Everyone’s Tales of Heroism

Everyone’s Tales of Heroism

Everyone’s Tales of Heroism

“Welcome back,” Charlotte said.

“Thank you for coming, Lady Hannelore,” Florencia added. “We appreciate your duchy’s assistance from the bottom of our hearts.”

My vision finally settled to reveal the knights’ training grounds. Charlotte and Florencia were the only ones who had come to welcome us, and they had as few retainers with them as they could get away with. Melchior was likely in the temple, but what about Wilfried and Karstedt? The unusual setup made me nervous.

“Sylvester, I don’t see Wilfried or Melchior,” I said. “Or my father, for that matter.”

“We might have been able to wrap things up here before the fighting in Gerlach concluded, but we haven’t had long to gather ourselves. Karstedt is at the Order’s command post with Wilfried, who’s giving him a hand there. Melchior hasn’t yet returned from the temple. Relax. Nobody sustained any serious injuries; they’re just busy with the cleanup.”

We’d dumped so much of our work on Ahrensbach’s knights and Gerlach’s nobles, but here in Ehrenfest, there was nobody they could delegate to. As the duchy’s highest authority, Sylvester was busy delegating the cleanup to other members of the archducal family. And as the knight commander, Karstedt was especially busy since he hadn’t been able to excuse himself from attending the feast. We really were shorthanded.

“How about the temple and the lower city?” I asked. “Was anyone hurt there?”

“As of yet, we haven’t received word of any major injuries,” Sylvester replied. “Come on, don’t look so worried. The soldiers at the gates and the knights stationed at the temple apparently went above and beyond the call of duty. Just ask those retainers of yours who were there.”

Dunkelfelger’s representatives had yet to receive proper greetings, so I didn’t question Sylvester any further. He lined up next to Florencia and Charlotte, then exchanged the usual courtesies with Hannelore. They went on for ages and were packed with the names of gods.

“If not for the assistance of Dunkelfelger’s knights,” Sylvester said, “I suspect we never would have rescued Ferdinand or protected our foundation. Your support in Gerlach was similarly heartening.” He went on to note that my scholars’ correspondence about Dunkelfelger’s involvement in the Purging of Lanzenave had proven especially useful in the Defense of Ehrenfest.

Good to know Hartmut’s and Clarissa’s letters helped.

“As abrupt as this invitation must have been, I am so very thankful that you accepted it,” Sylvester continued. “If we had missed this opportunity to reward your hard work, we would have struggled to find another. Our victory feast shall begin at sixth bell. It will be only humble in scope, but I hope it still conveys the depth of our gratitude.”

He then turned to Florencia and Charlotte. “Take our guests from Dunkelfelger to their rooms. Baths have already been prepared for them. They may relax until the feast.”

“Thank you,” Hannelore replied with a gentle smile. “I had hoped to bathe before our celebration.”

Sylvester smiled in turn, then addressed Ferdinand: “We’ve prepared a guest room for you as well.”

“A guest room...?” Ferdinand blinked a few times in confusion, then glanced at me and said, “Ah, yes...” Despite the warm welcome he’d received from Sylvester, he no longer had a home to return to—not since he’d given his estate to me. I’d wanted to bring him back to Ehrenfest, but now I’d taken his chambers from him. That wouldn’t do at all.

“Ferdinand,” I said, “use my library.”

“But that would be—”

“Please. I will stay in the castle. Your chambers have been kept largely as they were, and you should feel more comfortable staying somewhere you’re familiar with. If you need potions, use the workshop and its ingredients as you please. Just make sure Lasfam sees you are safe.”

Hannelore gave me a strange look. “Lord Ferdinand has chambers in your library?”

“Indeed. My library was once his estate. He gave it to me when he moved to Ahrensbach, and my first course of action was to fill it with books,” I replied, unable to keep from boasting. The books mostly belonged to Ferdinand, but I decided not to mention that.

“Lady Hannelore,” Ferdinand added, “I did not have a wife or any children when I received the royal decree ordering me to leave Ehrenfest. The estate was given to me by my father, so I elected to pass it on to Rozemyne, my charge at the time. That was all. To be frank, I did not think my chambers would still be there.”

I turned sharply to Ferdinand, who looked thoroughly exasperated. “Did I not tell you I wouldn’t touch them? I wanted you to have somewhere to stay whenever you came home to visit.”

“Yes, but that was merely a promise; I assumed it would only last so long. I considered it inevitable that your library would eventually encroach on my chambers.”

“Not enough books have been made for that. I’m doing my best to print more, but...”

That really was a dream of mine—a collection of so many books that my library could barely even contain them. But as I started wondering how to make that happen, Ferdinand sighed.

