Ascending Pride

Letter

Western town relief site: Florence

"Marquis Silas, a letter arrived for you." A guard had been tasked with waiting and directly handing the letter to the Marquis upon his arrival.

Leonard Silas was 43 years old his year, his dark grey beard was still neatly trimmed and black hair slicked back even after riding hard for the last 9 hours, they had brought mostly emergency supplies, strong able-bodied men, and mages apt in healing and tracking. Food, tents, and other supplies would be arriving by nightfall. His sharp green eyes raised at the enchanted envelope; he nodded as two men explained the situation as they walked to the command tent.

First was a letter of every word Wesley and Matthew had shared with the Black's. Leonard raised an eyebrow at the diplomacy such a young man expressed at his clear displeasure and how he was forced to answer a Marquis of another territory. He'd also neither accepted their apology, nor been ignorant of the dangers such a letter had brought. Leonard was rather intrigued by how such a person would respond so he opened the enchanted letter.

He first read over the letter in its entirety before breaking down each paragraph and its actual meaning. Clearly this boy was no fool.

To the esteemed Marquis Silas,

Though we have never met this commoner will do everything possible to answer any queries of your Esteemed self Marquis Silas, please forgive the discourtesy of such a short greeting, also please excuse any disrespect an unlearned commoner of the Cologne territory may unintentionally display. As time is of the essence, this commoner will not waste your noble time.

First Ashton blamed Leonard for pressuring an unrelated, unknown commoner into assisting the noble of another territory, then apologized for his lack of tact on commoner ignorance, then blaming him, again for the lack of tact displayed by such nobility even though he was a mere commoner.

As two separate rebel groups have formed, the safety of the commoners may be overlooked to establish military dominance to then directly recruit the masses to assist in relief efforts. However, this would lead to much discontent and eventually to sympathizers to rogue forces.

Then Ashton claimed focusing on rebels would mean he was a power-hungry authoritarian who placed his own prestige over the safety of the commoners.

If military forces were to focus on rescue and relief efforts rather than entangle with brigands, your esteemed self would be able to concentrate your forces for defense should any be fool hearty enough to have designs on the caravan so graciously donated from the larders.

Now, as if he still a toddler who understood nothing about war, Ashton said if all his forces were together, they were less likely to be attacked, but most importantly Ashton stroked his ego to consider the gathered resources as a donation rather than a borrowed resources the people would have to pay back.

Focusing on defense will also allow the Marquis to have a visible presence in the distraught town, rather than allow others to claim credit they are not due. I would humbly suggest setting up your own relief station rather than having the injured and weary visit another for their rations.

This was a rather... unexpected suggestion. Usually relief stations were held in the local churches, or if they were damaged in the highest ranking man's house. While it was common knowledge he was close to the emperor, and the emperor despised the faith of Lindorm... for a commoner to comment was audacious.

To help disperse any desperate actions including local rotations of assistance would not only focus the masses but ensure cohesive efforts of the military and locals. Then after establishing cooperative efforts any brigands would be naïve to attempt to entice support away, though this also depends on the duration of the rescue efforts.

While Leonard had fully intended to incorporate the locals but treating them the same as his own soldiers would help ease tensions, again dependent on how long such efforts would take.

After emergency relief is established, leaving the follow up to a few local talents would leave your mighty and generous militia to deal with any rebels still causing havoc to the distraught masses. Your trusted aids will not only be able to report if any brigands attempt anything, but also report on the wounded and dead so the necessary arrangements can be made.

If they could heavily focus on rescue efforts for ten days, then the shift of focus to rooting out rebels would be ideal for the safety of the residents that would eventually have to rebuild their homes and lives in the area. The wounded were usually tended to by priest healers, if the Marquis men took over such a duty that would bolster their prestige. Though any crippled would probably still end up in the church to recite scriptures, spread the word of Lindorm, or teach the young.

I dare not accept any reward while the Marquis territories are in such turmoil, the offer and acknowledgement of your Esteemed Self has warmed my heart after such chilling news. Hopefully this uneducated commoner of Palmer Village was able to alleviate a few concerns of your esteemed self Marquis Silas. Should this commoner be able to assist any further, please do not hesitate to send word.

Humbly and with great respect,

Ashton Black of Palmer Village

Even at the end he ensured he distanced any possible relationship. He also clearly refused any payment, clearly this boy was well versed in court politics, democracy, and political intrigue. He would eat his sword if this was truly some random common farmer.

He called his son Damian James Silas, heir to the Marquis, he also had thick black hair, piercing green eyes, and stern features. While his shoulders weren't as broad as most soldiers he was well practiced with war and the sword. At only 19 and 5'10 he still had room to grow, "Come read this letter and tell me what you think."

Damian was usually with their Emperor but had been sent as reinforcements due to the rebel's quick actions along with 3,000 city guards usually reserved for city defense or the crown.

While Damian had picked out a few of the barbs he wasn't quiet as versed as his father, they discussed the relief efforts and Damian took charge of sorting out local rotations to stand with their personal guards. The city guards would only focus on ration defense when the caravan of supplies arrived.

Later that evening, after they had set the rotations and most groups were now taking turns digging out houses and looking for any buried or lost, Damian and Leonard sat down with simple rations.

"Father, why haven't I heard of you speak of this Ashton?" Damian asked curiously as he waved for someone to take his armor to wash. He'd not been exempt from digging up houses, breaking boulders, and cutting trees for temporary dwellings. While he would love to take a bath, he couldn't set any bad examples.

Leonard raised a brow over his cheese and bread, "You've been with his majesty these last 3 years, barely home for a week at a time, while this boy was interesting, we had never actually shared any correspondence. Though even without this I did intend to mention him when you returned. I'm surprised his Majesty hasn't mentioned him, I had reported my suspicions over a year ago." He added almost as an afterthought.

Damian almost choked, for over a year neither his father nor his Emperor had bothered to inform him of such a commoner, clearly the boy would be useful if he was half as smart as he portrayed in this letter.

Leonard hid a smile, the emperor had shown keen interest after hearing about why the nobles would set up roadblocks, and even when he asked about reaching out last time about how to encourage other nobles to release rotation crops to residents. Also, the idea of a reward system for any farmer who created new farming tools was brilliant, someone had recently released a needle machine for faster sewing.

Damian glanced at his father who was giving an unusually bright smile... maybe this farm boy was more important than they were letting on. He'd have to make his own inquiries.

Luckily by the end of the first week rescue efforts had ended as almost everyone expected to still be alive had been accounted for, the death toll was still over 200 people, the church eventually took in 70 permanently crippled villagers, and the lands were decimated but moral was high and the rebels were being reported left and right. A mix of 2000 troops were divided among four affected villages to relocate and help rebuild infrastructure, unfortunately food larders would be hard pressed since it was so close to winter but the allocation of the imperial reserves was already being negotiated.