She looked over my expression and the way that I was somewhat tense as I sensed the way that the rest of the wolves were turning away and moving back into the forest. “You don’t need to be so worried. Kynareth guides and protects her faithful. You should know this more than anyone I suppose.”

  “I do remember you telling me to ‘fear and respect’ nature.”

  “And that is something to live by.”

  Making our way across the clearing where I had been hunting rabbits, I pulled my hood back over my face to cover it from the sun and walked alongside her. “So why were you looking for myself and the priory?”

  “Well… Um…” she paused for a moment and looked somewhat embarrassed. “I have come to join your Order.”

  “Really?”

  Her hat bounced a little as she nodded but out of the corner of my eye I saw the way that she was making an effort not to look in my direction. “Yes. I… ah… received only what I can call a ‘divine vision’ from Kynareth herself.” The silence that fell between us was mostly unintentional but she seemed somewhat confused as I was listening intently instead of treating her with doubt and scepticism. “You don’t seem surprised Sir Desin.”

  “Just call me Kaius. I get enough “Sir Desin’s” these days as it is. You are right though; I’m not surprised.”

  “Why not?”

  “What if I told you that Viconia and I originally took up this quest to retrieve the relics from the ghost of Pelinal Himself?”

  “Ah.” She laughed and I couldn’t help but chuckle from the sheer amount of relief in her voice and the way she suddenly relaxed. “Well, I am unsure of exactly what you were shown or told, but I have been shown that to protect all Kynareth’s creations I must take up your cause and be willing to lay down my life for you. So, here I am.”

  “I think that anyone stupid enough to turn down help offered from the Primus Lanceae of the 6th Legion is doomed to failure.”

  “That was a long time ago.”

  “Not that long. Besides, I guarantee you that you have more experience commanding and organising something like the Order of the Nine than I do. I believe that I may have told you that I had only been a Praefect in the Legion.”

  “I do vaguely remember something of the like. I also remember hearing how you were declared Knight Commander of the Order, and were responsible for retrieving the Mace and the Shield.”

  “I’ll be surprised if all of Tamriel doesn’t know of it by now.” Moving slightly ahead of her I pushed my way through some of the low hanging branches and waiting for Avita and her horse to move past. “It’s been a busy couple of months.”

  “That I have no doubt. It does however raise the question why the Knight Commander of a Holy Order is out by himself in the forests.”

  “Stress relief.” I replied, gesturing to the furred bodies at my hip streaked with mostly congealed blood. “I needed to flee from all the paperwork and management lest I took my sword to the nearest stack of parchments. So I came out here to get some fresh food.”

  “Oh. Well, I hope that I won’t be a burden on your supplies.”

  Laughing out loud and smiling at her, I shook my head. “You don’t need to be worried. We don’t have many concerns in that regard.”

  It took us little over an hour and the sun was high in the sky when we finally came within sight of the priory. Gone was the partially decayed ruin that Viconia and I had originally discovered and in its place was a veritable hive of activity. Most of the priory that could be seen behind the various scaffolds, frames and tents clustered around it was covered with men and mer, shifting and moving construction materials as they went about restoring the building to its former glory.

  The Priory was no longer alone in the wilds, and while they were little more than wooden skeletons of frames and joists a handful of buildings were also being erected within a stone’s throw of it. Two of the buildings could be identified as stables and a bunkhouse styled arrangement that for the moment was mostly covered in canvas for protection from the elements but there were dozens of tents arrayed in neat rows in all directions.

  “By the Nine.” Avita breathed as we finally managed to get a good look at the priory and its surrounds and I couldn’t help but smile as she was stopped in mid place. “This… This is unexpected.”

  “We are certainly not resting on our laurels.” I replied. “It is also amazing how much you can get done when your coffers are deep.”

  “I’m not sure I want to know how much the Order has access to, but I can guess that it is considerable.”

  “That’s somewhat of an understatement.” Her initial surprise was now replaced with wonder and we continued on into the clearing around the priory. The clearing itself was certainly one of the more obvious changes as it was almost two hundred metres across instead of the forest practically growing on top of the building. “Between the Imperial Tithe on the Church and the numerous donations from various counties, baronies and even provinces, we have more than enough money for anything we could require.”

  “I can see that.” Guiding her horse through the thinning maze of tree stumps, Avita’s eyes were roaming about and for a moment I felt embarrassed at what could easily be described as an outright devastation of the local area. “Yet you are still using local materials for the construction?”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Easier than trying to bring what we need by wagon from Skingrad. The old roads are all overgrown and we would almost have to clear them before we could get any significant quantities.” I gestured off towards the south east and a section of clearing that was conspicuously absent of stumps. “The closest village is almost two days in that direction. At least, the closest inhabited village. When the trade routes through here were abandoned in favour of the others to the west this, region was mostly abandoned. We still managed to find a couple of the old settlements. There’s one roughly half a day away in the same direction that used to be a mining settlement which we are considering re-establishing. The Order of the Nine is going to need raw materials in the future.”

  “You’re not thinking short term.”

  Shaking my head, I looked over the way that the dozens of people were moving about. There were dozens of labourers and builders alone busying themselves with their trades. “Unfortunately I have to try to do both. The Order was established to safeguard the relics, but the Elder Council and especially the Church expects us for all intents and purposes go to war right away.”

