“A knight of Braydon’s is always a welcome friend in Dulkan. Though I presume that you have been sent means that things are complicated in the north?” Viscount Ellis welcomed Rhydian, he remembered him from Braydon’s trip to his territory as an arbiter in his dispute. And knowing that a knight had been sent as a messenger, he knew that the matter Rhydian was in Dulkan for was important.

“Quite so, I am afraid, Sire.” Rhydian still made sure to uphold the proper respect to Viscount Ellis even though he could roughly be counted as a friend of Braydon. His position demanded it, and the mission that he had was too important to fail over something petty.

“So Duke Oakley was as full of hot air as we thought. So are you here on behalf of Viscount Braydon or the King?” Viscount Ellis scoffed, he was among those offended by Duke Oakley’s moves in court. And knowing that it had failed, he thought it was likely that the king was now trying to gather a proper army to fight instead of whatever the Duke had done.

“This is where things get complicated, it was not that the Duke was completely full of hot air, though things did not go anywhere nearly as well as he had expected either. It was due to Duke Ryder that we are in our current position. The civil war is upon us. Hence I am here on behalf of both.” Upon being informed of the situation by Rhydian, Viscount Ellis’ smile dropped from his face. He knew that even if he was neutral in the conflict, that would not spare himself or any of the other eastern nobles. But that was not what caused his face to drop.

“He started a civil war in the middle of a conflict with Casburland?!” He was incensed. Viscount Ellis, for all of his unorthodox escapades, was deeply traditional in his views on Fiveria’s neighbours, hatred of Casburland and all. And Duke Ryder had just stepped on that taboo.

“Unfortunately, it’s true. And Duke Oakley’s faction has all but been destroyed, his condition and the condition of everyone who was in the centre of our army is unknown. Had it not been for Duke Burn getting information early, both his and the royal faction would likely have faced a similar fate.” Rhydian told Viscount Ellis more about what had happened on the battlefield but he did not seem to care for the position that the several factions had ended up in so much as the overall outcome.

“And did we manage to drive out the northern bastards?” This was his chief concern. Even if the civil war would mean hard times ahead, he would not care who sat on the throne at the end so long as it meant not being subjugated by Casburland.

“Well they were but not for losing the battle…” Rhydian sighed, this was where being selective with how much was said would come into play.

“Oh? And how were they driven off if not for losing the battle? Those northern raiders were never so merciful.” Viscount Ellis was going along with it so far but until Rhydian could get him fully on side, he had to be careful.

“King Marek himself fell in battle, and we believe it was due to the scheming of his own nobles.” As soon as he said it, Rhydian saw Viscount Ellis’ eyes light up in joy before focusing again. He clearly had more questions to ask before he was satisfied.

“How do you figure that out? It is not easy to see simple things in the heat of battle, let alone hidden schemes among ‘allies’.” The true battle for Rhydian was here, he would need to convince Viscount Ellis that Duke Ryder did not deserve the credit for the death of Marek Casburland.

“By that point, both of the Fiverian flanks had left the field. Duke Ryder had marched his army to crush us in between himself and the enemy, but had not accounted for his plan getting leaked beforehand. He and Casburland crushed the remainder of the centre between themselves, as they started fighting each other. But there was something odd with Casburland’s formation by that point.” Rhydian was glad that as more scouts had returned, they were able to give more details about what had happened.

“And what might that have been?” Viscount Ellis gave nothing away as Rhydian gave his account of the battle, much to Rhydian’s chagrin.

“Whilst our army had been fighting them, several units of Casburlandian infantry had moved behind Marek’s personal cavalry and boxed it in. Once Duke Oakley’s men were dealt with, their front line started moving to the flanks as King Marek and his retainers were pushed to the front without being allowed to retreat. He was effectively killed by his own subjects.” Once Rhydian finished talking, he waited for Viscount Ellis to respond. And waiting took a while, it was obvious that the viscount was trying to pick holes in what he heard in his mind.

“And what is it that your lord wishes to ask of me?” Viscount Ellis referred to Braydon as ‘your lord’ to put distance between them in factional matters. Rhydian could tell that he was making it clear that he did not consider himself a part of the royal faction and never would, by the fact that he did not even consider adding the King to his question. But that he was even asking this showed that he knew what Rhydian was there for, and was not against it. And Rhydian was smart enough to at least know that much.

“My liege wishes to ask for your assistance in putting down a traitor to our country and the man who shames our traditions and history.” Rhydian made sure that he did not mention any kind of loyalty to the royalty or the King himself in the request, knowing what Viscount Ellis had been hinting at in his question. Tradition and history was just a fancy way of saying ‘fighting Casburland’ and the small chuckle that Viscount Ellis let out showed that he knew it.

“Then where are we gathering? I presume that it will not be the royal capital?” When he got confirmation, Rhydian smiled. The hard part was over.

“Of course not, even if we wanted too we likely would not be able to get near the capital. That is if Duke Ryder has any rationality left. We are gathering in Kirton, my liege has the honour of hosting the lords of the realm.” While it was technically true, it was really because Braydon was the only ally of the king in eastern Fiveria. There was not really anywhere to go besides Wathamalin, only that it was a bit too close to the capital and on the wrong side of the River Harmony to be gathering troops in relative safety. Of course, Rhydian wouldn’t mention that.