“THEY WHAT!” I bellowed in anger at the terrified elf that knelt before me. Having caught up to the sell swords and Erthor’s family when darkness was just about to settle in, I was still gloating at the outcome of the Van Flotina engagement when twelve guards from my three hundred personal guards had ridden into camp to inform me of the new status of the siege.

“you are telling me that while being surrounded by two mercenary clans the raiders managed to tunnel their way out of the besieged city right under the noses of the people who were watching them” I asked as I fell back into the seat behind me, “and all those two incompetent imbeciles could send to me is ‘we seem to have lost them’”.

I inhaled deeply as I lamented on the unfairness of the universe not even allowing me a full day to gloat before sending karmic retribution my way.

Was this an act of defiance because of the way I had handled them during our flare up on the way to the border town. My knee jerk reaction was to ride back with the personal guards and go on a beheading spree, but after the stunt I had pulled at the Van Flotina engagement party to go on a killing spree so soon after would give my enemies both the vocal and silent ones grounds to call me mentally unstable, or unfit to run a noble house.

“Summon Hauser to me” I commanded in the direction of the house guards standing outside my tent as I began to formulate a counter move to the latest hole I found myself in. Hauser would instruct them to fall back to town Rost and from there the house would begin to distance themselves from the two mercenary clans, using them for fringe military activity such as routine patrolling of the roads running throughout the Van Rost territories and boarder control.

“My lord”, Hauser saluted as he sank to a knee before me. A slight pang of guilt spread across my chest as I thought about the hot mess I was about to throw him in, but Hauser was a big boy, I was sure he would emerge relatively unharmed from the other side of this.

“Hauser, you will be going to the border town at the edge of the house territory, there you will meet with Felina and the two captain of the guards where you will inform them to fall back to town Rost” I stated.

Even though I had not elaborated on the seriousness of the situation from the look in Hauser’s eyes the message had been received, with a sharp salute he spun on his heels and prepared to leave but one of the five personal guards seemed like he had something more to say.

“Forgive me my lord but your hand maid insisted I give this directly to you” one of the newly arrived guards said fear apparent in his voice.

Hauser collected the sealed parchment from him and placed it in my hand where I hurriedly opened it a slight bit of dread tightening my chest as I remembered the last time Felina had sent me such a note was when my grandfather had tried to steal magic scrolls from me.

A delegate from the house of Van Linterg have come to the manor to extend their greetings to you, but they left the young master of the Linterg household in their camp outside town Rost.

I frowned in thought as I applied logic to the simple sentence before setting the piece of parchment on fire with a thought. Felina was aware of my interest in Lairden even though she did not know why and on receiving news that a delegation from the Van Linterg household had come to see me and noticing the object of my interest absent she must have taken extra measure to insure his where about especially after the news that the ‘bandits’ had managed to escape right under their noses.

“My lord?” Hauser’s voice jarred me from my inner thoughts, bringing me back to the present. I would have to make some modification to my return trip.

“You will take Glander along with you” I stated to Hauser before dismissing them all.

I would need to move behind the scenes for a while and taken Glander along with me would be tantamount to writing a detailed letter to my aunt about my future plans.

I sat in silence for awhile plotting and counter plotting my future maneuvers while trying to predict all future dilemmas, but I realized the futility of it all even as various disturbing thoughts rushed through my head.

I let loose a sigh, rising from the chair I had used as an impromptu throne and walked past the curtains that divided my large tent into the receiving area and my sleeping area, there fully sprawled on my massive bed was my other headache.

In my haste to deal with Glander’s absconding with the house emblem I had forgotten a critical issue, Raijin did not take kindly too been left behind. The second the hundred house guards and I had ridden into camp Raijin had pounced dragging me of the warhorse I was ridding and laying flat on top of me determined not to let me up.

I frowned as a stifled yet another sigh, remembering how the very same act that seemed to be becoming a habit for me had pissed me off in no small measure in my first life.

The mana war beast lay stretched across my entire bed feet in the air and a very content expression on its face as Erthor continuously scratched his belly.

