Chapter 93: Chapter 93: Waiting for Dawn

“Long time no see, Braydon!” Cinar greeted Braydon with gusto, causing him to wonder if this was a permanent feature when the man greeted people.

“Indeed, though I doubt you will get rid of me that easily this time.” Braydon’s response was equally ironic. These were not the circumstances that he wanted to be meeting in, and from the more sombre face of Earl Fornton, Braydon could tell that he thought similarly. 

“I believe that we have not spoken before Viscount Braydon, feel free to call me by my name.” As Braydon had been the last to arrive, he assumed that if the Earl did not know already then Cinar had told him about Braydon not liking being called Fiton.

“Then you may address me informally as well, Ethan.” Braydon shook hands with Ethan as he said that. The man was clearly more scholarly than he was a military man, with no calluses on his hands and not much muscle to speak of. But if that was all that one knew then they would be underestimating him. He had not only rebuilt his Earldom after the war with Leigh but had rebuilt his army just as much, to the point where it once again rivalled most other earls in the kingdom. Other than that he looked like the archetypal Fiverian nobleman, with light brown hair and eyes to match.

“Do either of you know any more about what is going on?” Ethan asked, the castle that he had been assigned to had been the furthest away from the battlefield meaning that he was the least likely to receive timely updates about any sudden changes.

“The King sent me a letter asking that no matter what we should not join the battle, and even actively avoid any fighting. He asked that I send this message to both of you as well. If we needed any more confirmation that there was something going on that was it.” Cinar said and everyone else nodded. If the king was only confident in sending one letter over sending the same letter to all three of them then it was obvious that he did not want others finding out that he did not intend to fight. Everyone knew that the most spied upon man in the kingdom was the King himself.

“My scouts have found what we presume to be the encampment of Duke Ryder not far from where the battle will take place.” When Braydon said that, he got sighs from both of the other lords.

“So he really is going to choose this time to try and take over the kingdom.” Cinar said, more as a statement than a question. It was inevitable that there would be a clash at some point, but when it finally arrived, it was still unexpected.

“Do you think that he is working with Casburland?” Ethan asked, which caused Cinar to take a sharp intake of breath at the thought. If it truly was the case then they would have no hope of standing against them. Casburland and Fiveria were roughly equally matched when it came to military might, but if a man in control of at least a quarter of Fiveria’s strength changed sides? It would be a bloodbath.

“It is highly unlikely that it is the case.” Rhydian interjected, as the one with the most military knowledge among them, his opinion was not to be taken lightly.

“Why so?” Cinar asked, very hopeful that the worst case scenario would not happen.

"Because the whole reason why he would start a rebellion is to take the crown. If he invited Casburland into Fiveria, he would never be able to get Marek to leave again. He might be strong, but he is not comparable to Casburland strong.” Rhydian raised a good point but that would assume that Casburland’s armies would just turn back if they were not invited in.

“Then he has the aid of someone else?” When Braydon said it, they all realised that this could turn out to be a bigger problem than they had expected. If it was another nation that was backing Duke Ryder, he would likely win. Conversely it could be someone who had no interest in Fiveria but in Casburland. The problem was that they had no way of knowing.

“If it is another country then it is only going to be the Empire, nobody else has enough interest in seeing Fiveria fight itself.” Cinar said, obviously thinking of the aggressive moves that the emperor had been making in the east. Leigh was too busy with it’s colonial ventures as of late, and Shuluk was in the midst of a civil war caused by that same emperor. Fiveria did share a few small borders with other nations such as Serhesh in the north east or the Twin Duchies of Rotleach and Tetland in the south west. The difference was that Fiveria shared either mutual ambivalence or friendly relations with both of them.

“But it could equally not be another nation at all, I am sure that there are plenty of groups that would be happy to see something like this happen.” Ethan added, and he was right. Countries and nobles were not the only ones with agendas and the power to pursue them, the problem was that they were usually more hidden and worked more behind the scenes than the nobility tended to. Much to the frustration of said nobility.

“I’m not sure who I would rather it be helping Duke Ryder, they both mean bad things.” Braydon sighed with his eyebrows scrunched together. He found himself rubbing his scar once more, something that hadn’t happened since he first inherited his territory.

“All we can do right now is try to meet up with the King, if he is able to leave the battlefield.” Rhydian pointed out. It was useless speculating when they were in no position to do so, they would be in a far better position if they could meet up with their allies. The almost 1000 men that they had with them right now might be enough to defend themselves but it would not be enough to do anything more.

“Then it seems like we are waiting for dawn.” Ethan added both figuratively and literally.