"Guile: The Quality of a Deception"
Parteth Oneth
~o~
In another time and place, his first meeting with Lyndis would have been just before his rather bloody death. There he would insult her and claim that Caelin needed but one heir. Inevitably, he would be proven correct - just not in his choice of the heir.
~o~
Word had finally arrived: the knights sent out to retrieve the only other blood members of the family were nearing the canton. There had been a few unfortunate skirmishes with bandits along the way, but nothing to hinder the steady progress of the journey. Lundgren immediately assembled a handful of the castle's retainers and proceeded toward a meeting with his niece and her daughter.
As he traveled, Lundgren debated with himself yet again whether it would have been more prudent to just hire a few of those prominent roaming bands of miscreants to perform the necessary surgery to the family line instead of plodding in sentimental cowardice as he had done. No one cared that discretion was the better part of valor; blunt force was the most straightforward path towards a goal. He almost regretted not declaring his visitors imposters attempting to seize control of Caelin.
While it might have yielded immediate results, the possibility also existed that his plans might have come into light in the ensuing scrutiny. Lord Uther had been ill these past few months, but the Ostian noble was the head of the Lycian League and had a propensity for tasking his agents with ferreting out ill done deeds. No matter how desperate the situation, Lundgren did not wish to involve Ostia at this point; rumor held that they had caused the disappearance of at least one household that did not align properly with their worldview.
At least Bern seemed to be stirring up trouble on the northern borders. Foreign affairs would make it much harder for Uther to focus on internal dissent.
Inwardly cursing, Lundgren ended his bout of introspection; he had done what he could to prepare for this day. All that remained would be to see how he needed to respond to tomorrow.
Caelin would be his!
~o~
Lundgren was not surprised to see that the party that they were to escort had already crossed into the farmland that described the outer boundaries and awaiting them at the meeting point. He frowned and scrutinized the motley entourage as they drew within hailing distance. There were fewer bodies than he had expected; certainly the despicable nomad would have accompanied his wife and child and there would have been several warriors to accompany them as proof against the bandit incursions.
Aside from the two knights that had been dispatched however, the party seemed devoid of martial prowess. To be sure, the others all bore weapons upon their persons, but none of them portrayed the bearing of a warrior. Two girls, two lads and two knights - a pitiable sum.
Lundgren drew up before them and watched as the knights snapped to attention immediately; the others in the party remained tightly grouped and silent at his approach.
"Lord Lundgren, might I present the lady Lyndis and her companions." That promising lad, Kent, was speaking. Lundgren turned his gaze to the party, identifying the young woman who was his grand-niece.
"Lyndis, hey? I am Lundgren, brother of Lord Hausen of Caelin. As he has been recently ill, I come in his place to bid you welcome to our fair canton." Taking another moment, Lundgren let his eyes flicker over the rest of the group again before returning his focus to the obstacle in his path. "You heavily favor my niece; tell me, was there some impediment that kept your mother from joining you in this journey? My brother had high hopes that they might reconcile their differences."
The girl looked at him with a frank gaze before replying to his question. "My parents are dead."
A shocking bit of news to be sure; Lundgren mentally rejoiced at the rise in his fortunes and barely kept a grin from appearing on his face. His mouth twisted into a mock grimace as he restrained his reaction. He could ask for details on the deaths another time; now he must whisk these travelers out of the sight of the common rabble. Hausen would appreciate the haste, though Lundgren wasn't thinking about that right now. There were other considerations, namely the desire to limit the knowledge of the child's visit to as few souls as possible.
"Come, my lord brother awaits your arrival."
Lundgren was gratified to see that there were no complaints amongst the travelers; indeed, they merely clambered astride their mounts and prepared to ride.
Perhaps this whole debacle would resolve much faster than he anticipated if they followed suggestions this well.
~o~
AN: "Won't you come into my parlor..."
There may be a little bit of happy from here on out, but it's likely that from this point the tale takes a nosedive. Just warning any reading this.
On the lack of party members (or for those of you who may be shouting "Where's Rath?")...
1. The timing of all the character recruitment in Lyn's tale hinges upon her being driven back and forth to seek aid in reaching her grandfather's side. The only possible delay that I see is in Kent and Sain actually getting to talk to Lyn in the first place. Florina and Wil both are recruited on the way early on, while any other members depend upon backtracking or in Rath's case, in the castle being overrun by attackers. Without that, Araphen's lord wouldn't have cause to even meet Lyn, since they aren't being harried by Lundgren's hirelings.
No meeting, no muttering about half-breeds and worthless savages, and Rath is still happily employed in the castle guard. Or at least as happily as Rath ever is.
2. Nils and Ninian - Not in the right place at the right time. Sorry Nils, you'll have to find some other hero. But don't worry, Eliwood was in the vicinity. I'm sure he helped rescue your sister...
3. No Wallace - Geeze, Lundgren didn't reactivate the man. He's still happily following a plow on his piece of dirt. Probably the worst blunder that Lundgren did in-game was throwing out the retired general at Lyn's party. There was no leverage to keep the old warrior from switching sides to uphold his idea of honor and truth. Here Lundgren shows a little more sense and leaves the old warrior on the sidelines.
At least for the moment. It's possible that Wallace may enter the storyline at some portion.
