The Rise of a Noble

After doing his marital duty. Galahad embraced the last and first lover of everyman, oblivion. Unfortunately, he was awakened before he could fully satiate his thirst. *knock knock*

Katerina mumbled something before falling back into deep sleep. She was a heavy sleeper.

Galahad stood up and silently opened the door. He looked at the man and asked quietly.

"What is the matter?"

The man looking slightly worried responded.

"Sire about two hours ago a noble arrived before the outer gates of Highkeep. As it was late at night, we didn't open the gates. We assumed he will be someone of similar standing to you. Especially since he didn't make a fuss about the whole waiting outside until the morning thing. When Karlos was doing his early rounds. He struck a conversation with the gate guard. When he asked about the heraldry of the nobles banners. The guard described a black wave in a green background. He then ordered the fastest runner. Me"

He pointed to himself.

"To come over as quickly as I could and spread the news."

Galahads jaw dropped, and he muttered.

"What in the name of all that is holy does the Duke of Norvik doing here. I need to leave immediately to meet him."

As Galahad started walking off.

The guard grabbed him by the shoulder and said.

"Sire I understand that this man is a big Hog. But you should probably put on something more presentable. He has been waiting for two hours already. I am sure ten minutes won't change much."

Galahad nodded and responded.

"Yeah, you are right. But it is not every day the Hero of Boreia, the Duke of Norvik appears before your gates, is it?

After that Galahad went back inside his room he quickly washed up and wore his finest silk clothes his only silk clothes. After that, he followed the guard towards the gatehouse. The early morning was rather chilly even though it was almost late spring. After a while, Galahad asked the guard.

"Is it just me or is it surprisingly chilly for this time of year?"

The guard nodded and responded.

"No worries my lord it is actually quite common here. We get the Siv wind from the northern wastes even in the mid-summer. But I heard that it isn't quite so common further south and apparently Gragon almost never gets it. There is some smart people reason for that I am sure. "

Galahad nodded, and the duo kept walking in silence before finally reaching the gatehouse. When they came within viewing distance of the walls a rather nervous Karlos rushed down as his life depended on it. After a rather long moment of him trying to catch his breath, he said.

"Sire the Duke of Norvik is outside, and we had him waiting for the past three hours?"

Galahad sighed heavily and responded.

"Well, of course, we are going to speak truthfully. Deception only works against lesser men additionally is unchivalrous,"

Karlos nodded and the group continued up to the gate.In front of the gate stood three men in the center a rather unimpressive but stoic looking lone man in his early sixties with the only defining feature his completely greyed hair with a moderately sized baggage train behind him.And two knights holding up the house's banner a black wave in a green background.

Galahad smiled and said.

"Greetings Duke Elbert. I am Sir Galahad the dutiful servant of the crown on the frontier. To what do I have the honor of your illustrious company. After all, I am the lowliest of nobles."

The man looked at Galahad for a minute before he spoke slowly and calmly.His voice just loud enough but imbued with a coldness.

"Sir Galahad calling yourself a dutiful servant may well be true. After all, you did develop this land to the greatest extent it has ever been and there are no real foreign adversaries you can pledge your allegiance to except perhaps to some type of accursed chief deep in the wastes. On your second point, your title isn't hedge knight is landed knight but by the look of it Baronet is more accurate and when I return to the capital I will official upgrade your title. To the Baronet of Highkeep not that it changes much but at least your heir won't need to become a knight first before he can inherit your fief. But if you are lucky and with the good graces of your brother, you will probably be a count or a duke by the time you die. As for your question, I am here to deliver my grandson into the hands of your brother. I am well aware that such dealings would normally bring to you some benefit as such I brought three gifts one for each brother and one for your Lados willing heir. But such matters should be discussed over a hearty meal rather than out here in the cold. "

Galahad nodded and looked towards one of his guards before saying.

"Open the gates and escort our guests inside."

He then looked back towards the olden Duke

"Alright, it shall be done. But you will need to excuse me I will need to set up the feast and send a messenger over to my brother. After all your visit was rather unexpected. As for your men, they are invited over to the barracks or they could also head over to the Inn."

The Duke nodded and responded.

"A feast would be too much how about we allow our men to fraternize outside while we talk inside."

Galahad nodded and said.

"Alright."

After that Galahad and the Duke headed inside the keep.

After Galahad sat on his throne and the duke took one of the chairs a slow silence filled the room before Galahad eventually broke it. He then asked with evident curiosity.

"To what do I owe the visit. As far as I know, we are not acquainted and with your power and influence, you could probably just sent over a messenger if you were planning to place a family member under the tutelage of my brother.

The duke smiled and responded calmly.

"Those are some rather key observations but it also shows the lack of information you hold. First and foremost you underestimate the importance of a high tier magi. While I could probably get a family member under his tutelage without coming all the way here it shows respect and is relatively more useful than fraternizing with other noble families. Additionally, I get to visit a part of the country which will soon receive increased trading activity. You are right though that the main reason isn't that I want to place a family member under your brother tutelage. Instead, I wanted you to help me with a couple of requests. First and foremost I would like if you kept an eye on George he is a good fellow even though he can be a bit of a handful at times. Additionally, I want you to organize a meeting with Miss Emaria."

