The End and a New Beginning
Copyright© 2025 by REP
Chapter 5
October 24, 1005
We rode out of my castle twelve days ago. Our destination was the Earldom of Rex. Our party included Captain Max Flair, two squads of foot soldiers, three 5-Horse Cavalry Units, our logistics staff, three wagons of supplies, and two wagons for our foot soldiers and baggage. We left our uniforms behind and were dressed in clothes similar to those worn in the Duchy by peasants, although we were well armed with our weapons. To the average person, we would appear to be a group of soldiers returning home from the war.
For the past ten days, we toured a small sampling of the villages of the Earldom of Rex. The majority of our party set up camp nearby, but out of sight of the villages we visited. This was a relatively simple matter due to the scattered patches of forestation.
During this trip, I was Captain Vic Bauer. Captain Flair, two cavalry troopers, and I would go into the villages. We would primarily sit in a tavern, drink a couple of tankards of ale, and have something to eat, while we listened to the locals talking. By the time we left the village, we had an impression of the locals’ opinion of how the Earldom was being managed. I was not happy with what we were learning.
We arrived outside the village of Rowland yesterday and moved a good distance into a large patch of forest. As usual, Captain Flair, two cavalry troopers, and I visited the village’s tavern. The tavern’s patrons were unusually quiet. When I inquired about the mood in the room, our server told me that strangers should not ask questions if they knew what was good for them. I politely thanked her for letting us know. As we prepared to leave, we thanked our server and I mentioned that we would be back during the next day’s afternoon. Our server told us that would not be a good time of day for strangers to visit the tavern if they wished to avoid trouble. I thanked her for the advice.
At our camp that night, Max Flair and I discussed my plan for the next day.
I started with, “Max, there is a problem in this Earldom. The villages we visited were demoralized and there was a sense of fear in the tavern today.
“I have not mentioned it, but before we left the castle, I was told that there are rumors that the Earl’s son, Viscount Randolf Wadd, is a womanizer. The Viscount will take woman who aren’t willing and use them for his pleasure. I suspect that his father the Earl allows this behavior, thus the women submit to his ravishment of them. There are also rumors of what happened to the men who complained to the Earl about the Viscount’s ravishing women in the Earldom.
“If things go the way I suspect they will tomorrow, I will relieve Earl Wadd of his duties and replace him with you. I have no idea if the Earl’s Household Guard’s loyalty lie with him or with the Earldom and Duchy.
“Tomorrow, we will lay a trap for the Viscount. This is what we will do...”
October 25, 1005
Our three Cavalry Units and two squads of foot soldiers moved into position on the far side of the village from the castle. Early in the afternoon, I sent four lightly armed foot soldiers into the village. They were to walk into the village and enter the tavern. Then they were to find a table in the corner of the room, sip on tankards of ale, and be as inconspicuous as possible. They were to do nothing until Captain Flair or I gave them a signal.
Captain Flair and I found a comfortable spot on the edge of the forest and watched for the Viscount and his two guards to leave the castle and start riding, or walking, toward the tavern.
It was about forty-five minutes later before we saw one well-dressed man and two men in uniform ride out of the castle headed toward the village. They tied their horses to the tavern’s hitching post and went inside. Max, Captain Flair, and I moved quickly to the tavern. We entered the tavern about three minutes after the Viscount. We found a table for three and told the serving girl, who we had not seen before, to bring us two tankards of ale. We tried to ignore the Viscount and his two guards while monitoring what was happening in the tavern.
The Viscount wanted a serving girl who worked in the tavern named Karla to come out of the back and serve him. The owner said she was busy and could not come out at that time. The owner finally called Karla to come to the front and serve the Viscount.
Karla was our serving girl from yesterday. The Viscount said, “Karla, you know I want you to serve me. Why do we have to go through this same scene every time I come here?”
“You know why? I will bring you food and drink, but I don’t like you mauling and ravishing me.”
“I wouldn’t maul and ravish you if you would willingly go upstairs with me.”
“That will never happen.”
I looked at Max and whispered, “That sounds as if he rapes her on a regular basis.”
His whispered reply was, “I agree. Should we take him now?”
