“He is making a dare.” It was not hard for Braydon to tell what was going on. It was not hard for anyone with half a brain to tell what was going on. Duke Ryder had stayed quiet for almost an entire week. It was as if he was completely ignoring their presence as he marched his army across the country. But it was clear that he had been keeping tabs on them all the time, confirming at least some of Braydon’s suspicions.

“That much we can see.” Ethan nodded. As soon as Rhydian got word from the scouts that Duke Ryder was acting differently than he had been for the past few days he ordered the army to stop. Needless to say, that had attracted the attention of all of the lords travelling with them. And now they were all having a meeting, not so much to discuss what to do as to lay out a course of action. 

“Then are we going to take him up on his offer?” Cinar asked, it was a tempting thing to do. It would not have been much of a dare otherwise. It was hard to tell what Cinar actually thought about it but at the very least he did not seem against the idea.

“No, it would be a stupid idea to go along with what the Duke wants. Let alone that it would be the first time in centuries that Boshil would become a battlefield and for what? Hiding behind city walls? We could have chosen any other city to hole up in, there is no need to besmirch the capital like that.” Rhydian was against the idea, as much as it would give a temporary morale boost for the Royal faction to have effective control of the capital, it would make them a much bigger target. And they would have nowhere to run. Losing a battle in the capital would be effectively crippling for any would be King, doubly so in a civil war. 

“The old bastard is trying to taunt me.” The King had a particularly ugly look on his face. Throughout the course of the war, Duke Ryder had had many opportunities to take the capital. Even if there was still a sizable garrison, it was no match for his army without the King’s army behind the walls. But even so, he had chosen not to enter the walls of Boshil since he took up his sword in rebellion.

Instead of carrying on his march to face down Duke Burn and his foreign allies, Duke Ryder had stopped within a days’ march from the capital city and waited. When he had called his men to a halt, it was far too early for him to be setting up camp. But he had done it anyway. With Duke Burn being several days' march away, it was clear that he was making a statement to the King. And it was a slap to the face.

“Then he had best prepare for when he finds himself on the end of a sword.” Cinar was also not happy about it. He was one of the people that the King could count as a genuine friend, something which Braydon and Ethan could not claim to be even as part of his inner circle. Cinar had always maintained a close relationship with the King, before and after his ascension to the throne. Of the few others who had, most had already died in schemes or wars.

“Do we know how Duke Burn is acting right now?” Braydon asked. So far, it was as if Duke Burn had been watching things play out as if they did not concern him. Not unusual for the man but he now had the Twin Dukes on his side and Braydon could not imagine them wanting to wait forever. And their situation was still the same as before, they needed Duke Burn to fight Duke Ryder if they were to have a realistic shot at winning.

“Duke Rotleach has marched his men across the border in the past few days. If things go as expected, he will meet up with Duke Burn in the next day or two. I would expect them to start making moves then.” Rhydian commented but Braydon found something odd.

“No Duke Tetland?” The Twin Duchies were called that for a reason, both Dukes held a coequal position to each other. For only one of them to cross the border was odd.

“There could be a few reasons for that. Namely that Duke Tetland’s domains are to the west of Duke Rotleach, further away from us, and that he could be holding things down in the Twin Duchies whilst Duke Rotleach does the fighting.” Rhydian gave a couple of examples but it was far from exhaustive. Though Braydon could not really comment, since he had no clue how a country with two monarchs was able to keep itself together in the first place.

‘Wait does this have something to do with why the King was not worried about them?’ Braydon thought to himself. Braydon could easily see there being internal conflicts with there being two monarchs in the Twin Duchies. He made a mental note to ask Rhydian about it in a more private situation. He could guess that saying the possibility out loud would only be a detriment.

“So we are stuck waiting for days, just staring down Duke Ryder?” Ethan asked with a scrunched up face, And Braydon could see many of the observing lords held similar expressions. They had been doing exactly that back in Mapjess, only this time they did not have the second largest river in Fiveria between them and the enemy.

“It would appear that way, unless something miraculous happens in the next few days.” The King sighed, it was not exactly the situation he wanted to find himself in. Certainly not whilst he had to just watch Boshil from a distance without being able to enter the city.

“I would not exactly rely on the divine to give us aid, not if their earthly representatives have anything to do with it.” Cinar snidely commented, evidently not having a great opinion of the clergy. In most other countries comments like that would have made him an outcast but in Fiveria there were many noblemen who took similar if less pronounced views on the priestly caste. There was a reason why Braydon had to go to war torn Shuluk to find a priest.

“With your mouth, it would be a surprise if they did not try to smite you.” The King shot back. Clearly not having much fondness for the church either. He was one of the few people in Fiveria who had had to deal with someone from the church regularly. There was still a bishop residing in the capital, and if he had his way that was where the man would stay until the war was over. The last thing that anyone needed was the church trying to stick its nose in.

Darkwood

Hi Hi. 

So I woke up this afternoon (don't judge me) to find that Sun1244 had sent me this, a map of Braydon's territory as it stands right now:

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

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