“You look relieved, your majesty!” Cinar greeted with as much energy as always, noting that the King looked happy to see them. And it was not hard for them to guess why King Aled was relieved.

“How did you cunning bastards manage to sneak your way here without provoking Duke Ryder?” Aled laughed in return, glad to see that nothing could dampen the spirits of his old friend. Though he was curious, not all of the border castles were that far from the battle. If Duke Ryder had noticed that they tried to leave the castles they were guarding then it was likely that he would have attacked them before going to the main battlefield.

“His scouts may be good but they are not good enough to see us at night.” Cinar replied boastfully, ignoring the fact that it was Rhydian who had first suggested the idea. He was still proud that they had pulled it off.

“At night? How did you know that he was going to be coming?” The King asked, he had only told the other nobles under his direct command for the battle that morning. The three of them had left a couple of days before, when the positioning of the now scattered Fiverian army was being decided.

“And you think that we would not suspect anything when you put the three of us in the castles, away from all the action? Braydon sent a scout down south of course!” Cinar said that like it was obvious to send a scout south, missing that Braydon under Rhydian’s advice was the only one of the three to actually do it.

“Then I must be glad that I have competent allies at court. Did you have any plans other than meeting up with what remains of my forces?” Aled asked, hopeful that there would be some panacea to his problems, no matter how unlikely that it was.

“If you didn’t get out, we were going to retreat to Braydon’s lands. But I think that is not what you were asking. Though I do not think that that is a bad idea still.” Cinar made what Braydon thought might be a joke though he was more leaning towards thinking that it was sardonic. Though the King seemed to be more used to Cinar’s humour than he was, slightly chuckling at Cinar’s remarks.

“I do not think holding up in the east is a good long term strategy for fighting a rebellion or an invading army.” Aled was right, regardless of who had won the battle that they had left behind, they would still have to fight to control the country. A fake King and a real one were both threats to be taken seriously.

“And which do you think that we will be dealing with? Because if Casburland wins, you will likely have to deal with both.” Ethan took this moment to put an image that horrified them all into their minds. Even if Duke Ryder lost the battle, it was likely that he would be able to escape and return to his lands. And if they knew anything about the man who built the most powerful faction in the kingdom, it was that he did not make it to his position through chance. He would definitely have more than just one plan as a backup in case he failed to take them and Casburland’s forces out.

“So praying that Both Ryder and Marek fall on each other’s swords is not a viable strategy? There goes my suggestion. How about we try to recruit the neutral nobles to our side before news of who wins this battle reaches them?” Braydon made a more light hearted joke to try and clear the mood before putting forward his proposal. Though he mainly got confused faces as a response, the barons that had become an audience obviously had no clue why that would even be thought of. Everyone knew that the nonaligned nobles did not want to side with anybody, so why would they do it now?

“Before the news of the battle has reached them?” The King was quick to notice the most important part of Braydon’s suggestion, the same part that had caused the barons confusion, much to his dismay.

“Exactly, if we are the first ones to bring news of the battle, we will have a much easier time convincing them to side with us. Especially if the other two options are subjugation or a traitor. We can tell them the parts that we want them to know and in ways that we want to say it. Once they take up arms on our side, it would be too late to back down.” Braydon was impressed with himself for coming up with a strategy at all, let alone a somewhat decent one. Usually it was him implementing strategies that Nela or Rhydian came up with. This time it was his turn to take up that role in advising the King.

“And if it does not work?” Aled asked, though it was obvious that he liked the sound of the strategy that Braydon had proposed.

“Then we had better pray that Duke Burn is a better strategist than me.” Braydon said the uncomfortable truth. If they were unable to do anything, it would be up to Duke Burn to stand up to Duke Ryder. They all knew that it would be inviting in one wolf to deal with another. But if there was nothing else that they could do, they would have to ally with Duke Burn to take down Duke Ryder. What came later would come later.

“Then once we get a report from our scouts, we should make haste to the east.” The King did not comment on what Braydon said but no response was a very big response. The King acknowledged that he would have to align with Duke Burn if worst came to the worst.

As they were waiting for the scouts to return, they made a slow march to the south east to make sure that they were out of the way of whomever won the battle. And the scouts took several hours to return, only increasing the tension among them. The outcome of the battle would have a large impact on the chances of convincing people to join their side or not.

“Sire! Your majesty.” It was one of Braydon’s scouts that returned first, greeting Braydon before he realised who it was that he was standing before and greeting the King.

“You may speak, I am sure that his grace is as eager to hear the news as I am.” Braydon quickly commanded the man to say what he had seen.

“Yes, Sire. The battle was in its closing stages as I left, but it was clear that the victor was...