Galahad raised an eyebrow and said.

"May I ask why do you want me to keep an Eye on George and organize a meeting with Emaria."

The duke smiled and said flatly

"You may not. But I am sure you already have plenty of ideas on why. Now let's talk about the final matter soon refugees will flock from the Dukedom of Ribertan and a rather large amount of them will end up in my duchy. While it might seem reasonable that I will not be against an increase in my number of subjects this is in fact incorrect. My lands are already brimming with men and my Duchy is as far away from the conflict as humanly possible. As such more mouths to feed will just lead to an increase in the amount of banditry in my realm.The frontier on the other hand still has plenty of space and more subjects is a net benefit for you. So my deal is as follows I will provide transport but after they get off the shipthey are your responsibility."

Galahad nodded and said.

"I agree this deal is a win-win."

The Duke nodded and continued.

"Now that we conversed about those matters while your judgment was still clear I am sorry to inform you but I brought some rather distressing news. We probably lost the war. Which means the Dukedom of Ribertan will fall under Frankian control. On the regards of who is dead and who is alive, we haven't yet been sent a full list of the captured nobles. But in the bright side our fort still blocks access so we are mostly fine at worst we will lose the duchy and pay some reparations. The real issue will be with all of the mini succession wars that will happen all across the realm. "

Galahad raised his eyebrow and asked.

"But how did you know that this happened? The war hasn't even been going on for that long how did such an important battle happen and how did we lose?"

The Duke nodded and responded.

"We got the news about two weeks ago that there was a lost battle through the medium of the fire towers. But I just got the details last week after I received a pigeon from one of my men. He was present on the fight. We lost when doing a deep strike operation to take the capital of the dukedom Yorgen. While the town had strong defenses their garrison had been depleted thanks to infighting and their food storage had caught on fire. Additionally, they had a rather large amount of refugees in the city and the commander was a compassionate man. It looked like the city would fall within a month. Since there was such a large force he tasked ten percent of the soldiers to go out and forage supplies. Soon whole squads went missing. But eventually a survivor explained that his squad got attacked and destroyed by cavalry archer bandits. At those news the commander Duke Gorion von Telaston wanted to keep his forces together fearing enemy action. But the second prince Timothy wanted to prove himself to increase his support for the race for the throne as such he requested thirty percent of the forces. While the Duke stood in opposition at the end of the day Timothy was a prince. Overcome with zeal and the need to prove himself he marched with haste. Quickly some of his local guides quickly found traces and he together with his army marched to find their hideout. It was in a small valley with the forest in the back a river in the east and three large hills closing of the west and north the perfect place for an ambush. The proud prince quickly rushed in to find a few cavalrymen quickly retreating across the river. Timothy got out of the forest and gave chase.When he reached a river he heard a trumpet quickly his vanguard made up of the local nobility had closed off his retreat back to the forest and on the hills, a large cavalry contingent appeared. At the sudden attack and betrayal, his forces panicked. But while brash and rather thoughtless the prince was a quick thinker he quickly assembled the infantry to cut off the charge of the enemy heavy cavalry while he amassed his cavalry and charged through the lines of the traitorous nobles. It is frankly a miracle that he broke through together with about a hundred armored nobles. When he returned to the base camp. He was angrily reprimanded by theDuke. But what was done was done.Shortly after the main camp was attacked by a much larger force coupled with the siege garrison sallying out. It was a complete defeat with the majority of the nobles getting either killed or captured."

Galahad sighed heavily and asked.

"So what is going to happen now?"

The Duke shrugged and said.

"We will see it depends on how wise is our King. But on the bright side, it looks like the chance for a civil war between the princes has sharply decreased. "

Galahad nodded and asked.

"Anything else that you want to ask me or inform me about?"

The Duke responded.

"No, but I would appreciate if you organized a meeting with your brother and with miss Emaria. Ah I almost forgot the gifts."

He then handed Galahad two scrolls. Galahad didn't recognize the seal on the first one. After he broke it he read.

"Proof of ownership of the Black grape Vineyard."

Galahad raised his eyebrow and said

"A vineyard this is rather nice. It will provide a good source of wine for my daily needs as well as a small profit."

The Duke smiled and responded cordially.

"It is not as simple as it seems. This Vineyard contains within it a rather nice villa and is half a day away from the capital close to the town of Uspek. As for the profit, I didn't say it is a small Vineyard it is about fifty royal stremmata(five hectares) and brings a profit of about five whole gold coins a year."

Galahad eyes shined and he responded.

"I see this is truly a valuable gift and I am deeply thankful."

He then proceeded to look at the second one. This seal was familiar it was the seal from the smiths guild but it had a small crown over the hammer and anvil. He then broke open the seal and read.

"This is a promissory note from the royal smiths. a custom made steel armor of the finest order. signed master Holmos."

The Duke then smiled and responded.

" I think this is a fitting gift for your heir. I don't need your thanks. Right now I would prefer if you would show me to my room. So I may rest those old bones for some time. In the meantime please arrange for a meeting close at sundown."

Galahad nodded and said

"This is the least I can do."