Roan had been wondering why he had been invited to take part in this meeting and then promptly ignored whilst all the decisions were being made. Why was he even allowed to be hearing how the territory would be run when he was not even a knight of Viscount Fiton? The invitation to become his knight made everything clear. He was being recruited, but that confused him more.

“You know I am still a knight of Baron Abel, right?” An oath of allegiance was not to be taken lightly. He could not just recant it because the Baron was no longer in control of his lands. If anything, that would be even more dishonourable.

“I must have failed to mention it, Baron Abel was ambushed on the road. He did not enter Wathamalin, and my scouts informed me that there was a burnt out carriage on the road there, burnt corpse and all. I can only presume the worst. Word has already been sent to the king.” That he had informed the king told Roan that there was measures being taken to ensure that there would be no censure for forcefully taking the land of the three Barons, and that he could not be blamed for any of their demises.

“And you expect me to buy that?” They both knew that, if he had any intelligence, there was no way he would believe that was what had happened. And, as a matter of fact, he did not believe it. Not that that mattered any in this situation.

“Believe what you want, Sir Harvey. Just know that this is how it will be remembered.” He was never going to admit to foul play, and Roan was smart enough not to call him out in his own territory. Word had been sent to the king as soon as the ‘guards’ he had sent with Baron Abel had returned, it just so happened that the Baron’s will had been sent at the same time. It was serendipitous that only one messenger would be required to send both letters, at least that is what Roan imagined the response would be should he ask.

“And now that my liege is dead, you want to recruit me? After what happened not a week ago.” Roan was not sure what to feel at this. Was he supposed to be frustrated or find the whole thing absurd?

“Exactly.”

“I have to say, you have some insane confidence right there.” ‘How can this man stand here and say all that with a straight face?’ Roan almost felt like laughing. The noble in front of him had practically admitted to arranging the death of his liege and still wanted to recruit him.

Roan took this chance to see the expressions of everyone else in the room. The butler was evidently shocked by this, not surprising considering he had spent as much time with his new lord as Roan had. Of the other two knights in the room, the younger one was nodding along with a serious face, obviously in complete lockstep with his liege. The other was completely expressionless, Roan was unable to tell if the man had been expecting this or simply did not care. The only person amongst his interlocutor’s posse who had a normal expression was his attendant who had a deeply resigned face, clearly having given up on commenting about his boss’s shamelessness.

“Thank you.” His response was a sincere thanks. Roan wondered where this man had been trained to show such composure. Little did he know that several months living with a certain Lady Burgess was all that it had taken. Afterwards, there was once again silence, obviously waiting for a response to the offer that had just been made.

“You know what, I don’t really have anywhere to go. Why not?” Roan laughed, thinking that he might just be as insane for accepting the offer as his counterpart was for making it.

“How did I do, Steven?” Braydon asked as the former took off his armour. It was going to be a long few days so he wanted to get some sleep in. Whilst what was going to happen had been decided, that was the easy part. The actual work came in making it come about and dealing with any unforeseen mishaps along the way.

“If I must say, my impression was that Lady Nela’s influence could definitely be seen.” That was Steven trying to be diplomatic. Braydon knew Steven wanted to say what had happened was absurd, in both the result and the route taken to get there.

“But I did not give him a particularly bad deal.” Braydon said in mock offence.

“However, you seem to have taken up her penchant for the absurd.” He could not disagree with that, Nela had definitely rubbed off on him. Not that he wasn't going to challenge a different point.

“But I don’t pick on people that much.” Braydon tried once again to ‘defend his honour’, but Steven would not let him have his way.

“Try saying that in front of Gerald. I believe he still has just over three weeks of no alcohol to go.” That caused a smirk to form. Braydon still found it hilarious. When Gerald had found out about this, everyone in the castle heard a howl of despair. Mireille had even deigned to comment. ‘Impressive.’ This had caused both Braydon and Nela, who were with her at the time, great hilarity.

“That was well deserved. Plus I did not make that decision on my own, I took advice from good council.”

“The very Lady Nela in question.” Steven realised that he had gone too deep in trying to make Braydon see the light. ‘Since when did I take up trying to counter his shamelessness again?’

“Exactly.”

“...” Steven decided to quit while he was ahead. There would be no winning this argument, not that he cared to anyway. Just carrying on would make Braydon as happy as winning the argument. There was really no point of dragging it further when the outcome would be the same either way.

Braydon smiled when he saw that Steven had gone silent. It was another victory for him. By now Steven had finished removing his armour and dressing him in his night clothes. Braydon knew that he would not be getting any more fun out of Steven for the night and so decided it was time to go to sleep. Tomorrow would be a lot of walking around and overseeing the formation of his army, his legs already hurt just thinking of it.