Retinue's beginning

The men, who by now had partially sobered up realised they had been spared from a terrible fate at this time and began to thank Cassius for his mercy.

Lee on his hands and knees, promising to whatever god he believed in to turn away from booze and straighten his life out. "Thank you for your mercy Lord, Thank you, Thank you!" He cried.

"Ensure you are all fully equipped in full battle attire, bring your swords with you as well, this will be an inspection, followed by PT." Cassius advised the group.

Unsure of what "PT" was referring to, but if an inspection was what stood between them and the gallows, then they were more than willing to go through with it.

'You'll be praying for the gallows when I am through with you.' Cassius thought , a sadistic smile crossing his features, but never reaching his eyes. He had great plans for these men, if only they could survive long enough to see their potential realised.

"For now, get out of my sight and washup, I will not have a group of drunks guarding this castle." To which, the men readily thanked him again, and scurried off out of sight down the steps to wherever their barracks was located.

Cassius thought he might be pushing his boundaries a bit, with all his demanding and lambasting but when he spared a quick glance back towards Jacobs, he received an enthusiastic nod of approval.

Well, that was a good sign at least.

While the small crowd began dispersing, Cassius made his way onto the castle wall from a nearby exit and gestured to Jacobs to come over to him.

"Jacobs, I am thinking of starting my own retinue, is this something afforded to me in the Stenfall family?"

Surprised and taken slightly taken aback, Jacobs simply responded with:

"Yes, I will also bring it up to your father when I report this afternoon."

"Do you know if my brothers have created their own as well?"

"Yes, your Elder Lord brother has a retinue of seven men including his advisor, and tutor, and Dustin appears to have just started to collect his own group recently."

Leaning against the castle's exterior wall, Cassius considered the complex nature of his family.

"Who has the most support in the castle, and who would want me dead the most?" He asked, looking directly at Jacobs who was shocked by the question. 

The Honor Guard Captain was immediately taken aback, but when seeing the deadpan look on Cassius's face, he realised something must have happened as his face darkened with a scowl.

"Right now, Young Lord… Your father is still young and healthy and no factions have formed yet, however a few of the older members of his council appear to me leaning towards Elric, has something happened, Lord Cassius?"

Nodding, his head Cassius ignored his follow up question instead questioned the Captain once more.

"Are the Honor Guard assigned to protect us as well? Or strictly the Margrave?"

"The Honor Guard are assigned to the Margrave, members may be assigned to protect and guide the Young Lords as well, such as Ser Hektor, who is Elric's assigned guardsmen."

"Mmm… Then I would like you to become my Honor Guard then."

Jacobs figured this was going to happen, he had to disappoint Cassius however.

"My apologies, Lord Cassius… but I refuse. My duty is to protect your father, the Margrave."

Cassius shrugged his shoulders, it was worth a shot and he expected the refusal. "Fair enough, then I would like to request that you assign a Guardsman who you believe to be appropriate."

He had hoped however that the very obvious hint he dropped made its way to his father. He felt acting quickly in this situation would be the best course of action, and give the other party no time to react.

Jacobs agreed to the request however; this was a regular accommodation that the Margrave had allocated for his many children and could be handled within a few hours during his daily report to Margrave of House Stenfall.

"I have a candidate in mind, but I must return to my duties soon, Lord Cassius." Jacobs had found his address of Cassius had shifted to a more respectful one, he wasn't sure what his intentions were for those men either but he managed to discipline them without overly bloodshed or impacting morale. That last comment he made as well… he needed to report everything in detail soon.

"By the way… What are your plans for those men anyway, Lord Cassius?" Carmen, who felt a little forgotten about, suddenly asked.

Which he regretted asking immediately, as Cassius's face contorted into a twisted smile possessing a ruthlessness that an eleven year old should never have been able to create.

"Oh, Carmen, my personal retinue will include those men, and you both are going to be a part of it."

"What's… What?" a bombshell went off as the three men looked at Cassius with confusion. He just finished ruining those men, and now he wants to recruit them? Wait? Did he group us in with them?

"What about your studies and education, Lord Cassius?" Probed Jacobs.

"Why us as well?" Horace asked, wondering if his Lord was petty enough to continue holding the incident in the kitchen hall over them.

"Of course I will be attending them." He stated matter-of-factly, confused as to why he wouldn't try to fill the gaps in his knowledge

"And as for you two? Because I felt like it." It was actually because he spotted what he hoped were a pair of hidden gems, chalked full of potential. Their strengths are obvious to those who knew what to look for.

Carmen, being the shorter and younger of the two had the look of a future Scout, his smaller build and cautious nature would make him perfect for this.

Horace gave him the feel of a future advisor, or Officer, his body was strong and his mind was sharp, he was able to swiftly respond to Cassius's game and cover for Carmen when they had first met. Time would tell however, he needed to get to know these young men first, and what better way than some group training?