Well, we're going to have to find their base preferably before they do any damage but whatever the trustworthiness of Robin or who's playing whom I have to keep him safe from Eugene's suspicion or be seen to do so. I need an excuse for being in the area and stumbling on the bandit camp. I don't want to offend the lord of Kincarn and especially not his liege Isaac Zayat the count of Neudon so it can't be specifically aimed at the border area or anything else that might be seen to provoke them.
Now, where is it that this bandit camp is most likely to be located, Robin said it was just this side of the border yet that is still a large enough area to cover. Well, about two-thirds of the border is hill county, half of which is forested and the remaining third relatively flat. Even with the new patrols, there are bound to be plenty of places they could be hiding though I think the flatland is unlikely to do so. To a certain extent, we have been concentrating our patrols elsewhere so perhaps that might be wishful thinking on my part. I haven't been to that part of the barony much, but I haven't heard about any caves there about so is there perhaps a part of the forest that people avoid going to, well other than that which is nearer the crown lands. But that would be quite a trek for any kind of bandits I have ever heard off.
There's nothing for it I'll have to have it all searched but still, I need a reasonable excuse for it. What to use, wait I have that copy of my ancestors' book 'Tall tales and legends of the Western Marche' somewhere around here, there it is.
The book in question had been written by the third son of Alek Malla the first baron of Membe from the Malla family, Erik Malla who was interested in such things and had collected the tales from all over the Duchy. He had later inherited the barony in his old age when first his second eldest brother and then his eldest brother had died childless. The section of the book on the Membe Barony didn't prove helpful but fortunately, the one on Neuton County made mention of the lost mines of Kincarn.
How anyone could have lost a mine even if it was played out which this one wasn't supposedly was beyond him but according to the legend that is exactly what happened. According to it close to eight hundred years ago, the mines of Kincarn were destroyed by an earthquake, flood, or what have you and all that knew of its secret location perished, and all the attempts to locate its whereabouts over the years failed. There was no mention of what had been mined there or anything else about it other than it's supposed existence.
If it wasn't for one additional piece of information, I had recently come upon I would have looked elsewhere for an excuse to go searching for the bandit camp. Kincarn Castle had once been the seat of the Barony of Kincarn until the actions of its baron had caused the surrounding baronies including Membe to go to war with it. As part of its spoils, Membe who had been a junior party to its defeat had received some of Kincarn for their troubles. They had lost some of that since then, but it was conceivable that if you believed in the legend it was possible to think that the lost mines of Kincarn were actually located in what is now Membe.
Now the question is should we be open about what we are supposed to be up to or keep it quiet and then allow news of it to leak out. Best to go for the second option but should I inform anyone about what I am about or is it best to keep it a secret from everyone else.
No, I have to at least tell Erdal about the information I received though not necessarily its source. My idea to use the smokescreen of the lost mines to look for them mightn't seem as good an idea to him as it does to me and perhaps, he might have a better one. Without the full facts at his disposal, he might miss something he otherwise wouldn't. And he might have ideas of his own concerning where the bandits might be basing themselves or how best to find them.
Two last things can this wait until the morning or should I potentially wake him up now and perhaps more importantly should I accompany the searchers or not. Nah I should sleep on it myself so it can wait and the decision on the other matter should be up to Erdal.
With that decided I went next door and asked Vete Taom my squire to wake me up half an hour earlier than usual and then while I was getting dressed to ask my Marshal to speak with me in the Map Room as soon as possible.
I had trouble getting to sleep that night, questioning my plans for the search but in the end, I slept like a baby.