Aldric sat up, still adjusting to his surroundings. The memories of his past life felt distant, like a fading dream. Right now, only one thing mattered he was Aldric Windsor, the last heir of House Windsor, and his county was in danger.
The room was quiet except for the flickering candle. Gale, his old servant, stood nearby, watching him with concern.
"Young Lord, you must rest. The physicians feared you would never wake after your injury."
Aldric ignored the dizziness in his head. "How long have I been unconscious?"
"Three weeks," Gale said. "The county has been in chaos since… since the count's passing."
Aldric frowned. His memories of the battle were fragmented, but one thing was clear he had been there. His father had led two thousand soldiers and a dozen knights to wipe out the pirates, and Aldric had joined them, eager to prove himself. But the battle had gone horribly wrong.
The pirates had outnumbered them two to one and ambushed them in the narrow streets of a coastal village. What should have been a decisive attack had turned into a massacre. His father had been killed, their forces routed, and Aldric himself had barely escaped with his life.
He reached up, touching his forehead. There was a faint scar where he had been struck a deep wound that had nearly ended him. That was why he had been unconscious for so long.
A heavy knock sounded at the door. A tall, armored man stepped inside Sir Ronald, his late father's most trusted knight and the commander of County's army. His expression was serious.
"Young Lord," Ronald said. "It's good to see you awake. We feared the worst."
Aldric nodded. "Tell me the situation."
Ronald's tone was grim. "Half of our army and almost a dozen elite knights were lost in the battle. The men who remain are spread across the county, trying to hold back the pirate raids."
"How many do we have left?"
"Around a thousand, including wounded and recruits and some knights including myself, My lord" Ronald replied with a grim tone
Aldric's eyes narrowed. A thousand men were not enough to defend the entire county. The pirates had double, maybe triple their numbers.
"They've grown bolder," Ronald continued. "Since your father's death, they've raided deeper into our lands. If this keeps up, we won't be able to hold them back."
Aldric stayed quiet for a moment, thinking. They couldn't defend every village. Spreading their forces too thin would only make things worse.
"We need to pull back from the outer villages," he said. "Our priority is securing our capital Valoria."
Ronald studied him for a moment. Before the battle, Aldric had been reckless, eager to prove himself. Now, he was thinking carefully before making a decision.
"As you command," Ronald said.
Aldric exhaled. He wasn't fully recovered, and the county was in a bad state, but he couldn't afford to hesitate.
This was his responsibility now. He would do whatever it took to protect his land and utilize his knowledge from the modern world to it's fullest.