Mark_Ward
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Chapter 38: Lordship Duties
🕑 Added 2020-09-23 19:32:36 +0000 UTC
"You will also need to review these, my lord," a clear crisp voice stated as more parchments where piled on his desk.
Groaning in pure whimper, Harry felt like crying in tears of despair. Right now he was back at his family's castle, after he and Sirius where done going on their little tour of all the estates and lands of his family, it was time to come back home.
Packing up his bags and saying goodbye to everyone, he was ready to assume his role as Lord.
Now that he was here and took up the burden, he knew he bit off more than he could chew. All-day, every day he is sitting on his desk and doing paperwork. Who knew that there was so much god damn paperwork to do.
Now, whenever he sees any sort of parchment he has a wave of burning anger in the pit of his stomach and he wishes he could burn them to a pile of ashes that could drift off into the wind.
He so wished that he could half-ass it or even skip it altogether, but Tobry his ever diligent pain in the ass always had his eyes on him like a hawk. Whenever he slips up or does not step up to the task the house-elf just looks at him with those infuriating disappointed look as if he failed himself and his family line.
"Can I get a break," Harry whined for the umpteenth time. He had the most splitting headache from doing all this desk job and his mind felt like it was filled with lead.
"Teatime will be in an hour, my lord, then you can have your break," the well dressed up house-elf answered.
Harry really felt like strangling him, but he knew that the little creature was just doing its job even if it made his life miserable. He couldn't wait until the week was out, then it would be to the Quidditch World Cup!
He would get the well needed break he derseved, and would be a whole week away from the life sapping work.
"Now," the house-elf continued as he started reading the messages and memo he got which he took up to doing to ease his work. "You got a missive from the Commander of the Legion asking if he could buy 1,000 different Spell Gauntlet."
"What are those?" Harry asked as he signed off on a parchment then sealed it with wax and stamped down on it with his lordship ring which changed into his family coat of arms as he pressed down.
Staring off in his most educator tone, the house-elf explained, "Spell Gauntlet are magical items that come premade with spells already woven into them. All you have to do is pour magical power into them and wa la."
"So it basically cuts down on spell casting time," Harry said cutting to the heart of the matter.
"Yes," the house-elf answered with a shake of his head.
"Approve of it, and tell him to continue with the good work with all the pleasantries of course," Harry said with a wave of his hand.
"I will get right to it, my lord."
Just then a blue-haired maid interjected with a, "more tea, Master~"
Not looking up at the Living Construct he brought along to the castle from the mansion, Harry just proffered up his empty cup and the maid got to filling it then adding his complimentary milk and sugar just the way he liked it.
Once she was done Harry took the steaming cup and took a sip, "Wonderful like always, Rem," he commented as he smacked his lips together.
"Thank you, Master," she uttered with a sweet happy smile as she curtsied for him.
Looking over at the other maid sister who was rearranging his large pile of parchments in an orderly fashion for him. Their eyes meet for a single moment and Harry gave her a playful wink, she quickly turned her gaze as a blush crept up her face.
Transferring them over to the castle was the best desition he made in all of this mess. Just this morning Ram and him shared a very intimate session and no matter how much she tried to deny him, she always came back for more.
Carrying on in his monotone, Tobry listed off, "The Head Assistant Researcher says her that she hired two dozen new apprentices to help around in the tower. Some are a very promising lot and might advance to aides. She is also requesting in this Rainbow Crystalline Sands."
"W-why are they bothering me with all this stuff?" Harry asked in a pleading tone as he put his head in his hands. "I gave them the money, why can't they just go ahead and carry on?" For as much as he enjoyed regular updates, he has been swamped by all these requests coming in.
Did he know anything about planting rare magical plants? No! Did he how to raise an army or train it? No! Did he know anything of what went into creating a new magical item? No!
But still his they asked for his opinion or his advice when he was clueless as a little babe.
"It is their duty to update you as their liege lord, and it is your duty to approve or disagree with that is going on, my lord." the house-elf answered as he pulled up his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Sighing, Harry grunted out a "Fine." Then in a more somber tone he continued, "Give her my congratulations on hiring all those little helpers. Also, tell her that her request is approved, she can have this magic sand- though I really do not know what she needs it for."
"Now the Matriarch of the Greenhill tribe asked you...." with that the house-elf carried on and once again Harry really felt like strangling him.