My suspicions that Erthor was a talent holder had all been confirmed with the way Raijin treated him, up till this point the mana beast had treated anyone not within my inner circle with utmost contempt and those within with slight tolerance allowing them only to feed him or make his life better in one way or the other.

The blatant show of favor towards my young serf would make things easier if I ever needed to move out without the company of Raijin in the future.

“My lord what is the difference between a house guard and a personal guard?” upon noticing my arrival Erthor immediately attempted to pick up where we left off.

“a house guard protects the head of the house of Van Rost and all the property of the house while the personal guard protects the lord exclusively” I replied while my gaze came to rest on the magical circle within which lay my gauntlets and my metal boots.

Fighting a battle essence cultivator at the pillar level with just ten percent of the runes and enchantments functioning would have made any other enchanter dance with joy but having tested the gauntlets and boots earlier against three general level opponents, all the flaws of the enchantments where laid bare and this time I could not blame only the quality of the gauntlets for it.

I let loose a sigh, sinking into a cross legged position as I began to channel magical energy into the circle once more causing the hidden runes within the gauntlets to light up and absorb the energy I was feeding it.

Recharging enchantments, unlike inscribing them, was monotonous and tedious work and soon my mind began to wander. The fact that I had subdued the Van Rost family that had been going through tribulation for the past twelve years in just a year would testify to my political sturdiness, forcing the other houses and clans with power to test the waters but my recent display of might would also make them extremely cautious and unwilling to offend such a potentially powerful ally.

The best case scenario for me would be for the other houses to realize my greatness and never again cross me in fear of enduring my wrath, but as that was never going to happen it would be more likely they trick an enemy or someone who had recently lost favor with them like a small clan or mercenary house to come and disrupt an event of the Van Rost clan forcing me to act in some way, if I overcome the trial I help them get rid of an irritant, if I fail they succeed in putting the young upstart lord in his place, it was a win-win situation for them.

I internally ran through the various events of the Van Rost social calendar that I would be personally attending and only one fit the scenario I was currently thinking about, the martial tournament.

Last year’s tournament, though not widely acknowledged outside the Van Rost territory had allowed us to almost replenish the ranks of our forces after I had dismissed all the soldiers of the house who had thought they could ignore my summons, this had not gone unnoticed, and with Mablung about to fuse all his cores and acquire his first pillar, even the royal houses in the capital territories would not be able to deny the success the martial tournament had brought to our house.

Even though not yet on the scale that it would cause the warriors under the care of other houses to break ranks and come to our side, unaffiliated warriors from as far as the capital territories were rumored to have already began the journey to the Rost territory to participate in the event.

A wave of joy washed over me as I imagined the amount of money I would be receiving after the three day event. The elders had grumbled and mumbled when I had invested so much money in lining the road leading up to the arena with inns and shops but when I had invested my own coin to build three high end inns and several shops the wise one had invested in one or two spots while the rest had adopted a wait and see attitude.

“maybe Galfin would loosen the chains around my budget next year if this dose better than we expect it to” I said to myself, the thought of the event flopping not once crossing my mind, even if the shops and inns were not patronized and the seats were not filled the opportunity to recruit so many battle essence wielders would more than make up for any financial loss.

Before the sun had risen on our camp, we had already broken up and gone our separate ways. The sell swords escorting the attendants and Erthor’s family in the direction of House Van Rost, Hauser and my twelve personal guards along with a sulking Glander in the direction of the subjugation force that had failed to subjugate the bandits that had seized a town on my territory for two weeks without anyone knowing and finally my group along with the hundred house guards, Raijin and Erthor who proudly rode the war horse I previously had and headed in the direction I suspected Lairden was.

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The forest scenery quickly passed by as we rode hard in the direction of the Van Rost territory. As we drew closer and closer to the forest surrounding Rost town, we finally, after two weeks of travel, spotted a trail of smoke rising above the forest canopy.

