Chapter X: Inner Circle [4]

"As heir of House Relmfrey, a dutiful vassal of the Royal House Durhamfortt and a loyal subject of the Crown, I cannot allow myself to stand side by side with brutes and savages of the Norsmundi tribes. My father would not stand of this if he were to know this, and so would I! With all the respect that is due to you, your lordship, we are tarnishing the honor of our glorious Kingdom by merely planning to amalgamate our forces with them. I implore you, my lord, please reconsider this!"

Both Berwyn and Barone had scowls written all over their faces, the latter almost shaking his head sideways and clicking his tongue to explicitly show displeasure, while Frenda remained her stern and unfaltering expression, yet upon closer scrutiny, one would notice her annoyance deeply hidden in her eyes, an emotion that almost borderline disdain. Under normal circumstances, seeing the austere face of his superior locked upon his face would be enough for him to turn tail or immediately beg for forgiveness, much less interrupting the said superior upon her report, but he simply cannot ignore what he considered almost to be a blasphemy that went against the teachings and principles of his household that took the effort to drill those beliefs inside his heart, mind and soul during his upbringing, even if the blasphemous words were spouted by the very same man he came to truly respect second only to his own father. On the other hand, Velmund cannot help but only sigh, disappointment evident on his face.

"Stop your yammering, you spoiled noble brat!" Reona reproached him. "You speak as if breathing the same air as those barbarians would incur you a terrible disease. Can't you at least step down from that high noble pedestal of yours for once?"

"My nobility has nothing to do with it, only my dignity as a Runtallian!" William strongly replied. "I said nothing wrong."

"William. Cease. Foolishness." Those words were muttered by the burly man who had remained silent for the entire duration of the discussion. Even so, his words weigh as much as the Knight Commandress herself and their master, more so that one of the knights sat around the table would label his brief and word-deprived replies more valuable than gold itself, and most certainly more respected that the arrogant young knight situated upon his left, who was momentarily stupefied by the three words manifested through an intent gaze.

"But… but, Brother Anselmus," William tried to protest, but as soon as he started, words from his mouth suddenly refused to come out.

"Listen, William…" Velmund calmly said, pointing his index figure on the portion of the map that showed the border between Regalia and Norsmund. "While it is my intention to seek the support of the captured Norsmundi to bolster our numbers and increase our chances of victory, it is only my secondary objective for doing so. My primary goal is, as everyone here understands except, sadly, you, is to…" Velmund eyed his female retainer beside him.

"End the animosity between Runtallia and Norsmund," Frenda continued. "And the first step is to have Regalia and the Celbriac Tribe forge good ties with each other."

"And what other better way for us to do that than to fight side by side as comrades?" Reona said, patting William's shoulder with a grin. "You do realize how foresighted his lordship is thinking about both the future and present, right? It is like hitting two birds with one stone. So come now, it isn't like you have a personal grudge over Norsmund, right?"

The words of Anselmus alone was enough for William to be tongue-tied for a moment, and coupled with the reasoning of both Velmund and Frenda, both the object of his admiration and terror, almost knocked the sense out of him instantly. And contrary to the cat-and-dog bond he shared with Reona, her soft squeeze upon his shoulder managed to pacify his mind and realize his mistake, finally making him meek and submissive all of a sudden. "I-I understand," William sighed in resignation. "I overstepped my boundaries, my lord. I promise to not do it again…"

"It is not like I do not feel your sentiments at all, William," Velmund said. "Believe it or not, I empathize and understand where your distaste of such arrangement roots from. It is not easy to forget the feud between our two nations, I know. But empathy requires people to look at both sides of the conflict, ours and theirs, to truly know the truth. Nevertheless, I believe we should finish this discussion sometime in a tête-à-tête between only the two of us over some Elven tea and biscuits from your home province. You and I both like them paired."

"I look forward to it, my lord," William said with a half-hearted smile plastered across his face, trying his best to appear cheerful, yet the uncertainty remained upon his eyes.

"Likewise. But we should be discussing our plans on gathering more men to pit against the Marquis." Velmund then swiveled his gaze towards the rest of the knights. "Any ideas on how to accomplish that?"

"I have actually been thinking of this for a while now," Barone said, looking upon Berwyn with an expectant gaze, then towards Velmund with a conclusive bearing. "I have a proposition to make. Your lordship, why not try hiring the Lost Oath Brethren to join our cause? While it may exhaust your coffers for commissioning them, I assure you that their performance is nothing to scoff at. I heard even the Duke himself employed half of them for the war with Norsmund. That is a good idea, don't you think too, Berwyn?"

"Yes, I suppose," Berwyn concurred decisively, nodding in approval. "Spending almost a decade in that mercenary company, I can vouch for the quality of their troops. They are also a disciplined and a cohesive bunch to work with, as if they are no mere mercenaries but a professional standing army in disguise, which may as well be the case judging from their seemingly uniformed background. But most importantly, they have maintained an honorable reputation so far, unlike your typical band of sellswords who would break a contract in a heartbeat if you sway them enough with more gold. The only downside is that the fee to hire them can grow rather steep depending on the mission."

"How much would it cost me to hire the Lost Oath Brethren with their current numbers?" Velmund inquired.

"Four hundred silver coins per head is the starting rate for one mission and depending on the duration of the campaign, it will further elevate," Berwyn answered. "And judging how the Duke has already recruited half of them, only about a thousand and a half remain, which can cost you at least six thousand gold pieces."

"Four hundred silvers is two months' worth of a regular men-at-arms' salary, isn't it?" Reona interjected, eyes widened in disbelief. "That is almost a robbery on its own and it can even go higher than that? That's simply absurd!"

"No matter how costly it might be, surely his lordship can afford it!" William said, giving Velmund a side glance, yet his worried face betrayed his show of reliance. "Is it not the case, my lord?"

"Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to claim that gold is not an issue, I would be lying if I did so," Velmund said in response. "Keep in mind that with the Duke hundreds of miles away and the city blockaded on all sides, we simply cannot count on the Duchy's treasury to fund our exploits. To tell you the truth, only a few hundred gold coins remain of what my father granted me to fund my efforts on defending Kurlon, and I intend to use it for the logistics of our army. And even accounting my personal reserves of two thousand gold coins that I have brought with me in case of situations like these, we can only hire five hundred men or so from the mercenary company. As a matter of fact, aside from military support, I plan to take out loans from the other provincial lords to cover the expenses of our war efforts."

"Well, five hundred additional men is not so bad as a start, I suppose," Barone said, as if to console his ailing lord. "But if you would let me and Berwyn negotiate the terms, we can bargain with the captain of Lost Oath Brethren. He, Berwyn and I goes way back, so I suppose lending his troops with only a third of the amount as down-payment would not be a pipe dream at all!"

"Very well, I suppose I will leave you and Berwyn to deal with the Lost Oath Brethren. As for the other matters, I would like to propose how would we attack the Marquis's army, or rather, join with Night Owl and the other defenders inside the city."

"Join the defenders, you say?" Berwyn asked, bearing a quizzical look. "My lord, are you implying that we can bypass the besieging army of the Marquis?"