Joachim was shocked to find her, indeed, bathing in the cold river. Thinking to himself, he reasoned that her blood must boil in her veins so she doesn t get cold. Ofcourse, he knew this to be untrue, but never the less it would explain her lack of mind that it was so cold. Joachim would never jump in the river just to bathe, not in this weather. „M-my apologies Astrid!” he yelled out before turning around, looking away from her as he continued to talk. „In my defense, I was singing as I arrived here, did you not her hear me?” He grinned at her modesty, and wondered how she bathed while they were marching with the Iron Company. There was always a set of eyes on you during a march, especially if you were a woman. Luckily for Joachim he wasn't anyone special, nor was he extremely pretty or hulkingly big, so he never attracted that much attention.. but Astrid? She was one of the few women marching with them -- her goals and motives remained unclear to most of the Iron Company, and those that had an idea kept it to themselves -- and thus she was always watched.. whether it be because mens eyes like womanly figures or because she was such a mysterious participant of the Queens Guard.
„Not that it matters, Astrid, I didn't come here to spy on you, but you dissapeared so suddenly and I was wondering if you were perhaps in danger or lost in the woods.” He turned his head around a bit to see if she was still busy dressing, but it seemed she was already done and still hiding behind the tree. He turned his full body to face her and then continued. „R-regardless, I think you'd like to know we'll be stuck in the castle for a while. The queen has seen fit to mobilize our defences. We won't be counterattacking but defending the castle against the attack that is bound to come. I.. thought you might want to know that. Sorry for the intrusion. I'll be on my way so you can continue.” he said as he turned around, continueing to whistle the tune of Johnny, who got carried away to the wars in Ustynia. „Oh, and Rudolfo seems to be missing. He probably died in our assault. We've no Stag, so Gnarl will have to choose a new one. Possibly interesting if you wish to get into the politics of the Iron Company.”
Three days later, in the Stags Rest.
Gnarl walked side to side on the wooden plateau that held the nooses for criminals. One man was hung since the beginning of the 'war' that had yet to be declared or seen. But everyone knew it was there. The man that was hanged was the soldier that Rand had brung in, hanged for murdering innocent civilians without a notice of war before it. But that was not the issue at hand here, not at all. Most of the men agreed that this man was an enemy and was to be hanged -- Rand might disagree, but Rand wasn't here. The corpse would be left to be picked by the crows until Rand returned. After that.. well, it was a matter of waiting 'till Rand himself took it down -- he disobeyed the Bear, and while the Queen prevented any real disciplinary actions, Gnarl could make it clear what he meant. The corpse looked battered and the crows had taken to picking at the man, his eyes already having fallen victim to them.
„Men, it seems that Rudolfo, our Stag, has gone missing during the battle. Due to that we will need a new Stag. I have many men to choose from -- experienced men, smart men, tactical men.. even some women.” he said, referring to Wren and Astrid with the latter of his sentence. Not that he could pick either.. Wren would never accept due to her father being the Bear prior, and thus making her a Stag would be.. insulting. As if she were a second choice. And Astrid hadn't been here long enough -- raising her into power would at the same time raise eyebrows even higher. „But I need no smart, tactical, experienced men. And while a woman would be good..” he grinned as his crowd laughed. „I don't want her telling me what to do. And now that we are the Queens Guard, I have found I cannot leave the castle so easily if the Queen is still inside it. So I need a replacement of me on the battlefield, someone that I can trust in small skirmishes to come out alive and well. A captain of sorts. For that reason I have decided to give lady Isolde the title of Stag, albeit symbolical only.”
The crowd talked for a bit and Gnarl let them for a minute, before raising his hand. „It happened before men, remember Yorn Oathsmith, of the house of Pollen? He gave king Eriken the symbolical title of Stag after their employment as a thank you. And I figured that since we were already dancing to the whims and wants of this lady Isolde, we might as well give her the title. However..” He slid his hand across the wooden railing, walking to the other side past the hanged man.
„I will still need that captain.” He had given this a lot of thought and had basically come up with the fact that there was not a single man fit for this job. Sikarthis was an outsider, an outcast, just like Atl. They were fine choices, though Sikarthis more than Atl, but they wouldn't get respect from the men. Atl was more of a comedic relief at times than an actual part of the Queens guard -- he could fight though and Gnarl respected him for it. And Sikarthis seemed to be unable to grasp the way politics and ranks worked in Arlon. Astrid was too new and a woman, she'd never be respected either. Wren was gone as was Rand, and besides, raising Wren into power would likely just result in her being stubborn to Gnarl at all times. Rand was a 'knight' now after this mission of his, and Gnarl didn't especially seem fond of him, so not choosing Rand was because of both his foolishness, his inability to respect hierarchical authority and the fact that Gnarl didn't like him too much. Joachim was too green, and talked too much -- besides, people seemed more annoyed with him than fond of him. Theodore was likely the best fit for the job, but Gnarl had already planned for him to be the Iron Companies representative amongst the castle guard. And Guinand had been missing ever since he went on that mission of his, presumably he got killed. Besides, an archer as captain is never a good idea. They were too.. 'tactical' and their ideas never worked out in practice. „And I've chosen Sikarthis, with Astrid being his second in command. You are both to report to me in an hour. I need to deal with that crazy horseman first.” The men didn't seem particularily cheery.
