The End and a New Beginning
Copyright© 2025 by REP
Chapter 6
November 5, 1005
I had slept in until the middle of the morning. I got out of bed, dressed, and armed myself with my sword and knife. Until my Duchy was pacified, I would never be safe without my weapons to defend myself from attack. That was one of my conclusions from King Zonder’s telling me that my Duchy would be a battlefield. Even if I felt safe, it may be prudent to always be armed.
I walked to the study were I hoped to find Erica. I knocked and opened the door. She was there doing the paperwork that kept my Duchy functioning. I motioned to her to remain seated and sat down in the chair across the desk from her. It was where I normally sat in the room.
She said, “Good morning, Vic. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I did, Erica. I need to run an errand in town, but should return by the middle of the afternoon. Is there anything urgent that cannot wait until then for me to take care of today?”
“No, nothing so urgent that it can’t wait, Vic.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.”
I left and walked to Captain Franklin Hood’s office.
“Frank, I am going to town on an errand. I don’t expect trouble, but I need a small guard detail to go with me.”
“It is good to see you back, my Duke. I am glad to hear of your need, Vic, I have a 5–Horse Cavalry Unit that needs something to do.”
“A five-man guard detail is a bit of overkill, Frank. But, I’ll take them and should be back by the mid-day meal.”
Frank called for Sergeant Benny Seibert. When he arrived, Frank ordered him and his Cavalry Unit to accompany me as my guard detail. He acknowledged the order and left to prepare his unit for the trip. I left to get my horse saddled. I did not see a need for armor for my horse or myself; after all, it was just a simple, short trip to town.
The trail was wide and Sergeant Seibert was at my side as we cantered down the trail. We rounded a bend in the trail and Sergeant Seibert saw the bandits first. He waved his cavalry troopers forward shouting, “Kill the bandits.”
As he did that, he pulled ahead of me and slowed us to a halt. “I apologize, my Duke. I know that you would like to have led us into battle, but Captain Hood tasked me with protecting you.”
“I understand, Sergeant. You were right about what I would have done and right to protect me from myself. The fight is over, so let’s join your cavalry troopers.”
As we approached, I saw a farmer, his wife, their son, and their daughter. Beneath the dirt of travel, I saw a typical peasant family that had a very comely, trim daughter. In the past, I would have enjoyed having her in my bed, if she was interested.
The farmer and his son stood with their hats in hand. I was still dressed in my peasant clothes. They were obviously confused by a Cavalry Unit escorting a peasant who was armed and riding a horse.
I asked, “Do you live in this Duchy?”
“No, my lord. We are passing through looking for a farm to lease. I was told to follow this road and enquire at the Duke’s castle.”
“I see. What is your name?”
“I am called Edmund Winchell.”
“Thank you, Farmer Winchell. The castle is slightly more than a mile ahead of you. When you get there, tell my Seneschal that Duke Bauer sent you to him. I am sure that I have vacant farms available in my Duchy for lease. I apologize for this trash that accosted you in my Duchy. You and your family can stand; I feel no need for you to humble yourselves before me.”
As I was talking, Sergeant Seibert and his troopers had dragged the bandits into the forest. They undoubtedly stripped the bandits of any valuables that they had on their person, before executing them. Farmer Winchell and his family had stood and assumed a respectful demeanor while my guards finished what they were doing.
“Farmer Winchell, I hope you find a farm in my Duchy that meets your needs. Sergeant Seibert, I’m ready to continue if all has been taken care of.”
The farmer said, “Thank you, my Duke. I hope that we find a farm here, also.”
I walked my horse around their wagon and assessed their equipment as I passed. From what I could see, they were well equipped for farming. They may need a bit of assistance to get started. I would have to talk with my Seneschal Garret Voight when I returned to my castle about a farming loan for Farmer Winchell. I of course assumed that the Duchy made farming loans to new farmers; I will have to talk with Erica about that.
As we rode to town, I chastised myself for not being prepared. I walk around the castle armed in case of an unexpected attack on my person. Then I go off on a ride to town without even minimal armor for my horse or me. That was stupid. I should have worn at least a vest of chainmail as protection.
When we arrived in town, we stopped at the church. I entered and looked for Father Cedric Gallagher’s office. He found me first and there was no one in the church.
“My Duke. What can a servant of our Lord do for you today?”
“Father Gallagher, I have missed your services at the castle’s chapel while I have been traveling. Let us sit for a few moments while I explain what I need.
Before I left Ripa, King Zonder ordered me to get married, and he strongly suggested that I marry at least four wives. He also suggested that I consider taking concubines. Before I left Ripa, King Zonder purchased a dispensation from the church to marry additional wives and to have concubines so I could comply with his orders. My copy of the dispensation is with my things at the castle.
“I am looking for my first wife now, and would be happy with one wife. However, King Zonder essentially ordered me to take more than one wife, in order to have the large family that the King wants me to have. Once I select my first wife, I want you to marry us. At appropriate times, I will select additional wives. I don’t plan to acquire concubines for I want all of my children to be legal heirs.
“Do you understand my position, and can you accommodate my needs?”
“Yes, my Duke. Do you have a lady in mind to be you first wife?”
“Yes, I do. However, I have not discussed the matter with her yet.
After leaving the church, I took the Sergeant and his men to the local tavern for tankards of ale and our mid-day meal. I was in no hurry and the ale was good, so we had an additional tankard. We made it back to the castle by the middle of the afternoon.
On my arrival at the castle, I turned my horse over to one of the grooms to care for. Then I went looking for Erica. I found her in the study working on papers. I think that is all she does during the day.
