The Hero of Westville

The newly-promoted Captain Remus Staughler walked along the lower Connaissance defensive wall as he scanned the faces of the people coming for work or just hoping to see what kind of magical place the City of Connaissance really is and what it might be like. His eyes caught sight of the face of a young girl that sent his mind back fifteen years earlier.

The young Remus Staughler was from a very small Windsor Kingdom village not far from the Capital. He envisioned a life of working on his parent's farm being married to the girl he loved who came from the farm next door. It all changed for him the day the Baron came to visit. He drafted all of the young men in the village to come work as his guards. The young Remus was instead taught how to march and how to kill. Six months after joining the Baron's guards he was summoned by the Baron.

The young Remus knocked on the Baron's door, "My Lord, it's Guard Staughler? You requested to see me?"

The Baron laughed, "Ah, come in. Come in young Soldier." As Remus walked in the room he saw his fiancé, the young girl from the farm next door sitting naked on the Baron's bed. She tried not to look at him as the Baron asked, "It's this soldier then, Victoria?"

She nodded not willing to make eye contact with Remus. "Yes, my Lord. We were set to marry."

The Baron grinned and then said to Remus, "This girl is no longer your fiancé, Guard Staughler. I need you to guard my quarters while I play with her, just stand there and make sure no one disturbs us."

Remus couldn't speak he just stood there like a statue. The girl looked over at him and didn't see the hate she expected to see. She obediently did all of the things the Baron asked for the next several hours as the man she loved was forced to watch. From time to time she would look at him waiting to see a reaction. He simply stared at the two of them. After a while, the Baron looked over at him and laughed, "Thank you Guard Staughler that will be all. See yourself out."

The young Remus walked out of the room and headed back to his own bunk. Not showing anything on his face. When he returned to his quarters another soldier was sitting on his bunk talking with a group of men. Remus walked up to the man picked him and threw him off as he barked at the others, "It's lights out get to your fucking bunks."

"Léon Reno! What got into Staughler?" They grumbled as they returned to their own bunks.

The next morning the Baron called on him again and subjected him to another session of the same. This time he asked Remus to pay the girl and escort her out. Remus said nothing and kept it off his face as they walked to the gate. She looked at him and said, "My father said to tell you, that I can't marry you, Remus. I wanted to tell you in person, I never expected that the Baron would do this to you. The Baron gave my father a second farm and serfs to tend it in exchange for having me as a concubine. I don't think he even understood what the word meant. The Baron just calls me here for... that once in a while. It's been a few months now. I'm so sorry, this isn't what I wanted. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Remus reached into his belt and pulled out a small bag of Sprite and handed it to her. He was still unable to speak. As she turned and walked away he croaked out, "I have never loved any other woman the way I loved you... That farm belonged to my parents. My parents are those serfs." He turned and walked back into the Baron's estate leaving the pair of them completely heartbroken.

Standing on top of the wall Captain Staughler had to wipe a fresh tear off his cheek. "Captain! A woman from Westville has come seeking assistance. Bandits have attacked Westville. It sounds bad."

Captain Remus Staughler shouted out, "Jones and Stratton, bring your squads, we have bandits in Westville. Crossbows and swords this time. We're going by horse. Fast march. Briggs, close the gate until we return."

It only took the troops a few minutes to arm themselves and mount up. The Captain rode at the head of the column of mounted soldiers quickly trotting the ten miles to Westville. By the time they were five miles away, they could see a black cloud of smoke rising from the village. Captain Staughler yelled out angrily, "Crossbows at the ready! No bandit left alive!"

Westville was an outer village near the border of the Holy Chadtom Empire outside of the defensive wall. The last stop before crossing the border into the Holy Chadtom Empire. It was purposely built in this area because of an apple tree forest and deer hunting in the area which meant plenty of free food even though it wasn't protected well. The Captain and his men fell on the bandits like a pack of wild dogs through a hen house. The bandits didn't even have time to beg for surrender before they were all killed to a man. A woman with a horrific scar on her face walked out with a group of villagers, "Thank you for coming, Remus, did Wendy manage to find you then?"

He nodded at her unable to speak before he said softly, "I'm sorry I wasn't on time, Victoria. Were there many hurt?"

She shook her head, "No, you came just in time. They were about to hurt our young women."

He nodded again, and then took her face into his hand looking at the scar, "Who did this?"

