Braydon had left Nela’s plans to her, it was impossible to start now anyway. He knew nothing of the state of the church in Shuluk, nor did any of his subordinates. It would become Nela’s new research project. They could not just choose any random clergyman and hope for the best, a specific kind of personality was needed. Studying the personalities of the Neutral nobles did not need to be done now, any correspondence would be mere greetings at this point. He did not need to know their life story to be polite or trade with his neighbours, and Braydon was sure that they would come to him first. He had something that everyone of them needed, iron.

There had been two shipments of iron from his mines since they started operation. While they had gone straight to the capital, a shipment of anything was new from Cliforge. It had immediately caught the attention of the nearby lords. And one thing that was as certain as death was the ability of the nobles to gossip and find out information. If not from Braydon, then from people in the capital. There was always a way for news to get out. The difference was that the shipments to the capital were for the king and only went through neutral lands. There was no way that it would be stolen so easily, he had made sure of that.

He had thought that it was only Rhydian that liked to start working as soon as possible but apparently he had some neighbours who shared that attitude. On the same day that Rhydian left for Mapjess, a messenger came from one of the nobles to his north.

“My liege sends his regards, Viscount Fiton.” The messenger bowed, acting completely standard for someone of his station. Braydon was happy to finally see this after having to deal with Baron Abel, who could be called anything but standard.

“Forgive me for not knowing but who is your liege? I have suddenly gained a host of new borders and am not yet familiar with them all.” Braydon asked, assuming that the man was one of his many neighbours. Whilst before he had bordered all of three baronies, now he bordered that many just to his south. He had a number of neighbours to the west and north of him, most of whom were just barons that he had not noted down. With the size of his new holdings, it would take a viscounty or at least a very notable baron to make them worth remembering. There were no such barons nearby after he took Mapjess, any large towns or cities were in the domains of viscounts and earls. Due to the mountain range, there were no marquessates in the east.

“Even if you had learnt them in such a short time, Sire, you might not have learnt of my liege. For you do not share a border with us. My lord is the Viscount of Dulkan, Arjan Ellis.” Learning that it was someone that he did not share a border with surprised Braydon. How was it that none of the neighbouring lords had sent messengers before someone from even further afield. The messenger did get it exactly right, Braydon had not heard of the Viscount of Dulkan. He knew of all the earls and above in Fiveria but there were a bit too many low ranking nobles to know of the rest.

“Forgive me for not knowing of your liege before this. What word does he have that he would send a messenger before anyone else has? It must be a pressing matter.” Braydon asked in curiosity, in the meantime he studied the map on his wall to find just where it was that Dulkan was located. It would not do him any good if he refused to learn this kind of thing, there would only be more offence caused than not.

“My liege has asked that you come to be witness to a deal that he is to sign.” Now that was not what he expected. Usually one requested a higher ranking noble to bear witness to this kind of thing, if you even got a witness at all, it was a practise that was falling out of favour. So long as it was a written agreement with the seal of the persons in question it would still be treated as legitimate.

“And why would he want me to be the guarantor to this treaty? I have no real reason to do so, nor is there any reason that he would want it to be me. Could he not just sign it without any witnesses?” He understood why he was appealing if a baron wanted to sign this kind of agreement, he was close with the king and had no real enemies or allies among the non-factional nobility. It would certainly grant the deal more legitimacy but he had no way of enforcing it if broken. Braydon was at most a bit more powerful than Viscount Ellis but not enough to guarantee a treaty.

“That is because of the resources under your control. Viscount Ellis would like the condition of breaking the treaty that you would not sell any iron or iron based products such as weapons or armour to the one who breaks the deal. Of course, you would not be asked to do this for free. There would be compensation that you gain free access to River Harmony from Dulkan.” The messenger pointed out the viscounty on the map, and indeed the river did run through his lands.

River Harmony descended from the Brimstones and ran through east Fiveria before turning south until it reached the coast. Harmony was one of two major rivers that ran through Fiveria, there were others but not ones that could be sailed. It was indeed a very tempting proposition, a number of the major cities in the east and south of Fiveria sat along the river. Including those under the control of both Dukes Burn and Ryder. It’s width meant that the river was only crossable in a few select locations, one of them was on the way to Wathamalin, most of the other crossings were in the south at the major trade cities. That left one exception, the bridge between Dulkan on the south bank and Redham on the north bank. ‘I have a feeling I know what this treaty is going to be about.’

“And let me guess, the other signatory is going to be Earl Kline.” Braydon was certain that this deal was going to be about that bridge the two lords shared. Earl Kline was a name he had heard of, most notable for being an example of a very weak Earl. While his land sat on the river and should be a rich one like most others along River Harmony, he was one of the few exceptions.

“That is indeed the case, Sire.” The messenger confirmed his assumption. Braydon took a while to think about it before deciding to consult Nela and Colin. They would probably be more able to tell him if this was a good thing to get involved in, or to ask for more benefits if he did.

“I would like to take some time to think about your proposal. Do you have a date that the signing will take place by?” It would not be good if he decided to take part but the deal had already been signed.

“The treaty will be signed seven days from now, and it will take a day to travel there. So, if you could give your response as soon as possible, my liege would appreciate it greatly.” The messenger responded before he bowed and took his leave.

“I think I was just presented with a giant gift, Steven.” Braydon said. If he could use the river to move his iron, there would be many more buyers for his goods. Of course there were political ramifications for everything, especially with Duke Burn and Duke Ryder’s factions down river. Even in the face of this, however, it could be the way to turn his resources into a fortune.