Eddy noticed as they rounded a corner, they were slowing down slightly.
"Do you think we are here?" He asked excitedly.
She smiled, "I believe we might be, shall we take a look at milord's territory?"
They waited for a moment to see if they were about to stop.
Sofia hadn't been out of the capital and Thaddeus was brought there at a young age, so they both had some nerves.
Then they heard some men moving and one yelled, "APPROACH THE GATE!"
The acting Captain of Eddy's knights was stepping out of the carriage and approached his home, Blackstone Fortress.
The beautifully carved stone that was centuries old and looked brand new, it was intimidating.
One of the men on the battlements spoke, "Be that you, Captain Howard?" He seemed surprised they returned so quickly.
Howard nodded and removed his helmet, "AYE! We return with the Lord of Blackstone!"
The men on the wall seemed confused, "Open the gates, men!" but they understood their orders and slowly cranked the giant levers to pull the gate backward.
Eddy was peeking out of the window when a knock sounded, "Milord, do you wish to enter on your feet?"
Eddy felt like it was a weird question, but maybe it had something to do with the first impressions that he gave to the people of the fortress?
He turned to Sofia and she nodded deeply.
"Then we will walk in." Eddy placed his hand on the handhold and stepped out into the freezing cold.
'Jesus Christ! OH FUCK, THIS IS RUSSIA TYPE SHIT!' He was mentally yelling and pleading with the men to get the horses inside before their bodies shut down from the cold temperature.
He took a deep breath, "Here we go." then he slowly climbed down the carriage.
"Damn." He was in awe, it was beautiful.
The sleek stone was gray with specks of black, almost like a metallic coating of gray. The wall covered the entire pathway, it must be over 100 feet wide. Then he remembered he was on the "friendly" side of the fortress. The true face of this place was on the other side of the city.
The wall stood at least 50 feet high and had giant blocks of stone placed perfectly. It looked harder to build than a fucking pyramid.
Eddy walked in the snow as the men around him swarmed to form a series of lines, his Uncle Rodrick, Sofia, and Captain Howard stood closely.
'I hope they aren't worried about something I don't know about...' He noticed that the men were armed to the teeth.
He shook his head hoping that it was just a show of force for a lord.
They slowly moved as a group, Eddy could have sworn they planned to do this, but he just saw common folks staring at them.
Small children ran up to the group and watched as they escorted an important person, this NEVER happened.
"Mister, who are you?" One of the kids asked Rodrick, "I am Knight Rodrick, we are escorting Lord Blackstone to his place of resident."
They were stepping and the boy could hardly follow, Eddy noticed he had no shoes on.
"Wait!" He shouted over the clanging of metal on stone, "We need to help this child, his feet are bare in the snow, he is in danger." Eddy turned away without a thought and the man behind him slid out of the way. Rodrick however moved imperceptibly fast and blocked Eddy's path to the shivering child.
"Milord, this child is accustom to the cold." He placed his hand on Eddy's shoulder and effortlessly moved him back into place within the center of the formation.
Sofia smiled at his exasperated face, "Why are you smiling?" He asked in the first truly upset tone he had spoken with.
She stopped, "It was a clever tactic, milord, I was just acknowledging you on your prowess with the people."
He looked confused, "Tactic?"
He didn't understand the concept of letting people be as a Lord. If a child is hungry, it is the duty of the parent, not the Lord to intervene.
He looked took a hard look at the child seemingly confused at his concern.
'Can even children thrive in this type of environment?' He shook his head as they marched slowly.
Eddy wondered if it was some sort of "system fuckery" allowing the child to gain some sort of frost or cold resistance like the Nords of Skyrim.
'Dammit man.' he strode forward while maintaining a hard face.
'These are mountain folk. Treat them with respect.'
On Earth, Eddy grew up in the rust belt, so he knew something about the mountain people. Basically, don't fuck with them. And if you are friends, they will share the secret of REAL moonshine with you.
He shuddered at the thought of White Lightnin'. You could literally use it as gas to get to the store...
They slowed down at a giant square. He saw hundreds of people gathering but the streets still looked a little empty.
"Where is everyone?" He wondered out loud, Rodrick responded, "I assume that most of the men are in the workshops and forges, and most of the women are in their places of apprenticeship." They continued as Eddy nodded.
Most of the people had on darker clothing, 'Stain resistant, and easy to spot in a see of white, smart.' But he noticed that they were mostly older women giving him the stink eye.
Sofia was walking confidently beside him and he was trying to match the steps of the soldiers. He didn't think he was doing such a poor job that he would be ridiculed on sight.
A group of women were approaching the squads of Knights as they rounded a corner near a GIANT tower.
'Oh no. Oh no. Rich old ladies. FUCK!' He was panicking, they walked like entitled English teachers about to scald a kid from the projects.
'Is it wrong to stab old ladies?' He sighed, 'Mom wouldn't approve...but dad would, so tie!'
He smiled in his bubble of blades and plate armor.
"HALT!" the women approaching had posed enough of a threat to need verbal warning, but of course, they walked past the soldier.
"Move it, boy!" one of the 'larger' ladies tried to squeeze into the gap between the men and could barely budge them as they stood awaiting orders.
They squeezed and walked down the rather loose formation to get to Eddy.
He smiled, "How can I help you, Ma'am?" he was more than willing to hear out someone risking life and limb against trained soldiers.
The 'LARGE' one moved to grab his course linen shirt, "Who do you think you are, brat! Do you know who runs this city? Lady Blackstone!"
Eddy remembered something, 'The King mentioned a daughter and a son...is she referring to my sister?'
He looked stunned as her hand approached his shirt, this little brat was clearly out of his depth if he was parading around in another noble's city with an army!
Rodrick grabbed her wrist and a loud cracking could be heard.
His face wasn't visible, but she could see the readiness to kill in his eyes, then she felt the pain.
"AHHHHH!!!!" The woman immediately collapsed to the ground, she was grabbing her wrist that was turning purple.
Eddy watched in awe as the tears were freezing to her face and the men around him had already detained the other women.
The men LET her do this.
'They are making a show of force.' He understood a little more now. He needed to be "in danger" for them to act.
He turned to Rodrick, "Do. Not. Do. That. Again."
He received a glare in return, but it turned soft.
"We are not savages." He looked down, "We do not need to make examples out of old women."
Then he asked a serious question, "Would my father have done this? Would he have cared about a haughty, plump woman wanting to "teach him something?"
Eddy took a deep breath and sighed, the moisture immediately turned to steam flowing from his mouth like a waterfall.
The woman was whimpering on the ground and completely unaware of the child approaching her, "Are you going to be okay?" he asked as he sat down on the wet snow.
She looked up from her wrist, "HOW DARE YOU! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE." He looked saddened as she waited for a response, "Unfortunately for you, I am Thaddeus Blackstone, Viscount of Blackstone Mountain, and sort of the whole province." He cringed at the end, but it was his first time, he could work on it.
She looked confused so he explained, "I was at an Orphanage of Protection? My parents are Thalim and Brook Blackstone. Is any of this ringing a bell?"
A few shades of horror flashed over her face, "The decree said.." she started stuttering like a cold engine trying to start.
'I HATE face slapping man...'