Alexander ended up allowing Chel to run the fief more or less as she pleased. Once he finished furnishing his office he spent a week settling her into the place and reserved a portion of the budget.

He told her that he needed to hire more almsmen for the fief. Chel admitted that she kept fewer men as professional warriors than the majority of the nobles and grudgingly adjusted their expenses to support the men.

Alexander spent the next month touring the villages and recruiting young men. As they arrived in the small town that served as her capital they were greeted by a team of three of her men at arms and five of her more senior maids.

The men would wake them before dawn each morning to work them to build up their physical fitness and their discipline. At first she worried about the number of men he had recruited. Most of that worry was dispelled when she learned that the recruits were being offered less pay for their services than her existing guard.

The maids took charge of the young men each afternoon and taught the men things that Alexander called ‘life skills.’ Alexander convinced her to buy a standard outfit for all of his new guard and he required each of them to care for and maintain their so called “uniform dress.”

Chel hardly saw any of the members of Alexander’s new guards however, she saw their training reflected in her men at arms. Her guard captain began to push his men harder in their training becoming more strict in regard to their behavior and even implemented his own “uniform dress” for them.

When things began to settle down a new desk was suddenly added to the manor office. The desk was occupied by one of Ginny’s half brother's, Bruno, who was also one of Chel’s guardsmen. He was one of the men who had been put in charge of the new guard. Bruno had been tasked with collecting and processing the reports from the new guard which quickly began flooding in. When the man’s workload began to settle down Chel asked him what the reports were about.

“The Lord regent has the men surveying the entire fief. He has me drawing up something he calls a topological map of the area. He says that he plans to establish a new village centered around a fort to be built by the new guard.”

Chel settled back into her work and for a while nothing happened. A week later one of the new guard entered the room. “Sir, a survey team just reported a bandit camp in area A3. The regent sent me to have you prepare a report for Lady Chel, good day mi’lady.”

Chel stood up and followed the men through the manor to the room where Alexander’s map was. The document was laid out on a large table. Chel walked up to the table studying the map, trying to figure out how the concentric lines of the map were meant to represent her fief.

Charlie walked over to what appeared to be the top left hand side of the map. “Where was this bandit camp?”

The junior guard answered by pointing at the map as he spoke. “The team was roughly here, and reported the camp on a cliff facing a road. I would say…. around here. The exact measurements are here.” As he gave this final point the guard handed Charlie a note.”

Chel examined the area the man referred to unsure what the report meant. Charlie cleared his throat. “Lady Chel, I believe there is a trade road running between Castle Larchwood and Castle Stonemire. Am I correct? For reference, I would place them roughly…. here and here, on this map.” Charlie pointed to two spots on the table.

Based on those points the report might have been referring to the road he mentioned. “That's right. Though that means the men are technically in Lord Stonemire’s fief at the moment. If… this, is your village then there should be a village under Stonemire around…. here. How many men are in the survey team?”

The junior guard quickly answered, “Three mi’lady.”

Chel closed her eyes considering his answer. “I shall write to Stonemire. Charlie, what do these numbers mean, the ones that interrupt the lines.”

and 5

Chel decided that it was time for her to visit Alexander’s guard camp. It had been a week since he had moved them to the site of the village he was planning to establish.

The trip was strange. Wooden boards had been laid across the path leading toward the site of the planned village which made for a pleasantly smooth journey. This strange floor extended only half of the distance to the village but it accounted for just a third of the travel time.

When Chel arrived at the camp she found a small work crew putting the final touches on a small timber frame building. It took her a moment to realize that the work crew was entirely composed of men from Alexander’s new guard. One of the men separated from the crew and showed her to a small building toward the center of the camp. Ginny quickly directed the servants to unpack and prepare the building for Chel.

The village site looked more like a logging camp than a military camp. Despite this the camp was well organized and the men moved with a confidence she had never seen coming from the peasantry. Where the new guard weren't building up the camp there were men and women in regular clothes who were clearing logs and sowing gardens. It slowly dawned on Chel that Alexander would likely have a self sufficient village built within two years.

“Lady Chel. Good to see you.” Alexander had approached Chel as she was surveying the village.

“Alex. I see your project is progressing quickly. It isn’t often that we can build a new village. I am a bit worried that the Barony is a little too underpopulated to support a new village.”