“Is this news reliable?” Braydon asked, he could not help it. It was so far out of left field that he did not even think it a possibility. Even though he knew that the King would not have told him had he not been sure that it was true, he had to check.

“It is as good as true even if it is not. It is what people will believe even if we think differently.” Aled had a point, if enough people acted like something was true then there was little difference even if they knew that it wasn’t. And they had no evidence to say that what had happened had not happened the way they were told.

“So Duke Burn has really gone and attacked Earl Blake. What has possessed him to do that? Even if Blake decided to side with Duke Ryder, he should have waited until he had made it back to his own land before thinking about what moves he could make.” Ethan also could not fathom why Duke Burn would decide to do that. Even if he had the men necessary to attack Earl Blake in a siege, that did not mean that it was a smart thing to do when Duke Ryder stood between him and getting back to his territory.

“Well, at least we will get to see Duke Burn’s capabilities with this.” Aled commented, even if he took issue with the strategic foresight of Duke Burn’s actions, he would not underestimate him. Duke Burn had not been involved in any major conflicts with the other Duke or in wars with other nations since he inherited his position. Instead of the martial path, he had chosen one of espionage and negotiation.

But this lack of military action from the duke belied his strength. Even if he preferred not to use it, he still had one of the largest, and likely strongest, armies in Fiveria. Just words and spies alone would never convince people to join his faction. And now he was putting that strength to the test, in a stunningly open fashion for the man.

“I still do not see what he stands to truly gain from this. Even if he wins a crushing victory, I think it would have been better to go home and gather more men before choosing to make battle.” Braydon proclaimed, followed by a long sigh. If Duke Ryder was not in such a dominating position, he would have loved to see Duke Burn battle it out with Earl Blake. In the end they were both going to be his enemies at some point. But This was just making Duke Ryder’s chances of conquering the country easier, and that was definitely not something that would turn out well for him.

“Well, other than that, there has been more news come in. We finally know what Duke Ryder has been doing for the past near two weeks.” Aled continued on with sharing the reports that he had gotten from his spies and scouts. After just being told about the ‘great’ news from the north east, nobody was looking forward to the news from the north. At best it would not affect them, at worst the situation would have gotten more pressing.

“Has he finally finished cleaning up the remnants of Duke Oakley's faction?” Ethan asked, since they had gotten no real news from the north, they had presumed that Duke Ryder was making sure that there was nobody in the north that could try to unify the nobles that had been a part of the MIA Duke Oakley’s faction. Even if a significant portion of his allies had joined him in the war with Casburland, there were a number that had stayed behind. Not to mention that not even he truly brought all of his men to the border with him. While not the most pressing matter, it would make sense that Duke Ryder did not want another powerful figure in the north just after one was taken down.

“Well, you could put it that way but I would not describe it quite like that…” When the King trailed off his sentence, both Braydon and Ethan knew that they were not going to like what was about to be said.

“What has he done this time?” Braydon had to ask, he knew that Aled was going to say anyway but a morbid curiosity got the better of him. When he had been in the meetings preceding the battle on the border, he had noticed something about Duke Oakley’s allies. Or more specifically, noticed a lack of something. A something in the shape of a man named George Fiton.

At the time he had assumed that his brother was just one of the people that had not taken part and that would be the end of it. Now he wished that his brother had taken part and died on the battlefield. If this was going where he thought it was going then he did not like it at all.

“Well, it seems that Duke Ryder has taken to adding those who can show sufficient sincerity to his faction.” As the King said it, Ethan drew in a deep breath. As if having the largest army of any faction was not enough, Duke Ryder was taking the scraps of what was left from Duke Oakley's faction

“Do we know who?” This was Braydon’s biggest concern. He knew full well how capable his brothers were, them being a part of Duke Ryder’s faction would be his biggest nightmare. George alone might have been fine but Sam too? Even if Braydon hated their guts, he knew that he was no match for the both of them if they were on even footing. Let alone if they were to become Duke Ryder’s allies.

“There have been a number of barons that have rolled over for him, but we were lucky that most of the earls following Duke Oakley went north with him. Not much remains of anyone who did. Though there were a few notable exceptions. In total three earls have joined the Duke, the strongest of them being Earl Fiton.” As he said it, Aled looked to Braydon only to see him visibly cringe. He knew that Braydon would not like to hear it but there was no point in hiding it. It was going to reach Braydon’s ears eventually.

*sigh*

“Just carry on, there is no point dwelling on what my brothers are going to do now. I already know exactly what they are going to try, it is just how they will achieve it.” Braydon said, after an exhaustive sigh. He knew that he would likely come to blows with his brothers at some point, George was not the kind to leave him be, nor was Braydon the kind that would leave them alone either. He had just hoped that he would be in a more advantageous position when it happened.