Chapter 23: Intrigue
The rest of the week went by without a hitch. Another one hundred refugees arrived with similarly sized demographics and with none of them being a craftsman or an aqua-farmer. But those matters were left for Karlos.
Sir Galahad and Dame Katerina instead went to Gragon to swear loyalty. The city was much the same but more stifled filled with an air of uncertainty. They were obvious signs of the fear of change. The streets where slightly emptier, the people slightly less jovial and slightly different banners adorned the gates. Everything was slightly off the news of the defeat didn't make the atmosphere any more jubilant since nobody yet knew what would happen to their loved ones.
After, reaching the keep they were quickly led inside and left to wait in the hall room. Outside Galahad, Katerina, and a couple of attendants. Only one other person was inside the throne room. A middle-aged overweight man wearing clothes fit for a Baron.
The time passed away slowly the room was steeped in awkward silence. Half an hour later three men entered the hall Baron Emanuel, a man in his mid-twenties looking and dressed like the archetypical knight, and a man wearing gold-rimmed spectacles and a priestly gown.
When he entered the room Galahad, Katarina, and the richly dressed fellow bowed deeply.
After sitting on the throne he said.
"Greetings Sir Konder, Sir Galahad and Dame Katerina. As I am sure you are aware, you have come here to share fealty. Now priest Gregor will help with this endeavor. If you will your holiness can you explain to them how to pledge the oath? "
Gregor nodded and said.
"It is my honor to support the Baron in such an effort."
Gregor then turned back and looked towards the couple knights he then nodded and said.
"Now kneel and repeat after me."
Both knights knelt while Katarina looked from the sideways.
Gregor then said.
"I swear under the Light of Gnos and the eyes of the other deities. That I shall remain always faithful to his lineage, Baron Emanuel, and the realm. I shall pay my taxes and defends his lands. Every day and every night until my death."
Both men then repeated the oath.
After Emanuel nodded happily he said.
"As it is sadly the case neither Sir John nor Sir Monert are currently here. As such their loyalty is currently questionable; but as they are away campaigning, it is excusable. Since that is the case until they return and swear fealty their fiefs will be controlled by the barony. But enough about those matters now it's time to start the feast. Attendant, inform the kitchen."
The feast was rather grand having a whole hog, several pies, white bread, sausages and a lot of Bandebargian brandy; but no beer or wine. Galahad at the start of the night barely drunk any alcohol and ate moderately; But even with that small amount, he drank he felt disproportionally light-headed.
The knightly looking fellow stood up and walked towards Katerina inviting her for a dance. She declined after the song changed he asked her again and again.
At the fourth, attempt Galahad stood up and walked towards that peacocking fellow and said
"Good fellow can you please stop pestering my wife. Is it not obvious that you will get declined? Is it perhaps that this honorable fellow has memory issues and forgot the three previous exchanges?"
The man looked towards Galahad and said with a cold smile.
"This right honorable gentleman is just being polite good Sir. After all, it is not dame's Katerina's fault for you being unable to dance with her."
Galahad smiled sharply and responded.
"I see the good honorable fellow indeed suffers from an affliction on the realm of memory. After all, he didn't address the fact that he was respectfully declined four times nor did he even remember to reply to me in regards to the said affliction."
The man nodded and responded cheerfully.
"This right honorable gentleman didn't answer the question in regards to his memory because he deemed it a mere ill-considered joke. As for dame Katerina's serial declines is just proper form for a lady to decline a man's advances to spark on the hunt."
Galahad nodded and responded.
"Oh is that so? I think the right honorable gentleman is forgetting the fact the dame Katerina is my wife. As such the hunt is in poor taste no?"
The man smiled and responded.
"That is indeed a great point. You are interesting Sir Galahad. I hope we meet again."
He then turned towards bowed towards Katerina and said.
"Until we meet again The Baronet's treasure"
At those words, the man exited the hall.
The over the top strength of the alcohol and his bad mood from the earlier slight, lead him to barely drink for the rest of the night. His wife in the other hand while still trying to drink in moderation she still ended up heavily intoxicated. When the feast was over Galahad opted to stay over in his father-in-law's house for the night rather than the keep. He requested a couple of the Baron's men to help him carry his wife and his request was granted.
