The Target
The next day, after Aden's return.
Greenfields,
About four hundred and ten miles via the Strega away from the capital.
...
In Aden's study, stood Levi at the windowsill, lost in his thoughts as he gazed out at the peasants far out in the fields.
Behind him sat Aden at his desk running his finger over a map of Algrim. His sleeves were rolled up revealing a yellowish bruise on his right wrist.
In front of Aden sat Iris staring contemplatively at Levi, no one knew what was going on in her mind. To her right was Irina sitting quietly, her eyes closed and left-hand clasping Iris's right.
Both were now dressed in plain but comfortable cotton dresses, a stark contrast to the woollen gowns they wore the day before. Although it hadn't started snowing yet the weather was a bit chilly so they wore fur coats over their dresses.
Standing behind them to their right was Sir Lancelot whispering softly to Robert. The family butler had quite a solemn expression on his face as he listened on.
There was a soft knocking on the door.
"Open," Aden said.
"You summoned me, My Lord?" Miss Sarah the head maid asked as she walked into the chamber.
"Stand over there," Putting aside the report, Aden pointed at a spot one foot behind Robert.
When Levi turned to face the group, Aden spoke again.
"I am sure everyone here is well aware of the situation. The capital has been conquered and his Majesty the king has most probably been taken hostage or in a worst-case scenario, dead."
"He is not dead," Iris said indifferently turning to face Aden. Her eyes flashed a warning when she felt Irina's grasp tighten.
"Pardon me. Of course not," Aden said with a smile.
Sarah who stood behind looked towards Iris in surprise and bafflement. Her eyes skipped between Iris and Aden.
"Seated in front of me are our Royal Majesties, Queen Irina Orlando and Princess Iris Orlando," Aden announced, introducing the two.
Neither Levi nor Lancelot had a change in expression while the more informed Robert's eyes flashed slightly. Miss Sarah on the other hand had an expression of shock.
He continued.
"Your Majesties, These are Robert and Sarah, my household's Butler and Head maid. Robert is in charge of the town's finances and workforce while Sarah supervises the castle's servants and manages the households daily activities."
"I expect you must have been acquainted with Levi and Sir Lancelot so I will skip all pleasantries."
Both women nodded slightly. Levi stuffed his hands in his coat pockets flashing a small smile at the two.
"Greystones, Stonehelm, Shipbreaker bay, and Verntan stronghold have been conquered and occupied by either the remaining Hertalean forces or traitorous nobles who changed sides." Standing up, Aden spoke.
Solemnly, he tapped his right index finger on the map in front of him, indicating the locations of the aforementioned towns.
"Leland, Golefelm, Thymbalye, and Calville have surrendered while Douro, Madil and Kodes are currently under siege and are expected to succumb either this following week or the week after."
Aden looked around at the faces of every individual in the room.
"The Capital has been compromised and it's only a matter of time before the rest of the kingdom is as well."
"Is there anything that can be done?" Lancelot asked with a frown.
"I have thought of contacting the other nobles sworn to the king for support. The princess is still alive, hence she should be able to garner the support of the kingdom's nobility, But it is most likely we are going to be alone in this fight." Aden sighed.
"We can't be sure that the nobles would actually offer any aid. I received information, albeit unreliable, from The church that the Herteleans are negotiating with the remaining nobles for Algrim's sovereignty. The Herteleans are offering very lax terms in exchange for their surrender-"
"Wait, The Church?" Levi interrupted much to Aden's annoyance.
"Yes, The Church of the Twins," Aden said glaring at Levi.
"They assisted us in escaping from our pursers. Also, I have some dealings with the church."
"Can they be trusted?" Levi pressed.
"No."
"While they may be one of our only potential allies, due to our differing interests they cannot be reliably depended on."
"Good to know."
Aden glanced at Levi who nodded expressionlessly.
Falling back into his seat, he sighed exasperatedly.
"The capital has fallen and his majesty's condition is unknown. Many nobles would be tempted to simply surrender since all they have to do is accept the Wesselbutum's sovereignty. They are losing nothing and in some cases potentially have a lot to gain in return."
"They planned well," Lancelot muttered. "Attempting to bring down the rest of the kingdom through diplomatic means. Although they are losing quite a lot of gains in the process the overall objective remains secure."
"Whoever thought up this plan must be a really conservative individual." The Viscount evaluated with an approving nod.
"I ordered this meeting for the purpose of addressing these issues, finding solutions and getting acquainted with one another," Aden said glancing at everyone in the room.
"We are his Majesty's last hope."
Aden paused for a moment letting his words sink into the minds of the individuals in the room. Turning to Robert he spoke.
"I was informed that the town seems to be low on funds. Robert can you give me an account of the town's expenditure since my departure."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Initially, after Redwater was captured we garnered spoils worth exactly two thousand three hundred and forty-one gold Trites." Robert recited from memory. Unsurprisingly he completely avoided the issue of Sean's betrayal.
"After the battle, forty knights sought to be relieved of their oaths so the young master gifted them ten gold Trites each as well as gifting a total of three hundred and forty gold Trites to the knights who stayed behind, depleting the castle's coffers to a thousand six hundred and one gold Trites."
