Reeves's eyes widen. He redoubles his efforts to awaken Duc Hugues. With a grunt, he awakens and the two have a hurried conversation. The Duc then shuffles forth to speak.

Uh. . .right. First, thank you for the praise your Majesty. Just doing our part.

He shakes his head trying to clear the cobwebs.

Second, I can't speak to a lot of what has been said, but Duc Alain did meet my prioritizations for men. It's just that due to our resources, it would have been peasants or militia, no archers or cavalry. There was one time I was refused mercenaries, but that was more than balanced out by the time he granted me money to hire them to defeat the Germans at Staufen.

Duc Alain has been straight with me.

With respect, mon Roi, the only Seneschal whose performance would be completely satisfactory to your Majesty, would be, well, your Majesty.