Ascending Pride

Infiltration

Six months went by before Ashton saw Wesley and Matthew again, they were leading roughly two dozen men into the village square for an impromptu meeting called by the head. Marquis Silas had traded breeding rights of his family's war horses for nearly a quarter of Marquis Cologne's territory, everything from the western mountain range trade route to the southern port was included. The upside was taxes were reduced from 40% to 30% with a total profit cap 25 silvers annually. Ashton seriously debated the feasibility of uprooting his parents and leaving...

Aston sized up the 3 families and several single men. A family of 7, two families of 5, and 5 single men. He'd eat his father's left shoe if at least two of those men weren't guards of some kind. Not to mention the grandfather in the family of seven looked military of some kind. Luckily, he spent three days in town, then two here. Teacher Donavan was older and didn't have the energy to teach six days a week, which was typical. Ashton shifted his attention back to the village head as he praised their new lord. There was also a feast to be held to welcome the new family in three days, and they were asking if anyone would house our new residents until houses could be built.

Thomas deliberately stayed silent after the village head rested his eyes on his family. He knew things had been too quiet after the landslides. The thought that they had been traded for horses wasn't exactly a heartwarming comparison, even for war horses.

When Scott continued to pass his eyes over the Black family, he internally sighed, "Thomas, have you thought about hiring more hands? 40 acres for just the three of you and two seasonal workers is..." He hinted; he'd been requested by the caravan leader to have send at least one man to the Black residence.

Wesley sent a beaming smile to Ashton, "We thought some extra hands would be perfect so encouraged more single men to travel to Palmer Village." He added glancing around the crowd, several families with daughters still at home were already eyeing the men covetously, and two of the family each had a daughter close to Ashton's age. The family of seven had three sons, only one older than Ash. Surely one person would be able to befriend him.

Matthew wanted to smack Wesley upside the head, all three of them gave politely disinterested gazes, then feigned ignorance. "Any family willing to take someone in will be paid 500 coppers and enough rations for 1.5 a grown men per person each month until the houses can be constructed."

While the Blacks were far from poor the recent purchase of land, paying school fees, and hiring seasonal workers wasn't cheap. Thomas pretended to speak with Samantha, "I'm thinking we follow Ashton to town this time and enjoy a few days away from the village."

Samantha smiled and leaned into Thomas, "That sounds like wonderful idea. We can pay the seasonal workers a little extra since all we need to do is water and weed." She added thinking about their absence, of course she also noticed one of the new girls was rather pretty... but Ash's gaze didn't hesitate to pass her over.

"We can also ask about Ash's studies; too bad we'll miss the welcoming feast." Thomas added in mild amusement. He wasn't sure if they were using a spell to listen in but both Wesley and Matthew's faces seemed to cramp at the same time.

After the 22 people had been settle among the village Matthew and Wesley returned to the in, "Well that could have gone better, I told you it would be too obvious." Matthew sighed as he threw himself face-first into the first bed he'd been on in almost a month. This was their last stop before returning to the capital.

Wesley sighed, it's not like he really had a choice. The future marquis had insisted these four of the five men and three families end up in Palmer Village, while they had started out with over 150 villagers to home, most had resettled closer to Florence. "Well, we did our part. I'm ready to head back, we should even make it for the eldest prince to have his coronation if we leave in the next two days. I'm going to take nap then send a letter back. See you at dinner."

"Maybe, I may sleep until tomorrow." Matthew grumbled then rolled over. He was snoring lightly mere moments later.

Marquis Silas villa in the capital.

The end of spring was the best time of year for coronations and other ceremonies. Damian was helping plan the security for the 5-day coronation and following soirees. Crown prince Serafin Decker Bellis Gustafson would turn 10 shortly after his coronation, he had roughly 20 fiancé candidates and since he had to be officially engaged by his 14th birthday this gave them almost 4 years to sift through the nobility. That meant a lot of parties to entice the noble and neutral factions to defect to the imperial faction so Prince Serafin would not have to rule with an iron fist like his father. While Serafin had not been to war, he had helped subjugate magical beasts and border disputes. His politically achievements were... still lacking since like the emperor he lacked tact and their might maketh right mentality, but Serafin was young enough to hopefully find a good balance.

Leonard was reading the latest update from Palmer village, which was now considered a town. Ashton was proving rather resilient and aloof to all gestures of even simple friendship. While it had been interesting to learn the boy enjoyed singing and dancing that wasn't exactly helpful information. Though maybe bribing the boy with weekly opera visits may be worth consideration.

A feast in every town was thrown to celebrate the newly established crown prince. Ashton also had the day off and was eating with the rest of the town, funny how adding a few buildings changed the allocation of the same plot of land. He sighed as he sat under a tree with his parents as several birds landed and started to sing. They'd already made the rounds of pleasantries and he staved off another wave of potential mates, he was ready for a nap.

It was funny thinking he used to host elaborate banquets and decimate battlefields from day to day. He lay half in the grass, half on a blanket. His father chatting with his mother, sunny skies, people mingling and just enjoying life. "Ma, pops. I wouldn't change a thing if we could just stay like this."

They both reached over to ruffle his hair, "Silly boy, you always say that but always have those big ideas." They parroted in unison out of habit, then they all burst into laughter. It was a good day, for the family, the town, and the empire.