Kingdom Nobles & Marons doubts

Cassius fell back into his chair completely exhausted, he was absolutely not the most eloquently spoken man, but felt he had done well to convince the three men.

I've got to be careful though, I nearly exposed myself with my fat mouth and otherworldly knowledge.

He really didn't want to think about what sort of consequences he would face if the Household learnt of the true fate of Cassius, nothing good could come of that, of that he was certain.

Taking a moment with his eyes closed to reflect on the conversation, he was pretty sure he covered everything he would need to. He was a little bothered by the possibility of Nobles trying to interfere with his business, they would take an insanely large hit to their coffers when his business took off in full. His father might not actually approve his plan because of this. As he recalled, the Kingdom was divided into four major 'Noble Alliances' and two Minor alliances.

There was the Eastern Sea Alliance, led by House Stoneharbour, who were virtually untouchable due to possessing two out of five of the Kingdoms dukes. One being Duke Stoneharbour of Stonewater, who were in excellent relations with the Stennfall, part of them being due East of Sturm, and extremely vulnerable to land based attacks. The other was Duke Sean Greytide, who held a smaller port town to the North, whose name was not-known to him.

There was the Central group, the wealthiest and most privileged of the Kingdom on part of them not having to spend their entire wealth on constant warring and rebuilding, they were led by Duke Terrenborough, a pretentious man of renowned arrogance and greed.

Contrary to them there was the Royal Faction, a bunch of 'ass kissers' as he had overheard men in the capital refer to them as. Duke Stracker of House Stracker led them, he didn't know much of the man but he had once visited their Manor in the capital to deliver a congratulatory gift for his fifth birthday, so maybe the rumours were true.

There was the Western faction as well, being a conglomerate of smaller households spanning almost the entire territory leading the Western plains underneath Duke August Steel who himself controlled a large town that led to the central region of the territory. They were in a similar position to the Margrave, and had to fight off the savages and warring parties from the Western plains.

After that, there was the minor northern Alliance held by some Marquis whose name he never bothered to remember, and then his fathers faction who were referred to as; the Bulwark, the Ironshields of Ironforge, feared and respected by most of the Kingdoms Nobles, and deeply loved and adored by the King and the peasantry.

This love was not unfounded either, the Stennfall Household had never seen a day of peace since the founding of the Kingdom, and had put more sweat blood and gold towards the defense of its territory than any other Family. They controlled the Southernmost border and had a few dozen bannermen and Nobles of various peerage dotted across their land, at their strongest they could call on an army some twelve-thousand strong, with the Stonewater's normally contributing wealth and manpower to any major defence.

Although this Army was not considered large by any means, with the Cross Kingdom had dispatched armies in the scale of forty-thousand and above numerous times. But, as he recalled, his fathers Army was the singular most experienced fighting force in the Kingdom, and spared no expense at equipping as many of their warriors with the best weapons and armour money can buy during wartime.

'So, then why are the Guardsmen so under equipped now?' He thought curiously. What Cassius didn't know however, was that the guardsmen on duty were mostly just that; Guardsmen whose job was to maintain security and patrol the territory, essentially the police force of the territory. The professional's and veterans were at home, farming, crafting, building, living, and were otherwise not recalled unless war came to the territory.

Of course some of the men were retired, or had been inflicted with injuries too severe to continue lengthy campaigns or keep up the high tempo expected during extended conflicts.

'Well nevertheless, I don't think the Stonewaters will interfere with my plans, they focus more on trading anyway, it's more likely to be the Western and Centrals' He thought.

—

Meanwhile, Maron dragged Horace and Carmen over to a corner and were now standing in a tight circle, quietly discussing about Cassius so as not to be overheard.

In a hush whisper he began. "Look, I know you guys might not be too fond of me in part of the last two days, but believe me, Lord Cassius officially has my loyalty."

"But.. Isn't it strange how much Lord Cassius knows? How is he able to negotiate with those old fogies at such a young age? I certainly wasn't this articulate when I was eleven, and neither have any of his brothers and sister's been so prestigious as youths from my past encounters with them." He asked Horace

Horace himself wasn't sure, but in the end, it didn't matter to him. "I don't know the how or why," he said, shaking his head, "and frankly, I don't care. Even if some eldritch entity has possessed him, that changes nothing. He is our Lord, and that's all that counts."

He leaned in, his voice growing firmer. "Look at him. He's sharper than most men twice his age, clever beyond his years. Wise, even. You've seen it yourselves—he negotiates with men who've weathered more storms than we can count, and he holds his own. We've sworn our loyalty, and I'll stand by that."

Horace paused for a moment, eyes narrowing. "His rise is our rise. If he ascends, we ascend with him. All we need to do is protect him, offer our counsel when he needs it, and trust in his judgment. The rest? It's irrelevant."

Maron shook his head, 'This boys not wrong but… something doesn't fit. I've never seen a boy this young be so… extreme?'

Carmen finally spoke up, "Maybe he's just an extremely unique prodigy? One of my cousins could read by the time he was four, and could write by the time he was seven all with no education… maybe it's something like that?"

Maron glanced around the room as Carmen's words sunk in. Could it really be that simple? A child prodigy, destined for greatness, with natural-born talent? His gut told him something else. He'd seen a few prodigies before, yes, but none had ever wielded such cunning or confidence in negotiation—especially not with those "old fogies".

"Maybe," Maron said, though his voice was less convincing. "But something still doesn't fit. I've heard of too many young lords rise, fall, or fail before they could even make a serious name for themselves. They're either guided by the wrong hands or carried too far by blind ambition."

Carmen raised an eyebrow. "And you think that's what's happening here?"

Maron hesitated. "I don't know… but I'll keep my eyes open."

Horace, sensing Maron's hesitation, squared his shoulders. "Look, I understand your concerns. But this… it's different. Lord Cassius is different." His voice grew firmer, more resolute. "He's not like other lords. He sees things clearly, and he's already begun to set things in motion. What kind of man his age even thinks to do that?"

Maron crossed his arms. "That's what concerns me. What if he's pushing too far, too fast?"

For the briefest moment, Horace felt a flicker of doubt creep into his mind. But then, just as quickly, he shook it off. "No. His rise is our rise. We follow him, and we'll all come out stronger. You'll see."