Reeves urgently whispers into Hugues's ear. The Duc tries to bat him away like a bothersome fly.

Why in God's name would I want to do that!? I'd rather be drawn and quartered. . .by Elephants! Make yourself useful and get me some wine.

Reeves, undeterred, continues his whispering. The Duc loudly responds.

Damn! Yes, I suppose so. That's a good point.

Reeves continues on.

Alright! Enough! I understand. But you'll do all the paperwork!

Hugues composes himself and stands to speak again.

Hmmm. . .yes. . .ah. . .having consulted with my advisors and after careful deliberation, I have decided to. . .

Hugues shoots Reeves a poisonious glare.

. . .stand for the position of Seneschal.

It's come to my attention that Captain de Neufville may or not be legally qualified for the position. Certainly his claim is stronger than last time, but anything is better than nothing.

Right. . .ah priorities for my term. . .uh. . .yes.

Reeves hands Hugues some parchment.

Well, we seem to be in a spot of trouble with the Pope. Can't allow that to continue. There are already some edicts from the King concerning this, which I have seconded. We must assume a. . .

Hugues sighs audibly.

. . .defensive posture in our war with the Germans. That means no more marching into their land and killing their Emperor or Princes or taking their cities. Of course, they march into our land, they're fair game. We keep what we have taken, but keep the Pope happy. Or as happy as that sour old coot ever is.

Speaking of the war, it took us by surprise. . .

Hugues shoots a quick glance toward the Throne.

. . .well most of us. Which means we don't have the necessary buildings to recruit proper troops. Toulouse is the only place in the Kingdom where even peasant archers can be recruited, peasants! Cavalry is hard to find too. This needs to be addressed.

Now, if 2.2 passes, we'll be trying to make peace with the Germans. But it will take a while to get a diplomat to them and they are an obstinate and bloodthirsty people. . .unlike us of course. Peace is not a certainty. And other threats could emerge; the English, the Milanese and others. We have discovered agents of theirs in our cities. They can't be trusted to keep the peace, even though we are a. . .peaceful people seeking only co-existence.

So we need these military buildings so we can protect our cities, reduce our reliance on mercenaries and provide our Generals with balanced and reliable forces.

Now, that doesn't mean churches and markets are right out, but we need to find the correct balance. You need money for troops, but if you don't have decent troops, you've got nothing. We're playing catch up at this point.

As Seneschal I would also attempt to provide a level of coordination among our military efforts that has been. . .ah. . .lacking. Whether it was the Order sieging Bruges against the wishes of the King or marauding German armies bursting into our heartland, we need better communication between the various factions of the Kingdom. After consulting with field commanders and assessing the situation I would propose a comprehensive strategy for the deployment of armies at the beginning of the season.

Obviously, anyone would be free to ignore me, but it's a start. I was able to work with Duc Raymond in this very chamber to save Dijon, so I've done this before.

Well, That's it for my. . .uh. . .prepared statements. I'd be. . .uh. . .happy. . .to answer any questions the Conseil might have.

The Duc sits and takes a large swig of wine.