  “Just how long have you all been here?”

  “Four weeks.” The number seemed to hang in the air and still it into silence despite the noise that grew louder with every step. “It took us a week to get from Leyawiin to here but as you can see we aren’t wasting any time. We are lucky that the Priory is here and gave us something to start with but we are trying to achieve something far beyond the original Order.”

  “Like what exactly?”

  I gave her a glance and a nervous smile. “The original order was nine knights and they had no men-at-arms and only a handful of dedicated craftsmen to support them. I have twenty-five knights under my command and that doesn’t include those from other Orders acting as auxiliaries. Every day I am finding myself with more and more volunteers that I have to somehow create a fighting force from.”

  “Like myself?”

  There was no doubting the hint of disappointment in her tone and I winced at the way I had accidently insulted her. “Oh no. You’re different and I can’t express how pleased I am to have someone like yourself offering support. The more professionally trained soldiers I have, especially Legion trained soldiers the better. The fact that you were also Extraordinarii, let alone a Legion’s First Lance makes you worth your weight in gold.”

  “You flatter me Kaius.” Her tone went serious and cold and for a few moments she pointedly stared at me. “I have to ask though, how do you know that I haven’t simply lied about my past?”

  “Your arms can’t lie.” She dropped her gaze to her bared forearms that were tanned from years living as a priestess. Underneath the brown colouration there were dozens of white scars of swords practice and for a moment I wondered whether she was struggling not to blush. “Also, that sword on your hip is certainly not Legion standard. That’s a champion’s blade and you only get to keep one if you win three tournaments.”

  “I guess you were truly in the Legion as well.” There was no mistaking the way she was smiling at my comments, but her eyes were still roaming about the sea of tents as we reached their edge. “I do have to admit that Isabelle is the first horse I have ridden in the better part of a decade so I have some trepidation.”

  “That’s fine. Many of our volunteers with military or fighting experience have been or are retired in various ways. Although most of who arrive have no real experience at all but we have been lucky in a few occasions.” Catching the eye of one of the burly foremen supervising the erection of what was to be the main bunkhouse for the Order I gestured about and shouted over the sound of sawing and hammering wood. “Uzulak! Have you seen Captain Vanevius?”

  With a bundle of freshly sawn planks over a burly shoulder, the orc glanced about himself and managed to shrug despite the weight. “Not recently my Lord. He was over at the training grounds earlier this morning.”

  “Thanks.” Giving him a handful of the labourers a quick wave and nod of appreciation of their efforts, I also handed over one of my rabbits.

  “Captain Vanevius?” Avita asked.

  “He’s my second in command and in charge of the Knights.”

  “Not Madame DeVir?”

  “Viconia?” I laughed. “She’s one of my Knight-Captains, but she was better suited to command the infantry. Neither of us are overly experienced with cavalry and Alexi was Knight-Captain of the Order of the White Stallion. I think you are going to be better suited under his command.”

  She stopped in place, blinking and mouth falling open slightly in astonishment. “You’re going to make me a knight?”

  “Not right away. I have knighted a few here, but at this stage it is more of an honour and a way to differentiate the heavy cavalry from everyone else. Unfortunately, one of the many difficulties that I and this Order faces is that Knights fight in a very unique manner. As you can understand it takes a considerable amount to train a horseman, let alone train them to fight in formation with lances.”

  I could see by her expression that she knew exactly what I meant. While arguably the elite of the Legions, the Extraordinarii fought in their own manner and the strength of the Legion still lay with the Legionaries. The Foresters would harass and weaken the foe during the initial engagements, the Legionaries would wear the enemy down and inevitably inflict the most casualties and the Extraordinarii would deliver the knockout blow and mop up. Avita was right having some concerns, for the moment at least.

  “You mentioned that there were others who had served in the Legion?”

  I nodded, carefully stepping my way through a collection of various men and women who had followed us in to the priory like driftwood followed a caravel. “Indeed. I’ll introduce you to them shortly but including myself, you make the fifth that I know of.”

  “That doesn’t seem many compared to how many are here.”

  “I’ve had to turn away several. You’d be surprised how many retired Legionaries have arrived, but as experienced as they were I can’t afford to put men and women in their seventies and eighties into a battleline.”

  Despite the way that I thought she had tried to hide it, I still managed to see the nod she provided in agreement even as we picked our way down the churned dirt between the tents. There was more than enough space for Avita and her horse to walk without getting in the way of anyone, but there was no doubting that there were a lot of people near the priory. Despite my best efforts, keeping an accurate count of the numbers was near impossible as every day a new group or even individuals would arrive and set up camp. Any concentration of soldiers or encampments attracted everyone from skilled craftsmen and artisans, to peddlers and whores, and the Knights of the Nine was no exception.

  Through the village of tents on the eastern side of the Priory lay a surprisingly immense cleared area that was also playing host to dozens of individuals going about their duties. Unlike the rest of the area however these men and women were training for war rather than supporting and I heard Avita’s amused chuckle of nostalgia.

  “Just like coming home isn’t it?” I asked humorously and she laughed.

  “Oh indeed. You couldn’t have made training grounds any closer to the Legion standard if you tried.”

  Pointing in the direction of the soldiers facing off against straw filled dummies, I directed her gaze to one of the instructors marching back and forth. “You can blame Carodus for that.”