“Mother,” I said the one word like an idiot, as the world stood silent.

  “Jack,” was all she said, voice choking with emotion. Her arms shook with obvious desire to hug me, held back by the bonds of propriety.

  She had clearly lost some weight. She wasn’t even fifty, yet stress had turned some of her hair white.

  I smiled to reassure her and turned to the young woman beside her.

  “Sister.”

  She beamed brightly at me and bowed deeply. “Brother!”

  I found it a bit odd, as Jack and Isanna hadn’t been very close since childhood, but I suppose distance made the heart grow fonder.

  “I'm sorry about father, mother.” I said.

  “I understand. I received a personal missive from the Queen in addition to your betrothal proclamation. You only performed your duty.”

  Tears almost spilled from her eyes. “I thought you were dead!”

  I composed my face. Nothing good would come of informing her that her son was indeed dead and someone else lived in his body.

  I looked at their entourage. Beside her stood my cousins Gunter and Olfric, and their mother. Gunter was a well built young man. Olfric was softer, but his eyes were sharp in contrast to his body. Aunt Osilda, barely into her forties, was a stunning woman even more fetching than my mother.

  “Aunt Osilda. Cousin Gunter. Cousin Olfric,” I said, inclining my head.

  Osilda put a charming smile on her face and promptly dipped in a graceful bow, while the boys, barely into their twenties, hesitated for a few heartbeats.

  Olfric did a better job of hiding his anger than his older brother. I sympathized with the boys; with the death of my father and me presumed dead, Gunter had become the new Count, but only a few weeks later, a single royal proclamation took it all away.

  Thankfully, both of them bowed. The display of royal authority and its backing in the form of a hundred soldiers in the livery of the Crown was enough to give them pause.

  Reshma came forward to stand beside me. I pointed to her.

  “Allow me to present Lady Reshma, Her Majesty’s personal aide.”

  “A pleasure, my ladies and lords,” she bowed with practiced ease.

  They reciprocated with stiff bows; everyone was surprised a Sindhi woman was so close to the Queen.

  “These are Sirs Grimric and Hagen, Her Majesty’s personal Guards.” I pointed to the two knights flanking me.

  As the exchange of bow continued, I noticed the other party were flanked by two knights and the Steward, Elric. I recognized one of the men in armor.

  “Sir Moore.”

  “My liege. We are overjoyed to have you returned to us.”

  The man bowed deeply. I noticed he was probably not even twenty five.

  “Sir Moore, are you the highest ranking officer presently in our service?” I asked, as the other knight looked still to be in his teens. Probably was still a squire when Jack had left to help the Cha.

  “Yes, my lord. Sir Wigmar and I are the only knights left in direct service of House Nobart. The rest–”

  “Died at my hands,” I said, sighing.

  Silence followed.

  That one battle had severely weakened Nobart. If our neighbors wanted to grab some land, we couldn’t do much about it. I had killed three hundred Nobaran men and now was the survivors' leader.

  Many would hate me for killing their comrades, brothers, husbands and fathers. That had to be dealt with immediately or I would soon find myself with a knife in the gut.

  While my thoughts spiraled, their procession turned back toward the city. Dust rose as the Queen’s soldiers escorted us, walking in lockstep.

  As we walked uphill, people cheered, hesitant at first, then louder.

  “Mother,” I asked quietly. “Are you and Isanna… fine?”

  “Yes, dear. We were not mistreated.”

  I took a sigh of relief.

  We reached the city center, overlooking the poorer half sprawling downward. Banners of House Nobart and the Crown fluttered behind us as we stopped there. The commoners looked at us in anticipation.

  Reshma nudged me to make the proclamation she had me repeat a hundred times. I drew a breath and began.

  “People of Nobart, By the Grace of God and the rights of blood and oath, We, the rightful ruler of these lands, having been restored to our seat by God’s mercy and the Crown’s justice, do now speak for the peace of the realm and closure of old wounds.

  In the time of our absence, many confusions arose. Offices were taken up without warrant, judgments passed without seal and goods withheld that were due to the Crown and the county. Some acted in fear, some in ignorance and some in malice.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  We didn’t know what exactly had happened here, so Reshma had written a speech that would account for everything.

  “We do not wish for the realm to bleed forever for the past disorder.

  Therefore, we decree the following, in justice and mercy:

  All men who have held office, land or command in Our name shall present themselves to renew their oaths of fealty within a month.

  Those who do so in good faith shall be confirmed in their holdings, save only where grave offense has been done.

  Failure to present oneself within that time shall be taken as willful contempt of Our peace, and judged accordingly.”

  I looked at Reshma for feedback, who nodded. We were ready to legitimize any sensible actions Gunter and his allies had taken, but would punish unjust ones.

  “Let no one fear for honest service, yet let it be known those who usurped authority or seized lands not granted to them or conspired with foreign powers, stand outside this mercy.

  Such men shall answer before Our courts. Everyone shall be held to the same account. We will not war against our blood, but neither shall it be a shield against justice.”

  That should make the commoners happy.

