Kingmaker

Stress #1

Ava clenched her fists in silence against the oak table in the great hall. She sat alone as a cold breeze flowed through the hall from an open window. Bringing a chill in with it. Books and papers lay strewn across the table before her, a half empty jug and glass of water at her side. She had since gained over 2000 new soldiers to her own army, and now had to keep track of each and every of them. She had written down each name, age, date of birth and any family details necessary to the welfare of her soldiers and their families should they have one. The soldiers had came in steady waves over the past 2 years, but as had Ava's son, Garret. Though he had gained the nickname of 'Archer' through his apparent obsession with his little crossbow set. The boy had learned to walk quite early, and was already running around and causing mischief to Ava, Sir Richard and their soldiers. But none of them minded it. Since he had been born, the soldiers had been nothing but supportive and helpful when it came to caring for the child and helping out with him.
Garret had been born in late Autumn. Screaming his way into the world. He was a quiet baby, and very rarely cried. Though he had been born with dark hair, it had since turned a fair shade of dark blonde. His eyes were a light mixture of blue and green. Many of the soldiers said he had his mothers' eyes, and his fathers' nose; whilst the hair was like his fathers. The pair having the same dark blonde. As Ava returned to her paperwork, she rested her head upon her hand; just to give herself some sort of support as the hours wore on. She'd been working for several hours at this point whilst Sir Richard and Sir George worked with their soldiers to prepare food for the rest of the men. Garret was sleeping on the ground where he had fallen a few hours earlier in the great hall with Ava, and she had merely thrown her cape over him for warmth until she was done with her work. But with a sigh of tiredness and boredom, Ava set down her quill. Gathering all of her paperwork and moving it into a leather satchel. Throwing it over her shoulder, she moved to her son. Lifting the toddler into her arms and cradling him against her chest as she now left the great hall to take Garret and the paperwork back to their room on the East side of the castle.
Upon entering the room, Ava lay Garret on hers and Sir Richard's bed. Knowing he would wake up now anyway. She moved silently as she returned her paperwork to the oak table in the room. She'd chosen to work in the great hall instead of her room so that Garret had more room to play. The only time she ever used the table in their room was if she had to work late, and Sir Richard had to aswell. They shared the table whilst Garret slept in his cot nearby. They found themselves working late a lot. With the addition of new soldiers, the paperwork had piled up a fair bit. And thee had also been several letters back and forth from the Prince of Wales. There had still been no word from York, but they had been becoming more active. Thus causing a stir within Lancaster.
As Ava turned back to Garret, sure enough, the boy was awake and trying to climb off the bed. He eventually managed to, and instantly ran to Ava, hugging her legs. Ava couldn't help but smile at him as she crouched. "Good nap?" she smiled softly. "Shall we go find your father?" Garret instantly responded with yes, tugging on Ava's hand and dragging her to the doorway. In her eyes, there was tiredness. But over the past 2 years, she'd learnt to hide that. When they eventually reached Sir Richard, Sir George and the soldiers. Ava smiled, letting go of the toddlers hand as he ran to Sir George. Once again, Sir George was the godfather, and loved the boy a lot. A day didn't go by where he would smile and talk to him. Sir Richard smiled to his son and friend, looking to Ava. "Did you manage to finish the paperwork?" he asked, walking to her. "No, if I stay in that room much longer I'll surely go insane. Garret had also fallen asleep on the floor and the second I moved him to bed. He woke. You know when he's awake it's difficult to get anything done" she smiled softly, hugging the knight when he held his arms to her. "He really fell asleep on the floor?" he asked with a soft smile, looking to her now as he stepped back slightly. "You know how he is. One second he's up and running. The next he just falls, laughs then just stays there. I checked on him to make sure he was ok, and he'd fallen asleep after a few minutes. I checked him over for any bumps or anything and he's fine. But I doubt he'll sleep tonight"
Sir Richard merely chuckled. "If he stays awake, we can get our paperwork done. And he can play on the rocking horse. Or we can try and get him to sleep. Whichever works best. For now. Let's get something to eat, and the soldiers want to see you and Garret too. You've been working for hours and they missed you I think" he chuckled again. Earning a smile from Ava. "They're great soldiers. And they love Garret" she smiled, gazing behind Sir Richard as Garret ran around with a few of the soldiers. The men ran slowly, some pretending to stumble; making Garret laugh as he ran.
He brought smiles to their faces, and to the faces of his parents. He was just as respected as they were, and he even had his own little knight outfit. The outfit itself had similar features to those of his parents, and had been handmade by Ava herself. It suited the little boy perfectly, and when he had his crossbow. He looked all the more like a knight.
And seeing that every day was enough to make Ava, Sir Richard, Sir George and their armies smile.

[Authors Note: Little Garret, nicknamed Archer. I was hesitant to do this. Mainly because I don't want Ava and Sir Richard to age. But Garret will need to. *sigh* I've got a lot of thinking to do]