(1865-11-20) A Less Than Routine Missive
A Less Than Routine Missive
Summary: Lord Joffrey d'Synclarre receives some very surprising, but very good news from Murnord. Lady Nadine is there to witness it.
Date: 11/20/1865 IE
Related: http://eternalcrusade.wikidot.com/log:1865-11-16-a-pleasant-bit-of-news
NPCs: {$npc}
Players:
Joffrey  Nadine  

A Room in Mastings
An improvised office/command center in Mastings
Novembre 20, 1865 IE

Organized chaos is ever the best way to describe most armies, and the forces that have hunkered down in Mastings are little different. At first glance, it probably looks like there's little structure or organization. Soldiers moving in two-hundred directions at once, all carrying out one of the hundreds or thousands of tasks necessary to help keep the forces operating smoothly.

A closer look, however, with a more discerning eye, would show that in all truth…this flurry of activity is carefully orchestrated. Various forces are pocketed in their camps, which don't quite bleed together, even though there is considerable traffic between them. Drills and training happen at regular intervals, while sentry patrols pointedly do not, instead operating on an irregular but frequent pattern as different patrol routes overlap and combine at various points. This, of course, is by design so that the enemy will not find an exploitable gap in their patrols.

Of course, all the patrols and advance warning in the world aren't going to do a lot of good if Kyrena brings that entire army to bear. Mastings is well-fortified, but it's no Benide. That undercurrent of unease flits through the whole of the settlement and fort, and yet here they remain, alert, aware, and with rather few desertions (of course nearly all from the peasant militia). These men know they are here to protect their homeland. They also have faith in their commanders.

Among those commanders is Lord Joffrey d'Synclarre, who despite his relatively low social rank is well-respected by the fighters of the North. He's presently finishing up the dispatch of a new set of orders for various groups of the men assigned under him, which include the forces of House d'Synclarre, but also the other vassal Lords of House d'Cadri, effectively marking him as the "second (or perhaps third) in command" of the assembled forces of House d'Cadri.

In any case, he has availed himself of the use of a room in the Fortress, not for sleeping…he still has his tent for that, but for official business it's become something of a shared office for various higher-ranking officers of the Aequorian forces. Not where the highest commanders are, but many of the "senior officers" can be found here throughout the day, and Princess Louisa often makes an appearance, coordinating their efforts with those of her Husband and his advisors. She's not present right now, though. In fact it's just Joffrey and a select few others, all of whom seem embroiled in their work.

Sir Nadine d'Cadri doesn't knock as she enters the 'office'. She doesn't really have to, of course. A hand idly scratches the healing wound on her neck, and she looks somewhat troubled.

"Lord Joffrey," she greets the lord of house d'Synclarre politely, though solemnly. "Some dispatches from Murnord," and she puts them down on the table. "Came in while I was on my way in. I've got a few things I must send south to the city as well; requests for some warmer materials as requested by Lord Michael." She nods slightly. "He does not want any men to lose themselves to frostnip. Makes them less effective against the heathens, after all."

"Hello, Sir Nadine." Joffrey gives her a polite smile as she deposits the unusually thick pile of dispatches upon the table. He moves to pick them up, sorting through them by seal until he finds that much of the size of the stack is taken up by one particularly thick stack bearing the al'Callenta seal…and addressed to him specifically. Not that Nadine would likely have noticed anything unusual about these dispatches being delivered by a messenger rather than via Moongazer. Personal correspondence has still relied on the birds, which makes Joffrey's surprise at finding the al'Callenta missive among the official correspondence a bit more understandable, as the occasional letter from Lady Genoveffa has been using that channel thus far.

"Odd." Joffrey frowns a bit, then cracks the seal between his thumbs and unwraps the package of papers. He begins to read, and Nadine can likely watch the amusing display of his eyes growing to roughly the size of the moons and his eyebrow apparently trying to climb up his forehead and across his scalp to take up residence at the base of his neck. Joffrey doesn't give the later pages such harsh scrutiny, at least at the moment, instead skimming through them rather quickly, still looking a bit bewildered before finally finding his voice, "This is…" Well, he found his voice, but apparently not the words for said voice to speak just yet.

Sir Nadine tilts her head, regarding her friend with concern. "Is there something amiss, Joff?" she asks. Her eyes flit to the seal. al'Callenta. And a heavy missive of papers.