  “Any lands taken by force or deceit shall revert to the Crown, pending judgment. Any man that spreads rumor or accusations challenging this proclamation, outside of a court, shall be treated as a maker of discord and dealt accordingly.”

  For a moment, the crowd was silent. Reshma gave me a nod of approval.

  Then the people cheered.

  “All hail Count Jack!”

  “Long live the Count!”

  I had a lot of questions, but held my tongue until we reached the castle. The formidable gray structure felt familiar and new at the same time, as Jack’s memories and my own curiosity intermingled. A small, skeleton crew of soldiers manned the walls.

  Jack’s mother led us to the Count’s chambers. The corridors of Castle Nobart were as narrow as those of Hohenheim Castle were airy, to keep the heat inside.

  “You must be tired, dear. Rest and I will send word when dinner is ready.”

  “Before that, let us talk in private. Just you and me.”

  She nodded and followed, along with Reshma. She looked at the tall swarthy woman, then me.

  “Reshma is here as my diplomatic advisor. We’re also very close; you can trust her entirely.”

  She nodded as I closed the doors to the chambers. The moment I turned, she wrapped her arms around me.

  “Thank God you are alive!” she said between choking sobs. “I thought I lost you months ago.”

  All I could do was pat her back and let her cry her worries out. It took a few minutes for her to compose herself.

  She put a hand on my cheek, confirming I was truly there. “How have you been? Where have you been all this time?” she asked frantically.

  “It’s a long story, mother. It can wait a while, but what I want to know cannot. What has been happening here? Were you two really fine?”

  “Yes. They moved us to the guest wing, but we weren’t ill treated, much.” Her eyes lowered in shame. “I haven’t been myself for months, so I don’t know every detail, but the transition of power after your father’s death wasn’t bloody. They were planning to marry Isanna to Count Ironfeld’s youngest son.”

  Any sympathy I felt for my cousins vanished. It also explained Isanna’s immense relief at seeing me. “The boy doesn’t have a good reputation, does he?”

  “No. Not if the rumors are true.” She asked for my opinion with a pointed look.

  “I won’t marry her off like that. We will find her a good match. How was the transition of power peaceful? If I remember correctly, Olfric is by far the smarter one, and very ambitious. I thought the brothers would be at each other’s throats.”

  She frowned at my choice of words, but answered. “That he is, but with so many of the soldiers in our direct service and our bannermen dead, Gunter couldn’t really stand on his own. He was essentially Olfric’s puppet, who let him strut around and indulge himself, while Olfric held real power. Jack, are all our knights and men-at-arms truly dead?”

  “Yes.” I nodded weakly, not meeting her eyes. “Who can I trust, mother?”

  “Elric. Sir Moore has also been performing his duties as the new castellan as honorably as he could.” Her voice petered out at the end. I didn’t fail to notice.

  “What is it, mother?”

  “I felt bad for the poor girls Gunter had brought over to his chambers. Moore protested and Gunter threatened to kick him out.”

  It was safe to assume those girls weren’t given any choice.

  Reshma put a hand on my shoulder before I could rise. I fixed her with a stare.

  “Let me handle it, my lord.”

  “Fine.”

  My mother stared at the display.

  “You two are really close.”

  “Yes. Our aunt really didn’t mistreat you?”

  “She took some baubles. Isanna was incensed, but Osilda returned them back when the news of your betrothal was announced, saying she had just borrowed them.”

  “If that’s the worst thing she did, it’s not worth the attention. What about the treasury?”

  Her face fell in shame. “I’m sorry, my son. I haven’t been myself ever since… ever since I thought I lost you. Elric has been taking care of everything.”

  I nodded at the poor woman.

  “I should invite him and Moore here,” I said, getting up.

  The moment I stepped out from the door, Isanna threw her arms around me. “Brother!”

  I patted her head. “How have you been, Isanna?”

  “Fine, but brother- they are trying to marry me off to-”

  I stopped her with a hand gesture. “I know. I won’t let it happen.”

  She hugged me even tighter. “Thank you, brother!”

  I peeled her off with some effort. “Now point me towards Elric. I need to talk to him and Sir Moore.”

  “They are in the west wing.”

  I ruffled her hair again and walked toward my destination. Thankfully I did remember the layout of the entire castle. It would have been more than suspicious to ask someone else for directions.

  Before I could reach my destination, a young man stepped into my path.

  “My lord?”

  “Yes?”

  Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my back.

  I had the presence of mind to move forward. The man in front of me produced a small dagger, but before he could use it, I shoved him down with a casual push.

  I crossed his prone body and seeing no one ahead, turned back to seeing my assailant coming at me with his dagger extended for another attack.

  Thankfully I was fast enough to move to the side.

  His dagger passed over my shoulder and I shoved him back with another push of an open palm.

  While he went flying back, the man lying down was trying to get up.

  I kicked him hard with all my strength, knocking him out, or worse; I didn’t have time to confirm.

  I stepped over him and kicked the other man who had gotten up and was about to attack me again. He went flying back, his head hitting the stone floor.

  As the adrenaline faded, pain blossomed in my back. The stab had gone into my gut. The corridor echoed with the stomp of boots as my men ran towards me.

  Before I could say anything, everything went dark.

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