“Set up camp here, while twenty guards follow me to engage” I said to the elf that had taken over Hauser’s duties in his absence. The female black haired elf was a member of the loft clan, and from the moment Hauser had left she had persistently tried to curry favor with me which I had pointedly ignored.

The reason I had let the Loft clan benefit from my rise in power wasn’t because they had stayed by my side during my ten year exile, but because of the sacrifice Aiya had made to save my life, so even though her sister was currently working for Vanlathriel and their entire clan was riddled with spies, the reason I did not immediately disregard the Loft clan was simply because of the gratitude I felt towards Aiya. However recently some of the members of the clan had begun to take my allowances as favor towards them, I would warn Galfin once and after that heads would roll.

Twenty guards were quickly chosen and we road towards the smoke rising above the forest canopy were most likely the members of the Van Linterg entourage were settled.

As we entered the clearing I frowned at the destituteness of it all and if not for the fact that I could see Lairden sitting despondently on a fallen log I won’t have believed that a member of the main branch of the Van Linterg house was here.

The camp was a desolate scene. Two small tents stood opposite each other beside each was a horse, a small fire lay at the mid way point between both tents besides which sat Lairden on a log looking despondently into the flame.

There were no banners or a flag indicating someone of noble birth was here, two extremely uninterested guards stood to the side eyeing my approaching group, and I was sure that if my house banner wasn’t on full display they would have long since abandoned their charge and fled for their lives.

I felt a pang of sympathetic pain in my chest for Lairden, his family had all but abandoned him and it showed starkly in the way he was treated, but that soon passed as I realized the golden opportunity I had been handed.

The fact that Lairden had the God eye had always gnawed at the back of my mind, what if he awakened it?, what if someone realized the value of what he had? These questions danced across my subconscious every other day but now I could be his shoulder in his time of trouble giving him a safe place to find peace forever putting him in my debt in case he is ever in a position to undo everything I had done so far.

I urged Raijin forward, making a show of taking in everything in the clearing before allowing my eyes to settle on Lairden, who had risen to his feet in shock and embarrassment of my presence.

“Good friend Lairden, I heard news of your house arriving at the Rost manor but absence your presence.” I started slowly dismounting Raijin and approaching Lairden allowing a confused tone to enter my voice.

“I came here first in hopes to convince you to stay awhile in Rost manor under my care. But I must ask you this good friend Lairden, have you been living in these conditions for the last two weeks?” my question struck at the very heart of the matter.

“Lord Tal, things are not what they seem. My family simply wished to present themselves in an honorable manner and they took most of the guards to the Rost manor” the effort to save force for his un-filial family would have been admirable if not for the fact I was currently trying to poach him.

“if good friend Lairden insist then I would take it as such, but was there a problem with the item I enchanted for you last time we saw each other? I couldn’t help but notice that you did not have it with you” I said, my counter to his counter blocking his immediate path of retreat.

Last time Lairden was here I had enchanted visor like glasses to enable him to practice his blade katas without battle essence interfering with his sight, but the fact that his milky white pupiless eyes stared into my soul without the visor on his face was obvious.

A profound and lingering silence hung between us as Lairden’s face went through a medley of embarrassed expressions. There was no excuse he could give that would be believable after all without the visor his overly sensitive eyes could not be used in battle as all it would take would be a flash or magical energy or battle essence for him to be blinded, without it he would be useless in battle.

After letting the silence stretch for a while I stepped forward and grasped his forearms with my hands and put an understanding look on my face. “It is okay good friend Lairden one day our day in the sun shall come”.

The simple statement was an elf saying that simply meant that one day your enemies would see you rise to prominence. Lairden’s eyes widened in surprise and appreciation, I had not forced him to embarrass his clan and yet at the same time I had given him my silent support.

“come Lairden you will camp with us tonight and tomorrow we will ride into town Rost together as good brothers should, there we will talk long into the night and you will explain to me how I offended you that you would not come to visit me for a whole year” I said patting his back and letting out a boisterous laugh to set him at ease.

