The Boldo family had been selling all of their produce to the Gerho family.
In the last ten years, there have been repeated droughts and floods, which have reduced the amount of food available to the lords of Ranefels, and therefore the amount of crops sold to the Gerhos, which has reduced the Boldos' profits.
So the lords were forced to hunt in the fields and mountains to make up for the lack of food.
Year after year, the Boldo family's income dwindled, and in recent years they had been borrowing money from the Gerjo family.
But the interest was becoming too much to bear, let alone repay the principal.
It was two months before Aldes stopped by the conference room today.
Barry, the treasurer of the House of Boldo, had been exchanging letters with Tuoli, the treasurer of the House of Gerjo, about financial matters. Tuoli had recently sent him a letter demanding payment of the principal as well as the interest.
In response, Barry wrote a letter asking for a few more years to delay the principal payment.
Tuoli's reply was that he would extend the time for payment of the principal by many years if the firstborn of the Boldo family was given as a hostage to the Guerrejo family.
When Barry received this letter, he called a meeting of the lords and bachelors to demand action.
In the meeting room of Arenberg Castle sat three men with grave faces.
Barry read the contents of the letter to Hugo and Wintry.
'No matter what, we cannot send Aldeth as a hostage to the Gerhos.'
'I think we need to know the background of why House Gerho is demanding a hostage. It seems that House Gerho is trying to impose restrictions on you that you cannot accept, and to take a small piece of Rannefels land. Historically, it is not uncommon for a rich family to lend money to a poor family, make it impossible for them to repay the money, and then, in exchange for the money, take the poor family's land. That's what the Gerhos are doing now.'
Bachelor, Wintry said.
'Well, Wintry, then. Are you suggesting that the Gerjos deliberately caused droughts and floods to prevent them from paying their debts?'
Barry, the Treasurer, asked.
'There are things that happen in the world that normal people can't even imagine... fires, cold weather... droughts and floods can be caused by someone's power.'
'It would take a wizard to do such things.'
'My lord. I think you should take House Gerho up on their offer, which they obviously knew we would reject, and they're bluffing by accepting it. I've been Aldeth's mentor since he was very young, and I've spoken to him more than anyone else in this castle, and I know from the captain of the drill team that his swordsmanship has improved by leaps and bounds since he went to the Boundary Forest.
It's my personal opinion, but House Boldo is a small, weak house on the fringes, and I think its land is too small to hold Aldeth. I think Aldeth will see and learn and grow in a larger world, even if he goes to House Gerho.
Going to House Gerho as a hostage is not the same as being held as a prisoner of war. You may be familiar with the Emelm dynasty of the central Heneruk continent, over 600 years ago, and they too were held hostage as children, gaining strength and founding a dynasty. They were able to learn, make friends, and grow in strength in a new environment.'
Wintry spoke at length.
'The story of the Emelm dynasty is well known. Do you think that could happen to Aldeth?'
'We don't know about humans, but at the very least, we can use Aldeth as a mole planted in House Gerho. Through him, we can learn of their movements and plan against them.'
'An ingenious plan, Barry, what do you think?'
'At first, after Tuoli's suggestion, I thought it was ridiculous to send Aldes as a hostage to House Gerho, but after hearing what Wintry has to say, I think it's a good idea. Besides, Aldes is very skilled with a sword, so he can at least defend himself!'
Wintry told Aldeth of the offer he had received from Tuoli, the treasurer of House Gerho, and that he, his lordship, and Barry had agreed to send Aldeth as a hostage to House Gerho.
Aldeth's expression suddenly darkened as he listened to Wintry's explanation, and he was silent for a moment.
'Father. No matter what, this is how you treat your firstborn son, sending me as a hostage. I cannot accept this.'
'Aldeth, this is not a decision for me alone. It's for the future of House Da Voldo.'
'I know. I know. Are you saying that I can go to House Gerjo and die?'
'A hostage to any house, much less another. Besides, they don't treat their firstborns lightly, do they, Winry?'
'Exactly. Hostages are not exchanged between houses unless there is cause for concern, Aldeth, and you need not worry about that.'
'I am disappointed, bachelor. You've trained me to the point of this transfer, only to send me to another family as a hostage?'
Aldeth shouted loudly, and stormed out of the conference room.
The gatekeeper, standing guard at the door of the conference room, listened to the furious shouting coming from within.
The door to the conference room was suddenly flung open, and the gatekeeper's forehead was smashed into the door.
Wintry watched Aldeth storm out of the room, and thought to himself that he hadn't taught Aldeth in vain.
He had taught him that before you can deceive your enemies, you must deceive your allies. If Aldeth showed any signs of accepting his lord's offer at today's meeting, the Gerhos might be suspicious of him coming to them as a hostage.
'Call for the Captain of the Guard!'
Hugo called out loudly.
