I was in a meeting with sir Erdal Spaci and sir Justin Nedina planning for Erdal's assumption of the Barony's Marshal position and the integration of my forces into that if the Barony's when a page arrived with the news that the Steward Tagas Onus had arrived back from Wainthe.
"Boy did he arrive alone or with company?"
"Milord two mounted soldiers, his wife, a servant and some man I haven't seen before accompanied him or so I was told."
"Page please inform the constable that I will be down in a few moments to greet the Steward in the great hall I think."
I waited until he had left before saying anything.
"Alright you two while I greet Tagas Onus I want you to continue your discussions and when I come back hopefully you can provide me with a better idea of how we get it done without negatively affecting the morale of the men and their performance while at the same time increasing their effectiveness."
"Don't worry sir it shouldn't be too hard of a challenge for us to overcome."
Leaving the two of them to the task at hand I made my way to the great hall were Tagas and his party awaited me. Together with the constable was an older man who I presumed was Tagas, his somewhat attractive wife who was much younger than him and was someone I knew. With them was someone about the same age as me who if I wasn't mistaken was an old friend of mine by the name of Wyatt Garisson, whom I had seen in ages.
"You must be Tagas Onus it's a pleasure to meet you.", I said to the older gentleman.
"Thank you, milord, may I present to you my wife Marta Onus, I believe you already know her."
"How long has it been Marta you seem to have made a good match with this one, sorry to hear about your parents I know it has been a while since they died but I'm sorry for your loss.", Amondo stayed
"Thank you Amondo and I appreciate your kindness.", she replied.
"What are you doing here Wyatt last I heard you were still working for Goran Shalhou don't tell me you left his service."
"Amondo it's a pleasure as always but while I did leave his service for a short period I am back with him now."
"So what brings you to this neck of the woods then?"
"I was visiting my aunt she's not well you know when I heard that you had returned so I thought I'll visit you on my way back. I ran into Tagas on my way here so we travelled here together and the rest is as they say history."
"You are always welcome Wyatt but if you don't mind I would like to talk to Tagas in private, constable would you please show him around, he's been here before but it was quite some time ago."
"A pleasure milord, Wyatt this way please.", the constable interjected as he leads him off on a tour of the castle.
"Marta we've been away a while why don't you go and make sure our rooms have been taken care of in our absence.", Tagas asked his wife.
"Right husband, Amondo pleasure seeing you again.", she said before also leaving.
Now that we were alone I was able to speak to him without worrying that I would say something I shouldn't have.
"Tagas I just want to thank you for all you have done for me over the years, it can't have been easy on you."
"I tried my best milord but your brother might have been a fool but he knew his mind and it wasn't always easy to change it. I was able to do so on occasion but so were others that I do not think had his or the Barony's best interests at heart. I'm not sure if it was a coordinated effort or they were each just after what they could get but the possibility does exist however remotely.
"Don't worry I paid you to do two things for me first to try and curb his enthusiasms and secondly to provide me with information on what he was up to. I didn't expect you to perform miracles just steer him where you could and inform me where you could not. I probably should have acted on your information more than I did but it was his barony, and I couldn't bring myself to interfere with it that much. Well, it is mine now and all I can do is hope myself capable of fixing it with the minimum of bloodshed, at least on my side. Now I understand the extra pressure all this but on you and if you wish to move on elsewhere then I would understand but I really could do with your help."
"I've grown rather fond of this place over the years you know and I don't wish to see it change hands so I think I'll stay on if you don't mind."
"Not at all, I've read all the reports you provided me over the years but I have some questions that I'd like answered."
"Fire away."
"What's your opinion concerning Gru Meten, is he up for the job of Seneschal or not."
"He's ok with the day to day running of things but isn't exactly good in a crisis and he's Nazma's man through and through, not perhaps as much as Primoz was but he has at least more sense than that one ever did."
"Alright now, do you think Eugene has his claws into any of the Meten's or anyone else in Membe for that matter?"
"I wouldn't rule it out but I think he was concentrating on the lordships and counting on your brothers mishandling of things. I image with his death and your impending arrival he set out to rectify that but such things take time or so I am told."
"One last thing it seems that my brother might have been involved with some secret organisation or something, any ideas on that front."
"No doubt you're talking about those messages he received on occasion I tried asking him about those once but he claimed they were from an old eccentric friend of his. As for the truth of that, your guess is as good as mine."