Two emissaries stood waiting for Carlo in the great hall of the Ijssel Citadel. The first was a countryman of his, Sir Giovanni di Folgore was a member of the Knights of the Blazing Sun, one of the very few Knightly Orders prevalent in Tilea and the only large Knightly Order dedicated exclusively to Myrmidia. He was dressed in knightly plate and bore an arming sword sheathed at his side. Carlo knew of the man as a senior member of the Chapter House of the Knights in Myrmidens who favored not the sword or lance, but the rather less knightly Halberd as a weapon. Sir Giovanni's head was shaved bald and his van dyke goatee was kept oiled to avoid giving an opponent a potential handhold in a fight. The biggest thing that stood out about the man, aside from his knightly harness, was the scar that creased his brow, running from mid-forehead, diagonally through his left eyebrow, and down to the side of his face.
In contrast, Duc Ferenc's envoy was a woman clad in finely cut clothes, powdered and made up with expensive makeup, and dashed with the most recent perfume out of Bordeleaux. Her fine appearance was ruined by her haughty demeanor, as an everpresent sneer crossed her finely made-up face. The Baroness Maria Josephine Eleanor de Estang was a haughty woman who was entirely too wedded to the ways of Brettonia to ever be a suitable envoy to the court of a mercenary-turned-privateer-turned-Border Prince like Carlo. It didn't help that her family apparently had claims to lands seized from Grande Bouellia by the late Maartin van den Meer during his establishment of Ijssel's borders some twenty years ago. In short, she was the perfect choice for the Duc to send if his intention was to insult Carlo.
When Carlo came into the Great Hall in his Mercenary Finest, along with Elena dressed in a rather less flashy, but still well-appointed gown, the two envoys showed two completely different reactions. For Sir Giovanni, he inclined his head in a gesture of genuine respect, the Myrmidian symbolism running throughout the whole outfit, combined with the mercenary fashion of wearing the most ostentatious clothing which he clearly recognized, meant the Templar was giving genuine respect to his host.
On the other hand, Baroness de Estang did her courtesies with a small hand fan covering her face to hide the sneer. Thanks to the powers bestowed on him by Myrmidia, however, Carlo was not fooled by the transparent gesture to hide her disdain. He kept a closer eye on her than on Sir Giovanni and studied her through Sir Giovanni's greetings.
The Knight of the Blazing Sun stepped forward and tossed off a salute to Carlo and his lady wife. "I bring greetings from the court of Prince Giacomo D'acciaio, Prince of Myrmidens, and Marchese of the Black Peninsula. I am heartened that a military man has taken the seat of power in Ijssel. My Prince had feared that the de Roelef family would put a merchant in charge. The Border Principalities are no place for such a man to wield power, infested as they are by greenskins, brigands, and worse." He announced.
"Sir Giovanni, I can assure you that I am not a man to sit idly by while Greenskins roam freely about. One only needs to look at the way I won this seat to see that." Grinned Carlo.
"Indeed, I am gladdened to see as much. My Prince will be to hear it as well. Perhaps we can discuss trade opportunities? I understand that you have a powderworks that produces black powder for trade and that you pull iron and peat out of the marshes near Quaterain and the border with Bouellia. Myrmidens will pay good coin for such goods. Peat to light fires and keep us warm in the winter, iron for our forges, and black powder for our army?" Inquired Sir Giovanni.
"I am gladdened that Myrmidens seems to be proving a friend in these times. I have heard that your prince maintains a marble quarry near the town of Zvorak in his Marche and that Myrmidens itself produces pottery and timber? Perhaps a deal may be arranged, I would need to speak to my council to see how much in trade we can afford after the Greenskin attack. Two of our farming communities sustained damage from Greenskin raiding parties, and I must divert funds to rebuilding them as a priority, you understand?" Responded Carlo.
"Of course, I shall be in town for some time yet. When you have an idea, do let me know and I shall make myself available for negotiation." Affirmed Sir Giovanni, stepping back to allow Baroness de Estang to speak.
Throughout the conversation he had been having with Sir Giovanni, Carlo had been keeping an eye on the Baroness, studying her, and using the insights granted to him by Myrmidia to try and refine a model of how she acted and what she wanted here. It was clear from the way she rolled her eyes at Sir Giovanni's greeting that she did not think much of him as a military man. Talk of trade similarly caused her exasperation, and the mention of the Ijssel powderworks caused enough scorn to choke a bull. It wasn't until mention was made of Quaterain and the border that she showed genuine interest. There was something there that seemed to be the reason for her visit.
Quaterain itself was independent either of the Grand Duchy of Bouellia or the Free County of Ijssel, though it sat on the border of both. It was an independent territory of around twelve hundred people in a pair of moderately sized villages adjacent to a patch of forest and a patch of marshland. It shared the forest with Bouellia and the Marshland with Ijssel, but its ruler, the Seigneur de Quaterain was independent of either Principality. Quaterain made most of its money through woodworking, wooden goods made in the larger of the two villages, Quaterain Proper, was quite high quality and both Ijssel and Bouellia had traded with the small Seigneurie and Quaterain made a decent amount of coin off it.
Carlo could surmise that the Baroness coveted Quaterain and from how she was acting, was likely preparing to seize the small territory with the blessing of Duc Ferenc. He wouldn't know for certain without actively questioning her about it, though. To that end, when the Baroness stepped forward to offer her false courtesies, Carlo had a plan of action to act upon.
