“Your Highness, big news from Shuluk.” Was not the sentence Aled expected to hear from his attendant. The civil war there had basically been in a year long stalemate and did not look to be changing any time soon.

“Did one of them finally get bored?” Aled asked, not too interested in who ended up winning the conflict. He would just have to deal with whomever won. It was not like any of the lords of Shuluk particularly liked him.

“Rather than one of them getting bored, it would seem that one of our own stuck his fingers into the pie.” The attendant tried to put it slightly more delicately than it actually was.

“One of our own? Duke Burn would not try to rock the boat so soon. It would take too much of his naval power out of the Harmony for him to feel safe doing it too. But if it is not him, then it could only be… Has Earl Braydon still not replied to my letter?” Aled asked as it dawned on him who the attendant was talking about.

“We have yet to receive any correspondence from Cliforge, Your Highness. These reports come from our people in Narabun. If rumours are to be believed, then he is working hand in glove with the Duchess Regent. It is likely somewhat less formal than such rumours would suggest, however.” The attendant finished his report and took a small step back to wait for the King’s commands.

“The brave bastard! What does he think will happen if this gets out of hand?!” Rather than rage, Aled’s first reaction was astonishment. He had honestly not thought that someone with Braydon’s power would even dare to attempt such an undertaking even if the opportunity was presented to them on a silver platter. The risks were just too great. His next thoughts were what would happen if Braydon got himself in over his head. The Kingdom would be obligated to give a certain level of assistance if for nothing but to secure their own eastern border. Cliforge castle was just too much of an asset to be allowed into the hands of the Shuluks.

“With all due respect, Your Highness, he is likely banking on that as an out should his plans unravel.” The attendant pointed out. It would not be the first time that Braydon or those around him had employed some trick or other to get what they wanted. Nobody had any proof that Braydon did anything untoward to the former Barons of Kirton but nobody believed that it was above board either.

“True, he may not be a genius but that man is nothing if not adventurous.” Aled granted that quite easily. Braydon had shown himself more than up to taking part in battles and more than willing to employ other methods to getting what he wanted when he needed to. But that still did not answer the question of what he was going to do about the matter.

“Do we know anything about what the two of them agreed on when he visited Narabun?” Aled asked the attendant. He would rather not work based on rumours but he doubted that Alima was so lax about things to the point that he would be able to know everything that was going on in Shuluk. He had heard more than a few whisperings that she was not too appreciated by the baby Grand Duke’s supporters.

“It appears that Lady Shuluk holds Earl Braydon in rather high regard. She employed some of the most stringent security to ensure that the contents of their meeting would not be leaked. We even know that she personally greeted him at the Narabun dockside on his arrival.” The attendant clearly had more to say on the matter from what Aled could see on his face but had paused to let the information sink in.

“It sounds as if they have had more than a few prior contacts before now. We know that he has been selling her iron since his mine came into operation but this sounds like more than that. It would not surprise me if he had even gone to meet her once before; get somebody to look into that.” This was not the most pressing part of the matter but it would not do for them to leave that as it was. If he was going to know how to act about Braydon and Alima’s relationship, he had to know all about their interactions.

“Noted, Your Highness. Based on the more conservative rumours, Lady Shuluk has given Earl Braydon the go ahead to take land in the west of the country for some unknown concession on his part. There are some other things of lesser import about allowing merchants from Narabun to trade in Fiveria based on the power you granted him. It is unclear how much land Earl Braydon was given the go ahead to take but it can be assumed to at least be equivalent in size to a marquisate.” The attendant finished the rest of the report on Shuluk rumour mongering in almost one breath.

“A marquisate?!” The King took a sharp breath when he heard that one. Shuluk did not have any duchies due to the ruling family technically being a ducal house themselves even if they were a grand duchy, hence the use of the lesser title. But for all intents and purposes a marquisate was a duchy.

“It is assumed so, Your Highness. Based on the reports that have been flooding Narabun in the past week, it can be assumed that the territory agreed upon has largely been captured as well. There are also signs that both of the warring factions are making large movements in response to the rapid capture of a large swathe of land.” The attendant finished once again.

“But a marquisate, with a little over a thousand men? How in the world does he even expect to defend that for even a day once the rebels turn around? But the rebels have to defend against the Grand Duke’s armies. Even still, there must be enough lords that abandoned everything to retake their castles.” Aled failed to see how Braydon could take so many men on whilst being stretched so thin. It was one thing if he was able to move around a lot but castle walls could not exactly out run an army.

“Never mind all of that, what if the Marquess of Serchi attacked from the north… Right, the Marquess of Serchi! That bastard would sell his first born son if it brought him a few extra denars.” Aled carried on speaking to himself as he tried to figure out what would happen next.