Fourth Day of August, In the Year of the Empire 6777

Last night when people began to leave the dining area to go settle in for the night, I headed to the study. At some point, Sienna sat next to me, sad and tired from trying to help the bandit's victims with Mother and Jean. She tried to read from her primer but ended up falling asleep against me as I studied. By morning she had shifted and was using my lap as a pillow. I was still studying and very reluctant to disturb her sleep though I did enjoyably rest my hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, that is so cute," Jean whispered from the doorway. I smiled back at her and went back to my book. A few minutes later, she handed me a hot cup of tea and sat nearby.

Whispering, we began to chat.

"Jean, when did Mother and Father decide to move?"

Jean smiled, "About five minutes after you left. They would have too, but Father could not bear to abandon his employees so abruptly. They talked about it whenever they thought no one could hear them, so everyone knew they would someday."

After some more tea, she continued. "At this last summer festival, Mage Saxon told us you would graduate early, and that he was going to see to it that you served your two years in the capital to keep you safe."

"But then Father got the letter you sent to get to us quickly. Somehow it caught up to us on the road here. The envelope with a Perrin Coat of Arms flummoxed father. He was suddenly afraid something had happened to you. Mother took the letter from him, tore it open, and read it instead. She was so delighted for you and laughing so hard that Father stopped the wagons. After he read it, he showed it to anyone that wanted to see it. Finally, everyone convinced him they seen it. I think he is still carrying it in his pocket now."

Shaking her head at me, "Now we get here, and you’re a Viscount. How?"

I smiled and told her about my spell used by the soldiers to help save lives. "That earned me the Viscount title."

Sienna seemed disturbed by something, and I looked down at her. Jean and I watched as she snuggled tightly against my leg. Her breathing evened out. Looking at Jean with a smile, she smiled back at me, saying, "She has it bad."

Starting to feel concerned, I asked Jean, "What does she have?"

Jean giggled as quietly as she could with both hands covering her face.

"You know I don't know Jean. What does she have?"

Shaking her head at me, she seemed to take pity on me. "Hartson, she has fallen in love with you, at least she hopes she has. If you're not very careful, you could hurt her badly. Be kind, and take things slow."

She was frowning then, "I thought I found someone like she thinks she has with you. Promise me that if it does not work between you two, you will still be kind."

I smiled at Sienna and looked back at Jean. "It will not be necessary to make that promise. I do promise I will always be kind to Sienna."

Standing at the door, mother and father must have heard us because our mother said to father, "He is so much better than you. Rock."

We all were laughing at that, waking Sienna. She was lying there comfortably and said hi to Jean, who was sitting across from us. Jean smirked again and said, "Good morning."

Sienna suddenly realized 'who' she was using for a pillow and bolted upright. "I'm sorry!"

We all started laughing again. But before Sienna could run away, I grabbed her hand and gently pulled her back to sit close to me. She relaxed when she realized no one was upset with her, especially me.

Father spoke up, "Is it time for breakfast?"

Mother shook her head, "See what I mean? Rock."

We all stopped laughing when our father grabbed her for a long hug and kiss.

Mother was smiling, "Well, not always a Rock."

We went to the dining room for breakfast while everyone chatted as a family should. After finishing, we were still sitting there and started talking about mother and father's plans when Mr. Milbrey interrupted. "Sir, the Commander would like a word with you."

I invited him in to sit with us. "Good morning, Commander."

"Good morning, Sir. I wanted to talk to you about something found yesterday." He stopped, waiting.

Getting up, mother said, "We have a wagon to unload Father, Jean." They followed her out of the dining room.

I looked at Sienna to see what she would do. She simply said, "I'll stay."

"Very well. What did you find, Commander?"

He sighed, “After dealing with the bandits yesterday, we found a well-used path that heads north."

"Are you thinking there are more bandits?"

He nodded. "That is a possibility, Sir. However, the only thing in that direction is the Cullum Barony."

"Do you think they were hitting both Baronies then?"