"Seigneur Carlo, I bring you greetings from the court of the illustrious Duc Ferenc de Savoie, Grande Duc of Bouellia, grandson of Baron Charles de Savoie of Carcassone. My Duc has bid me come to your lands to speak of our shared border." She began, already minimizing Carlo's title from Count to Seigneur and playing up the heritage of her own lord.
"I offer my thanks to Duc Ferenc for his willingness to talk. Tell me, what concerns does the Duc have of our border?" Responded Carlo.
"Why, none other than the fact that your predecessor stole the lands to the south and east of Quaterain from his predecessor some twenty years previously. He wishes redress to be made." Replied the Baroness. That wasn't quite true, Carlo could tell thanks to insights provided by his Myrmidia-given powers.
"I see. And what redress does the Duc wish?" Pressed Carlo, needing more information before making a decision.
"The return of those lands would not be looked upon unkindly by my Lord." Answered the Baroness.
"And if such a thing were not up for negotiation?" Questioned Carlo.
"Then allowing a representative of his court to annex the Seigneurie of Quaterain would appease him for the time being." Sniffed the Baroness. Carlo's Myrmidia-granted insight told him that was both what she wanted and not the whole truth. Thankfully, he also had been granted an extraordinary gift for strategy by Myrmidia and was able to puzzle out that if he just let Bouellia invade and occupy Quaterain, they would then use the territory as a base from which to invade Ijssel once they had consolidated control over Quaterain and gotten their logistics in order.
"I see. How long would such a campaign take? I would hate for trade to be disrupted too much by an extended campaign in the meantime, you understand?" Queried Carlo.
"Likely no more than a month to undertake the campaign itself, perhaps another to solidify our control and ensure no die-hards remain in the woods or marshes to turn brigand. I assure you, that trade disruption will not be an issue for long." Explained the Baroness. Carlo's powers told him that the first part of that was a lie, and the second part was a threat couched in truth. Extrapolating from his Myrmidia-given gift for strategy meant that he likely only had one month to prepare for an invasion from Bouellia, give or take a week. Unfortunate, but at least he had forwarning now.
"I see. You may tell the Duc that I will not stop him should he annex Quaterain, in the interest of good relations on our mutual border. When can I expect his troops to begin attacking so I might avoid sending merchants into the warzone?" Answered Carlo, already thinking of how to get his militia prepared for a fight in a sixth of the time he'd anticipated. There had to be some way.
"Our attack should begin a week from today, once forces have been moved into place. Thank you for being amenable to my Lord's request, I shall not take up any more of your time." Sniffed the Baroness before she turned on her heel and marched back out of the Great Hall.
Once she was gone, Sir Giovanni spoke up again. "You know, I looked into you on the way here. You commanded the first company of Ferretti's Foot during the Norscan siege of Aarnau. I did not think such a man would concede so easily to that harpy's demands." He offered.
"She was quite shrill, wasn't she?" Mused Carlo.
"I did not enjoy listening to her preen. Did you catch how she called you Seigneur? As if you were the lord of some minor holding not even worthy of being called a Baron?" Frowned Elena from the seat to Carlo's side.
"I did, but I also caught something else. Her lord does not intend to stop at Quaterain. We likely have just over a month before we will be at war with the Grande Duchy of Bouellia." Informed Carlo.
Elena's eyes widened. "What? Why would you accept their request to annex Quaterain, then?" She hissed.
"Because we now know we have over a month to prepare. They likely had forces already in place to seize Quaterain. It is the logistics for a force required to conquer us that they need the extra time for. If I had denied their request, they would have sent the smaller force against us to disrupt any defensive plans as an advanced force instead. Plus there are other benefits." Pointed out, Carlo.
"What other benefits?" Asked Elena.
"That Bouellia now thinks they will be marching against an unprepared opponent once they finish with Quaterain. Perhaps my research was correct about you after all." Interjected Sir Giovanni with a grin.
"Indeed, she already thought me a jumped-up peasant, I decided to play to that with my first impression. Now not only do we have time to train forces to fight the Duc's Army, but Duc Ferenc will not be expecting our counterattack." Grinned Carlo.
"An excellent strategy, as expected of one so clearly devout of Bellona Myrmidia." Nodded Sir Giovanni, gesturing to Carlo's outfit.
"I do try, Sir Giovanni. I do try. Now, if you'll excuse me, I do need to speak to my council regarding today's revelations. I will get back to you with an estimate for trade relations within the week." Affirmed Carlo.
"Of course. I shall take my leave." Replied Sir Giovanni with a shallow bow before leaving.
For now, Carlo had a war to prepare for. . .
XXXX
AN: So yeah, snobby Brettonian is snobby and Carlo uses it against her.
If anyone is wondering what charms he's displayed thus far. That would be the first melee excellency, second war excellency, and third investigation excellency, along with crafty observation method, which allowed him to read the intentions behind the Baroness' words from body language and microexpressions, and hungry tiger technique, which he used to cut off Bigsmasha's hand and create the opening needed to kill him.
Also, yeah. It looks like war is coming sooner than anticipated from a Principality that isn't Khypris. Gonna need to prepare for that and hope that Khypris doesn't pile on.
Thankfully it seems Myrmidens is at least friendly for the time being. It seems the Knights of the Blazing Sun chapterhouse there recognizes one of their own? A fellow devout of Myrmidia, one whose received the Goddes' blessing even? Who knows?
At least they don't seem to want to attack Ijssel as well.
Anyway next up will be an inspection of the forces currently available to him by Carlo. Stay tuned.