She tried to look away, "It was the Baron those many years ago. After you were accepted into the Red Lion Brigade, he cut my face and said I was worthless to him. He gave my father's farm to another girl's family. I was pregnant with his child, Wendy, and forced to raise her alone. I couldn't afford to live in the Kingdom anymore so I brought her here to Connaissance for a chance at a better life. We are still trying to raise the money to live in the City."

He asked in a hoarse voice, "Your husband?"

She shook her head, "I have only ever loved one man..."

He pulled her into his embrace and held her tightly, "Come with me, Victoria. I'll bring you to see your daughter. You can both stay with me now." She returned his hug and started to cry.

Jones and Stratton quickly assembled the troop and started to help the villagers clean up the dead and put out the fires in the village.

*****

"I'll have the usual with the scone of the day." Teslaimia sat down in the teashop by the window.

The shop's owner smiled, "You've been coming every day, if I wasn't old enough to be your father I might start to think you were interested in me."

Teslaimia raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Sorry, you aren't my type." She looked out the window and said, "But I love the view here. It's also close to where I need to go next."

The shop's owner smirked, "You work at Future War?"

She shook her head and smiled, "No, I just go there because I am waiting for a product I ordered. If I don't check in with them, they get interested in a different project and forget about mine."

He laughed, "Some of those gentlemen come in here from time to time. They are all a little scatterbrained. Sometimes I'll casually make an observation or off the cuff remark and they fly out of here forgetting that they just ordered. They always come back later to pay, but I think they just need to be near a chalkboard at all times. Inspiration strikes and off they go!"

She laughed as well and nodded, "Mhm, it's exactly that."

"May I ask, what is it that you do, miss? You seem wealthy if I judge you based on your clothing, so you can't be military. I see you always have a few men waiting around for you, which means you must be important." The shop owner asked as he poured her tea and plated a scone for her walking over and placing it in front of her.

She smiled and said, "I am a Princess. I don't have to do anything, I just choose to run my own company here in the City."

"Wait, you mean like a real Princess?" He looked confused.

She nodded as she sipped her tea. "I am precisely Princess Teslaimia Cassandra from the Kingdom of Fursia."

His eyes opened wide, "I've read about you in the papers before!"

She laughed, "Most of what they write is an exaggeration based on casual observations of my comings and goings. I have never once been interviewed by the Observer." She smiled and said, "My normal life is tame by comparison."

The shop owner nodded and then asked, "What is Lady Connaissance really like? Is she really as smart as they say? She's so young, there's got to be a man behind her pulling the strings right?"

Teslaimia looked out the window and said, "Lady Connaissance? She's at times naive and other times frighteningly on top of everything. She is a sweet girl chasing the dreams of her late father. I just wish that she would treat herself better. She is overworking herself to make the people of the city happy and if you ask most of the people out there on the street what she's done for them, they'll just complain that she hasn't done enough."

The shop owner nodded his head, "I think I am probably one of those folks. I honestly have no idea what Lady Connaissance does here in the city or what she has accomplished."

Teslaimia chuckled and looked down, "She is the new Bank of Connaissance for one. All of these new inventions like Airships, smokeless steam engines, the tall buildings we all live in... She is the genius who gathered the men to design and build them all. She pays for all of it from her own personal fortune. She gathers those men from time to time and gives them projects, the projects lead to innovations in technology. The Future Art of War Company? She owns it. The Airship port? She owns that. If it has changed in the last two years, she is behind that change if you dig deep enough."

The shop owner looked shocked, "I thought she just gave medals to the soldiers and hid away on top of that new City Hall."

Teslaimia shook her head, "She would work sixteen hours a day seven days a week for the city if I didn't pull her out of that office for social occasions and breaks. Everything that happens in this city runs through her office."

"You said you run your own company as well, right? Which company is that?"

She smiled demurely and asked, "Are you married or have a girlfriend?"

"If I said both would you think less of me?" He coughed, "Yes I do."

"Have you ever bought her something from Mia's Secret?" She lightly traced her finger around the rim of her teacup.

His eyes opened wide, "Mia's secret? I have been there for some things yes. You run that shop?"

She smiled and shrugged, "I own Mia's Secret. I pay other people to run my shops. I have them in four different nations now. The money I make is nothing compared to my Royal father's fortune but I am proud of it. You see, it is totally mine. I made my fortune with no investment at all from friends or my father. I just designed clothing and found a market ready for it. I had made my first million Sprite before I knew it was going to be a company."

He frowned and said, "I should have listened to my own Dad, he said no one ever gets rich selling tea and scones."