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Sitting in the gardens out back, Harry was enjoying his tea and snacks while taking in the wonderful sights. However just then Tobry walked in with a bow of his head, "My lord," he said, "Lieutenant Alex is here out in the training yard."
Sighing Harry saw that all good things much come to an end, "Well then," he said as he got up from his chair, "let us not make the Lieutenant wait for us."
Nodding his head, the house-elf led him out of the gardens, down the many winding paths of the castle and towards the training yard.
Before he even reached the place he could spot the militant man from the archways up above. Coming down the steps, Rem picked out his training uniform which was a simple baggy shirt and pants which were patted from the inside and a good pair of training shoes.
Putting them on and walked into the training yard, there where many training dummies scattered around, with two weapon racks to either side, targets ranges at the far corner, and even some muggle amenities like bench presses, weights, and other equipments.
Alex standing right in the center and once spotted him, he greeted with a bow, "My Lord."
"There is no need for all that Alex," Harry said as he waved it off. "You are my instructor after all for the day in the sword."
When Harry received a missive from the Commander that he would be sending the Lieutenant his way to teach him the sword, surprise was the least of his feelings. He just speaking in passing when he said the man had to teach him.
But for the last couple days, he has been coming here to do exactly what he wished for.
"I will keep that in mind to be more casual, my lor-... Harry."
"Well, it is the effort that counts," Harry replied.
"Yes, lets began with the stretches," he said as they started to do a variety of different stances. Some where really easy as he just had to spin around his hands, others were taxing as he had to keep them up for a while, and some really pushed the limit of his bendability.
Then it was endurance training as Alex had him running some laps around the training yard. After that it was strength training as Alex had him lifting some weights. Followed by....
Soon all of it blurred together as the man pushed him to his limits. However, that was only just the beginning, once all the exercises were done it was time for the real deal, what he came here for, sword training.
"Alright," Alex said as he passed him a wooden sword, "today we will be covering Sword Stances! Namely the 14 basic sword stances."
Listening up, Harry was at rapt attention as the martial man went off into a deep, detailed explanation. After that he had Harry try them out, "Yes, make your legs spread out like that. Back straight. Tighten your grip, but not too tight or else it will be your sword controlling you, not the other way around."
"Like this?" Harry asked once he got it down.
"Yes, yes, good. Now can you tell what it is?" he quized.
"An on-guard stance, correct?" he asked as if h already got it right. With just one explanation from the man, he already got all the basic stances down, plus now that he should him his muscles already memorized them as well.
He did not know what was at work here, but he was feeling pretty awesome with himself.
"Okay," Alex said, "show me the high guard stance."
Doing as commanded as he raised the sword high over his head like he was protecting himself from a eagle strick over head. Suddenly his new instructor drew out his own practice sword and before Harry could even shout a stop or flinch back. He jumped up into the air like a soaring bird and came down at him like a falling rock.
Practice sword banging against practice sword, it was only through some miracle or his feets freezing up that he kept still and in his sword stance that he blocked the blow.
"Good," Alex called out as he jumped back and landed a few feets away from him
Harry was about to shout at the man and question if he lost his mind attacking his own life lord like that. Yet before he could even do that, he called out with a smile on his face, "Now shoulder guard!"
Reacting instinctively like an animal that wanted to preserve his or her own life, he brought his practice wooden sword over to his right shoulder and right in time. The armed and very dangerous man came at him with a upturned lunge.
Blocking the blow, he was pushed back a few steps in the sandy training yard as his feet dug aross the sandy ground.
Having no time at all to catch his breath, the sword wielding manic called out again, "Now Low Gaurd." As he spun around and came at him with a low sweeping blow.
It was only at the last few seconds that he brought his practice sword low, protecting his shins that he blocked the blow once again.
"Excellent," the man excailmed, "Now center guard!" he said as he came at him with a thrust to his chest.
Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to block this blow as his arms weren't coming up to fast and Alex's thrust was already a few inches away from his ribcages. Seeing that wouldn't be the correct answer, he decided not to follow his instructions and dodge.
There was no way he was going that this blow head on, he wasn't sp sure that his poor ribs would survive that. Thus bending back all the way until hi was forming an L-shape, and putting his back into it or for this matter- the leak of it. He doodge the thrust by just an inch of hair as the thrust came whistling right above his nose.
