Jacob found himself incredibly busy. Much more so than when he had to deal with His Majesty's apathy with regards to most things related to statecraft. The Princess had been incredibly busy, and while he didn't have to struggle with motivating her to act, the problems that he had to deal with had multiplied.
The Church, Her Majesty the Queen acting in ways that disgraced her position by mustering forces against her daughter, the Waves to come, the risk of war with Siltvelt and potentially many other nations only added to the immediate stresses born due to the Princess' rather brutal manoeuvres to secure the loyalty of her Lords and Ladies.
It was effective, but without doing work to hold her gains, it would all be for nought. Jacob was simply glad that she was wise enough to provide him with the resources and the authority to make some promises in her name. The Princess had given him freedom when it came to the allocation of non-critical resources, but her unusual demands when it came to governance and demi-humans complicated matters.
He grimaced at the realization that he would have to follow her suggestion to raise competent commoners to appropriate positions. Truthfully, he considered such a concept to be folly, how could any commoner match a well trained, dedicated and educated aristocrat? Certainly, they had their uses and many rose to positions of power, but the casual way in which the Princess dismissed the idea of distributing the land to the relatives of those she had eliminated unnerved him.
A knock disturbed his thoughts.
"My Lord," said his guard, "A messenger from Her Highness."
"Very well," he said and tapped a small magic circle beneath his desk with his feet. A small addition added by the Princess to act as a subtle messaging system. In this case, the door opened without the touch of a human. Another incredible addition by the Princess after she renovated the castle.
It revealed the Princess' favourite pet demi-human. The young girl's aura of power had casually grown, again. He shuddered at the faith his future Queen was placing in these people. He was glad that she was empowering some of her knights and raising some commoners who'd sworn their loyalty to her. At least, they would defend her when the time came.
"Lord Cromwell," said the girl without the hesitation he had witnessed from her before. Her mood was dark. Jacob kept a careful eye on her, well aware that her Status was such that she could overpower and slaughter his guards with ease, "A letter from the Princess."
She placed the letter on the desk and waited. A glance at her revealed her to be waiting impatiently. "You may leave," he said, after a second glance.
"I was instructed to wait," she said.
Jacob's indignation surged, but he nodded and swallowed his annoyance. The Princess trusted this racoon. He had to keep that in mind. He picked up the letter and read the short missive.
All thoughts of this impertinent girl fled his mind. He had expected this, but not this soon! The preparations weren't complete yet.
"Girl," he said turning to the demi-human, "Exactly What did the Her Highness say?"
The demi-humans eyes narrowed. She answered with a clipped voice, "Princess Malty asked me to gather the Bow Hero, the Spear Hero and members of my squad. Then, she asked me to give you the letter. She said that it commanded you to gather some of her Knights and get someone called Lady Nimue ready. We're supposed to travel by teleportation as soon as possible."
Jacob blinked.
This girl knew more than he did. Messenger? No, she was more than that.
He swallowed the swell of fear. Jacob knew that Her Highness was fond of tests. She repeatedly tested the armies she was raising. The Princess was not one to leave things to chance and her trust in him was tentative.
This had been a test. One, he suspected, he might fail should his response not be sufficient.
"Give me an hour," he said, plotting how to keep this quiet, "I'll gather her Knights in the throne room. Please arrange for the Heroes to meet us there."
The girl nodded, failed to say goodbye and left.
He shook his head. Clearly, that girl was not worthy of the Princess' trust.
Jacob would have to ensure that Her Highness had the right people around her.
