Truly, I did not expect us to win so decisively. Maybe this makes me a lesser man than I ought to be. Or maybe it means I underestimated both the spirit of our troops and the leadership of my lord. Regardless, my hopes are high, now that we have so utterly defeated the Blackbars. It will send a message to the Redwynes, and to all the other enemies we have in the Reach: House Tuttle must not be underestimated.

I heard some of the men speak, of the plentiful years that are ahead and of the relative ease which they now expect. Some even reckon the rebels will lay down their weapons. I fear they underestimate the enemy just like the enemy underestimated us. We will be challenged again, maybe very soon. The enemies of the Blackbars want to be our friends now and we receive friendly messages from all over the Reach. But likewise our enemies will want to be friends with the Blackbars, and the fronts will harden more than ever.

This victory, decisive as it was, means the next conflict will be less straight-forward. But it also means that we must ride the wave and take our place among the more fortunate houses within the Reach, and that we must brace ourselves for the more concealed attacks that will now follow.

The successful infiltration by the old master of arms shows very clearly that we are short on troops whenever we move out to meet an attack or hunt the rebels. I must talk with Lord Tuttle and see what we can do to hire more men to be stationed at Tannenhall at all times. Or at least train some of the servants to man the bell tower in times of need. I feel rage when I think about how narrowly the Lady Maera escaped the hands of this brutal man that once was the master of arms. He is dead now and will trouble us no more. But I fear this is not the last we have seen of the rebels, and they will surprise us yet again.