Galahad didn't manage to fall in deep sleep the alcohol and today's events kept him up in a state of grogginess. The sound of a crash broke him away from his thoughts. He looked through the window, it was still dark outside. As he was about to lay back in bed and rest he heard loud steps. He grabbed his sword that was resting by his beside and prepared an ambush. *Grah* his room's door was kicked open and a man wearing gambeson and holding a simple mace entered the room. At the moment of entrance, he attempted to lunge towards the bed. Galahad expecting him leaped from the shadows and stabbed the man in his large intestine. A smell of excrement filled the room and vile liquid came out of the wound. The man collapsed surprisingly quickly for such a lethal but noncritical hit. Now that things had calmed down Galahad took care to take a proper look at the man. The man looked like a normal drunkard slightly yellowish skin rotten teeth and a shrinking hairline. After observing, he attempted to wake up his wife; but she was in a deep slumber and probably still heavily intoxicated. After the third failed attempt, he just let her be. He then started to put on his armor. Which was rather difficult when you are maimed and in a dark room. Either way after ten minutes he somehow managed. He then removed the corpse's gambeson and placed it on to the bed.
He then waited for a further attack or perhaps an attempt at arson. But nothing happened and the rest of the night flew by. When morning broke Galahad moved his wife over to another room and locked the door. He then went over to the barracks to fetch a couple of guards to help him get rid of the body. The barracks was a simple stone building. After entering he followed a familiar route before finally reached the captain's quarters after a knocking and waiting for a while a male voice was heard.
"Please enter."
The room had a much starker appearance in comparison to when Sir William was in charge. The moment when the door opened the man made a grimace of disgust for a second before correcting himself. He then looked up and said.
"Ah hello, Sir knight why are you here in such an early hour?"
Galahad responded with a smile.
"I am sorry for my current appearance and fetor. But last night a fellow broke into my house and attacked me. I have successfully dispatched him but sadly his deathly smell rubbed on me."
The man's face grew serious and he responded.
"A man attacked one of the Baron's guests unacceptable. Sir Knight, please show the way."
Galahad nodded and responded with a genuine smile.
"Ah yes right away. By the way, my name is Sir Galahad von Highkeep who are you?"
The man nodded and responded.
"I am Thaddeus von Blackwood it is good to make myself your acquaintance Sir Galahad."
As they exited the barracks Thaddeus motioned a couple of guards to follow him. After about five minutes they reached the house. The stench wafting outside was surreal. After that, the group headed inside while breathing through their mouths. They managed to retrieve the man's body and take it outside. Under the morning light, the man looked even worse than Galahad thought. His face was a disgusting yellowish color, his scleras were also dyed yellow and filled with broken blood vessels, whatever hair he had remaining had their natural color obscured by a layer of grime, even his fingernails were long, uneven, and full of dirt.
After a long moment, Thaddeus said.
"Yeah, he looks like a Vagrant alright. But before letting you at your own devices we will need you to wait here. Until we find out about the man's identity. You can rest at our barracks until then."
Galahad nodded and responded.
"As you wish."
By about midday, Thaddeus came back and said.
"Sir Galahad the case is slightly weird. This man is supposed to have already died from the drunkard's ailment. As such it is rather odd to find him attacking you. By your statements you had no dealings with the man as such the chance of him being a wraith is zero. As for a corpsman, it makes some sense but you dispatched him by stabbing him in the bowels and your house is not very close to the graveyard. Honestly, I don't know did you perhaps open the grave yourself to garner favor from the new Baron? "
Galahad sighed and shook his head.
"No, I did not. First of all, I am not physically able to carry the corpse. Secondly, everyone knows where I was and what I did when I entered the city."
Thaddeus sighed and responded.
"Those are good points. You may leave Sir Galahad, sorry for the inconvenience. But I will keep my eye on you just in case and if I find foul game I will bring you to justice"
Galahad nodded and responded with a warm smile.
"Until the next time Sir Thaddeus."
Galahad then exited the barracks and went to wake up his wife. After managing to wake her up she was still rather groggy. They quickly left and at about midday they reached Highkeep. After he put his wife to rest. Galahad requested Karlos to the throne room. After about half an hour he arrived.
