Ferenc de Savoie, by the Grace of the Lady Grande Duc de Bouellia, had made his preparations. Around fifty of his foot knights and fifty of his yeoman longbowmen had already been camped near the border with Quaterain along with twice their number of levy troops from the territory of his vassal, the Baroness de Estang, and twenty of the Baroness' own mounted knights along with thirty of her men-at-arms. The rest of the Grande Duchy's strength was mustered here at Castelle Bouellia. All that remained was for him to command them and they would ride out to overwhelm their enemies, first Quaterain, where he would force the stubborn Seigneur to bend the knee, and then against the upjumped Pirate in Ijssel. There was just one problem with that plan.
"You are making a mistake of dramatic proportions if you are intent on going through with this. The Lady has given me a glimpse of the future and I only see ruin for your venture." Came a female voice.
The Lady Ygraine was a young grail damsel, one of the few who had shown interest in returning to Bouellia with him after his last trip to Turin, and the only one that the Prophetess, Knight, and Elder Damsels in the Grail Chapel there would allow to accompany him back. Ygraine knew quite a few useful spells, one to heal wounds, one to make your skin hard as oak to reduce damage, one to forecast the weather, and so on. The fact that she was an attractive lass if a bit skinny for his tastes also hadn't hurt. Generally, she'd been quite a boon to him, healing his knights after the damnable Greenskins to the Southwest had tried raiding his lands or helping the vineyards that produced the Grande Duchy's main trade good grow.
At this moment, however, she was being particularly intransigent. Duc Ferenc turned to face her, a single brown eyebrow cocked at her outburst. He would attempt to reason with Ygraine, but he knew well enough that her faith in what visions the Lady sent her was unshakable. Still, there had to be another interpretation of the Lady's portents. One more favorable to his imminent campaign.
"Perhaps the Lady meant ruin to our enemies?" He questioned.
"I do not think that was it. There were too many dead knights in the vision for that. Unless Renard or Ijssel has managed to find enough heavy horse to convincingly fake it since the Baroness departed their capital, I say my interpretation is sound. If you take your army to battle, then it will be decimated." Frowned Ygraine.
Ferenc studied her as she stood there, thinking. "Perhaps she meant to say that the battle will be bloody. That does not necessarily mean we will lose. What else did the vision show?" He pressed.
"I saw dead knights, a bloody, hard-fought battlefield along a riverbank, and sun, a lot of light from a bright, blazing sun. It was almost too much to parse. The light drowned out much of the vision in golden radiance. The last I recall seeing was the banner of the grail go forth with what knights were yet fighting. Then I awoke from my slumber. Any more than that, I cannot say." Frowned Ygraine.
A smile creased the bearded face of Duc Ferenc then as he was certain that this was simply a misinterpreted omen. He nodded at Ygraine, confident now that this was the correct decision.
"You said it yourself, the Banner of the Grail went forth in your vision. Surely that is a sign that we are to be victorious, despite the cost?" He queried.
"Mayhaps. I have only been blessed with visions thrice before now by the Lady, and only once were they given with enough clarity that there was no room for alternative interpretation. I am hardly an experienced interpreter of prophecy. If only Prophetess Annette were here, she has mastered interpretation of the Lady's visions through hard-won experience." Bemoaned Ygraine.
"There, you see? Not all is lost. Besides, if required I can simply avoid battles near riverbanks. It may not be the most chivalrous thing, but chivalry would be wasted on someone like this Carlo Zeno. By all accounts, he was a Pirate before he bumbled his way into power in Ijssel, before that a common mercenary. This is not a man who would care overmuch about being treated with honor." Assured Ferenc.
Ygraine frowned at that. "I do not think the Lady would approve of some of the tactics that a war without chivalry would see used. However, avoiding battle near riverbanks when she has sent a vision showing it would be wise to do so? I think she would allow this." Affirmed Ygraine, after a moment's pause to think the matter over.
"There, you see? We can heed the Lady's vision while still attacking our foes after all. It was not so difficult." Grinned Ferenc, knowing he would get his war after all.
"I suppose not." Frowned Ygraine.
"Will you be joining us on campaign?" Questioned Duc Ferenc.
"Non. I will be setting up a field hospital with some of the more medically inclined ladies of the Baroness de Estang's court in the town of L'haieville in the de Estang lands to help care for the wounded." Responded Ygraine.