A moment later, the Captain of the Guard, Udod, came into the conference room.
'Woodod, take Aldeth into custody.'
Udod pricked up his ears.
'My lord. What do you mean, you order me to imprison Aldeth?'
'You are deaf. Woodod. I command you to imprison Aldeth at once.'
Woodod had no choice but to obey. On the way to the conference room, he was told that Aldeth was so angry that he stormed out of the room. What the hell is going on? The lord wants his firstborn imprisoned. I could not understand.
Udod mobilised his soldiers and raided Aldeth's room.
When Aldes reached his room, he placed the documents to be destroyed in the corner of the room and turned to the window.
Now that it was time to leave Arenberg Castle, where he had lived for more than a decade, he missed his bed, his desk, his chair, and the paintings on the walls.
Soon, he heard footsteps outside the door.
Woodord entered the room ahead of me.
'Aldes, let's go.'
'Where are they taking me?'
'For a while, you will be locked up.'
'Woododd, can you do this to me?'
Udod had grown fond of Aldeth, having trained him in swordsmanship and physical fitness from a young age, but he had no choice but to obey his lord's orders.
'Your lordship's orders.'
'I can't go. I refuse to be a hostage!'
Aldeth shouted.
Woodod was surprised to hear the word 'hostage' come out of Aldeth's mouth, but now was not the time for context. Taking Aldeth hostage was beyond Woodord's comprehension.
But he had to fulfil his role as Captain of the Guard.
'Take Aldeth.'
At Woodod's command, the men approached Aldeth.
Aldeth lowered his stance and prepared to defend himself.
'What are you doing, get him.'
The guards crouched, but at Udodo's command, they lunged at Aldes.
Aldes resisted them. He kicked and punched them.
The guards took a few blows themselves. It seemed unlikely that Aldes could be subdued this way.
One of the guards' nose bleeds from Aldeth's struggles.
The guards were now on the offensive.
Surrounding Aldes, they kicked and punched him.
Aldes feigned dodging, and was punched back. In the process, he also got a nosebleed.
Aldes wiped the blood from his nose with his arm.
'You'll see. I am the heir to House Boldo, and I will remember every one of your faces.'
'Get him!'
Uldód realised that if they continued to struggle like this, Aldeth would get hurt, and so would the men. He had to get this done quickly.
After a few more punches and kicks between the guards and Aldes, the guards finally subdued Aldes. They tied Aldes' hands behind his back with rope.
Aldes felt that if he was going to perform, he had to do it right.
When Udo saw Aldeth's hands tied behind his back, his heart ached.
He wanted to know why the lord had sent the eldest Aldes to prison.
Woododd would ask the bachelor, Wintry.
Aldeth was imprisoned in the dungeons of Arenberg Castle.
The dungeon had four chambers. Aldeth was the only one imprisoned here now. Torches hung sparsely on the walls of the dungeon, illuminating the interior.
The dungeon was manned by two guards. Aldés thought this was enough to show the Gerjos that he was being taken by force.
He wanted to know more about how the Gerjos operated and what was going on inside.
Aldes knew that the Boldos had long been a thorn in the side of the Gerjos.
He remembered what he had learnt from Wintry. Every house, he'd learnt, had a weakness.
It could be the geopolitical position of a province, it could be the feuds and grudges of family members, or it could be religious.
Sitting in Rannefels, there was only so much that could be learned about the affairs of Sigismund's Gerhő family.
I wanted to find out more about Aldes Gerho's Achilles heel.
Aldes leaned against the wall of the cell. The dungeon was underground, so it was impossible to tell if the sun had set, but it had been a considerable time since he had been taken and imprisoned in daylight, so it was likely to be well into the night. Aldeth shifted his position, lying on the floor and closing his eyes.
He could hear the jailer snoring softly. This was Aldeth's first time in prison. The thought of spending years, decades, in such a small cell made him feel like dying. Aldes couldn't sleep.
He hadn't been in prison for more than a day, but already, he was bored.
Just then, through the snoring of the guards, he heard the door to the dungeon's entrance creak open. The two dozers jumped up at the sound of the door opening.
'Open the door.'
It was dark, and Aldeth could barely see who it was, but he recognised the voice.
'Aldes, are you all right?'
'Bachelor. Was that plausible?'
'In moderation. What's the point of blood?'
Master and pupil already understood each other's intentions.
'If you're going to do it, do it right. That's what the bachelor taught me.'
'You are a good pupil, Aldeth. I had a hard time convincing Woodod. It seems Woodord took it upon himself to capture Aldeth and bring him to the dungeon, and it was a pain in the arse.'
'Haha. I'm sure he did. Tell Woodod later that I'm fine.'
'Yes, I'll be sure to tell him, and I'll grab some of the clothes that were in Aldeth's room.'
'Now that I'm gone, where are you going to sell my clothes?'