The crazy horseman Talan had been sitting in the barracks in his own little corner for a while now, waiting for a talk with Gnarl, but there had been no time between fixing orders, maintaining the castle and at the same time preparing it for the battle, and his audience with the queen was denied straight away. The only reason he wasn't sent away under fear of being an enemy was because he was so outlandish that there was no way he'd be from Eowen. Gnarl entered the barracks and beckoned for Talan to follow him into his 'office' and bedroom. He sat down behind his table, which had little room for Talan, so he'd be expected to stand still in the doorway. „So why are you here? Can't you take a boat back to your.. horse country? Go back to fighting the other steppe tribes and pillaging their villages? What makes you think the queen likes to deal with every lost vagrant like you? We're no charity.. you'll need to visit the church for that.” Gnarl continued looking through some papers, battle plans mostly, waiting for the horsemans answer.
In the castle of lord Whitestead
Rand and Wren had been able to get into the castle without much troubles, as was the road empty during their small trip. After all, the southerner lords did most of their dealings by the sea and rivers, trading their goods upstream. Their climate was a warm one, though not overly warm. They had large, open fields of grass that were unused for farming of any sorts. They didn't have to farm, as it was cheaper to just buy their foods and import it all, than to convert those grassfields to useable farmland. That was enough to describe their economical prowess, as they were simply wealthy. There was not much to it.
Lord Whitestead was the largest lordship in the area, as he had multiple bannermen under him and large tracts of land under his control -- you entered his lands long before you even saw the first village. It was for this reason that the hunting here was good, no villages, villagers or ruffians to disturb the wildlife. His lands seemed to be the epitome of peace and calmth, as keeping the lords peace was never hard in these lands. And the villagers were calm too, as they were relatively rich, despite a lack of produce on their end. They simply created trade goods, that were then bought by rich merchants from lord Whitesteads own stead, using his coffers. And then these trade goods were traded away at a hefty profit.
His own town, the White Hold, was a very big city, bustling with activity. The court was gigantic, to accustom to the many nobles that visited the White Hold. The insides of the court were.. a maze of rooms, corridors, hallways and guards standing at guard, always on edge. They wore half-helms, which were characteristical for the Whitestead warriors. Their helms covered the eyes, and nose, and the rest of the head, but left the chin unprotected, as well as the mouth. And sometimes, in the courtyards, you could see them excersizing, training with others. They had round shields, but with a small gap at the right side of the shield -- one would assume to fit a spear through them, but the Whitestead men didn't use spears. It appeared that this gap was used to see through with the right eye when they held up their shield to face level.
However, none of them was able to speak after having their tongue removed. The pay for being a White Hold guard was extremely good, you were well fed and treated with respect, even by noblemen that normally treat anyone that wasn't noble as the shit under their boots -- lord Whitestead had at one point said that the guards were even higher in the eyes of God than the nobles -- after all, without these guards there would be no nobles, as they'd all be dead. Without nobles there was no peace, and with no peace Gods' will would be nonexistant due to the constant chaos. He spurred heavy resistance from the clergies further north in the kings city, but there was nothing they could do. Anyone that treated the guards with disrespect would be flayed alive on Whitesteads orders. It was clear however, why these men got their tongues removed. Nobles in Whitehold played a game of power, constantly looking for more ways to earn money, get richer, richer and richer, outdoing their noble friends. Some treated it as a friendly game, after all, money was plentiful in these lands. Others saw it as a way of existance, a way to grow more and more powerful, with that one goal in their eyes - the White Throne of Whitehold. And when you play this game, you do a lot of backdoor scheming, façading and lying. Castleguards hear and see everything, so if they were to speak out.. well, all would be lost.
Two of these guards, armed with swords and shields, their characteristic halfhelm, and boiled hard leather breastplates with chainmail over it approached Wren and Rand. Not being able to speak, they made a gesture that implied to the two that they should follow them. They were lead to a large hall, with a floor made of a glimmering and shiny type of stone. If you looked closely, you could see images in these stones, as if they were carved, but at the same time the floor was smooth as could be. Whoever made these was a master at his job. There were four big pillars in the hall, also with images in them, but not shiny like the floor stones -- they did not glimmer. These were actually carved, but in a beautiful manner. The hall was aproximately 40 metres long, which was very very long. At the end was three seats, two of grey, normal stone, however also shiny and glimmering. On it were pillow and soft rugs, because nobody likes to sit on solid rock all day. There were two bald men, their heads glimmering and as shiny as the rock, with ornate robes on. Small wreaths rested on their heads. In the center there was a big white stone throne, even more glimmering than the others. The pillows and rugs on it were of magnificent quality, though Wren and Rand would likely not be able to see this due to their untrained eyes. Lord Whitestead was seated on this throne.
