Cid, I hate to interrupt, but there’s a couple of people wanting to speak to you.”
“Who?”
“Teodore and Gabriel, from the Crimson Blades.”
“Right!” Cid said, kicking his head back. “Forgot about them. Send them in, we can touch on this later, yes?”
Both Hypatia and Silvius nodded.
“Send them in, please, Kel,” Cid said to Kveldulf.