Love n War

/ quick note before we start I know the cloth over armor is called a surcoat I used gambeson because a surcoat usually has a coat of arms but to be truthful I haven't come up with a coat of arms for them./

after cleaning myself I have yet to receive a summon from my father seeing I have time on my hands I decided to head to the chapel to see how the wounded villagers were doing seeing as the castle modest chapel is the only one with healing magic in our territory so badly injured are brought here where they may receive healing for a fair sum, of course, we have to make money somehow after all.

you may ask if you're always being put in danger why would people stay in our territory. most of them are serfs or unfree peasants who are bound to the land meaning they can't leave it they work the farms to feed themselves or the village the rest is given as a form of taxation to us the landowners. in return, they own a piece of land to live on and do whatever they wanted as long the taxes are paid. or they own a large amount of debts.

other groups included free peasants looking to settle with nowhere else to go, small merchants looking for low compensation, knights awarded land for their valour and last criminals and lowlifes hoping to escape the law or start a new life.

as I enter the all to the familiar smell of blood enters my nose I gaze up to the statue of the war goddess shield and spear in hand looking to some far off place outside our reach. perhaps too far gone in thought I failed to notice one of the nuns approaches.

" lord is something wrong" her golden eyes looking at me questioningly

" oh... l, I was just checking on the injured" answered a little embarrassed

one of the apprentice nun

those born with magic are rare this doesn't mean they are valued all that much just because you have magic doesn't mean you have enough to do anything with it. ones born with mediocre levels of magic you'll find them lighting a wealthy person's home makings enchanting armor, weapons, someone's physique, enhancing objects in need of magic and the upper tear of mediocre faith magic one of the least taxing fields, that's not saying it's weak or anything just had a lower barrier for entry. but someone throwing fire out of their hands you'll only find them in noble houses or hermits who escaped cough cough " rejected the benevolence and kindness of the kingdoms adoption program for magically talented individuals"

quite a bit of my knowledge of magic comes from the church.

" and whether they can pay or not," I say under my breath

" y, yes 1 death 1 we don't think we can save as for the rest they seem to be recovering well"

" yep, I mean" cough " good.... well excuse me" distracted by her large... appendages I answer absentmindedly only to realize what I was doing

' I have to get out of here'

using all the years of training I swivel past her bowing my head slightly and thinking my daily prayer an apology for checking out the nuns to the goddess

before getting struck down and bringing everyone with me I head outside only to be met with Humphrey our family butler the grizzled veteran in retirement graying hair cold eyes and weathered hands that told stories of struggle and hardship

" Sir I'm afraid you're father has requested you"

said with a dry voice

" time to meet the new family?"

" it's as you say"

following Humphrey up to the keep I can't help but get uneasy at the thought of meeting my wife to be for the first time

' okay breath this isn't worse than facing down a beastman'

entering the mode I use before battle to keep my mind clear. entering the main hall my attention isn't drawn to father, or mother who is wearing the special events clothes, but to the two people beside them a tall man with a hunch and cane, slanted murky green eyes which seemed to always shift around the room. the one beside him eyes could be said to be glowing, at least compared with the older man, with freckles doting her face and long black hair, beautiful then again I'd never seen a noble lady who wasn't.

Larson head to the elector house and his daughter, he regarded me coldly but only for a moment before his expression changed to that of welcoming as if I was an old friend whom he haven't seen in years. her eyes widened a bit in recognition but kept a cordial smile on her face. I did my best to keep my face neutral, there was tension in the air the same type you'd find on the eve of battle, we size each other up, for weakness or flaw to exploit.

" ah well if it isn't the young master, please to be of acquaintance, Larson"

nodding my head " same to you, Adam"

the attention in the room switched to Catherine

gently lifting her dress to give a small bow

" Catherine..."

with introductions out of the way talks of dates and even combining of crests but to be honest, I stopped paying attention to it all.

I thought back to the amount of raids we've been experiencing the last few weeks and there has been a suspiciously low number of them even the most recent incursions tribe didn't have any females suggesting that they were recently banished from a larger group. and attack more out of desperation than profit but why wouldn't the bigger group attack? and why have there been so few raids recently?

it was agreed the marriage will be held months from now. During that time the wife will stay within the groom's territory.

so in the morning, the lord of the Elector estate carriage left with one less person.

within the brightly lit hallways of a lonely Castle, two particular souls trying to keep up appearances had cold droplets of sweat on their foreheads.

" I know we didn't get to speak with each other earlier but might I say what a joyous occasion it's for our families to join hands."

said with an almost earnest look on her face

'well I suppose she is her father's daughter' "indeed, how joyous"

no doubt said just as forced

what I didn't understand was why even bother with all this. wouldn't it just be easier to speak frankly? yes to be able to cut through the shi-

" lord...? "

" ah, sorry"

looking around incredulously for unwanted listeners before finally turning back

" it'd be much easier if we spoke frankly with one another yes? so why are you here"

she didn't have a reason to have ambushed me in the hallway

not expecting that sort of response her face goes blank with incomprehension

" oh... well... you see I'm... lost"