Baron Edward Fitzwilliam stood at the map table, a large map of the barony spread out before him. Sir James stood to his left, while Sir Rodney was to his right, his large nose buried in a handkerchief. As Lord Richard entered the room, the knight let out an earth-shattering sneeze. The sound startled all within the room as it echoed through the chamber.
“You should get that looked at, Sir Rodney,” the baron chided.
“Sorry, my lord,” the knight turned bright crimson as he apologized.
“You might try some hot cider,” suggested Lord Richard as he entered. “My sergeant tells me it does wonders.”
Baron Edward eyed him with a look of annoyance, “Perhaps now that my brother has deigned to present himself, we can now get down to business?”
“Of course, Brother,” Lord Richard replied.
Edward cleared his throat, then began, “As you are no doubt aware, raiders from Norland have been particularly active of late. In the past few months, they have attacked five of our farms, stealing what they can, and burning the rest. I needn’t tell you our stocks of food are dangerously low, leaving us no choice but to resort to hunting in order to make up the shortfall.”
Edward stabbed down with his finger. “This,” he cont
