Boundless Family Upgrades For The Deadbeat Lord

Raymond looked toward the fire. "I think this is the first morning since I came to this place where I don’t immediately feel like something is trying to kill me."

Lily glanced at him over the rim of her cup. "That’s because you finally stopped behaving like someone everyone wanted to kill."

Raymond slowly turned his head. "Lily."

"What?"

"You’re getting far too comfortable insulting your lord."

She smiled into her cup.

Raymond sighed, but the smile remained on his face. He couldn’t really argue with her. A few months ago, the entire town had wanted him dead.

Now, people greeted him respectfully when he walked through the streets.

Some even smiled. That still felt strange.

Raymond finished the rest of his coffeeand stood. "Come on."

Lily looked up. "Where are we going?"

Raymond smiled at her and pointed towards the door. "Outside."

She glanced toward the frost-covered windows."It’s snowing."

Raymond raised an eyebrow. "Excellent observation."

Lily frowned at him.

Raymond laughed. "I want to see the town. Winter officially started today. I want to know whether all the preparation we’ve been doing actually worked."

Lily reluctantly placed her cup down and followed him.

•••••

The difference outside was immediate.

The moment Raymond stepped through the main castle gate, cold air struck his face hard enough to make him inhale sharply. He pulled the thick wool coat around his shoulders more tightly and silently thanked Lily for buying enough proper winter clothing for the entire settlement.

Lily walked beside him almost completely buried inside her own oversized coat. Only her round face and messy brown hair remained clearly visible beneath the scarf wrapped around her neck.

The town was already awake.

Smoke rose steadily from dozens of chimneys, drifting into the pale morning sky. People moved along the snowy streets carrying firewood, buckets of clean water, and baskets of food.

The winter clothing distributed from the castle had transformed the appearance of the settlement almost as much as thesnow itself. Thick wool coats, scarves, gloves, and caps replaced the thin, ragged garments Raymond remembered from his first walk through town.

The communal longhouses were warm. The water lines weren’t frozen. Food was being prepared and more importantly, people looked alive.

Raymond slowed his pace near the central square.

Several children were gathered near one of the longhouses, throwing handfuls of loose snow at one another.

One little boy took a snowball directly to the side of the head, stumbled backward dramatically, and immediately responded by grabbing as much snow as both hands could carry before charging after the attacker.

Their laughter echoed through the street.

Raymond stopped. He watched them quietly.

The first time he walked through this same town, some of those children had barely possessed enough strength to stand upright.

Their hair had been falling out. Their faces had looked older than they were but now they were running through the snow.

Not for long. They still tired quickly but they were running.

Raymond’s expression softened.

Lily looked up at him. "You’re smiling."

Raymond glanced down. "Am I not allowed to smile now?"

"I didn’t say that.""Then stop monitoring my face."

Lily giggled.

Raymond continued walking.

From several houses came the smell of warm food. Grain porridge. Roasted vegetables. Meat broth.

A few families had even started combining the Valmere spices with their meals, and Raymond caught a faint scent of pepper and garlic drifting from one window.

The sight gave him a quiet satisfaction he hadn’t expected. He had spent so much time looking at Althoff through numbers.

But walking through the town reminded him that every one of those numbers translatedinto something real.

A warm house, a bowl of food, child who could run and a family that no longer had to decide who would eat that day.

Raymond slipped his hands into the pockets of his coat. Maybe I’m actually getting decent at this lord business.

A sudden sound cut across the town.

BWOOOOOOOOOM!

Raymond stopped instantly. The deep horn echoed from the northern side of the settlement.

Children froze and adults looked up.

Guards immediately turned toward the walls.

A second blast followed.

BWOOOOOOOOOM!

Raymond’s expression changed. The relaxed warmth vanished from his face.

Lily moved closer to him. "What is that?"

"The northern watch."

Raymond was already moving.

Several guards ran across the square toward the northern gate, weapons in hand. Townspeople stepped away from the streets almost instinctively as the atmosphere shifted from peaceful winter morning to immediate alert.

Raymond hadn’t reached the gate before Captain Boris appeared.

The captain was moving quickly through the snow, his heavy boots kicking white powder behind him. His armor was only partially fastened, suggesting someone had pulled him away from breakfast or morning inspection.

He stopped before Raymond and immediately saluted.

"My Lord."

Raymond looked at his expression. "What happened?"

Boris’s face was serious.

"Two hunters returned from the northern boundary less than ten minutes ago. They found tracks in the snow."Raymond frowned and asked. "Human?"

Boris shook his head. "No, my Lord."

"Normal animals?" Raymond pressed on.

Captain Boris shook his head.

Raymond’s eyes narrowed. "How large?"

Boris hesitated.

That hesitation bothered Raymond more than the answer itself.

"Large enough that one footprint was nearly the width of a wagon wheel."

Lily’s eyes widened.

Raymond remained silent.Boris continued. "The hunters also found several broken shrubs and one young tree snapped roughly halfway up the trunk. Whatever crossed the northern boundary was heavy, and there were multiple sets of tracks."

"How many?" Raymond hurriedly asked.

"They couldn’t tell. Snowfall covered some of them." Captain Boris said.

Raymond looked toward the northern wall. "Direction?"

"South."

That single word changed the air around them.

Raymond’s gaze slowly lifted beyond the rooftops, beyond the walls, beyond the white wasteland stretching outside Althoff.

Far in the distance, barely visible beneath the pale winter sky, the dark ridges of the Blackridge Mountains rose along the northern horizon.

For several seconds, Raymond simply stared at them.

The first snow had arrived. And something had come down from the mountains with it.

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