“No. Wait for him to use force on her then we can truthfully say that we saw him in the act and stopped it.”
The Viscount said, “Bring us three ales.”
Karla left and returned with three tankards. She carefully placed them on the table and quickly returned to the back area of the tavern.
The Viscount and his guards were making highly inappropriate remarks about Karla, which briefly drew our attention.
The Viscount looked at our table and said, “I’ve never seen the three of you in the village before. You look like out-of-work soldiers who are on their way home from the war to me. You should leave now; before I get upset with you.”
Max replied, “You look like someone important in the area. We will leave when we finish our ales, but we may decide to have a couple more tankards first.”
“I should kick you out of here now, but I have other things in mind right now. Just drink your ale, mind your own business, and then leave.”
I shook my head to stop Max from making further comments. The Viscount gave us a final look of disgust, and continued to talk with his guards about his plans for Karla.
About ten minutes later, the Viscount shouted to the owner, “Pete, send Karla to our table. We want to order some food.”
Karla came out of the back and cautiously approached the Viscount’s table. Captain Flair, Max, and I knew what the three men planned, so we were expecting the Viscount’s sudden lunge from his chair. He wrapped his arms abound Karla and threw her onto his table. The guards grabbed her arms and pinned them to the table, while the Viscount stepped between her legs to prevent her from kicking him.
As he grabbed her privates, he said, “Now I am going take what I want from you. I may give my men a treat by letting them play with you also.”
Captain Flair, Max, and I stood and Captain Flair signaled the foot soldiers who stood and started moving toward us, while in a raised voice, I said, “That’s enough! Release her.”
The Viscount spun to face me, and said, “You lowly soldiers are not very smart. You should have stayed out of my affairs. Now you will regret interfering in my having some fun.”
Looking at our foot soldiers, I said, “Arrest the three of them, bind them, and gag them for I am tired of listening to them talk.”
“You can’t arrest me! I’m the Earl’s son.”
I said, “His son and a poor excuse for a man. Now we can go to the castle and pay a call on your father. I want to see how he responds to your raping women.”
While we arrested the men and the foot soldiers bound and gagged the Viscount and his guards, Max stepped outside and signaled the rest of our party. Our three 5-Horse Cavalry Units were almost to the tavern, but the rest of the foot soldiers and our Logistic people were moving much slower due to the wagons. Max would direct them, while I addressed the Earl.
When the wagons got to the tavern, our foot soldiers rearmed themselves. The two 10-man squads of foot soldiers took control of our prisoners. Max and I mounted our horses and started walking them to the castle. The Cavalry Units followed us in line abreast formation, followed by our foot soldiers and prisoners, and at the rear were our Logistics people and the wagons.
We were seen by the guard on the gate, who summoned the Captain of the Household Guard. The Captain called out the Household Guard. However, we had more soldiers, and they had over six months of combat experience. His guards appeared to be nervous, which may be due to them not being highly trained and inexperienced; but appearances can be deceiving.
I said, “I am Captain Victor Bauer. To whom am I speaking?”
The leader replied, “I am Captain Ed Carny the Captain of Earl Wadd’s Household Guard. What can I do for you?”
“We stopped three men from raping a serving girl at the tavern and have brought them to the Earl for justice.”
“You can turn them over to us, and we will take them to the Earl.”
“Well, we could do that, however, I liked that serving girl and she told me this had happened in the past and she never received justice. This time I will be there and justice will be done.”
“The Earl is busy at this time and will not want to see you.”
“That is okay. Sergeant Laker, bring the prisoners to me.”
It didn’t take long for the foot soldiers to escort the prisoners to the front. The prisoners were eager to be turned over to the Household Guard.
When they arrived, they tried to join the Household Guard. Sergeant Laker and his men stopped them.
Sergeant Laker asked, “What do you want me to do with them, Captain?”
“Force them to their knees, so I can execute them.”
Captain Carny was quick to say, “Wait! I will check with the Earl to see if he wants to see you.”
Captain Carny was quick to return and said, “The Earl will see you now. We will escort you and your prisoners to the Earl.”