Getting back up, Harry did not expect the pat on the back he got from the Lieutenant as the man exclaimed, "Well done, my lor- Harry!" he said as he was still seemingly still getting used to calling him by his name.
"But, but I did not put up a center guard like you called out?" he worded into a question.
"So," he said with a shrug, "what matters is that you follow your instinct. They are what gets you out of trouble and saves your life."
"So what was that all about?" he asked. If the man was only testing his instincts couldn't he gave gone about it in a more simpler way? For a moment there he was sweating bullets as he blocked everything within an inch of his life.
"It was too fold," the Lieutenant answered as he stuck out two fingers. "One was to see if you can utilize the stances under pressure. The second as I stated was to see if you would follow your instincts."
Grumbling under his breath, Harry said nothing more about the matter. This was training after all and he was going to be pushed to the limit and be called on to dangerous things like always, but that did not mean he had to like it.
"Well let us call it a day," the sword wielding manic said as he put away his practice sword. "Tomorrow we can start with how to dodge and parry, how does that sound my lord.. I mean Harry."
"Sounds good to me," he said as he walked out of the training yard and back to the sidelines where Rem was waiting for him with a towel and some refreshments.
"Thanks," he said as he took the offered towel and wiped at his forehead. Then taking some of the fresly squeezed lemanode, he patted the cute blue haired maid on the head and whispered to her, "I think very dutiful and devoted maids like you deserve a proper reward from Masters, what do you think?"
Giggling delightfully in answerer, she used her hands to cover up the slight blush creeping up her face. Harry inched closer to her until his warm breath was beating against her ear. "Come to my rooms tonight, and I will show you how appreciative I am."
With that, he stepped back and called out to the Lieutenant, "hey Alex do you want some refeashments before you head out."
"No," the man answered with a shake of his head, "I best be going now, lot of recuits wait back for me at the Fortress and I got to get them ready in shape before they start any advance training at all."
"Okay, see you tomorrow then," he waved to the man as he seemgly jumped up on the railings on the second floor, then up on to the open roof of the training yard. Suddenly a big great Griffin of brown and white feather and fur appeared from the sky with a loud screech, jumped on it back both of then were away into the sky.
Everything Harry sees that sword wielding manic take off on his mount, it is a truly a sight for sore eyes.
After his sword lessons were concluded for the day, it was a short lunch for him made by the maids then it was to his family's library. The place was big as the Black family's library with rows upon rows of books. The few differences of his family's library then the black was that this place had proper lighting for one, the stained glass windows shined down the bright warm rays of sun here.
There were soft golden lights that light up the place from the inside, with books on much lighter thoughts such as angelic magic, nature magic, elemental magic, light magic, chrono magic, solar magic, illusion magic, season magic, life magic, order magic, white arts, mystic magic, creation magic, and so forth.
However, as much as he wished it were, they were not what he was here to cover.
It seems like the learning never stopped for him. Everyday Tobry laid out the reading materials he would be coving.
These were matters concerning the way of the land, the art of war, the method of administration, information on economics, points on maritime life, ways of ruling, the art of politics, forming alliances, reading treats with other races, the craft of intrigue, knacks of trading, making betrothal, and the list went on and on.
Slowly, but assuredly he was learning everything that a lord had to do and be. Even if this was a life time of learning that most noble children would have been drilled into since their birth, he devoted it all like he was going through feast.
Once that was finished up, the three tiny little fairies would come fluttering into the library to begin his lessons on the Fey Language.
Recalling their conversation a few few ago....
"So what did you guys want to teach me?" he asked as stood right before him with their butterfly-like resting.
"We are going to teach you how to make better use of your magic," the goth looking fairy answered.
"What do you mean?"
"We are talking about the pig gibarish that you European wizards like to use," Bravegrass stated, cutting to the heart of things.
"What wrong with my Latin?" Harry inquired in a offended tone. That took him a hard long year to master back in first year all the while he had play catch up with pure bloods who already were fluent in it.
"No it is not that," the shy fairy answered.
"Yeah," Twistyweb said with a sigh as if she just hated the fact that she needed to talk to communicate. "It is just your wizarding language is very common and its that close to the source of magic."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked for the second time as if he sounded like a broken recorder.