At the center of the hall there was a large bonfire pit -- the fire in it was lit, and the pit stretched almost 30 metres long along the entire hall. One could argue it was already much too hot in these halls, but one could never argue that it didn't give a nice aesthetic to these halls. On the right side there was a large balcony, seperated only from the hall by the pillars, giving large accessways to these balconies. They overlooked the White Seas, named after the white rocks that were so plentiful in these area. Sometimes these rocks would break from the cliffs and fall in the sea, which over time gave the sea a white look in some areas. The sky was clear, the sun shone on the balconies and the swallows dived past the balconies, chasing eachother and playing.
„Yes, master Rand, lady Wren?” lord Whitestead opened the conversation, seemingly already knowing their names. It was unquestionable that this man held a lot of power, not only in his city but the entire realm. „My masters of information already told me you'd be coming. You are from the Iron Company. I am honored that the Iron Company would visit my halls, but I do not see master Gedelwein, your 'bear' with you. Has he remained in Stags Rest, as I assume lady Isolde's personal guard would?” He stood up and walked to the bonfire, the two bald men also getting up and following him, remaining at his side at all times. It was almost uncomfortable how much lord Whitestead already knew, but he continued. „I have heard also, that your villages have come to be under attack by lord Eowen. Such an annoying man, him. Did you know he struck a deal with king Godwin when lady isolde was dethroned? I assume you didn't, because my masters of information assured me that they were the only ones that knew. The deal said that if lady Isolde ever came to be under attack by lord Eowen, king Godwin would not interfere. This in exchange for a marriage between lord Eowen's daughter and Godwins' nephew, Irving. It happens to be that that is also Isolde's nephew, but regardless.. besides that, Eowen would support king Godwin during the following powerstruggle. It seems that was a good deal struck by king Godwin, don't you think?” Lord Whitestead walked over to the balconies and leaned on the white stone railings, looking out over the cliffs. At the sides of the balcony there were two sets of guards, both counting three guards. They looked over the king at all times, though it was not often that you could actually see them in the open like this.
„But I find that this deal struck between the king and lord Eowen would be more befitting in my own court. You see, in the Whitehold we don't do wars. We do not kill, murder, maim, torture. We simply outdo our opponents. We strike deals that protect us and harm others. But we harm their economical situation. Not their physicality. And look at my hold. Not a spat of blood has been spent in the last 300 years. Behold. We are the richest hold in the kingdom of Godwin.” He looked over his shoulder to Rand and Wren, whom he'd given no time to speak. It was very probable that he already knew why they were there, as it seemed that his masters of information, or otherwise known as 'spymasters' knew a lot about what was going on in the kingdom.
„So I am afraid I must decline your request for help -- I cannot go against what my ancestors have always upheld. There will be no blood spent in my armies. We will never attack, only defend. Such is the way of the White Hold.” It was then that he was interrupted by both his spymasters, as they closed in on his ears simultaneously and started whispering to him in a strange unison. The entire situation would be very uncomfortable for Rand and Wren, and the White Hold appeared to have many secrets and sub cultures hidden underneath it's wealthy appearance. When the 'masters of information' were done whispering they both pulled back their heads and looked at Rand and Wren with an uneasy, forced smile. „My masters of information have told me that every ancestry must have a new beginning, a new custom at appropiate times. Time moves on, and so must we. Do you know how a deal is struck, master Rand, lady Wren?” He walked away from the balcony towards his throne, followed closely by his masters of information. They all sat down simultaneously, as if they had practiced it.
„I give you something, you give me something. If I help you, what will you give me? I have no need for money, as you can see, and your alliances are unneccesary to me as I am protected by the king. I hold his coffers, after all.” It would seem as though there was no way for this deal to happen, as lady Isolde could not offer lord Whitestead anything that king Godwin couldn't offer him too. „However, my son and daughter are unmarried. If they were to marry a nephew or niece of dearest lady Isolde.. that would benefit me. And I could send my troops to Stags Rest then, to help you.. after all, I need to protect my daughter and son. Can you strike this deal with me, master Rand, lady Wren?”
Joachim patted Sikarthis on the back after he got made captain, and gave Astrid a short nod through the crowd. He'd been afraid to approach her after the.. incident in the woods. He decided to continue his daily bussinesses and not to fuzz on the captain's position too long. After all, it'd hardly matter for the oncoming siege because Gnarl would be here to do things himself, he assumed. He grabbed a set of five quivers, filled with arrows, and started carrying them to the top of the wall where they would be put against the walls, for the archers. The militia had arrived, too, and the food from the villagers was confiscated. The new hands made the work lighter and had even given some of the Iron Company some off time to practice and hone their skills and prepare for the oncoming siege. They'd been in sieges before, but they'd usually been on the other side of things. Many of the men would agree that being on the attacking side was probably better. Besides.. looting and plundering a castle or town after sieging it was very satisfying some of them said. Joachim hadn't had the pleasure to find that out yet, nor would he take part in the looting, raping and murdering of innocents most likely. It somehow didn't really fit him, he thought.
