His own troops failing him, Sultan Khairedden has hired the Irish to do his killing for him. It is fortunate that they choose this moment to go on the offensive a series of anonymous missives delivered to the generals' tents tells of another mercenary force arriving and mustering.
They will take Qurtubah, the enemy's capital. Spirits buoyed by the victory and the sudden influx of gold, a mad (madder?) plan is hatched between Gartzia and the Breton commanders. The knight's reply of, "eh, what you really need to do is go hunting and marry a lot of Karlings," earns him a truly resplendent black eye.Īlthough the Sultan escapes, the rout results in the capture of many Andalusian lords, whose ransom bolsters Gartzia's war machine enough to not see his mercenaries revolt against him, at least. He asks one of his knights afterward if this would finally see him in the pages of history. Imagine the look on his face when, exhibiting the typical attitude of the Basque women, he found she had his belongings shipped to Gascogne instead of the other way around! The spot of Marshal lies open, so we arrange a marriage of one of our courtiers to a legendary Frankish general.
For the art of statecraft and diplomacy, a somewhat wider net is cast, finally contracting a Scottish gentleman previously traveling with a group of 'mac Phails,' whoever those people are. Although the old Spymaster is a man no one knows exists, much less intends to replace, the rest of the council is rather empty. Our immediate course of action is to fill out our council. The death of his father Louis the Stammerer and the birth of another son to his grandfather Charles the Bald forestalls any notion of uniting the lands of Aquitaine and West Francia (and the lords of Aquitaine are stubbornly against having Charles rule them, as though a half-kingdom on the border of the enemies of all Christendom were a desireable position), so we regrettably turn our attention elsewhere.
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