Return Home For The Burial

Talon Blackmont rode ahead of the remains of his army as well as a single wagon pulling a wooden coffin. As the army marched further and further into Alto, the soldiers and lords slowly began to split off returning to their villages and castles respectively. By the time Talon saw the outer walls of Harleston Hold, he was merely leading the beaten and broken remains of his personal levy, once strong at five thousand, now just a meager eight hundred. The unusual feeling of weakness was now fresh in all of their minds but none stronger than Talon's.

"Open the gates! King Talon Returns!" A voice called out, the title hitting Talon's ear like a foreign word.

Passing through the gates, Talon was first greeted by the welcoming sight of House Blackmonts banners hanging from every wall and flying high, though the man's attention was quickly turned to his mother and sister rushing towards him exclaiming, "Talon!"

Talons mother, Lysa, stood at medium height, a middle-aged woman with deep auburn hair, and a voluptuous body. The daughter of one of the lesser noble houses in Alto, she married Talon's father and birthed Talon within the first year of marriage. Talons sister, Nix, stood just a few inches taller than her mother but was the only child to share her mother's hair color. Despite being dressed consistently in armor or simple clothing, Nix's beauty was still evident to all, though it seemed the daughter of Gregor Blackmont picked the path of a warrior rather than a noblewoman.

Without hesitation, Talon dismounted from his horse and embraced the pair, "Mother...Sister...I'm sorry," Talon muttered, "I failed you, I failed our house, I failed father...I couldn't get to him,"

"Quiet my son," Lysa hushed, "You saved your brother, Gryff is alive because of you, and your father wouldn't have had it done any other way,"

"Cowards had to call in Falcone to win that war, and even then they just barely scraped by with it," Nix growled, "Gryff told me they couldn't even face him in single combat, and even then he took half of the down with him,"

"Aye...he died a warriors ****," Talon nodded before letting out a slow sigh, "We lost more than half our ****, the other lords will need time to rebuild before we can expect them to answer another call to arms," Nix nodded her brow pursing for a moment, "How many men?"

"Just around eight hundred," Talon replied as the trio walked towards the keep, "The garrison here?"

"I've kept the two hundred remaining well; they are still armed, fed, and ready. With a thousand men, we can hold Harleston against any foreign invader," Nix confidently stated,

"Keeping Harleston doesn't do us any good if they can take everything else, Alto is far more than this hold," Talon reminded his sister before looking back to his mother, "How is Gryff's recovery?"

"He's growing stronger every day," Lysa said with a full smile, "He should be off of bed rest by the next full moon,"

"Good, and what of Brenn?" Talon moved on, "I haven't heard from him since father fell," He continued, noting his little brother's absence,

"He sent a raven, he'll be here for father's funeral, and...to talk with you," Nix replied producing a sigh from Talon, "You know he didn't agree with the surrender,"

"Aye, and neither did half our country," Talon scoffed, "If we left all the decisions to men like that, I would be ruling a country of seven men by now."

"Alto hasn't lost a war in over a hundred years," Nix reminded her brother, "It's hard to blame them for arguing against a surrender exactly,"

"It wasn't a surrender, it was a white peace, we stopped fighting them, and they stopped fighting us," Talon clarified, "And it was the right decision,"

"Of course it was, my son," Lysa dutifully agreed,

"We didn't have the men, continuing to fight would only serve to have the rest of our men die for a pointless war," Talon continued with a shake of his head, "But what Brenn doesn't seem to realize is I ended that war to protect us from others. Alto is weak now, and more war will be upon us soon, we need to prepare for it,"

"I'll...send the marshal out at once, he can start a mass recruitment drive, we'll get every man old enough to hold a spear to start training," Nix firmly stated, "The girls too if need be,"

"Good, once Gryff I plan to ride with him and buy some sellswords," Talon replied, "Rebuilding a powerful army of our own is our main priority. Our bannerman are weak, but together...they outnumber us two to one, and as you said, half of them already don't agree with my decision."

"If any of them reveal to be traitor brother, I swear, they will not get to you while I breathe," Nix growled,

"Enough!" Lysa suddenly exclaimed, "My children, these...thoughts and discussions can wait, we all have a more important matter to attend to," She said with a shaky voice while turning back towards the wagon that pulled the late King Gregor, "Your father needs to be put to rest, properly,"

Talon and Nix bowed their heads and nodded within a moment, "Of course Mother, did father have any wishes?" Nix asked,

"He wanted to be put to rest in the way of the old," Lysa replied while wiping her eyes,

Talon nodded as the trio finally climbed the steps and entered the keep, "I'll have the men prepare a pyre,"