The Vampire & Her Witch
Chapter 772: Jocelynn’s Plan (Part One)

Chapter 772: Jocelynn’s Plan (Part One)

All eyes lay on Jocelynn as she faced the assembled court. Some in the hall, like High Priest Aubin, wore calm, impassive gazes as Jocelynn resumed her explanation. Matters of taxes and tithes were of some concern to the Church, but their greater concern was the demon attacks themselves. Everything else was a distraction from fighting the root of the evil that had lashed out at the western territories.

The lords were the most anxious, though each for their own reasons. Baron Otker looked on with obvious anticipation, hoping to hear how the Dunns would be brought to heel by this disaster, while Liam Dun narrowed his eyes as if he would be able to see a trap spun from the young lady’s words.

Yet no matter how people looked at her, Jocelynn kept her eyes on the only men who mattered. Owain. Bors. Loman. In the end, those three would determine whether her plans had a chance or not.

She no longer hoped that Bors Lothian would approve of Owain as an heir and bless their union. That ship, she realized, had sailed when the Marquis began introducing Loman to eligible young ladies as if he was a prize stallion. Fortunately, the demon attacks had given her an opportunity to forge a power block of her own, hidden within a plan to handle the economic fallout of the disaster.

"My Lords," Jocelynn said as she resumed her explanation. "The problems that we are facing cannot be resolved in an evening, but with careful management, their impacts can be mitigated to such an extent that the coming Holy War will not be delayed. To do so, we’ll break the problem into three parts, though I can only offer solutions to two of them," she said.

"First, the heavy losses suffered by the Dunn Barony will require significant investments to address," Jocelynn said, holding up a single finger. "Second, we must make preparations to feed and clothe a large army when soldiers begin to arrive from across the sea in the late spring and summer next year. Third, we must respond to the demon attacks now to protect our people and lands before winter’s arrival makes fighting back all but impossible."

"My lords, I am not a soldier and I cannot command them," she admitted sadly. "And so the third problem, I leave to Lord Owain to address directly. But for the first two which are challenges of economics and industry, Lord Owain and I have been able to prepare solutions," she said as she turned to face Liam Dunn.

"Four Guild Masters from Blackwell County have pledged to bring their fortunes to Lothian March and swear fealty to the Lothian throne," she explained. "The terms of their agreement have stalled on the matter of where their lands will be located, but the assumption thus far, from all parties, has been that they will establish their villages and domains on the open frontier."

"You want to settle them in Dunn Barony instead?" Liam said, frowning at Jocelynn as he tried to understand how that would benefit anyone. "They can’t become my father’s vassals. We already have ten large, established villages, each surrounded by at least four or more hamlets. We cannot support four new knights without breaking the king’s laws."

"You cannot take on more knights as a barony, that much is true," Jocelynn said with a wide grin. "But the Dunn family has always favored bold moves, so I offer you a bold move now. Give up the southern and westernmost edge of your territory and the hamlets that are located there."

"Survey the hamlets in that area to determine which four suffered the least in these raids and abandon the rest," Jocelynn said decisively, as though it was the only real option. "Resettle the people and herds from the hamlets that suffered the most in the hamlets, no, the new villages, that will be handed over to the Guild Masters when they are granted their titles by Marquis Bors."

Sitting at the table of lords, Baron Otker began to clap slowly and softly as Jocelynn spoke of stripping away the lands that the Dunns had painstakingly freed from demon claws over the past several decades. Stripping away enough lands to support four knights, and abandoning at least four if not more of their hamlets in order to fortify the populations of these new villages would be a crippling blow to the Dunns.

Even better, it would break their stranglehold on the resources that they lorded over the rest of the march! Oh, they would likely keep the spinners, dyers, sawmills, and other significant industries, but their supply of raw materials would be deeply affected by this shift.

Of course, if Serle Otker understood the implications then so would everyone else. It was a slap of condemnation so fierce that he couldn’t imagine it would stand, but he had to admire the young lass for delivering such a bold rebuke in the middle of the court’s deliberations.

"If this is the kind of help you’re offering, then on behalf of my father, we refuse!" Liam said, slamming a fist into the table. "We would rather struggle alone than hand over the lands we’ve fought for just because of a single demon raid!"

"Not a single demon raid," Jocelynn countered smoothly. "Several. But I never said you would lose these lands forever, my lord," she added sweetly, seemingly unperturbed by his outburst. "I said that the Dunns are known for acting boldly, and here, you must act boldly with conviction that you will succeed."

"After all, carving off portions of your lands for the creation of a new barony is one of the first steps that the Dunn family must undertake in order to grow from a barony into a county," Jocelynn said, turning to face Marquis Bors directly.

"You’re gambling, young lady," Bors said in a deep, grumbling tone. "You’re gambling that I will be a duke at the end of this holy war, to raise up Baron Dunn as a count and return these lands to him as part of his expanded domain. In a hundred years, we have yet to defeat the three demon lords that block our path to those heights. What makes you so certain that we could deliver on such a promise now?"