CH423 Leaving Barnsil Fortress

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Havel exited the Fortress castle just as the expedition party was preparing to set off with their loot and horses.

Dread stood at the head of the convoy, radiating a unique aura that kept the other horses calm and in orderly lines.

When Havel stepped out, Alex—who was 'willingly' overseeing the final preparations alongside Zora—called him over.

"What did you think you were doing?" Alex asked flatly.

Havel paused, momentarily taken aback by the question.

"What you asked me to do," he replied. "Get the women to open up so I could get information out of them."

"When I told you to get them to open up," Alex said dryly, "I meant their mouths—not their legs. You were supposed to make them speak, not plough them."

Suddenly, both Alex and Havel felt several gazes on their backs.

They turned.

On the castle balcony above, Baron Helton's wife and concubines were watching them. There was no hostility in their eyes—only something softer. Longing, even.

Alex froze.

"All four of them?" he asked slowly.

"No. Just Lady Helton," Havel shook his head. "I merely exchanged words with the other three and kept them company."

He raised a hand and casually waved at the women before turning back to Alex.

"Baron Helton wasn't the stand-up man you seem to think he was," Havel continued calmly. "None of those women had a choice in their marriages. Lady Helton, in particular, was effectively abandoned once she gave birth to her youngest son."

He met Alex's gaze.

"Each of them had needs. I satisfied those needs in exchange for information. The three young women needed companionship. Lady Helton needed… intimacy."

"Their husband is dead," Havel added. "And whether you like it or not, what happened helped resolve the tension they had with one another. They'll need unity to survive, given the situation we're leaving them in."

"It was a small price to pay for accurate information about the area and what was worth looting within the fortress."

With that, Havel turned and walked away.

Alex remained where he stood, silent.

"You calmed down quickly," Zora commented from the side. "Don't tell me you bought his explanation."

"Not one bit," Alex replied. "I'm fairly certain he honey-mouthed the vulnerable women and took advantage of their fragile states."

He paused, then added dryly, "I was just stunned because I never thought the guy had the energy to speak that many words in one go."

'That's what you were worried about?' Zora pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head in disappointment.

Alex chuckled.

He glanced back up at the women of House Helton standing on the balcony. All things considered, they looked… better than expected.

'Well, I only ordered them not to rape,' he thought. 'If it was consensual—and it somehow helped the women—there's not much I can do about it.'

"Shall we head out, my lady?" Alex said, turning to Zora.

Zora nodded and walked ahead, entering a carriage where Eleanor was already seated. The healer was busy reviewing the inventory of their loot, sorting through records and making notes on what could be sold and what should be retained.

Although the final decision still rested with Alex, he much preferred to defer to Eleanor's mercantile judgement. It did, however, mean more work for the expedition's healer—who was now also acting as alchemist, appraiser, and de facto financial officer.

Thankfully, Zora could assist and help lighten the burden.

Understanding just how much work and responsibility he had placed on his women's shoulders, Alex—being the gentleman he was—liberated Baron Helton's carriage for their use, ensuring the journey, and their work, would be as comfortable as possible.

It was really the least he could do.

Alex mounted Dread and gave the order to move out.

According to the map he had found in Baron Helton's study, the Hollowcrest Wildlands lay due west of Barnsil Fortress—slightly south at first, then mostly west. However, rather than heading directly there, Alex ordered the party to first travel due southeast along the Imperial highway, exiting the Luxen Duchy entirely.

Just as they were about to leave both the Helton Barony and Luxen territory, Alex looked back toward the distant outline of Barnsil Fortress.

"Your tribulations are just beginning," he muttered quietly.

His gaze sharpened.

'Now then, clergy and nobility of Lumeria,' he thought. 'Show me your true face.'

-

The expedition party came and went through the Helton Barony like a quiet storm.

The residents of Lower Barnsil awoke to a morning that felt almost ordinary—except for the glaring absence of the town's militia patrolling the streets.

Some of those living on the fringes of the town reported seeing a large group of horses leaving due south at dawn. At first, they assumed it was Baron Helton's men, yet strangely, the riders bore no banners and flew no familiar colours.

Though uneasy at the implication of a territorial conflict, the townsfolk knew better than to poke their noses into the affairs of the nobility. Most went about their day, choosing to ignore the rumours.

That lasted until word finally arrived—from both the militia camp and the fortress.

A massacre.

During the night, fiends had swept through both military installations, leaving nothing but carnage in their wake. Even their lord, the Gold ranked Baron Leland Helton, had fallen.

A shudder passed through the town.

No one could believe that two such battles had taken place so close to them overnight, yet they had remained completely unaware.

In the chaos that followed, the women of House Helton—led by Lady Helton herself—stepped forward to stabilise the situation.

Ironically, the expedition party's massacre made this far easier than expected. Those who might have opposed the women's authority—namely the Barnsil Gold ranks—were among the dead left behind by the invaders.

An uneasy calm settled over the town as the people clung desperately to what scraps of normalcy they could.

Lady Helton bit her lip as she carefully penned a letter to House Luxen, informing them of the catastrophe. She wrote another to one of her late husband's close friends—a high-ranking retainer within the Duchy.

It was all she could do.

She could not predict how the Duchy would react, but she was certain they would not be pleased by the idea of a woman ruling the territory.

Her hope was that her husband's friend would intervene—at the very least securing her son's claim to his father's seat.

The best outcome she dared to imagine was the appointment of a regent, one who would oversee the lands until her son came of age and could formally inherit the Helton Barony.

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