I called out, “Sergeants Norwood and Laker. Have your people escort the prisoners, Captain Flare, and me to the Earl.”
As they formed up around us, Captain Carny realized how many people I intended to take with me. He said, “No, that is more people than the Earl will allow in the castle.”
I drew my sword and said, “All right, Captain Carny. Sergeant, force the captives to their knees.”
“Wait! I can’t allow you to execute these men.”
You are in a bad situation, Captain Carny. The Earl will not allow my people to go with me and you can’t stop me from executing these men. If you tried, we would kill all of you and go find the Earl ourselves. I suggest you go tell the Earl about your problem.”
Once again the Captain left to talk with his Earl. He did not return as quickly. When he did, he said, “The Earl has decided to see you now.”
My foot soldiers, prisoners, Captain Flare, and I were escorted to a hall where Earl Wadd sat on his throne. It was easy to see that the Earl was angry, very angry. I suspect he was angry with his son, but even angrier with me for defying him.
As we approached him, he said in a raised and angry voice, “Tell me why I should not execute all of you for defying me in my Earldom.”
“The obvious reason Earl Wadd is that I have twenty-five highly trained and experienced combat soldiers with me in this room. Your Household Guard has more men in the room, but they are not as well trained or as experienced as my people. If they attacked us, they would lose.”
“Shall we proceed with the charging, trying, sentencing, and execution of these men?”
“No, there will be no charges. I am tired of the people in my Earldom making false accusations against my son. He has assured me that he has not done what these peasants are saying he did.
“I declare him innocent of any and all charges that are being levied against him.”
“So, the rumors I have heard about you are true.
“I hold two titles, Earl Wadd. For military matters, I am Captain Victor Bauer. However, I am also Duke Victor Bauer, Duke of the Duchy of Adair. At the moment Earl Wadd, I am extremely dissatisfied with how you manage your Earldom. I have decided to remove you as Earl and replace you with someone else.”
“You are lying. Duke Karn is the Duke of Duchy Adair.”
“You are undoubtedly unaware, Earl Wadd, that before the meeting to discuss surrender terms, Duke Karn and his son Ivan were killed in one of the final battles of the war. Your new king, King Zonder tasked me with managing the Duchy of Adair in his name. I have been your Duke for close to three months.
“That can’t be true.”
“It is. I had a different problem with Earl Hadwin. I learned that he had been committing treason against King Henn and King Zonder. When I confronted him, he also refused to acknowledge me as his Duke and committed a second act of Treason by failing to comply with my orders. I took control of his castle and executed him.
“The question is, what to do with you and your son after I remove your title?
“You and your son don’t deserve it, but I have decided to exile you, your son, and the rest of your family from my Duchy.
“I, Duke Victor Bauer, do hereby remove Earl Delbert Wadd from his position as Earl of the Earldom of Rex. Furthermore, I relieve him of the title of Earl and I withdraw all privileges he was entitled to as an Earl. I assume full control of the Earldom and this castle, until such time as I appoint a suitable replacement.
“Captain Carny, does this castle have a dungeon with cells that can be locked?”
“Yes, Duke Bauer.”
“Good! I order you to arrest the former Earl Wadd and his son and lock them in one of the cells. Sergeant Laker, Squad C has guard duty in the dungeon until tomorrow morning when I send for the former Earl Wadd and his son. Take them to the dungeon. Once they are locked in a cell, you can remove their bindings.”
I stepped into the hall, and then found and stopped one of the staff. I said, “I am Duke Victor Bauer, the Duke of Duchy Adair. Does the former Earl Wadd have any family other than his son?”
“Yes, his wife the Contessa Gayle Wadd and his daughter Lady Della Wadd.”
“Please take me to Contessa Wadd.”
“Yes, my Duke.”
The servant took me to the third floor, down a hallway, and knocked on a door.
“Come.”
The servant opened the door and introduced us. I stopped her from leaving and said, “Would you please summon Lady Wadd?”
She said, “Yes, my Duke,” before the servant left and closed the door.
I turned to Countess Wadd and assessed her as she assessed me.
She asked, “What can I do for you, Duke Bauer?”
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