“Good afternoon, Erica. I have several things to talk with you about.”
“We missed your not joining us for our mid-day meal, Vic. However, you did say you would be in town. What did you want to talk about?”
“On the way to town, we encountered a peasant family being robbed by bandits. My guards resolved that issue very quickly. Do we have a bandit problem in the Duchy?”
“I occasionally hear of someone being robbed, Vic. However, the reports are not frequent. I let the Earls know of what I hear if the robbery was outside this area. Therefore, I would say we don’t have a problem.”
“Good. The farmer was looking for a farm to lease, and he was sent to the castle. I told him to talk with my Seneschal. He seemed well equipped for farming, but may need some financial assistance until he can get his crops planted and sold.
“As I left his family, it occurred to me that I assumed that we leased our vacant farms and that we had a farming loan program to assist farmers during their first years in the Duchy. Was I wrong?”
“No, you were right. We lease farms and we support any new farmer in the area until they are financially secure. Garret mentioned that someone wanted to talk with him about leasing a farm, and planned to talk with the farmer before the mid-day meal. I’m not sure about available farms in this area, but I know we have farms available for lease in the Earldoms.”
“That is good to hear, we need more farmers. You mentioned that you needed to talk with me but it was not critical at that moment. What did you want to discuss?”
“When you asked me about the rumors I have heard about your other three Earls. Earl Wadd was the only one that I had heard anything significant about. My instincts told me that I should have heard more rumors than I had about Earl Brooks and Earl Jameson.
“Darren, told me about a few local people that he used to learn information about what was happening in his Earldoms and the neighboring Duchies. I sent for two of those people and discussed the matter with them. They said that the locals in those Earldoms were afraid of their Earls. They didn’t know the details of why they feared their Earls, but there were a few comments that bad things were happening in both Earldoms. I hired them and sent each of them to a different Earldom to find out what was happening.
“The man I sent to Cameron to check on what Earl Horace Brooks was doing reported back last week. He can’t write, so I wrote down what he told me. For the past few years, a child goes missing about every four to six months from the outlying villages.
“The villages weren’t suspicious at first, but last year the villagers in neighboring villages talked about their missing children. They thought it odd that a child had gone missing in both villages. Then they started talking to some of the other neighboring villages and learned that they also had children missing from their village. Someone mentioned seeing a few stranger’s in the area before one of the village’s children had gone missing. In a few villages, people recalled seeing strangers at their inns before their children had gone missing.
“When the man arrived at the village near the castle, he learned that some of the villagers had periodically heard what sounded like children screaming when they were near the castle.
“My agent thinks the Earl is having children kidnapped from the villages and brought back to his castle. He got one of the castle’s cooks drunk in the tavern and took her to bed. He continued to drink with her and she started to talk. She said that she couldn’t stand the screams from the dungeon any longer, and was leaving to go to her sister’s farm.
“Does that help, Vic?”
I said, “My plan was to remain here at the castle for the remainder of the winter, Erica, but this changes things. It sounds as if the Duke is torturing or raping children and then killing and disposing of their bodies. My problem is I don’t have solid proof that this is what is happening. My people and I also need to recover from our recent activities.”
Erica said, “Vic, you are the Duke. You don’t need solid proof to act. Your suspicions are adequate for removing Earl Brooks from his position. In the process of doing that you may obtain solid proof.”
“Yes, that is true. My soldiers and I need some rest before we leave for Cameron. I’ll wait three weeks and depart then. That will give us time to rest, resupply, and plan an assault on the castle. We were lucky with what happened at Arrowwood, and I don’t want to rely on luck again.”
“What are you thinking about doing, Vic?
“I think the assault needs to be deceptive. I expect the gate to be open with a sentry posted. If we display the actual makeup of our force, they will shut and bar the gate.
“I think we should send in a few soldiers, six or less. Their purpose will be to take and hold the gate until our main force can reinforce them. We will need to plan the way to do that. Is the man you sent to evaluate the Earldom available?”
“Yes. I assume you want to talk with him about the castle and surrounding area.”
“Yes, that is correct. For now, I am going to bathe and change clothes for our evening meal. I’ll see you then.
Duchess Karn, Lady Kara, and Lady Erma arrived at the dining table a few minutes before I arrived.
“Good evening, Ladies. I apologize if I delayed our meal.”
Duchess Karn said, “No need to apologize, Duke Bauer. We arrived only minutes before you did. Therefore, there was no delay.”
After we ate our evening meal, Ladies Kara and Erma were preparing to leave the table, when I said, “Ladies, I have a problem that will impact the three of you.
“After King Zonder tasked me with taking control of this Duchy, I had my evening meal at his table. I was not called on to participate in our dinner conversation. Since I had nothing to contribute, I listened as others spoke of matters that I was not familiar with. Their conversations were interesting, but of no importance to me.
“When we finished eating, King Tom Zonder took me to his study. I found it odd that he insisted that I address him using his first name. However as Tom spoke, I learned much that explained why he planned to have a very close relationship with me.
“During our conversation, he ordered me to marry a suitable woman and sire an heir. Tom believed that I should sire many children within my first three years as your Duke.
“Tom knew one wife would not be capable of bearing the number of children he expected me to sire. Therefore, he bought me a dispensation from the church that would permit me to have multiple wives. I accepted what he proposed.
“Then he asked me a question related to the three of you.”
Lady Kara interrupted, “The King asked about us. How did he know about my mother, sister, and me?”
The Duchess gave her a disapproving look. She blushed and dropped her head. I am just glad that Erica’s look had not been directed in my direction.