Leimuster slowly rose from his seat.
"Fifty thousand gold coins, Chieftain!"
He stared at Yulgar. "I can only pay a fifty-thousand-gold-coin deposit!"
"This..." Chieftain Yulgar scratched his head. "Fine, fifty thousand gold coins it is. I want them now, and I'll count them myself!"
"Of course!" Leimuster turned to the attendant beside him.
"Take Chieftain Yulgar to the treasury and withdraw fifty thousand gold coins." His voice regained its former authority. Then he looked at the Orcish Chieftain again. "Yulgar, this is only a deposit—if your warriors perform well in battle, I'm willing to pay a commission even higher than the hundred thousand gold coins you requested!"
"Heh heh heh!" Yulgar happily stuck out his tongue and licked his lips. "Duke, we definitely won't disappoint you!"
The attendant led the Orcish Chieftain out of the Council Hall.
Chief Financial Officer Horne sucked in a sharp breath. "Duke, a hundred thousand gold coins is nearly a third of our..."
"It's worth it." Leimuster suddenly raised his voice, and the flames on the gilded candlesticks swayed with it.
"The Bradley Family's legacy cannot end with me!"
He paced to the window and pointed at the towering outline of the distant city walls. "Wind's Breath Keep's walls are twenty feet thick, and the outer moat is fed by running water. The food stored in the cellars is enough to last two years."
When he turned around, a trace of sickly color had appeared on his pale face. "Alba's army excels at field battles, but they've never seriously defended a city. That's why Greiman's army has swept through them like a breaking tide. But in truth, city defense favors the weaker side. Wind's Breath Keep has been maintained by the Bradley Family for a hundred years, and its strength is no less than Watchman