Egale bastards have crossed our borders once again. Assemble your troops, we are going to crush them. Raid their camp at Gods finger. Astem house goes straight to their home, join us after you are finished with cleaning up. Don't bear your flags.

That was the letter which Luis Astem write. He was fed up with their rule breaking tendency. A favour from king wouldn't stop them, it's better to use it and have sin of exterminating another family erased. It will feel much cleaner that way and more honorable.

The small army Luis took with himself was focused on silent infiltration. They will climb the walls under the cover of night and soundlessly destroy them from inside. It is a known tactic, but Luis wasn't worried much. So far, they have always negotiated for Egale to move out of Astem land, Luis is taking into account that they will expect same outcome this time. Besides, Astem would usually never use this underhand method.

Seventy horse, of which forty pulled supplies and extra weapons, and four hundred men traveled over the caravan path. They disguised themselves as such. Astem house and few others wore flashy clothes which didn't match in order to camouflage themselves as rich, traveling merchants. Rest looked either as poor commoners or adventures struggling for better equipment. Of course, they all had hidden knives in case unexpected battle arises.

"My lord, up front, another caravan approaches." A scout came near to carriage in which Astem family rode.

"Is that so?... How many men?"

"Barely a hundred. They shouldn't be a problem to remove if they get suspicious."

"No useless bloodshed. We shall pass next to them and try to keep quiet. Only interact if we have to. Spread the word."

This is bothersome. They can make our plans go awry. Let's hope not. Perhaps we should kill them just in case. Lord Astem experienced such inner struggle.

"Howdy fellow merchants! How are you doing?" A peacock of a man shouted.

Lord Astem stepped out carriage, stopped his own caravan and demanded for a horse. Interaction is impossible. Putting on experienced fake smile he climbed on the back of the black horse which got entrusted to him. Riding to front, a peacock greeted him once again.

"It's been a while since I saw new face among us merchants. What is your name?" His large hat threatened to fall off thus peacock was forced to hold it.

"Greetings friend. I'm Samuel, son of Andrew. What about you?" The noble fought against habit of formal manner of greeting, imitating traveling merchants. Unfortunately for Luis, peacock has noticed that.

"A noble, eh? What happened? I didn't hear any rumors about fallen noble or someone who left the house to join us. Had I known I would be more courteous. I take your fathers name isn't Andrew."

"Seems you saw through me. My father isn't Andrew but I am Samuel." Lord laughed for a bit. "I was brought up as a bastard, hidden from pure blooded nobles. I haven't met my father a lot. My mother, who worked in multiple castles, taught me all I had to know. She has practically beat it into me."

"I see, I see... No wonder I didn't hear about you then. I don't listen to those rumors, they don't prove to bring enough profit to justify learning about them. Would you like some iced tea? Perhaps we could share some information."

"We are in a hurry. All those poor people paid for quick and safe trip. It would be bad if the guards stopped just because of our tea time. May I inquire your name sir? Having friends in the trade will be most welcome."

"Oh, right, my apologies Mister Samuel. I am known as Tom the mistral¹ as I usually trade on the north." Tom took of his hat, made a wide arc with it before placing it over his heart. Following that, he bowed.

"It was my pleasure meeting you merchant Tom. I hope we meet again in situation less hasty for both of us." Two men nodded at each other and turned around to prepare for moving once again.

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¹ mistral - a strong cold north-westerly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France towards the Mediterranean, mainly in winter.

This chapter took a longer time to update. I was trying to make it longer but I have failed... It's not much longer than last chapter when this last part is excluded.