Into The Kingswood

The next day me and Willow road toward the fort on the edge of the Kingswood. It took a little while to find it having to go way off road for several leagues. I had just expected a single watch tower but instead there were ruin of a small castle destroyed decades before. One of the towers still stood in place and offered one hell of a view of the forest in the open plains just beyond.

"One hell of a view." Willow smiled.

"Tell me about it. Hell when I retire I think I am just going to rebuild the castle."

"Got room for one more."

"I will consider it."

"I will station a few men here who fought beside the centaurs and don't have any bias against the elves while the centaurs scout the western border. They can cover more ground and that's a lot of border to cover."

"Sounds good. I will send a few elves here. We have better night vision unless any of your guys know magic?"

"No not really." I wish we did.

"It's not to big. We can put a barrier around it." Willow said looking around.

"I hope you mean someone besides me."

"You might surprise yourself, or die trying." She smiled. "I will talk to Harmony. It should be simple enough for her." We road back and when we got to Hunter Rest stopped me.

"My lord." He said giving a little bow. "A lady cam asking about you?"

"She say what for?"

"No. She said she would wait on you in the Brothel." He pointed.

"I already like this Lady." Willow said getting off her horse.

"You want to come along don't you?"

"Yes please." Willow nodded.

"Oh hello love." Said when we came in. She was always quick to greet anyone who came through the door. Many of Diana's men probably considered this posting to probably be one of the best they ever had.

"Emerald. Always a pleasure to see you." I said giving her a hug.

"You as well handsome. Who is your friend?" She looked at Willow.

"Princess Willow this is Emerald. Our resident purveyor of pleasure"

"Oh my. Princess" Emerald bowed.

"That isn't necessary." She shook her head.

"She prefers her ass kissing to be a little more literal." I joked and Willow gave a smile.

"Oh. Well you are in the right place your highness. If anything catches your eye just let me know." Emerald nodded. I wondered how in the hell Willow had never been in the place.

"I can think of one thing." She smiled looking Emerald over and took her hand kissing it. The look Emerald gave said she didn't mind the attention. Hell having Willow as a customer meant she could probably pay me back sooner then expected though she was already two months ahead.

"I was told someone was looking for me." I said.

"Yes. Right over there." She pointed and I saw Raven. "Can I get you two anything to drink?"

"Surprise us." Willow smiled and I nodded. We both walked over to where Raven was sitting.

"Excuse us ladies." Raven said and the girls who where entertaining her left.

"So, the dark elf from the party." Willow smiled as she sat down.

"You can see through my disguise?" Raven grinned.

"No. Just most light elves don't visit brothels." Willow shrugged.

"Your here Princess." Raven sat back.

"I am not most elves though you seem to know who I am, care to tell me your name?"

"Her name is Raven. She is a magistrate from Darkwater. Before that..." I began to say.

"I was a spy assigned to the capital." She grinned.

"I figured you would be long gone after the wedding." I gave her a look.

"I needed proof I has killed her. Her head should do." Raven smiled.

"So why did you risk your own neck to stop them from killing the king." Willow asked.

"A dark elf killing a human king would not fair well for any of our people." Raven shrugged.

"Here you go. A gnomish ale for the gentleman and an elvish wine for the lady." Willow said sitting the drinks down and looked at Raven. "Can I get you anything else dear?" Raven shook her head no.

"What do you get out of all this?" I asked once Emerald was out of ear shot.

"That is for me to know." Raven shrugged. "So are we going to fight?"

"Not today but I can't make any promises about next time we see each other." Willow said.

"Fair enough. Here. You killed the bitch or finished her off at least so I will split the bounty they paid me to track her down." Raven tossed a coin purse at me. She stood up walking out the door.

"Well that was fun." Willow smiled. "Pity she left. We could have made it a threesome."

"I am sure you will find someone to keep you company here." I grinned.

"I think you might be right." She smiled watching one of the girls pass.

Things returned to normal as they normally do or as normal as my life can be. Olfina and Felicia managed to stretch the money I gave them pretty far. I think it might have something to do with the low cut blouse she came back in. The rest of the farm land had people working it by the end of the week with a steady supply of horse shit to fertilize the Valley. Olfina oversaw most of it with daily reports. Allowing me more time to focus on the fort.

I put the soldiers to work as well helping to build the barracks so it would go up faster. I assigned more archers to hunting duties pairing them up with the more experienced hunters. Four of the men were assigned to the watch tower to be rotated out every few days. The first sign of trouble or word from Willows people they were to ride for Riversend, Hunters Rest, and Raven Hill. The captain told me as a lord I had the authority to essentially grant men a postilion as an officer. I named two men that I had seen in combat lieutenants and put one in charge of archery training and one in charge of sword training. I assigned another as master at arms once we had an armory for him to master in the barracks.

The town continued to grow. The general store finally opened meaning the residence didn't have to travel to the city for odds and ends as well as a farmers market of sorts which was just a tent were Felicia and the widows hills residents sold their crops.

Back home Roses mother showed up and Ivy delivered a healthy baby sproutling which was planted on the backside of the pond in the yard.