Nightlord: Sunset by Garon Whited

Author:Garon Whited
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-09-14T22:00:00+00:00

Slightly lighter in funding and much heavier in useful bits and pieces, we made our way to the fortified manor of Lord Heledon.

The place wouldn’t stand a siege, but it was perfectly adequate for beating off an attack by a rampaging mob. The windows (windows!) on the ground floor had heavy brass shutters, while the upper floor had crossletted wooden ones. The whole place was stone, with a slate roof.

After listening to the man for a bit, I got the impression that beating off an attack by a rampaging mob was about what he expected. He was pompous and grasping and generally offensive, and I’m glad I let Sir Raeth do all the talking. Since I had no immediate plans for the future other than wandering a bit and scouting out more of the kingdom, the arrangements turned out to be quite satisfactory.

The Duke felt horses were no problem. Happy to provide them. Armor? Well… plate would take too long to fit. Scale and chain, though, were readily available.

Provided…

… provided we were willing to go in place of the King’s Levy on Eastgate.

Apparently, His Majesty raised troops from his vassals in a simple formula: one knight equals one hundred men under arms. “Arms,” in this case, meant “with appropriate weapons.” Crossbows, polearms, or something similar; not pitchforks and woodchoppers. Places that could afford a hundred men and enough sharp objects to go around sent them; a lot of knights would fork over cash to help out, rather than actually go to battle.

My opinion of chivalry really took a nose dive at that revelation, let me tell you. I began to have some inkling of why Sir Raeth and Sir Bouger were so impressed with me for cutting them loose. I was likewise more impressed with them for getting into trouble in the first place; it’s apparently rare to find a member of the gentry out looking for trouble!

Eastgate didn’t have the money (read: didn’t want to shell out) for a hundred peasants with some basic instruction on which end of a pike to hold. The local knights (if you want to call them that) also didn’t like the idea of heading off to war.

So the three of us were worth three hundred conscripts. Handy for lord Heledon.

Sir Raeth did arrange for Lord Heledon—that is, Duke Heledon—to knight me, though. It carries more weight than when another knight does it, I guess. And, since he was already willing to fob us off on the King as his knights, a little sword-waving wasn’t so much more.

What the hell. It’s not like I had any serious plans for next week. And it would let me stir about the country, see the sights, do some traveling.

Standing vigil this evening sounds boring, though.

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