Karlos bowed and said.
"Greetings Sire, how did the swearing of fealty go? Additionally, I would like to ask why did you call upon me?"
Galahad smiled and responded.
"It went as expected a slightly awkward atmosphere. Emanuel did disrespect me by first greeting Konder. But I can't hold it against him since I am not sure if he knows I am now a Baronet. In the other hand, a drunkard broke into my father in law's house and attempted to murder me.
Karlos looked horrified for a moment and then asked.
"And what did you do Sire?"
Galahad shrugged and responded.
"I killed him."
Karlos looked skeptical and asked.
"Did you then immediately escape Gragon?"
Galahad shook his head and responded.
"No, I waited until daybreak to deal with any subsequent attacks or attempts at arson and to protect my rather intoxicated wife. After that in the morning, I went over to the barracks and reported the attack to the new captain Thaddeus. He looked like a rather straight forward and proper lad and did a proper investigation."
Karlos then responded.
"Sire it was lucky that Baron Emanuel wasn't behind the attack. You know even nobles can be charged with murder especially when it is politically convenient to do so. Secondly, you are lucky that Thaddeus is an upstanding and proper chap. Otherwise, he could have jumped to the chance of getting rid of an unknown element and secured himself a promotion."
Galahad sighed heavily and said.
"Yeah, you are right. I should have been more thoughtful at the time. But at that moment I was rather tense. There are several weird aspects to the whole thing."
Karlos raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Such as?"
Galahad then responded.
"Well for starters the man was apparently already dead. So the whole attack could perhaps be the work of some necromancer. But I never had any dealings with them. Did my brother perhaps have a prior conflict with them?"
Karlos thought for a while and responded.
"No, not really. Perhaps we are missing certain pieces of the puzzle? Either way, anything else Sire?"
Galahad nodded and responded.
"Any interesting new arrivals?"
Karlos shook his head and responded.
"No, not really. Speaking of Hamlet work though you need to start your religious tour."
Galahad raised his eyebrow and asked.
"Religious tour?"
Karlos nodded and said.
"Indeed a religious tour. You will need to go and personally speak with the leaders of various churches over opening branches here."
Galahad sighed and responded.
"But isn't there another way we can go about it?"
Karlos shook his head and responded
"First and foremost you are a low ranking noble as such no. Secondly and most importantly you already have several churches present in your fief. As such you will need to make it desirable for those churches to move over and none is more capable in fulfilling promises than you. Additionally, it shows sincerity and it is a rare chance for you to explore a large part of the country. I mean thus far you have only been to the county's capital and that's about it. If you want to be a capable ruler and keep your subjects safe, a trip to expand your horizon would be wise. Additionally, a ruler needs to be capable of dealing with administrative, military and diplomatic matters. While you have developed on the first and were pretty skilled on the second your third is still severely lacking. Finally, court intrigue is important if you ever hope to rise to the rank of Baron."
Galahad sighed and said.
"Alright, I will do so. Who do you think I should bring along?"
Karlos responded.
"Theodore is a must, Ludwig would be decent and how about Martin's detachment of guards and martin? Boris might be a bit of a fanatic but I understand where he is coming from and he will defend the fief with everything he has if the end result is the spread of his religion so far north. Additionally, Boris is great with dealing with beast and goblin incursions. Martin in the other hand is still young and this experience could prove invaluable in shaping him as a commander. In short, Boris is a frontier general and Martin is a great seedling. "
Galahad nodded and responded.
"Alright, Those are good picks when do you think I should head off?"
Karlos thought for a moment and responded.
"In two months after both your Keep and the Trading post would have finished construction."
Galahad nodded and asked
"Anything else?"
Karlos nodded and asked.
"Who will control the fief in your stead?"
Galahad smiled and simply said.
"Well, my wife obviously."
Karlos nodded and said.
"Good you will also need to go to the capital to speak with my sculptor friend. He wants to meet you personally before starting the commission."
Galahad nodded and said.
"I will do so. Anything else?"
Karlos shook his head and said.
"No nothing."
Galahad nodded and then said.
"Dismissed then. I need to go and lie down it was a rough day."
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