“I would prefer to sleep in my own chambers, assuming they really do still exist, but would you truly be amenable to that?”

“Of course. As I said, I can stay in my chambers in the castle. I shall send an ordonnanz to Lasfam telling him to prepare for your arrival. Then, while we wait, I will check on the temple and the lower city.”

I started pondering all the things I would need to do before returning to the castle—but again, Ferdinand pulled me from my thoughts.

“Hold on—do you really mean to abandon your guests? You were the one who invited them here. We can safely assume that the temple and the lower city experienced no major injuries; be content with your retainers’ reports for today and go look tomorrow morning. There is not much time before sixth bell.”

He was right—by the time I’d bathed and received updates from my retainers, it would almost be time for the feast. I sent an ordonnanz to Lasfam asking him to make arrangements for Ferdinand, Eckhart, and Justus, and his response came at once: he had already made them, having heard through Lieseleta that Ferdinand was safe and returning for the feast.

“Lasfam really is an excellent attendant,” I said.

“But of course,” Ferdinand scoffed. “He trained under me.”

“Lieseleta is just as good, though. If not better.”

“Um, Aub Ehrenfest... Are they normally like this?” Hannelore asked Sylvester. She and Heisshitze both looked stunned.

Sylvester let his eyes wander as though searching for the right words, then gave a hushed response: “Yes, most of the time.”

“Welcome back, Lady Rozemyne,” Ottilie said upon my return to the castle. “I am glad to see you are safe.”

Lieseleta and Gretia greeted me too; they had received news of my arrival from Charlotte and rushed over from the library to start getting everything ready. Abrupt invitations inconvenienced more than just the recipient—they also troubled the attendants tasked with preparing for their unexpected guests.

“Even with Bertilde’s assistance, Brunhilde had to run all over the place to prepare Dunkelfelger’s guest rooms,” Ottilie said. “Let us head there now.”

Only once those formalities were out of the way did Ottilie look at her son Hartmut and his fiancée, Clarissa. A smile spread across her face as she told them she had informed the family estate of their return; then she briskly took her leave. As it turned out, she had waited around as long as she was able so that she could confirm everyone was safe.

“Since Lady Rozemyne is about to bathe, the guard knights could return to their dorms in shifts?” Lieseleta suggested to them. “You all will need to change clothes for the feast.”

The knights nodded and got to work deciding the order in which they would get ready. I watched them out of the corner of my eye before heading to the changing room with Gretia. She took out my hair ornaments and started delicately undoing my hair.

“The temple has been contacted,” she said. “Judithe and the others should arrive by the time you have finished bathing.”

“So... How did the war seem from here in Ehrenfest?” I asked. “Was anyone hurt?”

“We were in the library for the most part. Thanks to the magic tool you set up to protect it, we did not even notice the fighting.” They had known when it had started and ended thanks to the arrival of ordonnanzes, but no damage had come to my library.

Gretia continued, “Even before there were signs of a battle, Damuel brought the Gutenbergs and their families to the library in the morning. It was a surprise to see so many commoners arrive all at once.”

“So he kept his promise and protected everyone,” I said. He must have sensed Georgine’s arrival early and moved the Gutenbergs to my library—the safest location, thanks to my magic tools.

“He did. One moment that stood out to me was when your hairpin maker and her family removed their charms and asked him to deliver them to her father. Then they started working on your hair ornaments and clothes, saying that they had to do what they could to help.”

Gretia had just finished undoing my hair and started helping me out of my riding clothes when Lieseleta entered. “Oh, were you discussing today’s events? There were several Gilberta Company seamstresses among those who evacuated. They brought your clothes and hair ornaments with them to the library to ensure their safety. As I recall, they said a fitting would need to be done and wondered when you might be free. We will need to contact them.”

I could picture Tuuli and Corinna both throwing themselves into their work. They would have felt uneasy doing nothing at all, and my approaching departure was a practical concern, but still—the Gutenbergs’ decision to keep busy after their evacuation had turned the library into a surprisingly relaxed environment.

“Those of the Plantin Company observed the estate’s furnishings and the library as closely as they could, eager to learn anything that might help them with their books and eateries. They already had a good understanding of the books made in Ehrenfest, but they said they had never carefully observed a normal one.”

Philine and Judithe arrived as I was finishing my bath. They both looked well. I wasn’t dressed yet, so Roderick was waiting in another room with the male knights.

“So the library was safe, but what about the temple?” I asked. “Did it end up becoming a battlefield...?”

Philine nodded, an uncomfortable look on her face. “But, um, everyone in the orphanage is safe. We received an ordonnanz from Damuel at third bell and evacuated them as per our drills.” That must have been around the same time that the Gutenbergs had made their way to the library.