With that Lairden and I travelled back to the rest of my company where we settled down to a late meal and lots of merry making and laughter in which I made sure he was always by my side as the guest of honor.

As we set off on the final stretch of our journey Lairden rode by my side as we talked about things of little importance but the difference of one night was already clear, his smiles came easier, his smile was more unrestrained and the general atmosphere of gloom that seemed to have hung around him seemed to have been dispelled.

“I still can’t believe how big he has gotten, could he be a variant?” Lander asked his eyes resting on Raijin who had been suspiciously well behaved all morning.

“Yes he just keeps on growing, my stable hands have impacted on me how lucky I was to receive such a gift as him” I replied jovially leaning forward to tap the side of Raijin’s head with affection.

The feline war beast had kept on growing without restraint and very soon I would not be able to wrap my legs around his side, the scary part was it seemed he wasn’t done yet.

“yes my sister was a little sad she would not get to tame the beast but my father has made it up to her, she would be glad to see you took good care of it” Lairden said a brief look of panic flashing across his face and instantly I grasped his hidden warning. Even though he did not want to disclose too much information about his family he had deemed it important enough to warn me that his younger sister was at town Rost and she wasn’t there with purely good intentions.

“I see” I replied amicably but with enough seriousness in my voice for him to know I had received his warning.

We continued to travel along the road to Town Rost with Lairden complimenting the newly constructed road when the new walls of the town came into view as we crested a hill.

“By the heavens lord Tal, you have been busy” Lairden stated with no small amount of awe in his voice, and the first time in a long while a sliver of pride floated through my chest towards my house. Lairden was in a unique position to understand the hoops I would have had to jump through for me to get the walls built, and his appreciation showed.

“it took some doing but for the benefit of the people under our care the house decided it was for the best”, even as the bullshit spewed out of my mouth a large snort escaped from Lairden and he instantly looked mortified at his slip in decorum.

“It is okay good friend Lairden, even in my ears that sounded like a lie” I appeased him while letting out a wry chuckle. “Things have been difficult with the entire house determined to brand me as a failure, but compared to you I have had it easy”.

Our entire journey together had been peppered by such covert attacks at Lairden, slowly dragging the fact that his family had all but abandoned him, and the pained look he had on his face was indication that it had begun to work.

“by the stars forgive me Lairden I should control my tongue!” i exclaimed out loud pretending to just notice Lairden’s discomfort of my statement, “it just that when I see someone in this situation I cannot help but feel kinship with such a person”.

“What do you mean Lord Tal?” Lairden asked in confusion. I let a long and profound silence stretch out while placing a heavy look on my face.

“Do you know that an assassination attempt was made on my life when I was six?” I asked as we rode leisurely down the hill towards the North West gate of Town Rost. “The act in itself is not a big deal after all there are assassinations attempted on nobles at any given time, but this time I was injured badly and my cultivation was destroyed”.

“when I found out it was my aunt who I had loved like a second mother was the individual who orchestrated the act it was like I had been crippled a second time. My engagement was broken off, my friends abandoned me, my house shunned me I was well and truly alone” I continued letting loose a sigh of melancholy. “Even the people that came to my side in my time o f need did not hesitate to curse me to my face and throw disdain at me”.

“But at that time at least I had my mother who stood beside me and protected me, you have no one” I stated. This was the first time since we met at the clearing till now that I directly addressed the poor treatment he had been received from his family.

Lairden tensed up on his horse and awkwardness hung between us, but still I pressed on.

“I am sure you have wondered why since we first met I have always possessed had a good disposition towards you? It’s because I have faced some of what you are currently going through, and I saw the looks the so called personal guards where giving you the first time we met” with I sigh as I tightened my grip and let anger show visibly on my face.

“But when I saw how they made you live in that clearing, I fear I can no longer hold my tongue” I said with heavy emotion. This was the selling pitch, the part that would make or break the sale. I pulled on Raijin’s reigns bringing myself to a stop and soon Lairden followed suit.