L'haiville was a town in the maquis scrubland that lay between the more fertile plains of the de Estang lands around Castelle de Estang and the forests and wetlands near Quaterain and the border with Ijssel. It was known for its hedgerows of mixed blackberry, raspberry, and dewberry brambles the locals used to make preserves, syrups, and a curious type of wine substitute. It was also not too far from where the border was between Quaterain and Bouellia, about a day-and-a-half's march on foot, less ahorse.
"It's a decent place for a field hospital." Admitted Duc Ferenc.
"I thought so, as did the Baroness de Estang." Grinned Ygraine.
"I still think I would rather have you with me in battle." Sighed Ferenc.
"I know, but if my initial interpretation of the Lady's Vision proves correct, we will have more need of my healing magics for our wounded than anything else. I am sorry, but I must stay behind." Insisted Ygraine.
Duc Ferenc sighed, but ultimately, he could live with that. It wasn't likely that Quaterain had the resources to house a wizard that Ygraine's battlefield talents would be required to counter, and unless Ijssel had found one in the time between the Baroness' departure and now, they likely didn't have one either. True, she could use spells to enhance his toughness or create snaring brambles to break apart formations of more poorly drilled enemies, but her main talents in battle would primarily be to counter enemy wizards through countermagic. She would be more useful in ensuring that his wounded make a full recovery. After all, what good would it be if he humbled Ijssel and conquered Quaterain only to completely destroy his army in the process? Khypris would certainly take the opportunity to invade, to say nothing of the Greenskins to the southwest.
"Very well. If that is all, please send in my squire. I must don my armor before we leave." Intoned Ferenc.
"Of course. I shall await outside." Nodded Ygraine as she withdrew.
Ferenc's squire was a young lad named Roger de Lacre, the second son of one of his knights, Sir Humbert de Lancre. Their family sigil was that of a sheep on a field of sky blue, a tabard of which, young Roger was wearing over his mail. They had a small keep in the north of Bouellia, near the border with the Baron Gusteux of the Barony of Mont Blanc, a small principality of some eleven-hundred jade miners and sheep herders based around Louen Keep in the Vaults. Only two things of note came out of Mont Blanc, polished jade for use in jewelry and wool. As the gangly, red-haired, young lad helped Ferenc don his armor, the Duc mused that once he was done in the south he may turn north to take Mont Blanc and give the fief to Roger. That could be amusing.
It was unfortunate that in these lands the lesser nobility had to do the work of a peasant, but the lands were both poorer and more dangerous than in Brettonia. Squiring helped young nobles prepare easier for knighthood in a land where danger was around every corner, and the slower, more methodical training they received in Brettonia was unfeasible for financial reasons.
Soon enough, Duc Ferenc was fully armored in his plate and bearing his shield painted in his colors, a black fleur-de-lis on a field of orange. After the final checks to make sure everything was buckled on properly, he nodded at his young squire.
"Merci Roger, now we shall ride to crush our enemies. First Quaterain, then Ijssel, after that who knows? Perhaps Mont Blanc? Perhaps the Greenskins? That is for later though. For now, we ride to victory at Quaterain. The Lady wills it." He intoned.
"Of course, my Lord. If the Lady wills it, then it must be so." Affirmed Roger.
The pair strode out of the Duc's rooms, down through the keep, with Ygraine falling in beside them, and out into the courtyard where they mounted up. Duc Ferenc's steed was a magnificent blood-red destrier named Orlando. Orlando was a gift from Duc Ferenc's uncle, who was the Baron of Turin and the second most powerful lord in the Duchy of Carcassone just behind the Duc himself. Roger's steed was a smaller, plainer, less barded, brown courser named Guerrier. Lady Ygraine rode the smallest horse, a white palfrey named Belle with no barding. Together they departed the courtyard of Castelle Bouellia for the army camped on the plain outside. It would take two weeks for that army to march to Quaterain.
When they arrived, they would do so with steel and blood. . .
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AN: So yeah looks like the Lady of the Lake is trying to tell the Duc not to attack.
Unfortunately for him, his Grail Damsel barely qualifies as having completed her apprenticeship. She's inexperienced in interpreting prophecy and with the way Ferenc has of twisting things to fit his own biases, he's muddled the waters enough to cause his Damsel to second-guess her interpretation.
If you're wondering why Mont Blanc wasn't on the list of known Border Principalities, it's because that list is an IC list for Carlo. With Bouellia and Quaterain between him and Mont Blanc, he doesn't know they exist currently.
Anyway, next will be an interlude with Admiral Karolski as he fights to prevent the Ork Corsair Kaptin Snikktoof from seizing the booty of over 1.5 million Guilders he's escorting back to Ijssel. Then we'll be back with Carlo.
Stay tuned