"Days later the young master ordered the purchase of supplies for the townspeople and the construction of the refugee camp. Another thousand and fifty-one gold Trites was expended in the process leaving five hundred and fifty gold Trites."
"The militia's training, feeding and salary and the young master's new muskets and flintlock pistols cost five hundred copper Thales and two hundred and fifty copper Thales respectively, bringing the overall expenditure to two hundred and twenty-eight gold Trites."
"The castle's expenses for the month is expected to peak around thirteen to fifteen gold Trites. By the end of the month, it is expected that the castle's treasury should have been depleted to as low as three hundred and seven gold Trites, but thankfully despite the young master heavily reducing the taxes for this quarter we are expected to collect an estimated three hundred gold Trites."
Aden frowned again.
"You reduced the taxes?" He asked turning to Levi.
"Yes, Father. The people had been experiencing constant unrest during these last few weeks, in order to prevent the community from growing uncontrollable and rebelling I decided to lessen their burdens." Levi said plainly.
"Good." Aden nodded.
"I am appointing Levi as my second in command, Lancelot would be delegated the task of managing the militia," Aden said turning to Levi who still had a detached look on his face.
The two glanced at each other. A frown subtly appeared on Levi's face.
"His authority would be second only to mine, but any major decision being made must first receive my approval. We would iron out the finer details on this at a later time."
"Fair enough," Levi replied.
But the duke continued.
"Levi is expected to consult with the princess on decisions before making them. Pardon my misdemeanour your Majesties, but her highness would be delegated the task of being Levi's honorary advisor." Aden said gazing at the queen.
The Queen finally opened her eyes and a strange light flashed within them.
She stared into Aden's gaze for a few seconds before letting out a reluctant sigh, giving a nod of approval.
The two individuals involved glanced at each other confused. They were somewhat clueless as to what just transpired.
Speaking to Lancelot, Aden waved the report he place on his table.
"I have reviewed all your decisions and plans you made against Josh's arrival. I am impressed but I still don't fully understand your motive."
"My lord, I was strictly acting on Marquess Levi's instructions. The young master ordered everything that had to do with the structuring and management of the garrison." Lancelot said turning his attention to Levi who still stood with a detached expression on his face.
"I was ordered to form a militia of fifty peasant men and supervise their training. Although the men have surprisingly met the basic requirements the young master set in terms of discipline, physical condition, and responsiveness I feel they are still not competent enough to challenge a full knightage."
"Hmm? Care to elaborate." Aden said.
Lancelot glanced at Levi again whose expression hadn't changed still. Gritting his teeth he spoke.
"I feel the men are not experienced enough in actual combat to be of any significant use and even if they equipped with the new weapons that the young master designed it would still be a high task to ask of them to go against experienced knights." Aden nodded turning back to Levi.
"Levi, you began training the militia after which you ordered the production of a small number of these modified weapons." Aden said placing 'The Messenger' on the desk in front of him.
"I have tested them and agree that your weapons are arguably much more effective than any former iterations, but I am sure you realised that they are just too few of them. Even if the blacksmiths work through winter producing them you might only end up with two dozen weapons available for use."
"In the scenario that you did have sufficient weapons, you haven't made any obvious moves to commence training the militia on the use of the weapon. I am struggling to understand the motive behind designing such revolutionary weapons if you didn't intend to use them to fight. Also, there is the issue of how you plan to make these muskets a viable weapon despite all the previous military failures." Aden said staring deeply at his son's face.
Although he had been impressed with Levi's most recent methods he wasn't planning to trust him unconditionally given how unconventional and untested these said methods are.
Levi raised his head, glancing at Aden.
"The weapons weren't designed to deal with the duke."
"You never planned to use these against the duke?"
"No."
"Then what plans did you have to deal with the duke."
"To be honest, the idea was to..."
Levi gave a brief summary of his plan
"This..." Lancelot had a conflicted look on his face.
"How certain are you that this plan would succeed?" Aden asked with a frown.
"There is a very high chance of failure. If anything goes wrong we might most likely fail." Levi said plainly.
"I hope you understand the consequences of failure."
"Does it matter? We don't have that many options unless you are considering abandoning Greenfields." Levi stated indifferently
Aden shut his eyes in thought.
"I will consider it."
Turning to Robert and Sarah he spoke.
"You were all made aware of their Majesties' identities with the intention of making sure you are aware it must be kept secret."
"Anyone found guilty of consciously disclosing this information, shall be hanged. Anyone found acting suspiciously in a manner that could disclose this information, shall be hanged. Anyone found guilty of making decisions that could leak this information, shall be hanged. Understood?"
"Yes, my Lord!" Sir Lancelot, Robert and Sarah replied bowing. They both carried solemn expressions on their faces.
"You may leave."
Watching the door shut behind them Aden frowned.
"Levi."
"Yes, father?"
"If you didn't produce the weapons to deal with the duke, then why?"
Levi's brow arched. Lancelot, Iris and Irina also perked at the question. It was evident they were also curious.
"Isn't it obvious, father?" He asked walking towards the desk.
Aden turned to see Levi looking down at his desk. Following his gaze, Aden noticed Levi's finger tracing a line across the map.
"Here," Levi whispered, poking his index finger at Greystones.
"This was my target."