Unbound Book 1: The Failed Duke

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: NEW REALITY

Some time had passed since the failed assault on castle Lichtenfeld.

Duke Nothgard was in his tent, with Luna on one side, Hilibrand on the other and Lucan to the side.

In front of them there were a handful of the survivors, their leader being an older gentleman, and to his side a younger woman.

The man cleared his throat and said, "Thank you Duke Nothgard for approving our meeting. My name is Sebastian Turley, and I'm the mayor of Londothary."

Duke Nothgard raised an eyebrow and said, "I thought that Andrew Dreyfus was the mayor?"

Sebastian cleared his throat before he said, "Well, you see, he was, but the man sadly died in the attack, so the survivors decided to make me their representative."

Duke Nothgard looked over to the woman next to him and asked, "And who might this be?"

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but the man interrupted her. "This would be my wife, Helen."

Immediately the woman looked at Sebastian and stars could be seen in her eyes. "Wife?"

He cleared his throat and said, "Yes, my wife."

The woman went back into a standing position, but her joy could be seen in her expression.

Duke Nothgard shook his head and said, "Anyways, I assume that you've got business with us? Is there something wrong with the supplies we gave you?"

Sebastian shook his hand. "No, of course not. We appreciate how well you and your men have taken care of us. It's just that, well, a lot of us are worried about the future. What, what's going to happen to us?"

Duke Nothgard placed his thumb and pointer finger on either side of the bridge of his nose and said, "That is something I wish I could answer. Usually we would move you to another town, but news broke far sooner than we expected, and now Duke Byleth wants to meet with us to discuss the situation."

"I see. In that case, we will wait for further instruction."

The two of them bowed to the duke and walked out of the tent with the other survivors.

Duke Nothgard rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands and sighed, "Why must my life be full of nothing but inconveniences."

Hilibrand looked over and said, "Not to speak out of turn sir, but you'd find yourself with fewer of them if you stopped inviting disorder into your life."

Duke Nothgard looked at Hilibrand and said, "If you have a grievance with how I'm running things, you're more than welcome to voice them."

Hilibrand turned his eye over to Lucan, who stared back at him with disdain. "Heh, of course."

Lucan straightened up and walked over to Hilibrand who turned to face him. "Let me tell you one thing, sir. My goal is to lie around and keep my head down until my contract ends. During that time, if Duke Nothgard wants heads to roll, I'll gladly oblige."

"And what about after that? Plan to pick up poetry?"

Lucan turned a bit red, which caused Luna to get in between them. "Guys. Guys. Calm down."

She looked at Hilibrand and whispered, "Lucan here's been through a lot."

He looked at her with an expression empty of apathy and said, "We've all been through a lot."

Hilibrand looked over to Lucan and said, "Some of us just handle it better."

"You know, all those things Duke Byleth said about me are lies."