Sherrod POV

“Swifter Strikes, use both your momentum and your enemies when striking. Good but moderate your strength and only use what you need, too much momentum is not always a good thing. Keep up your attacks and don’t let the enemy gain the initiative but do not tire yourself out, change your tempo to ensure you do not overstretch yourself. ”

As my youngest son Marcus tries to implement what I am saying into his swordplay I think back to what I was doing before my visit here. There was a meeting of the lords of the kingdom and the discussion this time was about the threats against the kingdom. Beside the normal pressure from monsters was the rising threat from the Routan Union to the south and the western Tiloth Empire. The union would not be as much trouble since it would not wish to engage in an actual war even if it wanted the rich farmland that was on our border with it. They were not unified enough to muster a defense against a full scale attack and if they launched an attack of their own they could possibly gain the land but would not be able to keep it long enough to benefit. The only conflicts can thankfully be limited to small scale battles and duels by selected champions but Tiloth was a much bigger threat. They are unscrupulous and would often send instigators and bandits into other lands in an attempt to weaken them. This caused rising tension over time as they would disregard any attempts to bring it up at meetings. They wished for the mines on the border with us which supplied large quantities of tin, copper, iron, and even small supplies of adamantium. Our suzerain states among the dwemfen and aelfen kept the empire back from direct conflict so instead they send bandits and assassins to ensure that we cannot support them so easily. While we have managed to kill them when they show up so far some among the lower nobility have suffered losses or worse may even be in league with them. This has been ongoing for years and we have retaliated with mercenary companies that would raid military stores and bring them to us. Since we do not technically own them as we have the our allied city- states hire them and it is not unusual for mercenaries to loot and pillage they have not managed to get a claim against us. The pressure is of course on said allied states but they were already on bad terms regardless so funding from us to cause damage is welcome.

The problem is that while this cold war is going on we face more and more assassins in response to the mercenaries and this is why me and the girls train Marcus so harshly. While the fief itself is relatively safe thanks to the constant military patrols other fiefs do not have as stringent a defense as we do. Young Marcus will have to leave to other less protected fiefs and this is more likely to paint him a target. With his duties as a guardian knight to young Azalia the chance of assassins is very high. I still remember my brother in law’s face when he lost his son to attackers. My wives also saw that face and they were closer to him as blood-related family, I too lost several army captains I had personally led before when I was younger to attacks. They were still relatively young but had much promise for greatness ahead of them. This story is not unusual sad to say and this is why we train him so hard. The other children are going to be staying in the fief and are relatively safe but Marcus will leave eventually. Even though we want him to be safe we still have to let him go eventually and this is why we push him so hard. But he can take the blows, even though lesser men would have fallen from what we have done to him he still has his head high. I would hear from the servants of how hard he works in his training and how his siblings try to help him with advice as well. They too want to make sure their younger brother can survive, even as young as they are they have seen the aftermath of bandit attacks during the few visits to other fiefs we allow them to go on. They are the future leaders of the provinces under us and they needed to know what can happen in the world. We hope to keep them busy in our lands but even they may leave, I still remember my time traveling before I became head of the family and don’t doubt that my blood is strong.

“Very good but you must guard yourself more, an opponent with a different physique could have taken advantage of you” Marcus had just tried a slash with his sword only to have turned that into a bash with his elbow. I dodge out of the way and quickly unleash a series of strikes from his blind spot while he is turning to face me. He splendidly managed to dodge them and tries to strike but he is still too young and falters from fatigue. I take my sword and lay it across his neck, the bout is now over. I slam my hand on his shoulder and warn him about overextending but tell him to get some rest first. As he walks away I move my sword like I am going to thrust at him and he moves out of range quickly without leaving himself open, looks like my wives have done good drilling reflexes into him. They are not as able to teach as I am with words which comes across others as uncultured. They are willing to let this happen since they are strong enough to take the words and only wish for Marcus to be able to grow up strong. Hmm wonder if Rasia still has any pastries from the capital with her though I doubt it since she had a tea party earlier with forced attendance. I can tell from Marcus’s face over the time I have spent with him that he is finding Rasia’s bipolarism a bit hard even if he is hiding it well but is managing to take it in stride, I don’t doubt he will fully get used to it in time just as I did. I found out early myself but while it can be troublesome she is quite honest because of it unlike other noblewoman with their veiled threats. Those types disgust me even if I must bear with them all the time as part of the King’s Council. Norma gets dragged along by Rasia but is more moderate and likes telling stories about our old adventures and tries to balance things out even if a little.

“Remember, if you can’t hit to kill then hit to disable works just fine if you can follow up, but a disabling blow by itself will not win you a battle

”Hmm should be wrapping things up soon, time for lunch and I want my son to actually be able to eat without having shaky limbs from muscle soreness.