Take Advantage Of Your Niceness[Severin]

One of his servants approached him to inform him he had a guest. Not for Tobi but for him. Not unsurprising, but still unexpected. Upon hearing who it was, however, it made a lot more sense. And he supposed Grand Duke's sons didn't stand on ceremony so much with lower nobles. If the man wanted an audience with him though, all the way from Farvald, he was curious and more than a bit nervous what it could all be about.

He paused at the footsteps behind him on the path, taking a breath and looking over a bed of mums and pansies before turning to make the man's acquaintance. "Lord Seigrun," he greeted formally. Thank the gods he at least didn't fumble either of those words. The Viscount swallowed a more detailed and practiced greeting at the comment of inconvenience. "Ah, no-no," he was quick to assuage the man. It wasn't as if he had any specific plans for the evening.

Pearce didn't know Severin Seigrun particularly well. They had spoken on a number of occasions, in the capital and elsewhere on various business ventures, but the blonde would not constitute them as friendly. More than strangers, of course. He found the man and his house to be solid business partners but as for how he felt about him personally... Pearce always got the feeling there was something...darker going on behind his eyes.

"C-care to join me for a walk? Or would you prefer a drink inside?" He could only imagine the man had traveled quite a ways, even if Brighthollow was just a detour. "What bbbrings you all the way to Dunmar, My Lord?"

"Ah, I am honored to be included in your b-busy schedule," the blonde said. While it was something he himself heard often and he imagined the man in charge of Farvald's Strand merchant guild and the son of a duke heard even more, the Viscount was quite sincere about it. Uneasy or not, the man was always grateful to have most any company, for personal affairs or business. He liked to be busy and informed and even if he might not have such a structured network as the Southerner, Pearce had many connections of his own.

He had heard quite a bit in his latest visits to Valur, from outlandish rumors to some reports he considered almost direct from the soldiers posted in the north. "Yes, the, uh, raiders have become a lot more bold of late. Wolvstadt was evacuated a month ago. The Duke of Ramberaht made it a sort of military outpost now. Though beyond increased patrols, the largest effect seems to be a st-st-stream of refugees." Pearce was a positive and hopeful sort. But even he wasn't oblivious to the fact that the patrols hardly seemed to have an effect on losing farms and homes and people.

He hesitated, not sure how to phrase the rest, but his concern was evident. "Many in the city whisper of war around the palace." The Viscount knew there were more than just whispers of course. The Prince himself had visited him recently discussing a diplomatic mission by order of the King, after all. It would be foolish to see this as anything other than an ultimatum the young Prince would be delivering to the Lutrians. But he wasn't certain he should speak in detail about such things. In fact, he was certain he shouldn't, even if he knew very little detail himself.

Manthir had a standing army that directly served the King and resided in the central region. Each region's Grand Duke had their own army, however, based upon the other lords and vassals that served them. But these were not standing armies. While each had their usual guards and militias in the cities and larger towns to police and protect from everyday occurrences, most soldiers were farmers, conscripted in times of need. And in the last few years, times had been easy, men had been allowed to return to their families, younger men had never even properly picked up steel with the intent to harm another. Each lord could of course conscript their citizens at any time, but while a call had gone out to bolster the usual militia, the Grand Duke of the north had not called for conscription. Why, it was rather unclear.

Which was why the small company of troops, while more or less holding a line, had not been able to retake the territory the Lutrians roamed. The King could declare war, of course, but parading his own army through the Grand Duke's lands without consent could be seen by both sides as acts of domestic warfare. Needless to say, there was a disproportional amount of tension and correspondence.

Pearce shook his head. "I d-don't know. Unfortunately, the Grand Duke of the north is much less...communicative recently. I am uncertain why." There were the usual rumors of illness or family tensions or that he wasn't taking the defense of his land seriously. Any of which could be true, but the viscount had no direct connection to the man himself and it was certainly not his place to ask. The worse rumor was the one that suggested the man was trying to goad the King into offending him enough to justify a coup, but Pearce hesitated to think so negatively of anyone.

The topic change brought a sigh of relief. Even here, safe in the central kingdom, south of the capital, just the thought of war made him tense. He might not personally have to serve, but he knew many a farmer or merchant's son who might be sent north into the jaws of winter and waiting hatchets. He shook off a cold chill that ran down his spine. "Ah, uh..." and then the final question hit and his breath caught in his throat. The blonde nearly choked on his own saliva.

He paused and pressed a hand to his chest, coughing, face beet red. He shook his head, forcing in a breath. For a moment, he could nearly hear his late father berating him about manning up and bedding a woman. Pearce knew Seigrun could be...uncouth sometimes, but if he didn't know better, he might have thought it intentional. Maybe it was? "Ah, we've t-t-tried," he managed. Which was true. No, they had not tried recently, in, oh, at least ten years. Certainly he wanted children of his own but...that required something he was largely incapable of. He took a breath and straightened his coat. "Mmmy family is well. How is your own house?" He would have liked to be more specific, ask after his brother, and business but it was enough to get any words out at all.