“Then we are done for now?” Nela asked when she saw Braydon had not moved onto any other pressing matters. If her speculations were true then it would not particularly change anything about their situation, but it would mean that the war as a whole would be slightly harder fought. With Earl Blake almost assuredly not a contender anymore and Duke Burn having taken damage in making it a reality, even more of the battles with Duke Ryder would fall on the royal faction’s shoulders.

“For the most part, the King probably has more up to date knowledge on the movements of Duke Ryder than I do. We can discuss what Ryder is doing when we see him.” Braydon stood up and stretched as he said that. They had just had the first real conversation that they had had in months and it was about the current state of affairs. Braydon was unsure whether to be glad that he managed to hold down a conversation with Nela after the past few weeks or be dismayed that they had not touched upon the topic of her father properly yet.

“Are we not going to see him now?” Nela looked at Braydon in confusion. It was obvious from his words that he did not intend for them to meet with the King yet. And given how long they had spent conversing, the King would most definitely be awake and dealing with his work by that point. 

*sigh*

“Neither you nor I have been long awake, have you even eaten yet?” There were good points and bad points about someone who could focus so wholly on a single task. Things may get done quickly but that would be at the expense of the health of said person. Braydon was sure that Nela had completely forgotten about eating since they had started talking and if he didn't remind her she would have carried on until at least noon before realising that she hadn’t eaten.

*grumble*

“Then we should probably eat something first…” As if right on queue, when Braydon mentioned food, Nela’s stomach growled, much to her dismay. 

“Then let us be on our way.” When he saw her face go a light shade of red, Braydon had a hard time stopping himself from laughing, having to turn towards the door. Luckily for him they would have to leave the room anyway, though Nela probably noticed his amusement in spite of his efforts. From the glare that he could feel on his back he knew that she suspected as much.

“I am glad to see that you are in a better state than you were last night.” Aled smiled and spoke to Nela once the three of them were sitting down in the study. He felt much better about his decision to let Braydon calm Nela down upon seeing her collected self in the morning. If he had insisted on having a discussion the night before, the King doubted that it would have been a very productive one.

“I deeply apologise for my behaviour, it was truly unsightly of me. I am just glad that Your Highness has not taken great offence.” Nela bowed her head and used the most formal speech that Braydon had ever heard her use. Even when they made their move at court to sever her engagement, she hadn't spoken this formally.

“There is no need for you to be so uptight, it is not like there is some kind of formal ceremony right now. Not to mention you, I myself was quite taken aback by your father’s decision to head up our defence. And I was in the room.” Aled quickly put an end to the strict apology of Nela, he was impressed by the quality of education that Cinar had managed to get her despite being so busy but he did not want it to be used to apologise to himself. Having had such  a long friendship with Cinar, it did not feel right to him.

“I have managed to catch Nela up on most of what is going on right now, though I thought it would be best to leave talking about what Duke Ryder is doing to you. You probably have much more up to date information than I have, even if it only has been one night.” Braydon cut the awkward silence between the two early by moving onto the most pressing matter for Nela to know about. Not to mention that Duke Ryder was the biggest foe that they would have to beat, but her father was the one who would face the brunt of any aggression from the former.

“That, I do. I received a report this morning that Duke Ryder’s men seem to have come to a stop at least for now. They have started to make camp about a day’s travel south of Wathamalin, about a day and a half from where our forces guard the bridge across the river.” The King started to detail the movements of Duke Ryder, adding on the last part for Nela’s benefit. It was good that Duke Ryder had not decided to march straight into battle, but that left them a few more questions about Duke Ryder’s intended actions.

“Do you think he is planning to stay there for long, and where will he go from there?” Braydon asked two questions at once, though the second was the more important of the two. Since Duke Ryder had decided to split off from the main road between the capital and Wathamalin, it looked like he intended to leave both places for later. And that he had gone further south than the bridge showed that he either intended to stay there for some time or find another way to cross the river. 

“That is what I have been pondering about. He does have a fairly strong navy, but Duke Burn has more ships that are well suited for river travel than he does, I don’t exactly see him trying to cross by boat.” The King also weighed in his thoughts on the matter, it was well known that Duke Ryder had a larger navy than Duke Burn but most of his navy was tied up in heavy ships that fared better on the open sea. On the other hand Duke Burn had more galleys and other such ships that were far better combatants in internal waterways.

“Is there another bridge further south?” This was Nela’s first question on the matter. They all knew that there were more than a few bridges further north, but that was still several days north to the closest one. But as the river got wider and more ships passed through, there was no real way to bridge it without angering everyone. Not to mention that there was still the question of if it were even possible. The river was not among the biggest in Ezaes but it was by no means small. 

“If there is, then it has not been made known to me. And I doubt that such a construction could be completed without great protests from Duke Burn.” The King shook his head, such a project would at least take the better part of a year if everything went smoothly. And everyone knew, it would most definitely not go smoothly if someone tried to make a bridge so far down stream.

“Then I might have an idea about what he is planning.” Nela smiled to herself. Braydon could tell that it was mostly in relief; if her predictions were correct, then it would likely mean that she would be able to see her father soon. Without him having fought an uphill battle.

Darkwood

Hi Hi. 

But wait! There's more!:

Come join me and others on my discord server and have fun chatting together! You can come and talk to me about my thoughts on the novel or point out any mistakes I made in my chapters. Or if that doesn't suit your taste then just talk about whatever random stuff is on your mind.

And if you are willing and able, you could always show me some love by contributing to my snack fund over on Kofi. =P

                                                                                                   |Discord|