10 Military Development of House Tarth (3)

After this first division of talents Galladon was left with two pure warriors, Erhard and Philipp, that are integrated with three auras for 8 and 7 years respectively. Even though they are great talents and the young heir of House Tarth really wished to integrate them into his own forces, he left them for his two little sisters, Arianne and Alysanne. They would train their future guard and later follow them to whichever house they would marry into and guarantee their safety and family status in the future.

It might be a little too much for two high quality warriors to act as guard captain, but both of his little sisters would eventually marry into noble families and Galladon secretly already had some important plans in mind, which would require his two very smart sisters to have a say in the family and own military force by themselves. Having two trustworthy captains by their side could use the resources of those noble families to train his own extended armed forces.

When they grew up in the future his two sisters will realize his plans, because both have been encompassed into his intelligence aura since they were born, but Galladon never thought they would resent him for this calculation. In this medieval world any woman is only worth as much as her paternal family is strong. If you are beautiful but don't have a family backing you, your husband having a few mistresses and leaving you face in public is already a blessing in disguise as a woman.

Giving his sisters a happy childhood, good education, superior minds and even military forces already qualifies Galladon for the position of the best brother in the Seven Kingdoms. Erhard and Philipp and the forces they train in the future will one day be given to Galladon's oldest nephews.

This left Galladon with 6 talents he was currently cultivating:

Derron, Tadd and Miltar in the intelligence department

James, Ralf and Ryser in the force department

They are all roughly at the same age as the rest but have only been included in the aura for at most six years, most of them for a shorter period. Those young talents currently alternate as deputy's in Galladon's forces to learn from their stronger colleagues. The intelligence unit mostly supports Armin in managing logistical tasks or improving the infrastructure of Tarth. Contrary, the strength department is a lot more straightforward. Once they reach a certain threshold in the future they will fill into additional armed forces in the future, or once a special unit heavily expands their numbers.

On the morning of January 20th 294 AC, five days after his 18th birthday, Galladon was sitting on the balcony of his personal villa close to Evenfall Hall. All the premises, especially the library which includes all the books he recorded from his previous years, were heavily guarded by Wolf Scouts.

Next to him was his most familiar person, a blond boy, roughly 1,75 m in height with a small frame, but green eyes that seemed to be able to penetrate your soul. His name is Armin, his most trusted subordinate.

"In a few days I will leave Tarth for my journey to King's Landing, Armin. Honestly, I don't really want to go. Travelling nearly 600-700 km throughout all the Stormlands is way too far. Even travelling with only my guards and our superior horses, we will probably travel around four days, riding at least 8 hours per day.

Luckily the stirrups and saddles were finished by the craftsman department on time, else I might just stay on this comfortable island and marry some beautiful farmer's girl.

Unfortunately, my father will chase me down with a knife if I suggest this solution, even if I am his proudest and only son. Now that I think about it Armin, how about you join me on the travel instead of staying on Tarth? As my closest subordinate, shouldn't you share weal and woe with me?" Galladon asked playfully, watching the slight changes in his subordinate's expression.

Armin was a little scared when his Lord suddenly mentioned the topic. He grew up together with Galladon and admired him deeply and was extremely grateful for his education. Even if it was never mentioned, someone as smart as Armin obviously realized the strange improvement in all the people closely connected to the young heir of House Tarth.

If he couldn't see something strange happening while being included in the intelligence aura for more than ten years his life would truly be in vain. This made him nearly worship the young man in front of him, having only the deepest gratification and loyalty in his heart.

Yet, at times this amazing young warrior acted quite silly. Out of a sudden mood change he sometimes made some seemingly strange decisions. All his close comrades have suffered from this mood change already. But somehow this joking behavior brought them all a lot closer to each other unknowingly. Still, he really didn't want to join this bunch of warriors on their long journey to a tournament. His father and Lord Selwyn already arranged a marriage for him with a daughter of a local wealthy family, the young lady of House Silverwood, his childhood sweetheart.

Travelling hundreds of kilometers just to fight a tournament with his life on the line for a chance to propose to some young noble girl was truly pointless in his eyes. Nevertheless, he understood the importance of this journey for House Tarth, which is why he fully supported Galladon's decision. He fully trusted in his Lord to not make any mistakes during this trip.

Since he was small Galladon told them about many stories from his previous life. Armin always despised the counselors that were known to anybody. In this world full of darkness, he would be the first target for assassination if he was known as a genius tactician of House Tarth. He preferred to be a "Dark Hand behind the Curtain", like in many stories he was listening to since his childhood. Travelling next to his Lord and sharing the spotlight would only ruin his way of counseling. His place was always, and will always be, on the island of Tarth, taking care of the rear and fixing mistakes for his Lord from the distance. At best, long before they even have the chance to become a problem.