Chapter 67

That was too close, far too close for just anyone to pull off, though you had to wonder why the little Assassin didn't wait for a better Opportunity to strike. You thought about her reasoning as one of your Statues chased after her, it felt like she genuinely thought she could get away with her Stunt by simply using the Woods that surround this Part of the Road for who knows how many Kilometers, it was a Joke. She was a bit too nimble to easily catch, but you knew that it was only a matter of time till your uninvited Guest would get tired, seeing as these Woods were far too tamed by the local Lords to offer her any hiding spots in reach that you wouldn't find within Seconds.

Mayhaps her Task didn't involve the death of your little Brother at all, yes, you could somehow feel that you were going in the right Direction with those Thoughts. Perhaps the Mercenaries hired her to take Jaime hostage so as to limit their own Losses against the Knights of your House, it certainly sounds like something they would do, with how such People always choose the Path that offers the least Resistance in open Battle. And if she were to fail in her Task they wouldn't lose anything, so yeah, low Risk and high Reward, that should be exactly what standard Mercenaries would love.

Eventually you recognised that she gave up on running away and decided to confront her Pursuer as her Way of running slightly changed, it seems like your little Assassin is better at Stealth than she is at fleeing given her relatively short Stature. It of course ended as you expected, as your Knight simply ignored the Assassin's Assault as he tackled your now very much so invited Guest to the Ground before disarming her. Theories were good and most certainly entertaining, but you still wanted to hear not just some Confirmation but also the Background of how, where and why this was all planned as it was, so that you could better plan for the future.

But you supposed that the matter could wait for a little bit longer, your Brother's Campaign should come first now that Stadley Castle is ripe for the taking after Lord Dainor's Failure. Actually, Stadley Castle doesn't even have an Owner anymore with how House Stadley's Heir died to your Statues, Lord Dainor must have really believed in his Plan, understandably so. Though as you slowly thought about this Mess, you realised that the Gods were once more behaving like absolute Morons, even if the Assassin wasn't directly tasked with killing Jaime.

Sure, she most likely just planned to use him to somehow get out of the deteriorating Situation, but that didn't mean they should have just left that Part out, do the Gods truly lack any and all Common Sense these Days? Sigh, for now you're just glad that Jaime is still in one Piece after your apparent Overreaction, a few Scratches here and there, but nothing major, so he should only grow from the Experience. It appears as if the Knights managed to subdue most of the Mercenaries, so Jaime will still get something to brag about out of the Day to distract him a bit from the Shock of what happened.

Perhaps you should reward them, though Marie would most likely disagree with whatever you decide to pick for the Men, a matter for another time. For now, you simply decide to send over a few more Knights and those Restraints you had prepared to swiftly put the Mercenaries to good use while you focus on your Guest. Ayna Waydner as she calls herself after a few Minutes of questioning was as far as you could tell not Part of any greater Organisation with how the Lords and Ladies of the Realm prefer the Specialists of the East over Smallfolk specialised in killing for rather obvious Reasons.

You weren't sure if you should care though, if it's an Organisation or an Individual, a King or simply just a Noble, you really don't appreciate Situations in which you have to fear for your Brother's Safety like this. Despite your Thoughts about the Assassin, you refocus on commanding your Statues to properly clear the Road of the Corpses and the Fort's Remains to speed up the last Stretch of the March. And thanks to their Effort you could soon see the five Towers of Stadley Castle in the Distance, it would have made for an entertaining Siege now that Jaime had the right Mindset, that much was certain.

But in the end you supposed it was good that Lord Santor wouldn't receive a burning Ruin once the last few Defenders would be dealt with, for Stadley Castle was needed to stabilise the Region in the long Term now that the Remains of Lord Santor's former Home were being taken apart to further fortify Rose Hold. The Stadleys were such a minor House that they had only the Santors beneath them, so these two Castles were all that one could find when it came to Fortified Positions in the Region. Which considering the Value of Order a proper Castle provides to a Region means that this Province would become easily exploited by the criminal Underworld of the Realm if both were fully lost.

Yeah, you couldn't imagine that your Father would appreciate such a Change in the Yield of his little new Province once it was fully subdued and your Brother's Name and Reputation were bound to it. Some Houses in the Crownlands were seemingly quite happy to laugh at your Father for taking the King's Bait so easily going by the Reports he's receiving from his Agents now and again, and you can imagine his Anger if the vast Lands he got out of it turned into a drain of Resources as the King had intended.

So you genuinely hoped that there would still be a Castle left for Lord Santor to take over, with how agitated your Father can get when your Mother isn't around to soften him up. It was weird that you had to worry about such stuff, but the People of this World tend to be a bit too unstable for you to properly judge their Moves. You by now just hoped that the Stadleys had no Fanatics that would be willing to burn the Castle down once they realised that the House of Stadley was no more remaining after their Defeat, seeing as you couldn't do anything about it. It was absolutely insane, but there were plenty of those kinds of People in this World.