The Red-Haired Night

The Red-Haired Knight 14

Training the Peasant Levies

The Sergeant and Gwyneth were overjoyed to be back in the Valley. It was still mid-winter, but mid-winter at home. Not in Apple Valley. Apple Valley, itself, was not so bad. It was the trekking through the mud, the ice, and the snow to get there and back.

There had been no fighting to speak of certainly no organized resistance. The inhabitants of the Apple Valley did not greet them as liberators but were resentfully compliant.

Once the main body of the army returned to Prosperous Valley, things had taken a turn for the worse, but frankly, that was above the Sergeant's pay grade and not his worry.

The Marechal had taken the Sergeant aside before the Guard and the Cavalry returned to the home barracks. "Train the levies, Sergeant. Yes, they are nominally under the leadership of their Village Fine Folk officers. But I want you to take a hand in this. Train the senior militia man from each village and have him return to drill the other military-age men."

The Fine Folk did not resent this at all-- they were used to others doing the dirty work for them.

The Fine Folk in the Cavalry were busy sending a squadron a week to the north and south of the Valley, to patrol the winter pastures. Valley horses were very sturdy and rarely stabled. Those horses, not in service in the military or on farms, roamed free.

It was essential that this resource was not interfered with. The Wild Folk had no equestrian traditions, but the Lords of the High Country might infiltrate this area to distract the Warrior Lady.

"The Fine Folk guard the Lady's flanks, and the Marechal is to the East. 'Don't worry about the mountains, which are being taken care of.' So, I train fifty senior men who will, in turn, train twenty levies. I have one month to train the senior men and they will then have until the enemies come to train their levies. Pray on the Holy Ground, it is enough."

Gwyneth also had added responsibilities. From being Mistress of the Barracks, she now looked after a good part of the supply of the army. It had embarrassed the Lady when she found out that the woman, she thought was a simple camp follower, was mistress of the Barracks.

The Lady... oh, the Fine Folk, have no clue as to the people that keep their heads above water. For days after that first battle, the Lady had treated Gwyneth as a body servant. Gwyneth's quiet efficiency led the Lady to enquire as to Gwyneth's background. She had been using a woman who looked after hundreds of men and their needs as simply someone to fetch her clean linens and bring her meals.

The march to Apple Valley served to correct the Lady. The Lady found a young lass, who had her letters and a quick mind as her body servant and gave Gwyneth back to the Army and her Sergeant.

Malle envied their hot love and deep devotion. Coincidentally, they were pivotal figures in her success and the survival of Prosperous Valley under its traditional leadership. Well, at least, it is the correct line of succession. There had never been a female leader of the Prosperous valley.

Malle's dreams were no longer simple battles for her soul with the Dark and Light. Whispers, whispers from her people came to her. She did not walk among those people as some leaders did, that just encouraged the sycophants.

The whispers told her that to most people, the roles of Gwyneth and the Sergeant were accepted. Competent, longtime supporter of the Valley moving on in responsibility. But, as always with people, there were the jealous, and the resentful. Gwyneth was called 'the Lady's cunt licker.' The Sergeant prospered because he fucked the woman who spread the Devil's ass cheeks for the Lady to kiss.

Malle's lips curled in disgust. It was such an ancient slander. The only way for women to prevail was to be in league with the Devil. What turned her stomach was that, to a degree, it was true. She sought help for the Valley from both the Light and the Dark Side.

The Lord Edward, while in his cups, dispensed the Wisdom of the Rulers. To succeed, you must sell your soul in one fashion or another. You are nothing compared to the Lives of the People. They are your responsibility. Both physically and spiritually. They should never go down the dark paths, or they are cursed forever. It is in the Nature of the Lord or Lady to be cursed after death, in payment for the privilege they enjoy on Earth. And the awful burden they bear, doing evil to do good. For the good of the People.

As always thanks to my editor: kenjisato.

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