After breaking the news of Simon's banishment, Tam retreated to the courtyard behind the house, while Ophil buried herself in an elaborate tapestry she had been working on. Realizing they were well on their way to a full blown argument, they had decided to cool their heads rather than start a shouting match.
Kothar decided to follow suit, and meditated in his room.
The house was quiet, with only the faint sounds of the city trickling in through the open windows. It had only been a short a while before the silence was interrupted.
A loud pounding rang out, somebody was beating on the front door.
Kothar ran downstairs, seeing Tam already opening the door and Ophil standing to one side, her brow furrowed in concern.
A red faced, sweaty guardsman stood at the threshold, gasping for breath, his eyes wide.
"General Tam. Castle. The King needs you." He wheezed, holding the side of the door to support himself.
"Understood. Get yourself something to drink, soldier." Tam clapped the guard on the shoulder, and dismissed him.
"Ophil, it has to be-" Tam began to persuade Ophil before she cut him short.
"I'm coming with you, I want to see what he has to say for himself, and if it's so bad that he had to send his most unfit guardsman sprinting to see you, without any explanation either, I'll be needed as well. As a matter of fact, Kothar should come along too." Ophil said firmly, giving Tam a look that dared him to try and disagree.
"Alright, both of you. Get your gear and meet me outside in 2 minutes. I won't wait any longer, this must be urgent." Tam commanded, in the tone of a superior military officer, rather than a father or husband.
Kothar sped up to his room, and quickly gathered his gear, quickly strapping on his blades and a heavy cloak, grabbing his travel pack on his way out.
Outside, Tam and Ophil were already waiting for him. A serious look on both their faces. Tam wore a breastplate, bracers and greaves of a dull blue metal, which swam with runes.
Ophil wore the heavy leather robes of a battle mage, her hair tied under a cloth bandana, with a thin silver staff in one hand, all covered in runic inscriptions.
"Come on." Tam said, and turned and marched off without another word, heading for the shining keep in the distance.
The shining walls of the keep soon came into view, but they were greeted by an unusual sight. Jonas stood waiting across the bridge, in his silver inlaid uniform. He had his usual expression of aloof detachment on his face, but his eyes swept the across the moat, locking on to the three of them.
"I see you've brought the entire family along. Not what his highness requested, but no matter. We have pressing matters to attend to." Jonas didn't wait for a reply, and trotted off to the smaller gate set into the wall of the keep. Deftly unlocking it and holding it open for the three of them.
"His highness will see you in the war room, please lead your family there Master Tam. I have many other duties to attend to." Jonas said curtly, before trotting off along a nondescript corridor.
"It must really be bad. That was practically spitting in your face for Jonas. Let's hurry." Tam quickened his pace, leading Ophil and Kothar expertly through the winding corridors of the castle.
The war room was high up in the keep, Tam led them up many narrow winding staircases, with narrow beams of sunlight shining in through the many arrow slits at regular intervals.
The door to the war room was nondescript, made of black wood with a cast iron door handle.
Tam pushed the door open to reveal Rotan, hunched over a map at one end of the table, bending and twisting at the quill he held in his right hand.
"Tam! Oh, and Ophil. I am so very sorry about your brother, but I thought it was necessary at the time." Rotan called out, his voice notedly dropping off as he noticed Ophil.
"As long as the kingdom is safe. Wait, what did you say 'at the time'?" Ophil's voice raised in volume, her eyebrows drew up high. Kothar noticed Tam sidle out from in between Ophil and Rotan, crossing his arms and leaning against a low table that ran along one side of the room.
"Ah, you see, that's why I summoned your husband here so urgently. It appears that Kalun is invading us after all, and they've made an alliance with the Phintus Federation. It appears that we're in quite the tight spot." Rotan let out a long sigh, resting his head against one hand.
"Oh, well. I guess I'll have to yell at you after we sort this mess out, Rotan." Ophil, realizing the gravity of the situation, deflated, and took a seat next to Rotan.
"Tam, Kothar, please." Rotan gestured for the two of them to join him at the table, as he rolled the map he had been gazing at intently.
"I expect that Kalun is wanting to regain the Janul forest, they've got plenty of trees in those jungles, but no quality timber like we can get from Janul. One of our men sent a report recently that the Phintus federation is looking to create a real fleet, so imagine they'll be looking to the timber as well." Rotan explained, pointing out where Kalun lay to the west, and the Phintus Federation to the south east.
"We're in trouble. Sorry Rotan, but without Kultas to lead an army, we're sorely missing a campaign general to deal with one of the armies." Tam frowned, running his hand along the hilt of his blade, as he often did when deep in thought.
"What about the Southern Tribes?" Ophil said, gesturing to the mess of dotted lines that tried to capture the ever changing borders of the tribes who lived south of Ursten.
"At the very least they won't invade, but if we want their help I'd have to go see the chiefs myself, but there's no way I can leave the kingdom, knowing so many nobles are eager to rebel." Rotan let out yet another long sigh. He traced the back of his quill across the map.
"You think they'd deal with no-one else?" Ophil asked.
"No, anyone else would have to fight the chiefs in single combat, and we can't spare the manpower." Tam explained, his arms crossed.
"What about Newport?" Ophil pointed to the small nation south of the federation.
"If we could get them to gather troops south of the Phintus border, that'd force them to retreat, and we could easily deal with Kalun." Tam slowly nodded in agreement, looking to Rotan.
"It'll be impossible for us to get a message through, there'll be blockades throughout Phintus, and messengers don't dare travel through the tribes' territory. We'll have to send someone. Can you spare a lieutenant, Tam?" Rotan looked thoughtfully down at the map, no longer twisting at the quill, now that they had some sort of plan.
"We'll need every one of them for the war." Tam shook his head.
"Why not send Kothar?" Ophil said, and they all turned to look at him where he had been sitting, silent next to Tam.
"You can't be serious, I know he fought against Kultas, but he's still a boy." Rotan spluttered, incredulous.
"He's competent enough, and he'll get to see your home Ophil, the Duke will appreciate that we sent him." Tam responded.
"He will, won't he? Amazing how he went from sending his soldiers after me and Simon for inviting us to balls and feasts." Ophil added, with a small chuckle.
"Do you want to do this Kothar?" Tam asked, a serious look in his eyes.
"It's a serious responsibility, and the journey won't be without danger." Tam added.
"Of course I will Father, when did I become the type to turn down an adventure." Kothar said exuberantly, a surprising tinge of emotion in his voice.
[Still got that patriotic streak, don't you?] Silane's smooth voice added, as a look of relief crossed Rotan's face.
"I'll write some terms now. He won't be able to deny them, I'll give him shipbuilding rights to build us a fleet." Rotan stood, walking over to the low table at the side of the room, where there were fresh quills and pots of ink.
"Jonas will ready a horse and gear for you." Rotan continued, rustling around on the desk, looking for a fresh sheet of paper.
"Let me tell you about Newport." A faraway look came into Ophil's eyes, and she began to tell Kothar of the magnificent port city that she had called home. Kothar listened intently, curious to hear more about his destination. Tam also leaned in to listen, he loved hearing his wife talk about her home, and he decided to make the most of the small moment of peace that would likely be the last they enjoyed for many days.