“I want you to know that the doors of the Van Rost house will be forever opened to you as long as I am the head” I proclaimed as I locked gazes with him. A look of shock appeared on Lairden’s face.

But even as all this happened I knew he will still be reluctant to agree to this. His mother though not an original member of the Van Linterg house had gained immensely from marrying into the family and even though she had all but physically abandoned him she was after all still his mother and she depended heavily on the connection she had with the Van Linterg house. Her position might have been more cemented since the birth of Lairden little sister her authority wasn’t set in stone.

“of course I am not asking you to betray your house, or swear allegiance to mine I am just asking that when things are too much for you and there seems like you have no way forward, think of me as a safe haven” I said and with a gentle tap on Raijin’s back we resumed our journey.

As we finally entered town Rost Lairden disposition darkened and he became more sullen, the fact that we had been discussing the entire trip would not have been lost on the two guards that had been left behind to ‘guard’ him, while they were not privy to the content of our conversation, they would surely report the fact that we both had a long and deep conversation to whoever was in charge when they re-unite with the rest of their squadron.

It was almost too easy, they would blame Lairden when I arrive at the Rost manor and act hostilely towards him, with a way out of the depression that had been his life for heavens knows how long he would no longer tolerate the insults he had been receiving and eventually in a few months he would start leaning on me for emotional support.

We passed through the streets as some of the locals recognized me and soon a cry began to ring out welcoming me back to town Rost. Whether this was planned or spontaneous I did not know but having giving them a more secure location to live in by building the wall and some of the farmers who had agreed to the term of my deals had already started sending their produce to the house increasing the amount of food available.

Life had gotten better in town Rost but at the cost of the nobles losing power. Before my agricultural plan and my redistribution of power the only way some locals could eat things like salt water fish and clams was if they worked in the kitchen of a noble where they could sneakily make off with one when the head cook wasn’t looking but know there was a caravan every three weeks from the port town of Letharen with fishes, crabs and oysters this had become available though expensive.

With the advantages for working for the noble associated clans diminished and the nobles themselves apparently at logger heads with the head of the house, positions at the various clan houses were no longer eyed with envy and this had caused some of the nobles to take offense, however with my limitation of the amount of soldiers each associated clan could have in the capital there was little they could do about it.

I sighed internally grateful in the fact that the nobles would not yet find a reason to revolt because in their various assigned fiefs they still ruled like kings.

“Welcome back my lord” Galfin all but screamed at me in joy as he strode towards me down the stairs of the Rost manor entrance. I didn’t take his enthusiasm as his joy in seeing my safe return, most likely there was a delicate matter that he wanted me to handle or shit had hit the fan somewhere.

“Galfin, how goes the affairs of the house” I asked dismounting Raijin and letting two stable hands approach him with looks of resignation on their faces.

“all the plans for the tournament are going splendidly and all the orders you left have been carried out. Felina sent word, they are a three days away and have received Lord Glander” he said his eyes flashing briefly to Lairden by my side.

With a wave of my sleeves Galfin fell in besides me and began to update me about everything I needed to know about the last seven weeks I had been away. Apparently the tournament had mutated into something that we had not expected.

Various notable clans and mercenary houses had put forward their young warriors into contention and some independent cultivators had already started to arrive. A month and a half before the tournament had begun we had already begun to see revenue flow into our town.

As I cleared the final step into the manor gate my eyes came to rest on a group of fifty elves on in colors that were not the house of van Rost’s.

“we have been hosting delegates from the house of Van Linterg, they have been must eager to meet you” Galfin stated when he saw where my gaze landed, a tinge of annoyance in his voice I imagined from having to deal with all the expensive tastes of a noble delegation.

I replied with a grunt and he fell back to stand two steps behind me. Lairden was about to duplicate his actions when I looped my arm around his and drew him so we were walking shoulder to shoulder. This move did not go unnoticed by the house of Van Linterg delegates and looks of confusion appeared on their faces.

