The Eastern Settlement? Tristan raised an eyebrow as he heard that and tried to remember what he knew about that part of the kingdom – which wasn’t much. It had a couple of really rich merchant families, a few more or less nice towns – and rebels. From what he knew the Qe’dreki had fled there after the rebellion had failed. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to deal with them. He had no idea what he should do if they came visiting!
It made sense that Cassander wanted to exert more control over Berwick, Oakleigh and Welles though, and what better way was there to do it than to put somebody he could trust there?
As the servant brought the map, he came closer so that he could take a better look and furrowed his brow. Berwick looked as if it would be difficult to travel to. He didn’t want to have to traverse a couple of mountain passes every time he wanted to travel somewhere, and flying was unfortunately out of the question since he didn’t own a dragon and probably never would. Oakleigh looked interesting, despite the mountains and the rocks. He remembered that he had once drunk wine that had come from there, and it hadn’t been too bad!
Welles on the other hand had beaches, it was the most densely populated of the three regions, and the people there would probably cause him the least trouble since they were closest to the kingdom. Besides, didn’t the Luther family come from there, and hadn’t one of Cassander’s parents been a Luther? He looked at the king for a moment, and then he turned back to the map. What should he pick? Beaches or wine?
He heard the king tell him that he didn’t have to choose right away, but he really wanted to!
Beaches or wine? He thought of the night he had spent with Ilaren. Ilaren was the Immortal of Alcohol. Perhaps she would visit him again if he had one of the biggest, if not the biggest vineyard in the entire area on his land. Besides, it looked as if Oakleigh had a lot of empty room. Maybe he could eventually have a castle built there. He’d always wanted to own a castle!
“I’ve made up my mind”, he informed the king and took a deep breath. “I’m most interested in Oakleigh. I’m familiar with some of the business ventures that the families that live there engage in, besides Oakleigh has a lot of room for development in my opinion.”
He realized that Cassander’s decision to make him a Duke would probably be pretty unpopular with some people, but perhaps the residents of Oakleigh would at least accept him once they realized that he knew more about alcohol (and drugs) than most other nobles in Rynmere and might be able to even teach them a few things.
“I see”, he murmured. Cassander’s thinly veiled directive to get married and produce heirs put a damper on his mood. He didn’t want to get married to some boring, stuck-up noble woman! He realized then that being Duke wasn’t fun all the time, but that you actually had to make a few sacrifices – unless he could somehow get Ilaren to marry him?
He wouldn’t mind marrying her! She was great in bed, she drank more alcohol than he did, and she could fight!
“I know”, he replied as Cassander told him that being Duke was nothing like holding the title of Lord. “I think I should move there though, at least for a while. I want to show my people that I care about them. A Duke that lives in a house in Andaris and only comes to visit every once in a while probably won’t leave a good impression. I assure you that I won’t shun my duties. You won’t regret your decision!”
“So”, he asked and raised his glass again because the situation seemed to call for it (you didn’t become Duke every trial!). “What do I do now, apart from thinking about who’ll become my Barons?” He briefly (very briefly!) considered elevating his favourite prostitutes because he would at least have something nice to look at in that case, but then he realized that he would probably lose his job and, maybe, his life if he did that. He needed somebody that would by loyal to him and actually knew something about politics if he didn’t want to become known as the worst Duke in the history of Rynmere.
He also couldn’t help but wonder who would get the other two thirds of the Eastern Settlement. Maybe he knew them?
It made sense that Cassander wanted to exert more control over Berwick, Oakleigh and Welles though, and what better way was there to do it than to put somebody he could trust there?
As the servant brought the map, he came closer so that he could take a better look and furrowed his brow. Berwick looked as if it would be difficult to travel to. He didn’t want to have to traverse a couple of mountain passes every time he wanted to travel somewhere, and flying was unfortunately out of the question since he didn’t own a dragon and probably never would. Oakleigh looked interesting, despite the mountains and the rocks. He remembered that he had once drunk wine that had come from there, and it hadn’t been too bad!
Welles on the other hand had beaches, it was the most densely populated of the three regions, and the people there would probably cause him the least trouble since they were closest to the kingdom. Besides, didn’t the Luther family come from there, and hadn’t one of Cassander’s parents been a Luther? He looked at the king for a moment, and then he turned back to the map. What should he pick? Beaches or wine?
He heard the king tell him that he didn’t have to choose right away, but he really wanted to!
Beaches or wine? He thought of the night he had spent with Ilaren. Ilaren was the Immortal of Alcohol. Perhaps she would visit him again if he had one of the biggest, if not the biggest vineyard in the entire area on his land. Besides, it looked as if Oakleigh had a lot of empty room. Maybe he could eventually have a castle built there. He’d always wanted to own a castle!
“I’ve made up my mind”, he informed the king and took a deep breath. “I’m most interested in Oakleigh. I’m familiar with some of the business ventures that the families that live there engage in, besides Oakleigh has a lot of room for development in my opinion.”
He realized that Cassander’s decision to make him a Duke would probably be pretty unpopular with some people, but perhaps the residents of Oakleigh would at least accept him once they realized that he knew more about alcohol (and drugs) than most other nobles in Rynmere and might be able to even teach them a few things.
“I see”, he murmured. Cassander’s thinly veiled directive to get married and produce heirs put a damper on his mood. He didn’t want to get married to some boring, stuck-up noble woman! He realized then that being Duke wasn’t fun all the time, but that you actually had to make a few sacrifices – unless he could somehow get Ilaren to marry him?
He wouldn’t mind marrying her! She was great in bed, she drank more alcohol than he did, and she could fight!
“I know”, he replied as Cassander told him that being Duke was nothing like holding the title of Lord. “I think I should move there though, at least for a while. I want to show my people that I care about them. A Duke that lives in a house in Andaris and only comes to visit every once in a while probably won’t leave a good impression. I assure you that I won’t shun my duties. You won’t regret your decision!”
“So”, he asked and raised his glass again because the situation seemed to call for it (you didn’t become Duke every trial!). “What do I do now, apart from thinking about who’ll become my Barons?” He briefly (very briefly!) considered elevating his favourite prostitutes because he would at least have something nice to look at in that case, but then he realized that he would probably lose his job and, maybe, his life if he did that. He needed somebody that would by loyal to him and actually knew something about politics if he didn’t want to become known as the worst Duke in the history of Rynmere.
He also couldn’t help but wonder who would get the other two thirds of the Eastern Settlement. Maybe he knew them?
