--20 years later--

October 20, 1560

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"Henry. Henry, where are you? Please come out or else the Baroness will be very angry at you. Your tutor is waiting for you," shouted a maid. She was currently in a small garden looking for the 2nd young master of the Greville Household. Recently turning seven, the Baroness had hired a scholar to educate him on the ways of a noble.

"Never!" a shrill voice could be heard shouting from above the sole tree in the center of the garden. " I don't want to read books. I want to fight like my father! To be a knight".

"There you are, young master." As the maid slowly walked up to the base of the tree, she could see the young master hanging on a tree branch. His blond hair covered his deep blue eyes as he glared back at the maid signaling his dissatisfaction with her.

"Please come down, you're late for your lesson."

"NO!"

"Pretty Please?"

"NO!"

"I see. Then I guess I'll have to report to the Baroness about you refusing to attend the lesson." threatened the maid, turning away and slowly walking away. Glancing back she could see his face expressing anxiety at the thought of the Baroness yelling at him.

"WAIT! ...I'll go." He said depressingly as he climbed down the tree onto the stone tiles.

Smiling, the maid responded, "Thank you, young master. Now let's go, the tutor is waiting."

Griping his hand, they left the garden. While walking over to the study room, they both saw a middle-aged woman gently walking toward the garden while humming a song to herself. Playing with her long blond hair, every movement or expression of hers expressed elegance and beauty that could melt even the most stone-hearted men as if time didn't affect her.

"Ah Good afternoon, Baroness." the maid said quickly bowing.

"Hello, Mum." Henry quickly answered while avoiding his mother's eyes.

"Oh my, if it isn't Amy and my most favorite son in the whole world." Responded the Baroness, smiling at them. However, what wasn't smiling was her eyes. Eyes that seemed to be brewing with anger.

Smiling she asked calmly, "Aren't you supposed to be with the tutor right now? Your father didn't spend so much money for you to waste it. DO you understand young man?" Henry ran behind Amy as he felt the anger seeping out of his mother and responded with a guilty yes.

"My apologies Ma'am. I'll be sterner with him next time" said Amy, shielding Henry behind her.

"Sigh, it's not your fault Amy. It's his blockhead father's fault for telling him stories of his time as a soldier. I told him not to fill Henry's brain with fighting, now look at him, just like his older brother. Sigh, if only I had a daughter. Alright, I guess off you two go; the clock is ticking."

"As you command Ma'am." After she left, looking at Henrey, Amy said "Come on young master, you heard the Baroness, we should go now."

"Alright" responded Henry, eager to get away from his angry mother.

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"Knock Knock".

"Come in" answered a tired voice.

"Milord, I've received the reports from the scouts regarding the issue up north.".

Glancing up from what seemed like endless paperwork, Robert smiled, seeing whose voice it was.

"Ah, Gort my dear old friend. Quick, what does it say."

"It was what we feared. Barbarians."

Frowning, Robert asked sternly "How sure are we?"

"Milord, we've received numerous eyewitnesses of barbarians raiding several small villages. Our scouts have also reported seeing trails of their cougars. We're certain."

"Do we know what tribe it is?"

"No Milord. It's hard to tell just from initial reports, however, it must be a small one, for a larger one would know the consequences of attacking the Konj Kingdom. Breaking the treaty would be a foolish thing to do just for a small raid."

"What's the damage?"

"Ten dead and four wounded. The rest of the villagers managed to escape but their village was burnt down."

Sighing deeply, Robert began rubbing his eyes saying, "Gort, do you know what this means?"

Nodding Gort answered "War".

"BOOM!" The table was split in half, paperwork flew all across the room.

Robert however what eerie quiet having not moved an inch. But what betrayed his stone-cold face was his eyes that if possible would have the whole room burning in fury. The barbarians had been quiet ever since the war 20 years ago when their coalition was destroyed. 'How dare they harm my people. Those dirty barbarians will pay' Robert thought.

After several minutes of deep breathing, he asked Gort,

"Where is my wife?"

Gort quickly left to ask around and returned, responding."

"She is at the garden Milord."

"Good. I'm taking a break." Standing up, Robert had begun to leave the office but was quickly interrupted.

"What shall we do about this issue, Milord?"

"I SAID, I'm taking a break, Gort. We will continue this discussion when I return. Did you not understand me?" Releasing his Aura, Gort quickly answered stuttering, "O... of course Milord, my apologies."

"Good".

Leaving his office, Robert quickly walked over to the garden to see his wife sitting on a bench in the gazebos humming a song looking at the rows of flowers that had been planted months ago. Seeing this only made Robert more determined to protect his family from the danger ahead. Even if it meant sacrificing himself.

"My My, what is this, a beautiful lady sitting here alone without a companion on this beautiful evening?"

Quickly turning around in surprise, the Baroness smiled once she saw Robert approaching.

"I'm afraid my lover has left me for some young mistress. I'm all alone now," she responded, acting in despair.

"My goodness, who would ever dare leave such a goddess all to herself? Such a fool I must say." Robert answered, getting on one knee to kiss her hand. Giggling, the Baroness asked, "Still cheeky till this day?"

"Only for you my love" Robert answered honestly getting up to sit next to her. They sat together there for several minutes basking in the beautiful garden before the silence was finally broken.

"By the way, Robert, how many times must I tell you not to tell Henry your war stories? Now, look at him, running around saying he wants to fight and be a knight like you. Do you want to kill our son? You know how dangerous it is out there."

"I'm sorry my love, it's hard to say no to him whenever he asks. He also looks up to his brother you know. They used to play fight all the time."

"I know that Robert, I just don't want both our children to die on some random hill fighting a useless battle.

"I understand, Mary."

"Promise me"

"Alright, I promise not to fill Henry's mind with my war stories."

"Thank you, now tell me what's wrong" she replied showing a look of concern.

"Wrong? What's wrong?" Robert asked showing a face of confusion.

"Sigh, you know you're terrible at lying right? I've known you for over 10 years now, I can tell. Now spill it."

Taking a deep breath, Robert said," Mary, it's barbarians."

Hearing this Mary quickly frowned asking, "What does that mean?"

Showing a sad smile, he answered "It means war my love."