Of the elves gathered under the banner of Van Linterg in my front yard only two were not in guard uniform, one I recognized as the supposed aid to Lairden, Angrod Elendor cousin to Linterg’s mother and the new face a female elf who seemed obviously below the age of fourteen which I assumed to be Linterg’s sister, Riwen Van Linterg.

“Greetings lord Tal Van Rost, we previously met, I am Angrod aid to young master Lairden” Angrod began, stepping forward as soon as he noticed my gaze on him at the same time gesturing for Linterg’s sister to move up

beside him. “and this is lady Riwen Van Linterg daughter of Madilhan Van Linterg, lord of the Van Linterg house hold”.

With the introduction the little girl slightly bowed to me while casting a disdainful gaze at her half brother, but I barely noticed that as my eyes were fixed on the sword that hung on her a waist, a sword I had personally designed for Linterg myself.

Not only had they taken the visor I had made to protect Lairden’s overly sensitive eyes from battle essence and magical flashes, they had stripped him of the sword I had gifted him and handed it to his sister who then had the audacity to wear it to my home. The amount of insults and barbs hidden in all these maneuvers were too numerous to delve into but one thing was clear, I was been looked down on.

Whether they felt that me befriending Linterg was a desperate ploy for support from another house or that they could not possibly respect a noble house of the new lands the Van Linterg house had decided to show hidden disdain from the get go, suddenly my covert acquisition of Lairden had turned to a snatch and grab.

“ooh! You are the aid to Good friend Lairden then why where you here and not beside your master when I met him in that……….camp?” I asked with a coy smile as I began the public shaming of the van Linterg delegates.

A stunned looked covered Angrod’s face as the simple statement put him in a very prickly situation, and a feeling of unease rippled through the Van Linterg delegates as they realized everything was not as it seemed but before they could recover I sent my second jab.

“forgive me if I am mistaken but the sword hanging on that child’s waist looks extremely similar to the one I designed personally for Lairden” the statement that was both a question and a statement all but confirmed the suspicions of the van linter delegates, the young master which they had held in disdain was friends with the new lord of the Van Rost house.

I could almost see the cogs spinning in Angrod’s head as he tried to come up with a solution that would resolve this crisis, from my disposition it was clear that I wasn’t desperate for an alliance with the Linterg house and they had clearly overplayed their hand, in addition to that I had taken some sort of interest in the young master who they had all but abandoned in the woods, things were looking bad for them.

As I pondered if I should deliver the knockout blow and the wisdom of acquiring a new enemy so soon, out of the corner of my eye two figure emerged from the mansion.

“if you will briefly excuse me I have a pressing matter to attend to” I stated politely and ignoring the intense look of relief that passed over Angrod’s face before turning and heading in the direction of the two female elves giving the house of Van Linterg a moment to recuperate.

With a hidden smile I walked towards the two female elves that stood to the side of the main entrance of the Van Rost manor, the female elf on the left was the huntress that had rushed to town Rost to inform us of the dire straits her little town was in, the fact that she had carried out the journey in only a week was something I hadn’t appreciated until I had undertaken the journey myself.

The second elf was of course my aunt Vanlathriel’s informant Anya. Of recent Anya had been extremely low profile trying her best to stay out of my way while ferreting out information through third and fourth hand sources even going so far as to corner some of the children I told stories to.

The fact that she had emerged in my presence was most likely due to the fact that the beginning of the whispers of what I did at the Van Flotina territory had begun to reach town Rost, and her handler her instructed her to confirm or debunk it before reporting to Vanlathriel in the capital territory.

“Thank you for keeping our guest company, you may leave” I interrupted Anya as she stepped forward to speak before gesturing to the huntress to follow me a small distance away.

“rest easy your town has been liberated and as we speak the entire population is been brought to town Rost where they would be treated with utmost respect” I said and instantly a look of relief swept across the huntress face before she fell to her knees and started thanking me in between chest heaving sobs.

