19 The Strom River

Several days passed with the party continuing west through the Ancient Forest in the same manner as before. At noon on the third day after they had left Verafgelegen, they finally reached the east bank of the Storm River where they stopped to wait for the ferry to cross the river from the west bank of the river. The Strom River was a major river that flowed from north to south with many smaller tributary rivers that flowed into it. The width of the river where the Sun Knights currently were was 900 meters, and it had a depth in the deepest part of it was 57 meters. The current was moving fast and Ethan could not see the bottom of the river because the water was brown and muddy. Ethan was told that this was the river that divides Vorbei in two parts. To the east of the river was the part of Vorbei that was in the Ancient Forest, filled with monsters, and mostly uninhabited by humans aside from a few remote villages and roaming adventurers. To the west of the river were the fertile farmlands of Vorbei, and the place where the vast majority of the population resided. The river has its source from some springs in the mountains to the north of the Vorbei Kingdom, and flows into the Great Sea to the south. There was no bridge across the river, with the only way to cross being by ferry.

"What's that." Ethan asked Hans and Friedrich while pointing to some sort of settlement with stone walls on the other side of the Strom River.

"That is the monastery that has been taking care of our horses for us while we were in the Forest." Said Hans.

"The ferry that took us across the river when we were heading into the Ancient Forest could not bear our horses, plus it would not be easy to maneuver horses through the thick foliage of the Ancient Forest which lacks proper trails or roads. Mia, therefore, asked that monastery if they would be willing to take care of the horses for us while we were in the forest." Added Friedrich.

"And they just agreed to that? That's nice of them." Said Ethan.

"One of the that monastic order's founding missions is giving aid to those who need it. We who were under the impression that we were going to rescue a village in need in the Ancient Forest were thinking that we were helping those in need, therefore it goes with the one of the monastery's founding mission to help to expedite our rescuing of the village." Said Friedrich.

"Plus, it's a good deal for the monastery. They got to use the well trained horses of knights for over a week. They could use them to do work. They could use them to ride. They could even use our stallions to breed with the mares that the monastery owns. Also, there are financial and political incentives. The financial incentive is that Mia will be expected to make a sizable donation to the monastery for taking care of the horses for a little more than a week, which will cover the monastery's expenses for quite a while, and the political incentive is that if the monastery ever gets into legal difficulties, or any problems dealing with any nobles, Mia's father will remember that they helped his daughter out when she needed it, so he may be inclined to help them out. Plus, the King may also appreciate that they helped out the Sun Knights." Said Hans.

"Who is Mia's father?"Asked Ethan.

"Duke Augustus Von Ritter." Hans

"He is a powerful noble who is in charge of the Ritter Duchy, which controls about ten percent of the land in the Vorbei Kingdom. The duke is a major ally of the king in national politics, being a prominent member of the Royalist Faction." Said Friedrich.

[Mia's dad is a powerful duke? I knew that she was not a commoner, but to think that she had such family connections.] Thought Ethan.

"Where is the Ritter Duchy?" Asked Ethan.

"You're looking at it. Just across that river." Said Friedrich pointing west across the river

"The Ritter Duchy is a very long and narrow piece of territory that runs from north to south along the west side of the Strom River. Like the river, the duchy extends from the kingdom's northern border to the southern coastline. It contains about 70,000 square kilometers of fertile farmland, and has a population of about 800,000 people. Although it is technically only about ten percent of the total land in the kingdom, it contains about twenty percent of the arable farmland in Vorbei, because the land in the Ancient Forest is not arable for the most part, and takes up half the landmass in the kingdom. The duke doesn't manage the whole thing of course. He has many lower ranked nobles beneath him who have pieces of land that they manage within the Ritter Duchy, and they pay taxes to him." Said Hans.

"I had no idea that her dad is that powerful. So we are going to go through Mia's family's land?" Said Ethan.

"Not only are we going through her family's land, we're going to stop for tonight at the Von Ritter Castle." Said Hans

"I can't wait 'till you see it, Ethan, the Von Ritter castle is amazing. It is almost as big as the king's Royal palace, and just as ornately decorated. All of the windows are made of stained glass, and the walls are lined with mirrors, glass mirrors with gold trim! The feasts that are served are made of all kinds of exotic foods that are brought in, and served on porcelain plates. The beds have silk sheets, and each bed gets its own room. There are servants on every floor. They say that the Von Ritter family is nearly as wealthy as the Royal Family." Said Friedrich.

"If the Von Ritters and the Vorbei Royal Family are both so powerful, why are they so friendly with each other. I would normally expect two powerful families like that to be having a power struggle with each other or something." Said Ethan.

"Apparently, the two families used to be in a power struggle a few generations ago that almost led to a civil war. Then a few of the Von Ritters intermarried with a few of the members of the Vorbei Royal Family, and that calmed things down." Said Friedrich.

"Since then, the two families have really gotten along, doing things for mutual benefit. The Von Ritters help the Royal Family in subduing the other nobles in such a way that it doesn't get the king directly involved, and the Royal Family basically give the Von Ritters free reign within their own land. Provided that neither family does anything to the detriment of the other, the mutually beneficial relationship continues. That is why the Von Ritters are such prominent members of the Royalist Faction." Said Hans.

Just then, the ferry made it to the east bank of the river, and the knights plus Ethan and Johan went on board.