The New Order

A Chapter by Eddie Davis

King Haroldris explains his idea for the new knightly order while mediating a truce between Eleazar and Aurei

18.

The new Order

Aurei and Eleazar sat at the same table, both with arms crossed in front of them and somewhat uneasy frowns on both of their faces. Aurei felt like a child in trouble with her father for fighting, and glared over at Eleazar who stubbornly returned her glare.

“Now, first I want to apologize to both of you.” The King addressed them as Alis and the other Knight recruits sat nearby watching the show.

“I should have spoken to both of you about my plans; it was my mistake to exclude Duchess Bugley and seek her input as this is indeed her duchy. It was also not proper of me to send the Duchess and Alis to the meeting without escorting them here, and addressing the concerns I knew would arise. Perhaps if I had done this, all of this recent… unpleasantness… could have been avoided.”

Aurei and Eleazar both acknowledged the King’s apology and then Haroldris continued.

“I must clarify a few things about this New Knightly Order. First, it was not my intention to create an Order that would sacrifice itself in what would probably be a valiant but vain attempt to stop a future invasion. But I also have no desire to see a large number of women serve in this order, not because of any perception I have that they are not able, but because of knowledge I have on some of the horrors the Guild plans for their female prisoners.”

“However, I am very certain that Duchess Aurei as well as Alis are indeed Paladins. As one of the faithful of Yesh, I know to never question the will of my Lord, and Yesh has ordained both ladies as Paladins. Here is my solution to this problem. Sir Eleazar has stated his desire to exclude women from the Order for safety reasons and I uphold his decision.”

Aurei opened her mouth to protest, but the King held his hand up.

“Please allow me to finish, Aurei. Duchess Bugley is my appointed representative in Westmark. I have not discussed many of her responsibilities to her, but, as most kings, I consider the title of Duke or Duchess to mean more than just a governor of a section of my Kingdom. Certainly there has been peace in Northmarch for many years and most of my nobles have had little to do but police their duchies for the typical crimes. But this past year we have seen the Necromancer’s Guild brazenly invading my Kingdom. As a result, the role of all of my Dukes and Duchesses has changed to the traditional meaning of the term, and that is ‘A leader in battle’.”

“It is my intention that each duchy marshals as many troops as it can, to stand at ready to march to the defense of the Kingdom. If and when this occurs, I expect this army to march under the banner of its Duke… or Duchess. I fully expect Duchess Bugley to lead her forces in the capacity of general, and any troop - even knightly orders- that serve the Kingdome of Northmarch will march under her authority as long as they are quartered in her duchy. It is the same rules for all my duchies. So while Sir Eleazar has the right to keep Aurei and Alis out of his order, he will certainly march under the command of Aurei in the event that her ducal forces are called out. He shall be master of his order, but she is the commander of all the forces in her duchy. In fact, I am mulling over some other ideas which I will present to all of you when I have them fully reasoned out, but for now, Aurei will command any forces from this duchy in time of war.”

Eleazar sighed noticeably at the news, but respectfully kept his mouth shut.

“Your Majesty, what about Alis?” Aurei asked.

“Aurei, you are the General of your forces, and all generals have their lieutenants. I would recommend that you name her your second-in-command and of course put Pectros as your field officer.”

Aurei nodded at his suggestion.

“Good, now, Sir Eleazar, as you are in complete control of your order, and as your order will pledge allegiance to the ruling monarch of Northmarch and those whom he has appointed as his nobles, I know you will pay homage to the ruler of the duchy that your order has its headquarters. If Duchess Bugley were to ask you and your men to train her and her lieutenant more completely as Paladins, I know you would gladly comply. I don’t expect their training to occur during the Order’s time, but at a time and place convenient to the both of you. Aurei, in return, I expect that you and Alis will not disturb the training of recruits in the Order, as long as Sir Eleazar meets his obligations to train Alis and you.”

Haroldris looked over at the feuding pair, and both nodded their approval of his solution.

“As I mentioned, a traditional attack on the forces of the Necromancer’s Guild would prove fruitless. Recent history has shown this to be true. The Guild operates in unconventional ways and I feel that the only way to combat them is to operate in unconventional ways. Therefore, I have, for the past several years, been planning a course of action against what I perceived would one day be an attack on this Kingdom. This strategy involves the use of mounted knights, but in conjunction with other forces, utilizing anything we can to defeat the invasion plans. I have paid for the training of a group of mages and sorcerers as well as ordered construction of magical devices and weapons that will be unveiled soon. I do not want to share too much information until my plans are complete, but I assure you that there will be plenty of roles to be filled in the forces I intend to set up to defend this Kingdom.”

The King gestured to Aurei and Eleazar, “I intend to make Westmark one of the primary bases to marshal the Kingdom’s forces, and I intend to rely heavily on Duchess Bugley, as I have found she is intensely loyal to her King, for which I am extremely grateful. Sir Eleazar has also shown himself to be a fearless champion of justice and his role leading the Knights of Northmarch will be no less important. But for this plan to work, I must be certain that no friction exists between my two key players in Westmark.”

Haroldris paused and Aurei and Eleazar looked at each other blankly for a long moment. Aurei turned back to the King and sighed, “Nope, the whole thing is off, we hate each other, Your Majesty.”

The assembly matched the King’s stunned expression and the room was dead silent for a long moment before a grin broke across Aurei’s face and she began laughing, “Just kidding, Your Highness. There has been too much drama here today, and for my part I am sorry. I trust Sir Eleazar’s judgment and I will abide by any decisions he makes about the order that you have entrusted to him. I also swear that I will do my most to assist him in any way I can. Sir Eleazar, I apologize for my rather childish outburst, please forgive me.”

She smiled sweetly at the half-Drow, who sat there in miserable awkwardness.

“I’m sorry too, Duchess, I forgot to put my trust in Yesh for all my cares and concerns. I am completely confident of both your and Miss Alis’ worthiness as Paladins and Knights and I will indeed make certain that both of you receive the very best training as horsemen, with weaponry and in all other areas that a Paladin needs to be skilled. This Knightly Order will indeed march under the banner of Westmark and will obey the orders of her Duchess. Also, I wish to apologize that I forgot my place as a Knight, as I have vowed to respect not only all ladies but all those in authority. I apologize first to His Majesty for my ungentlemanly words earlier. Also, Duchess Bugley, forgive my rudeness.”

Aurei smiled and nodded, then after a moment’s thought, stood up and moved her chair closer to him.

“Good.” Haroldris commented with a sigh, “Let us consider the matter settled, then. Tomorrow morning we shall have a ceremony of initiation for all those desiring membership in the Order.”

The King crossed the room where Eioldth stood watching. The Elf lady took the hand of her husband as he neared and whispered into his ear, “Well handled, my love. Those two have just had their first lovers’ quarrel and all seems well.”

“Do you think they understand that was what it was?” He murmured back as across the room, Eleazar dismissed his recruits.

“Oh certainly not!” Eioldth laughed, “They don’t even really know they love one another. She’s very young and he’s totally clueless. Isn’t it romantic?”

Haroldris snorted, shaking his head with a slight smile, “Ah, youth.”

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