The Commander continued with a frown. "We spoke to a lot of locals yesterday. They report the problems here are just a bleak as there. Possibly worse, because they still have a Baron that is making things hard on people. Others that have families in that barony swear that some of the bandits here are guards there."

"I'll be burning in the hells," I snapped.

The Commander grinned a bit and nodded.

I closed my eyes to think about this a moment before responding.

"I have two options here, believe the bandits were raiding both baronies, or that the other barony is, or was, giving the bandits shelter at the least."

"Yes, Sir."

"What is your opinion here, Commander?"

"You have not been here long, just eleven days, but you have been working fast to make improvements. You sent men to wipe out the bandits and did. They know we had three rescued victims that returned alive. That has never happened before. From what I gather, those bandits have been, 'Collecting Taxes' for several years. Together, that means these people have a reason to lie to us. I believe that it is very likely that the baron is involved."

Sienna asked a question, "You're their Viscount now. You can just order them to stop, right?"

I shake my head and answer her. "The baron is very likely to have broken laws of the Kingdom by attacking another holding of the Kingdom. That is treason against the Crown, which is a death sentence for that baron."

The Commander nods, "That is correct, my Lady."

"If I send you to 'follow' the tail to find more bandits, it would be a thing of mutual aid for our baronies. Also, as Viscount, my duty requires me to track down further bandits on 'my' lands. I can inform the Crown of the actions I plan to take and be well within the law."

The Commander was grinning at me. "Yes, that is correct, Sir."

Sienna queried, "Why do you have to tell the Crown before you do anything?"

I smile at her, "Because of politics. 'The higher one's rank, the greater the bother.' Meaning if we do not take the proper actions, then someone will likely use it against us. Such things can end very badly."

"Very correct, Sir," says the Commander.

I start drumming the edge of the table with my hands. "We need more men here fast before the other baron learns of loosing nineteen men."

Stopping, "Commander, do you know anyone to contact for another sixty men that could be here by tonight?

The Commander frowns, "Just the Warrior's Guild, Sir."

"I have to think this through quickly."

"We have seventy men here now. We need at least one squad to defend the mansion and fort area. We would assign the wounded and least trained to that squad.

"That leaves sixty men, an oversized platoon."

"Send forty with you, Commander over the trail quietly to scout and surprise."

"Take another twenty with me as an official visit guard. Meet somewhere in the middle.

"I have ten horses in the Capital right now."

I'm drumming on the table again.

"For another oversized platoon of sixty men, I would need at least six knights and six esquires. Need to hire long term to get a fair rate. They could serve the second barony, or break them up between all three baronies as replacements over time."

"I'd also need three more specialists, a stablemaster, a weapons master, and a quartermaster to duplicate the forces here."

"The weapons master could be one of the ten."

"That would be one good fighter, six knights, and three esquires out of the duplicated force I have now."

I continue drumming for a moment more and stop.

"Commander, would you want those men or others?"

The Commander has easily kept up with me. "They would do, but if you were to get ten good scouts with bows, it would be better."

"Hells, I missed that!"

"Commander, the question I have for you now is, do you want to ride back quickly, get those men yourself, and ride back here yet today? Or do you feel safe trusting my Knight there in the city to get or send men you can use?"

The Commander only thought for a moment. "As much as I want to pick them myself, there is one other worry. The baron could attack us."

"Ah, hells again."

"That settles it. Thankfully, I can get a message to Cari quickly. Do we need any other specialists at this time?"

The Commander responded by spelling it out. "You're setting up for protecting the baronies from bandits and fools, with fast horses and good men, they can deal with those kinds of problems. Your out to put your baronies into order, not a real war. If it were war, then there is a host of men I would want."

"Makes sense. 'First Platoon Commander,' let's get some men watching that trail and the road to that barony to warn us if needed. Preferably, keeping them out of sight."

Standing with a smile at the update in his title, the Commander says, "Yes, Sir," and hurries out the door.

Sienna squeezes my hand worriedly. "How will you let Cari know?"

Grinning back at Sienna, I tell her, "By telling her to spend money."