"Oh." Her brow furrows. "The Duke sent you something?" She grabs a nearby chair and drags it over, dropping into it like any knight taking a break in the field. "Will we be going into the North, then, or is it worse?" Of course. She assumes the worst, not what the letter actually entails.

"No, no…" Joffrey shakes his head, then laughs, a tone tinged with a considerable disbelief, "It's not orders. It's…a proposed marriage contract." He skims over those succeeding pages and re-reads the first, just to make sure he's not getting someone else's message by mistake, but no, that is certainly his name and that of his house that are plastered on the contract proposal in several different places. "And an invitation to attend Lord Michael's wedding." Joffrey adds as an afterthought, having been planning on being among those to watch the line while others went to Murnord to celebrate.

"The Duke…has offered me the hand of his daughter, Lady Genoveffa." There's still a degree of wonderment in his voice, as though he's still not sure this isn't some kind of cruel joke. "I suppose I'll have to actually read this proposal at length before I reply but…" Joff shakes his head, a bit of a befuddled smile on his face, "I had assumed we'd just exchange letters for a bit before her father found someone more suitable. I wouldn't have dared dream…"

Nadine actually smiles. Lord Joffrey is one of the few people who she does so around, after all. She regards him in many ways as a surrogate older brother. She replies, "What did I tell you?" with a shake of her head. "You're a man that the One shelters. Great things will come to you, Sir Joffrey, and this is one of them." She bows her head slightly. "I know you have mourned Sir Catherine long, but this is wonderful news."

"It is, thank you, Nadine. If we weren't on the lines I'd find something stronger than wine or ale to lift a cup and celebrate." Joffrey notes with a smile that's returned towards Nadine, "Cath wouldn't have wanted me to mope." Which to be fair…he hasn't really. He did spend a couple of years prioritizing the shoring up of Edgebrooke and rebuilding their forces after the losses at Benide, but that was because it was his duty, and also because having a well-run fiefdom would increase his prospects.

"His Grace says we can discuss the fine details when I'm there for the wedding, and does not anticipate a long betrothal." Joffrey concludes, smiling quite brightly. "I'm…" He shakes his head, chuckling a bit, "Well, I'm flattered and honored. I don't know that the One looks out for me specifically, but I'd hardly doubt his hand somewhere in all this." He carefully sets the packet of pages down, "But enough of that for now. There's still work to be done before I leave." He pauses, "I know you'd volunteered to stay behind during the wedding. My soldiers will be comforted to know you're looking after them while I'm gone, if I can prevail upon you for that particular favor?"

"Of course," Nadine replies with a chuckle. "I had expected as much, anyway, and was going to ask you if you'd be willing to keep an eye on Pepin while you're both in Murnord." The thought of Joffrey not attending the wedding had never crosses her mind. After all, he was the head of his house. "I was going to ask if there were any of your men that could help me with seeing to making sure all the southerners have been appropriately outfitted for the winter. One's mercy, you would think these men have never seen snow." She gives him another slight smile.

"And when you return from the wedding, we'll raise a cup to your betrothal, I think." She seems genuinely pleased for her brother-in-arms.

"Of course." Joffrey replies on the matter of Pepin. "It'll be good to have company on the road." Though there's likely to be no shortage of it. While the vast bulk of the forces are remaining in place, a goodly number of nobles are traveling for the wedding. Prince Jean-Paul himself will be remaining in command, allowing his wife to see her brother wed while representing their portion of the al'Ramar family. "Sir Alton often acts as my quartermaster. He should be able to help you with proper attire should it be needed." The men of the northernmost houses such as theirs, do, after all, tend to bring plenty of extra winter clothing when they go on campaign.

"Yes, yes we will." Joffrey notes as to the raising of glasses and such, "Maybe even two, if the line is quiet." He studies the next missive, the contents of which are entirely more mundane. "Now if we can just get this barbarian invasion sorted out things will really start looking up." He jests lightly, even if Nadine well knows he takes the matter entirely seriously despite that wry humor.

"The One will see it done," Nadine says seriously. "I have faith we will push them back again, as we always have. Their numbers do not frighten me. We are shielded by the One."

She grabs a missive as well, skimming it over, making some notes. And the two pass the next couple of hours in companionable mostly-silence as they tend to the paperwork of running a command.

END

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