As we entered the dining hall, we were greeted by the sight of all the rest of the Draykes sitting solemnly with bowls of food in their hands as they stared at my brother unblinkingly.

My brother who had on a discomfited expression, as though regretting the fact that he had called the meeting during breakfast.

I mean, I would be discomfited too, since the news that was to be shared would likely lead to said breakfast being spewed on the speaker.

But my brother stood there, a massive target with a face that said, “Bring it on!” and finally, when the last of us had helped ourselves to the food and sat down, he began.

“Draykes… We are bankrupt.”

The sound of a few bowls being dropped came out as I began to sweat for my brother's oratory skills.

“Draykes… Not only are we bankrupt, but we need to take up jobs.”

Gasps came from the Viscount’s household as the reality of what Sir Dustin had said sank in.

Scratching his head at the reaction of the gathered people, my brother smiled as he said, “It’s not that bad, honestly. We’ll just have to work hard. Plus, we have an advantage…”. Raising his fist, he cried out, “We are Draykes!”

Murmurs of appreciation rang out before everyone got to their feet and waved their bowls of food in the air while roaring out.

Then, cognizant of the fact that we were bankrupt and food was precious, everyone hastily sat back down and began inhaling the food.

Sia was laughing at everybody’s antics until she looked at me and jumped up in shock.

Because I was white as a sheet.

Food!

Bankruptcy!

My stomach!

Oh no!

As I mumbled the words to myself, Sia worriedly came over and then, when she heard what I was saying, she almost fell over.

Then cautiously patting my hand, she ventured a smile, as I looked at her with tears in my eyes.

“There, there. We’ll keep you fed.” She gently said.

Nodding, I wondered why it seemed like I was a pet, but my thoughts were banished as my brother clapped his hands with a thunderclap and spoke. “Now, reorganisation has to be done. Before that, May I present Sir Leonidas who has joined the House of Draykes and taken the oath.”

Teacher stepped forward with an embarrassed look on his face and bowed to all of us, and the ones who didn’t know beforehand remained silent in shock before erupting in loud cheers!

Teacher accepted it all with good grace but it wasn’t more than a few seconds later that he had pushed my brother back to center stage where my brother cleared his throat and spoke again, “We are glad to have Sir Leonidas who has been fighting by our side for so long to officially join the House of Draykes. A true comrade-in-arms throughout, and now a part of our family!”

More cheers followed as I saw a bead of sweat run down my brother’s temple.

Then he stepped forward and, pointing to Sir Egon, he said, “As part of the reorganisation, we will have a household guard set up. Sir Egon will be the head of it and I will leave the details to him.”

Stepping forward, Sir Egon bowed to us, and then slowly spoke, “First, let me tell you the fighting condition of the Draykes as of now.”

Then, holding up his fingers, he said, “We have 18 soldiers - all of whom are iron ranked. We have 5 knights, including me, for a total of 2 silver ranks, 2 gold ranks, and 1 weaponmaster.”

Pausing, he said, “12 soldiers will stay behind as part of the household guard which I shall be leading. We will be in charge of protection, and occasionally any fighting that has to be done in the perimeter of Yamal. We will not, under any circumstance, take part in external fights.”

Nodding at Sir Egon, who stepped back, my brother spoke again, “As for the rest of the soldiers and Knights, we shall form a section that will join the Golden Blades. Our mission is to take up any contract that the Golden Blades receive and to fulfill it better than they can. Am I understood?”

A Hooah greeted my brother.

Smiling, he then held up 3 fingers, which he lowered as he spoke. “We have three other areas to reorganize in. one is our household proper. One relates to our arms, money, and food. The last is schooling.”

“First, our household. Turning to a lady, he bowed as he said, “Madam, would you please take charge of the household matters?”

The lady bowed back and introduced herself, “My name is Amee and I would be delighted to accept.”

Quizzically looking at Sia, I raised my eyebrows and Sia leaned in and whispered, “She’s Celine’s godmother.”

Mouthing, I asked, “Godmother?”, only for Sia to shake her head and indicate it was a topic for later.

Nodding, I turned my attention back to my brother, whose smile became grim as he said, “Our arms and armor are in terrible condition from the continuous fighting we’ve gone through. The priority for the good pieces goes to our mercenary troop, and then to the household guard. Whatever remains shall be stored into the armory which Sir Dustin shall be in charge of.”

Sir Dustin nodded and my brother continued, “As for money, I believe we have already spoken to you and all of you will get 1 gold Proton each, while the Knights get 3 Protons each. The remainder of the 100 Protons will be given to Madam Amee for the household expenses.”

Here, Madam Amee, furrowing her brows, asked, “What about the expenses for the quarters?”

Grinning, my brother said, “These quarters are the property of the Golden Blades, who have generously gifted us the same in perpetuity.”

Gasping, we looked again at the magnificent quarters that we were in and marvelled at the Golden Blade's sincerity before we remembered that we had essentially given away all our gold to them. Then our nods became a lot more sedate and controlled.

Pushing on, my brother finished by saying, “The members of the Household will have to pick jobs, all of which shall be handled by Madam Amee, and on to the last topic. The schooling.”

Pausing for a moment, my brother looked in turn at Damon, Celine, Ares, Sia, and me.

Then he said, “We currently have 8 seedlings left. 3 of which have indicated that they want to remain part of the Household guards and will receive guidance from them. That leaves 5, of which 3 are of age, to go to the page school that is located here in Yamal. Those three are Damon, Celine, and Ares.”

The three looked at each other before looking at my brother, who clapped his hands and said with finality, “We are Draykes. We have seen difficulties and battles. This shall not stop us. Do you agree with me?”

A roar greeted his words, and then Sia held up her hand hesitantly.

Nodding at her, my brother indicated for her to speak and Sia asked, “What do we name our quarters?”

Silence fell as everyone considered her question before I chuckled and said, “We are Draykes who are bankrupt. Why don’t we name the quarters as the Hoard?”

Laughter sounded out, and it was decided.

Our new lives in the Hoard in Yamal, of the Merchari Empire - working together with the Golden Blades would officially begin.

But first!

Food!

Meeting over, I ran to the table and inhaled whatever remained as Madam Amee worriedly checked the coins given to her and threw her hands up in despair.

Then I pulled Sia, and we left to see the city, Yamal.