Ryla felt the jangle of the dagger on her hip. The maids called it unsightly, but the existence of the dagger was a reminder to her.

No matter how ugly the dagger was it, she needed it.

It had been a long time since Ryla had seen her sibling. She had been too caught up in meeting benefactors to do that.

Zacariah had gone off on a journey across the ocean, apparently, he was seeking out strong talent. He had already established his base so now it’s was up to Ryla to seize the opportunity and undermine him in this time period.

Her mind paused.

[Why…]

Ryla was struck by a sense of discontent which she pushed aside.

She didn’t have time to slow down with unneeded thoughts. People relied on her now.

She was still too soft, the vast majority of the people who followed her were those who she picked up from the streets or the downtrodden. She wasn’t like Zacariah who had the social clout to attract donors, and she wasn’t like Mathias who could charm people with a smile.

She had no particular skills, no abilities that would make her stand out. She was only fortunate enough to be the first-born daughter and second-born child overall which gave her some legitimacy.

Still, the people in her camp were pushing her to be ever firmer in her resolves. She had already lost supporters based on her lack of conviction. The other week one of the largest water barons had been enticed over to Mathias’s camp from her side.

That hurt.

She palmed the pommel of the dagger on her belt. Technically, nobody wasn’t allowed to carry weapons in the palace but since she was royalty nobody admonished her.

Whenever she held the pommel, she always felt her pace quicken.

“Something wrong my dear?” Ryla looked behind her to see Gildron, he had become a permanent guest for some reason, Ryla did not know.

“Don’t you have better things to do?” Ryla bit at the man.

Gildon only seemed to shrug his shoulders. His armor clinking lightly.

“You tell me” He said smiling slightly.

At first Ryla thought, Gildron was someone she might want to recruit to her cause, but she soon realized he was a pompous and annoying man.

“Why don’t you just go back!” She shouted at him.

“Ah, but that would be too boring,” Gildron said lazily.

“Boring? All you do is laze about the palace. Are you even here on official duty any more?” Ryla accused Gildron. He had originally come to escort a diplomat but the diplomat as long since returned the kingdom and he had remained in Eris.

Gildron seemed to feign offense.

“Why, I’m the ambassador of the Faramouth Kingdom, you can’t treat me like that” he said sarcastically

“The person you were watching went home a long time ago, don’t you have better places to be?” Ryla said.

“Why? This place has the perfect conditions for my hobbies.”

“Hobbies? What do you mean” Ryla said now confused, she didn’t even know what hobbies Gildron had which meant he needed to stay in Eris to do.

Gildron bent down to Ryla’s eye level and gave a grin.

“Collecting stories,” he said

“Collecting… Stories?” Ryla said repeating Gildrons statement.

Gildron suddenly stood back up.

“Stories! Wonderful stories, the world is too boring unless we have a rousing story! I used to think making my own would be fun, but I realized that experiencing someone’s story is much better than that. Reading it would be much too boring. I want to die knowing that I was a part of as many stories as possible” Gildron ranted his eyes growing feverish.

Ryla took a step back in surprise.

Gildron noticed Ryla’s change in emotion and calmed himself down.

“Ahem! I apologize, that was bad conduct in front of lady”

It was indeed quite a shock to Ryla, Gildron was typically a reserved and clever-looking man, but the face she saw was one that was in stark contrast from that voice.

“Stories… So why stay here?” Ryla asked Gildron.

“Are you daft? This place is going to be a hotbed of stories I can feel it. Something is building up here. The world is going to change and it will start here. I might be getting old, but I can feel it my fibers.” Gildron said looking off into the distance as if he was thinking of something.

“Still… you can’t possibly stay that long, you’re a foreigner and without a proper visa we’re going to kick you out eventually,” Ryla stated.

Gildron seemed to put a hand on his chin,

“Ah, that is indeed true.”

He thought for another moment. After a little while, it looked like he had a sudden realization.

“I’ll join you then!” he said.

“Eh?” Ryla replied. It was a response she was completely not expecting.

“I’m a good fighter, you know that, I should be a good fit for you faction no?” Gildron said.

Ryla was speechless, she was suddenly asked by this legendary man if he could join her party.

Gildron seemed to take her silence poorly.

“You don’t want me?” He asked.

“No!” Ryla said suddenly shouting.

“It’s… just very sudden… are you sure?” She asked Gildron.

Gildron shrugged his shoulder.
“I don’t particularly care who I join as long as I’m a part of the actions. If I went back to Faramouth I’ll just have to deal with that troublesome woman again.” Gildron said.

[Woman?] Ryla thought.

Kitsura

Ok I go sleep now, Enjoy chappy