“... and that is what happened.” Braydon finished informing Rhydian and Colin of what happened during their time in the capital. Rhydian had joined them on the way to the castle when they stopped by Mapjess to check if he was there, Nela had told him all about the none official business that they had done on the way back. Braydon had held off from telling him the official stuff until Colin was there too, he did not want to repeat himself several times. Though Rhydian did look like he had a question.

“Did Duke Burn really not ask for anything?” He could hardly believe it, Duke Burn was notorious for making getting anything done laborious. It was out of character that he had not demanded something difficult from Braydon.

“Well, he did ask that we not trade with anyone from Duke Ryder’s faction. And he was adamant that that be written down. I Presume that he wants to cause conflict with Duke Ryder.” Braydon responded, but even he was surprised that that was the only condition. He was going to be shipping a highly sought after strategic resource almost directly through his faction and the Duke had not really asked for much.

“There must be something more behind his plans, I advise that we be cautious about him.” Colin advised, his usual kindly smile had turned to a face of slight worry. If there were any problems, the economic fallout would be for him to deal with. And in that scenario, there would only be so much that he could do.

“We need to be cautious of him anyway, there is not much more we can really do at this point.” Rhydian commented, there was only so much that his men could do. Actively patrolling the territory and training were the limits of the current army.

“Colin, I would like you to be the one to go to Milmond to negotiate with the merchants there. We have quite the amount of iron piling up but they don’t need to know that, try to get the best deal from them.” After the iron mine was built, the only customers that he had so far were the King and the guilds in Wathamalin. But that left quite a large amount of iron left over. Neither side controlled a particularly large unequipped group of soldiers, they would only need so much per month. In fact, the guilds bought more than the King, the armourer’s guild and the blacksmith’s guild took quite a shine to his new source of iron.

“As you wish, Sire. I shall finish up any matters I have and head there afterwards. I should be ready to go in the next few days.” Colin accepted his order. By the slightly invigorated smile on his face, he was looking forward to taking a trip. His age and job meant that he did not often leave the castle but that did not mean that he wanted to stay indoors all the time.

“Anything to report Rhydian?” Braydon moved on to what he felt was a more pressing matter. He hoped that nothing had gone awry since he received Rhydian’s report in the capital.

“The bandits have tried to make a ruckus since a large number of them managed to get through but the patrols have shut most of that down. Any that were caught were sent back to Shuluk but a number of them have made it back through. Roan is going over the border patrols now to see what loopholes they have been using.” Rhydian’s report was not great but it was not the worst either, but Braydon did not want this situation to continue. It was constantly talking up more than half of his standing army to deal with the problem.

“What about in the west?” The eastern half of his lands were more than a little active at the minute but after he took over the west, it had not been long before the people calmed down. There was something about there not being constant raids that they seemed to like.

“Our western neighbours are more peaceful than our eastern one, there are also almost no bandits in the entire region, let alone Kirton. Since the people have settled down, I advise cutting the patrols and just set up a few small outposts along the roads. It would free up some of our men and it is just not a necessary exercise.” Rhydian made a good point, while there were enough men in the east at the moment, that did not mean that something would not happen in the future. After all, there was a civil war going on next door.

“What would you suggest that they do with their new found free time?” Braydon expected Rhydian to say training. That was one of his favourite things to do, and Braydon was sure that the men would not be allowed to complain under Rhydian’s ‘care’.

“They would be better off training, and it would be good if the leaders could learn to write. It is really not practical if I am the only one in the army who can write.” And there it was, training. But Braydon did not expect that Rhydian would want to have his men educated. Sure it was a good idea, but it was no easy feat. Especially when they did not yet have a priest to start up Nela’s plan.

“Any ideas about how we get one of Shuluk’s priests over here to start your plan?” Braydon turned to Nela. She had spent quite a while looking into the clergymen of Shuluk before they went to the capital. He hoped that there was at least one that would be easy to convince.

“Well, that is where the trip to Narabun comes in. After the civil war became more fierce, many priests fled to Narabun. While it was not safe for the peasantry to do so, the priests could. Peasants would just get conscripted or robbed, so they fled to other countries. But if somebody tried to do either to a clergyman, the whole wrath of the church would be upon them. So to avoid the fighting, most priests made their way to the capital, where they have nothing much to do.” Nela’s words made Braydon smile, with this he could hit two birds with one stone. He would be able to discuss with the duchess regent and gain a priest to start up a school.

“And I presume that you have somebody in mind?”

“In fact I do, a man called Father Odom.” Nela looked proud that she had managed to find somebody. When she had returned, the first thing she did was to confirm from the reports that she had received that nothing had changed in Shuluk, or at least nothing substantive. When Braydon asked how she got to know things so fast she had merely replied ‘Faisal.’ It had taken him a while to remember who that was but when he did he was shocked to think it was that ‘merchant’.