“I see that you will need not be dragged naked through the streets for you to join us.” The King greeted Cinar as he entered the tent. Since they were going to be leaving imminently, the various lords had already left the walls of Mapjess and had rejoined their men, awaiting the call to move. Cinar was one of the last to leave.

“That was not what was threatened.” Cinar retorted whilst giving a small glare in Braydon’s direction. For his part, Braydon was looking to the side trying to appear as innocent as possible. The appearance of innocence, however, had not convinced anyone there. They all knew that Braydon would have found such antics greatly enjoyable, they way that he had recounted his ‘motivation’ for Cinar to get a move on had assured everyone of that.

“Are you sure that you did not need more time?” Ethan asked, almost snickering to himself. Over the past several weeks there had not been much to entertain himself with. He was not about to let something like this go. Especially since, in the coming days, they would have to be far more serious. Tailing an enemy much stronger than themselves was not a laughing matter, and they all knew that this was going to be the last joviality that they would get until they won or didn’t.

“No matter how much time I need, I do not think that you would have granted that.” Another look in Braydon’s direction as he said that.

“Enough with that, we are just waiting on the final confirmations that everything is in place before we leave. Please make sure that you do not leave anything of vital importance behind, we will not be coming back to pick it up.” The King decided to stop things before they got out of hand. He could tell that the clowns that he called his inner circle would continue until they had to move otherwise. ‘Sometimes I wonder how all of my allies turn out to be jesters.’ The King could not help but wonder to himself. Not that he would want any of the other nobles to be part of his inner circle. Better a jester than someone who would stab him in the back.

“Well, I do not think that I have left any of my dresses or accessories. I think I am ready to move.” Cinar joked, they all knew that he was not the kind of noble to be caught up with the latest trends. Let alone that, he found it quite unsightly when some of the other lords did, having called one or two of the particularly extreme ones ‘Milady’ before. It had gotten him no end of complaints from the King about the whining from those self same lords.

“Do not worry, I am sure that your daughter will keep anything that you left behind safe.” Ethan could not help but add something, gaining a small look from the King who was hoping that the joking would stop so that they could actually get things done.

“Well back on the road again.” Braydon commented as he rode on his horse. He was currently riding with his men instead of with most of the other lords, something that he wished to continue for the majority of the journey.

“So when do I get to have a proper fight?” Gerald asked, himself having been brought along for the fun. Since the army was moving out, there was no need for him to help manage public order in Mapjess. Roan had been left behind to manage things along with Nela, the pair of them being more than enough to handle any minor issues.

“Hopefully not in the next few days if you want to keep your head at the end of that ‘proper fight’.” Braydon understood where Gerald was coming from, his last battle with Viscount Sharpe had been as underwhelming as it had been easy. While he was always glad for a win with minimal losses, there was no replacement for a good battle in his mind. And Gerald was one of those few that would agree with him.

“I have never lost it in one before now.” Gerald said with great confidence, though Braydon could tell that even he did not want to actually fight a battle he had no chance of winning. They were both battle enthusiasts but that did not mean that they had grown tired of life just yet.

“There have been a few close calls.” Braydon poked at Gerald. As many times as Gerald had helped him out of a pinch on the field, Braydon had done the same for Gerald. It was one of the reasons that Rhydian paired them up so often when he trained them. On their own they acted as if they had a death wish in battle, but somehow when together they managed to keep each other alive.

“So what are our odds?” Gerald pivoted the conversation. Braydon took a few moments before realising that he was talking about the war itself. It was not something that Gerald talked about often. Gerald was much happier to be fighting than looking at the overall directive so it was a rare occurrence for him to choose to talk about other aspects of war.

“To be honest, I would say that Duke Ryder still has the best shot. But I am still uncertain. If we manage to take him down, in all likelihood, we still face Duke Burn. And there is no way of telling who comes out looking better in that situation.” Braydon’s greatest worry was that they worked together with Duke Burn to take Duke Ryder down a peg, but end up worse for wear than the former. Especially now that Duke Burn had the help of the Twin Duchies.

“Is there any chance that something crops up to take away the attention of the outsiders?” Gerald asked a question that Braydon had not thought of, and one that he definitely would not have expected to come from Gerald of all people. But it was definitely something that was worth considering.

“I honestly have no clue, I barely know anything about the situation over there beyond the most superficial.” Braydon had spent more time paying attention to domestic issues or their more significant neighbours. But it seemed to him as if the world was conspiring to bring him matters from out of left field. First there were the Serheshi visitors and then there were the Twin Dukes jumping into the fray. If there were two neighbouring countries that Braydon did not expect to get involved in Fiverian affairs, it was the Republic of Serhesh and the Twin Duchies of Rotleach and Tetland.

“You might not but doesn’t the King have spies over there?” Gerald said as if it were obvious and to be fair it was. They knew that the Dukes were getting involved because of said spies in the first place.