“There is a favor I would like to ask of you” I asked my now consoled guest. There was something that had been bothering since I had been informed that the presumed bandits that had held her town hostage had managed to escape. Surrounded by so many guards from two mercenary houses it was almost impossible without some sort of assistance. My first suspicion had been the two leaders of the mercenary houses, furious at my reprimanding them before the start of the siege had conspired to sneak them out in order to spite me, but I believed firmly that even if the act itself might have escaped the notice of my house and personal guards them acting strangely would not. My thoughts had then gone in a different direction.

What if they had hidden themselves amongst the townspeople who were currently been led here, we would be none the wiser and they could have taken various measure to ensure the towns inhabitant’s cooperation, it was a farfetched hypothesis but I had decided to take steps to guard against it.

I gestured to a guard standing nearby, intentionally ignoring Anya who had walked a distance away not to seem disobedient but still remained close enough so that even if she couldn’t here she could see what ever transpired.

“I would need you to write down everything you can about your town, the names of your friends and family and how they are related to you, where you lived which shop you visited and the name of every elf that you knew and what they did in the town” the look of confusion was obvious on her face but the task was relatively simple and she agreed to it then was led back into the mansion.

With a sigh I walked back towards the Van Linterg delegates who had all but surrounded Lairden and were speaking in furious whispers but unlike before there wasn’t a look of defeat or dejected acceptance but one of unprecedented fury.

“Forgive me, urgent house matters that could not be avoided called for my brief attention” I said lightly inserting myself back into the situation but I noticed in my absence a change had already manifested in all present.

Riwen Van Linterg, Lairden’s younger sister had removed the sword I had gifted him from her waist and taken a step back from the front of the group. Perhaps she sensed my immediate dislike of her or that there subtle insults had not been so subtle but the young mistress of the Linterg clan ad wisely withdrawn.

Angrod stepped forward throwing worried glances at Lairden, who despite his best efforts still had a bit of fury expressed on his face before bowing slightly to me.

“Please do not worry Lord Tal Van Rost, we also come from a major house and understand that some duties cannot be delayed” he said with a friendly smile.

The subtle reminder that they were from a major house was not missed, it was a warning that even if they had offended me my reprimand should not go too far. Angrod was so busy trying to spin damage control with me that he did not notice the bomb that was Lairden ready to go off right beside him.

“Lord Lairden had informed us of the offer you have extended to host us during the house of Van Rost tournament, we are most grateful for this invitation” Angrod said switching our verbal battle in another direction.

If it had been any other elf lord once such a statement was issued they would find it extremely difficult to correct the situation, after inviting Lairden to my house tournament was one of the many baits I had thrown in his direction in other to convince him to stay as an honored guest in the Rost manor. However since it was me I had no problem throttling this ploy in its infancy.

“The invitation was extended to Lairden” I stated in a monotone voice.

The silence that fell over our group was deafening, Angrod had been depending on the fact that as a lord I would not be so shameless as to exclude a single member of the group for favoritism while ignoring the others, he had assumed wrong.

“lllord Tal!” Angrod exclaimed in shock and in no small part anger. His reaction was understandable, here he was trying to maintain the goodwill between our two houses while I seemed extremely indifferent about the entire situation, his mistake was assuming I wanted anything to do with the house of Van Linterg.

“do not misunderstand Angrod, if the convoy of the house of Van Linterg wishes to stay for the tournament they are welcome to do so, I will go so far as to ensure that an entire inn and a special viewing box is reserved for your house but the invitation I extended was to Lairden and Lairden alone” I explained with a slight chuckle.

I watched with no small amount of amusement as Angrod’s face twisted in an unnatural manner and a large vein began to pulse in anger, but still I had to direct their frustration in the right direction, after all a rift needed to be driven between Lairden and his clan.

“An invitation which has yet to be responded to” I said redirecting my gaze at Lairden who was currently looking extremely delighted at the situation his aid found himself in.

“it would be my honor to accompany you Lord Tal” Lairden responded bowing to me in appreciation but I was far from done.

“What is this lord nonsense? Did I not ask you to call me Tal” I said jovially throwing my arm round Lairden’s shoulder and leading him into the Rost manor under the furious glares of his clan’s men.