“Are you sure that there was a point to today?” Gerald asked Braydon as they made their way back through the Cliforge Pass towards the castle at the other side. He had thought that they would have finished simple greetings with the 5 village elders hours earlier than they had. It was just simple greetings for most of them, how could that take so long?

“Establishing good relationships with my villages? Naming most of them? You can have alcohol when we get back?” Braydon mentioned the actual reasons but got increasingly soulless looks from his knight in return. Until he mentioned booze that was.

“No take backs.” Gerald almost jumped on Braydon when he heard the mention of alcohol. Over the past few days Braydon and Nela had somehow managed to find somewhere to hide the alcohol that took him more than an afternoon to find. To the point that he still hadn’t found it.

“Even if you knew where we placed the stocks, you would not have the guts to retrieve any.” Braydon shook his head with a laugh. They had been running out of places to hide alcohol that Gerald hadn’t found out about. And they were not about to give up that pastime yet. That was when Colin of all people suggested hiding it in Nela’s bedchambers. Gerald would have to be suicidal to enter her chambers without permission. In fact he hadn’t even thought of the possibility yet.

“Is that a challenge?” when he heard that, Gerald’s fighting spirit was awakened.

“Haha.”

“Ah, Nela, just the perfect person. I said that Gerald could have some alcohol after our outing today.” Almost as soon as they entered the keep, they ran into Nela. Upon hearing Braydon’s words and seeing his grin, she mirrored his expression before turning to look at the suddenly apprehensive Gerald.

“Come along then. You know where it is anyway. Though I would like a warning if I am to be disturbed.” No sooner than having looked at Gerald, Nela turned back the way she had come from as Braydon and Gerald followed her.

“Why do I feel like I no longer want to know what you have done with the alcohol?” Gerald uttered words that under any other circumstance would be impossible to hear him say. But currently, his danger senses were going haywire. Braydon walking just ahead of him could almost hear his brain working overtime to come up with an excuse to slip away.

“Don’t be a pansy. We are almost there.” Braydon commented as they came to a stop outside of Nela’s chamber door.

“Just one moment.” Nela said with a perfect smile as she opened her door and walked in, much to the confusion of the apprehensive knight.

“Why…” He didn't need to finish his sentence before it hit him.

“Here you go. This is all you are getting today.” Nela left her chamber right on queue with a bottle of rum in hand and a ruthless smile on her face.

“All of it is…” Gerald almost didn’t recognise the bottle that now lay in his grasp as he realised why he had been having trouble finding where they had hidden the castle’s supply of alcohol.

“If you ever enter my chambers without permission, you will be getting you alcohol where the sun doesn’t shine.” Nela threatened with a smiling tone and a deadly serious face. And with that Gerald slumped and looked like he had lost his soul for the second time that day. There was no way that he was going to be drinking without Nela or Braydon’s expressed consent now. Not if he valued his life.

“Well, go on, go enjoy yourself.” Braydon rubbed in the salt, not even trying to hide his smirk.

*siiiiiigh*

And with that, Gerald excused himself to go and drink away his sorrows about not being able to drink away his sorrows.

“How long do you think it will take him to realise that we actually just put the alcohol back in the kitchens?” Nela asked as soon as Gerald was gone.

“I’d give it a week.” Braydon replied. Both of them were more than pleased that their little prank had gone so well. He didn’t know about Nela but he was having a hard time trying to hold in his laughter.

“Want to have a drink to our success in ridding his alcoholism?” She recognised the hypocrisy in her words but it was too funny to miss doing so. It would be even funnier if Gerald saw them retrieving it but she wanted to hang this one over his head for a bit longer yet.

“Oh? But all of the alcohol is hidden in your chambers. You mean to propose we enter your personal quarters and start drinking together? I never knew that you were so forward.” Braydon decided to play stupid, they both knew that they had only put one bottle in her chambers for the sake of ribbing Gerald.

“If I wanted to get you drunk and in my bedchambers, I would not be so crass about it. Try just one of the two first.” Nela shut him down but not without a little comment of her own.

“I choose the second one.” Braydon replied in a split second as they both started making their way to the kitchens to some of the alcohol they had hidden from Gerald.

“Maybe at a later date. Maybe.” Nela just gave him a sideways look. He would have to try harder than that.

“Out of 10?” Braydon asked.

“I would give it a 6. Could do better.” Nela responded. ‘Ok, maybe it was a 7.’ Not that she would admit that to him.