Chapter 21: The Audit Begins

When the time had been set for the attack, I'd sent word back to Castle Caradine, and had my carriages sent to Gaiford. They'd arrived two days before, along with 200 men at arms to support Alexandra. The troops had remained out of the area until yesterday when they presented themselves to the Regent. The carriages were loaded and ready this morning.

For the audit, my Garden was accompanying me, as well as the survivors of the horsemen that had accompanied me here to Gaiford. Casualties had been low, but fourteen had succumbed to their wounds, and six were seriously injured and would be returned to Warrington.

Joining me in the first coach were Francesca, Alisha, a woman of medium height, but heavily muscled and wearing her hair very short, and Kaylene and Cynthia. When Kaylene closed the drapes, Cynthia objected.

"I want to see! I've never been anywhere but right by the castle!"

Kaylene was going to shush her, but I held up a hand. "I'm sorry Cynthia, but I get sick when I get too much sunshine. I need to talk with Kaylene, and I thought you'd be most comfortable with her, but if you want, we can put you in one of the other carriages."

She reacted exactly as I'd expected. "No! That's all right; I'll sit here and be good. Please don't make me go away!" Kaylene gave her a reassuring hug and I patted her hand.

"Cynthia, we certainly won't send you away. But for now, we need to keep the draperies closed." She nodded acceptance at my words and sat quietly as I discussed matters with the three women.

The first matter was the upcoming arrival of orphans and immigrants. This year's arrivals held a larger than usual number of orphans, and we were trying to decide how best to distribute them.

When a member of my Garden or the "Warriors" chose to resign or retire, the most common reason was a desire to make a new life with someone they loved. This I encouraged with generous gifts to start them on their new lives. And if they chose to start their new life within the duchy, and help support and protect their new communities, I paid them a generous yearly stipend and granted them a homestead.

This gave each community several residents that would help train the local militia, help encourage those who sought employ in my forces, and gave me reliable sources of information concerning the community's needs and concerns, as well as watching for dangerous discord.

But a couple in love often desired children, and all of my Blossoms and many of the "Warriors of the Green" were sterile due to acceptance of the Covenant. I'd finally discovered a solution to this problem when a cleric had approached me begging funds for his orphanage. It wasn't long before I had an empty orphanage and several dozen happy families. But I had more parents desiring children then I had children needing families.

So I'd hired agents from many parts of the world to acquire orphans and deliver them to me. The Duchy of Warrington was soon a haven for those unlucky many that fate had robbed of a family.

This year, though we were expecting forty-five children, we had requests from twelve couples for a first child, and requests from fifty-five families for another child. So we needed a lottery of some sort to fairly distribute the thirty-three available children among the fifty-five hopefuls.

The sun was about to set and we'd opened the draperies. Kaylene and Cynthia were gazing out the window, and occasionally the little girl exclaimed excitedly. But now she went silent and wide-eyed as the carriage began to slow.

"Your Grace," one of the escorting horsemen addressed me. "We have a welcoming committee just ahead."

"Indeed?"

"Aye. It looks to be about fifteen strong."

"Understood. Tell the driver to stop, then."

When the carriage came to a complete stop, I opened the door and stepped down. I looked up the road and smiled as I saw the group by the roadway. The light was behind me, so I could the faces of many of the individuals waiting for us, but they wouldn't be able to see me. I knew the leader well, and grinned to myself before calling out.

"HO Travis! Why do you block the roadway?"

The one I addressed was speaking to one of his companions when I called out, and his head jerked up in shock as he looked down the road toward me. But he wasn't the first to respond. A little boy of perhaps eight broke from the pack and dashed towards me.

"Pappa Alexander! Welcome back!" Then he was grasping my hand as the rest of the pack surrounded us.