Chapter 136: Chapter 136: How Close Was It?

“Well it seems like they are finished for today.” Nela muttered to herself as she saw the various lords once again leave the meeting room, for what was likely going to be the last time that day. Now all she wondered about was the outcome of the decision.

If things went positively, Rhydian would be leading the army and it would be likely that he would at least pay serious attention to the suggestions that she had made to Braydon and the King. Otherwise, things would largely stay as they were, and whatever Duke Ryder decided was what would happen.

“They are in no great hurry are they.” Nela joked to herself as she saw Braydon walking side by side with Rhydian and Ethan out of the room after nearly everybody else had already left. She hoped that that was a good thing but could not tell from the looks on their faces.

“You know that it would have been nice to get a warning about this before I was summoned to the meeting.” Rhydian said as the three of them approached Nela, giving her pause as she thought about the possible meanings.

“Ask Braydon, not me, he was the one who suggested I nominate you.” Ethan immediately wiped his hands of that discussion, wanting nothing but to be a passive observer. 

“Do you honestly think that I planned that in advance?” Braydon threw up his hands when the three other people looked at him. For all that he wanted to claim that it was a master stroke, none of them would believe him with how little forethought had gone into it.

“Stop keeping me in suspense, how did it go?” Nela could tell by this point that the three of them were purposefully keeping things vague until she asked about who was chosen. She rolled her eyes and decided to go along with it just once. It would not hurt and there would be plenty of ways that she could at least get Braydon and Rhydian back in future.

“Haha, Rhydian got chosen.” Braydon couldn’t keep his straight face any longer, and from the slight smile on Rhydian’s face, everyone could tell that he was just as if not more pleased. While it was not rare for Rhydian to show amusement, when it came to duty, he rarely showed anything other than perseverance. That he had been chosen to lead the Fiverian army even if it was in a time of chaos and civil war was a great honour.

“Congratulations.” Nela congratulated Rhydian but happy for the man personally and as somebody on the same side. Nela then turned to Braydon and took on a look of sympathy as she continued.

“And commiserations to you, now you have even more work to shove onto Gerald.” After a brief moment of confusion at the sorrowful expression that Nela had, Braydon let out an exasperated sigh. She had really gotten him worried when she had such a serious face. From the laughter of Ethan and Rhydian, he could tell that they found it much funnier than he had.

“Do you really think that I would trust leaving managing my men to Gerald? I am at least going to try getting Roan or Corban to help.” Braydon said with a straight face, getting more eyerolls from Nela.

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“I would advise that you at least do some of your own work, Sire.” Steven said from behind Braydon, almost giving him heart failure. Steven had not been in the meeting room and as such had been able to have a rare break, from which he had just returned.

“It is good that you keep wise counsel, Braydon. I would be worried for you otherwise. And with that I think I should be getting back to my duties.” Ethan also decided that he would have his turn getting a jab in. And that he would leave. Before Braydon could think of a witty response.

“Well then…” Braydon wanted to say something but came up short.

“So how did you manage to convince those stubborn lords?” Nela and Rhydian glossed over Braydon’s lack of words and continued talking about the meeting that had just happened. They had much more interest to talk about it than Braydon who had been in the meeting since the beginning. If he had the choice, he would have taken just as many hours break as the meeting had taken up.

“I am not sure what one thing in particular got their attention really, I would have thought that my more aggressive stance compared to Earl Downs would have earned him more support than it would myself.” Rhydian was still not quite sure how he had convinced so many northeastern lords to side with him over Earl Downs. He knew that there were some that just did not like the man because of the internal politics of the northeast, but he did not think that it was as many as supported him.

“I think it was more your reputation than your specific arguments that won them over.” Braydon rejoined the conversation, putting forward his opinion on the matter. 

“Oh, in what way? To my knowledge people knew me as an effective brute who could swing a sword.” Rhydian really was not sure how that would translate to people thinking that he was a good leader for an army.

“Earl Downs may be a competent man but he has never had a very prominent role in any of our past wars, not in comparison to you and my father at least. And I think that you underestimate your own reputation as a man of war.” Braydon completely disagreed with Rhydian’s assessment of his own reputation, though he knew that they would both have biased opinions on the matter considering that it was about Rhydian himself, and Braydon had been trained by him.

“So how close was it?” Nela had to ask. From the way that the two of them were talking, it was as if the decision had been decisive. And that was anything but what any of them expected before the decision was made.