Wood scraped against stone as the attendees sat down at my gesture. I looked at the faces around the room, looking back at me cautiously. Everyone there had lost a family member to my hands, except the old crone sitting at the far end of the table. She alone watched me without any expression.

  I wouldn’t have recognized most of the people in attendance, had Jack’s mother not coached me on who was whom. Wulf, sitting stiff-backed, was the only Baron in attendance. The man had lost his eldest son, but still had two spares.

  Dowager Nebelhain and Eirica, dressed in black silks, had lost their husbands, Barons Nebelhain and Mondgrove; the idiots who had eagerly joined Zock in his folly.

  Dowager Nordhaven, was representing her young grandson, the Baron of Nordhaven. The orphan boy was only eight years old.

  “I don’t know what my father told you,” I broke the silence, “but I left home to help guide the Cha refugees beyond the Treacherous Bog. Some of his more devoted soldiers almost managed to kill me during their pursuit. They failed.”

  That drew a sharp inhale from Eirica, while Dowager Nebelhain gasped with exaggerated concern.

  “I hovered between life and death for days. When I woke, much of my memory was gone, so you will have to forgive me if I am clueless about something I should already know.”

  Nobody interrupted. Everyone loved a good story.

  “Once I recovered, I managed to get myself chosen as the ruler of the people that lived beyond the Bog and established the realm of Chadom. Months later, we came across a piece of parchment some brigands had in their loot. It was a letter that implicated someone of relaying sensitive information about the royal court to certain ‘friends.’ We believe that information led to the deaths of our dear King and Prince. My father arrived to retrieve it, with an army.”

  “How do you know it was him the message implicated?” Wulf interjected.

  “Nobody brings an army to retrieve words. They bring it to erase anyone who might have gleaned the knowledge within.”

  He huffed. “The men who survived the slaughter came back with fantastical tales. Tales I would have dismissed, had I not known some of the men myself. Your earlier demonstration proved they were speaking the truth. Might I inquire where you acquired such weapons, my lord?”

  “I made them.”

  His eyes widened a little before he could control them.

  “Well, I designed them and my craftsmen built them,” I clarified.

  “Can I buy some?” he asked openly, making the other men’s eyes narrow.

  I held his gaze before speaking. “Not at the moment, Baron,” then swept my gaze. “You all know of the enemy from the south that threatens our entire realm. With the fall of Amlain, only Nogal and Sindhu remain between them and us.”

  Lips tightened and eyebrows furrowed.

  “The weapons we are producing will be given to the soldiers who will protect the realm from that threat. They require copious amounts of iron, coal and other ingredients. While Chadom has the supply, I would like to arrange more from Nobart to speed things up, which,” I paused for effect, “brings me back to our county, and its state. I cannot be dealing with instability and the defense of our realm at the same time.”

  I stood up, looked the attendees in the eyes, then bowed. “My sincerest condolences to each and every one of you for your loss. Please know that I did not wish for that battle to take place. I tried to stop my father, but he would not budge.”

  “Why did you not take those of gentle birth hostage?” Dowager Nordhaven broke the silence. “The families would have happily paid their ransom.”

  “It was not possible, my lady. Not the way I conduct warfare. It is far more impersonal.”

  “I think you mean dishonorable,” Wulf said, adding “my lord” at the end as a formality.

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  “Call it what you want, Baron, but it is the future of warfare.”

  I turned to the old woman. “Imagine a hundred men like the ones you saw today shooting at you. Arrows don’t discriminate between commoners and nobles.”

  I turned back to Wulf. “You ought to know that after absorbing all the realms on the continent save three, Zoran should have at least ten times our population.”

  “It won’t matter,” he said defensively. “Nanon is not flat like Amlain, where an army can easily occupy the land.”

  “No. It is not,” I said, leaning back, “but they can occupy the key regions which produce the bulk of our food and other items. Or are you saying we northerners should leave the southerners to their fate and hide in our hills like rats?”

  “Of course not!” he thundered.

  “Good. We are facing an enemy that won’t hesitate in throwing the people of its newly occupied lands onto our spears until they have drowned us in bodies. And no, we won’t be defeated decisively like the Amlains, but we also won’t win if we remain as we are. I would rather not live like the Nogalese; hiding in the hills whenever the enemy arrives with a large force.”

