“How long until we move?” Braydon asked. The scouts had been giving constant reports since it was decided that they would tail Duke Ryder’s men and nothing out of the ordinary had been found. Rhydian had taken that as the go ahead that he needed to order the entire army move out. Though it had only been a day, they would not really have much more time to make a decision if they wanted to keep pace with the enemy.

“We move at midday, Sire. I am sure that you are able to look up.” Rhydian joked, he new that Braydon was always eager when it came to marching to battle. And he was usually disappointed at the lack of action that he got to see afterwards. Something that had become more frequent after he had become a lord in his own right.

“That was not what I meant, I mean that we have barely seen Cinar since yesterday. I am glad that he and Nela have been able to make up but do you not think that this is a bit excessive?” Braydon was almost exasperated when he thought of the problem that now faced them. Just a day before, they had the problem of Nela and her father not having spoken in person in years. Now they were having to pry them apart.

“Just be glad that his knights are competent enough to organise his men in his absence.” Rhydian said. So long as it did not cause a problem for his planning, he was not all that bothered if Cinar was not personally overseeing his own men. Many lords left such affairs to their subordinates.

“I would be fine with it if he were not one of the most influential men on our side.” Had it been any other situation, Braydon would not have even thought about trying to separate the two so soon. But a civil war was hardly a regular situation. They could not afford to be careless.

“Then make sure that he is here by the time we have to leave. You technically employ his daughter, can you not just send her back to the castle to sort out some affairs?” Rhydian knew that it was a stretch to use such an excuse but he was not about to spend a long time thinking of a better one.

“That would work better if I did not employ her to think up strategies for me.” Braydon knew that he was stalling, he did not want the dirty looks that he would get from both of the father-daughter pair for dragging Cinar away. In reality, he had just gone to Rhydian to complain about it. And he suspected that Rhydian had long since recognised as much.

“And a strategist has to be on the battlefield because?” Rhydian just looked up at Braydon.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go be the heartless bastard.” Giving up, Braydon turned and left. He wondered if he should have tried sending Gerald first before shutting that idea down immediately. He could imagine Gerald sticking his foot in his mouth as soon as he entered the room. At least more than he himself already would.

“Don’t expect me to be one for you then.” Rhydian shot back with a chuckle as he carried on with his own tasks.

*knock knock*

Braydon knocked on the door. Upon getting no response and hearing the conversation go on inside as if nothing had happened, he knocked again but went in any way. He could guess that they would not have responded no matter how many times he knocked.

“Glad to see that you two are getting on better than when I left you.” Braydon said, ignoring the look he got from Nela. He had guessed that she would. And he could imagine that as soon as he got Cinar out of the room, it would happen again.

“Haha…” His words immediately tuned Nela’s glare into an awkward laugh. Now that she looked back on it, she felt even more ridiculous than she had felt at the time.

“Has something happened?” Cinar asked, having a much thicker face than his daughter did. He had already gotten over his embarrassment from the day before, now acting like nothing had ever happened.

“You do realise that we are leaving today right?” Braydon asked, just to make sure. He knew that Cinar should have known since he was in the meeting about their plans. But just because Cinar knew about it, did not mean that Braydon had faith that it was at the front of the man’s mind.

“Yes, and?” Cinar asked.

“And Nela will not be coming with us.” Braydon almost felt like facepalming upon seeing the expression that Cinar was making. It was as if his face said ‘I know, so what?’.

“I realise this, why else do you think I am making the most of our time before I head out?” Cinar said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And Braydon would have been inclined to agree with him, had Cinar already been dressed in at least travelling attire if not his armour. Instead he was dressed as if he had no plans of going anywhere.

“Then you should be getting ready right now. We are leaving in less than two hours.” Braydon could feel a headache coming on. Usually Cinar and Nela were among the more intelligent people that he knew. The problem was that when it came to each other, that all flew out of the window. If it were not so frustrating, he would have found it incredibly impressive.

“I can prepare quickly. I do not have to put any extravagant dresses on.” Cinar retorted petulantly, the difference between someone of his age and how he was acting leading to Braydon cringing hard.

“You will need to if you do not want me dragging you to your men half dressed.” Braydon said in all seriousness before turning and leaving the room. He would really do as he had said if he had to.

“Perhaps you should start getting ready, Father.” Nela suggested. She knew that Braydon would really attempt what he had said, she had stayed at his castle long enough to know when he meant what he was saying.

“You too?” Cinar tried to appeal to his daughter’s emotions to little avail. The last thing that she wanted to see was her father being dragged along by Braydon. Especially if he was in a state of undress.