  Wulf stiffened under my gaze. He and his people had a reputation for being excellent archers and fearsome warriors. They would be an excellent addition to my forces. “My lord, a few knights, men-at-arms, mercenaries and untrained levies are not going to defeat a force that size. Personal valor and honor alone cannot overcome such a challenge. It will require a complete restructuring of our military forces to make us far more deadly. Did I tell you that only a hundred of us faced and defeated my father’s force of six hundred?”

  Breaths were drawn throughout the room.

  “There are some rumors coming from the capital,” Dowager Nordhaven said in a low voice. “The Royal army seems to be in quite some turmoil. Men from distinguished, loyal houses being retired or pushed to irrelevant positions.”

  I just smiled faintly at the sharp biddy. “General Hrodric agrees with me. He himself lost a son to these scions of ‘great houses.’”

  “I thought it was at the hands of the Nogalese raiders.”

  “Only because his rescuers were poorly armed,” I could not help disgust from showing in my voice. “Just to fill the pockets of these illustrious scions.”

  She nodded in understanding.

  “As I was saying, my way of conducting warfare is far more ruthless. I intend to turn Nanon into a power so strong that Zaron will break itself upon us.”

  I looked the Baron in the eyes. “I care for victory far more than I care for honor. I will be victorious, one way or another. I would very much like warriors of Wulfsden to stand beside me.”

  For a moment, he said nothing.

  Then he finally nodded in acceptance.

  “What about the rest of us, my lord?” Eirica asked.

  “She does not speak for Mondgrove!” the older one of the cousins spat.

  I looked at the man. “Why not? Is she not the mother of the new Baron of Mondgrove?”

  He controlled his features. “A babe who’s not even an year old.”

  “I know. That makes her investment in Mondgrove’s interests unquestionable. I also know that she was found by Sir Godwin’s men while fleeing from Wolfwatch as if the devil himself was on her heels. Why is that, lord Grunric?”

  “She was absconding with the heir, my lord!”

  “Running away with her own child? I wonder from what threat was she fleeing?” I turned to Eirica, “Could you enlighten me, my lady?”

  “Him!” she almost shrieked, all decorum gone. “He wants to be the next Baron, and would have killed my child for it!”

  “Lies!” he tried to drown her voice, then looked at me. “I would never commit such an act.”

  “He’s already killed my late husband’s bastards!” she said, almost hysterical.

  “Slander!”

  “He had the guards replaced by men loyal to him. That is when I fled,” she pleaded.

  “Calm down,” I said out loud.

  Once the room went silent, I looked at the accused. “Assuming they are lies, what was your intention, lord Grunric?”

  “To establish a regency, of course.”

  “With you as regent.”

  He hesitated before speaking, “I am the next of kin.”

  I drew a long breath. Time for the reveal.

  “Actually, that brings me to the purpose of this meeting.” I swept my gaze. “Regencies are fragile. They concentrate all the power in one throat. Cut it, and the polity bleeds. To stabilize Nobart, I intend to establish stewardship councils in every barony.”

  Drawn breaths and widened eyes were immediately followed by outrage and disbelief.

  Dowager Nordhaven’s voice cut through the din. “To control them with your puppets,” the crone said flatly.

  “No, my lady. To ensure they are not left bereft of guidance upon the death or incapacitance of one man. In fact, the first one will be established right here,” I tapped the table. “Since I will be busy in Chadom and Aldersthron most of the time, Nobart will be governed by a council in my absence.”

  “You approve of this madness?” the crone asked Jack’s mother.

  “He has convinced me it can work.”

  “My lady,” I addressed the old woman. “Your grandson won’t be of age until a decade. What if you are not there to watch over him til then? Properly implemented, this system will keep Nordhaven stable.”

  “I already have reliable people prepared for such an eventuality.”

  “Good. Then this,” I rolled open a parchment, “only formalizes the arrangement.”

  “I see what this is,” Grunric said, voice low, “you are using the instability of the county, that you caused, as a pretense to steal our rights!”

  “I won’t be choosing who sits on the council.”

  He frowned.

  “Your people will.”

  The room went silent.

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