“If he ever tries to step foot in one of my holdings again, make sure Jett Blake is barred entry. Under no circumstances do I want to see him anywhere near my people.” Braydon issued orders to the castle guards. Though he was also speaking to Rhydian, he would make sure that everyone knew of his order. What the cretin had said to Nela had crossed a line. Even if he honestly believed what he said, imputing the reputation of a noble lady in such harsh terms was unacceptable; not that Braydon was making such an order due to her noble status.

“And I don’t care who’s backing he comes with.” Braydon added for good measure. He did not want to leave any loopholes for Jett to use at a later date. Once his orders were finished, the guards closed the castle gates. Jett had been sent packing immediately after what he had said. Nor did even someone like him have the gall to stay.

“You didn’t have to do that for me, it will only give you more trouble than you had before.” Nela said once Braydon had finished making orders. She had stayed to see Jett leave with her own eyes.

“I would have banned anyone who said such things in my castle from coming back, though.” Braydon shrugged off her thanks, it was not a particularly huge moral move to ban Jett from Cliforge.

“I didn’t mean that. I meant what you did back in the great hall.”

“What are you…”

*slap*

Jett had closed his eyes when he saw Nela was about to slap him, but he got hit with a much greater force than he had expected. He was sprawled on the floor, reeling from the hit. ‘Since when was that bitch so strong?’

“You are no longer welcome in my castle, or any of my lands from now on. Leave before I get Rhydian to make you.” Braydon stood over him clutching Nela’s wrist in the same position it had been before Jett closed his eyes.

“You…” Jett tried to speak but was cut off by Braydon.

“ ‘You’ what? Did you think that someone with such a good reputation would really hit you? Don’t give yourself so much credit.” Braydon spat his words out. He did not want to carry on speaking to this man.

“Oh, that. There is no need to for you to stoop to his level. He was acting up in my castle, I had every right to knock him to the floor. If you had slapped him, I am sure that Earl Blake would have used this to bring you down with his son.

“You are quick on your feet, I’ll give you that much. Even I was surprised at how you were able to stop her from slapping him.” Rhydian said as he returned from getting his gear ready.

“You aren’t going out now are you? It's already dark.” Braydon eyed Rhydian suspiciously, trying to force the smile caused by Rhydian’s complement down.

“Of course not, I shall be going in the morning. It is about time to rotate the men guarding the border. So I will be busy for the next few days, if you are going to go south make sure to take some guards with you.” Rhydian knew that Braydon would not want to sit still after what just happened.

“I will. Do you think I am stupid?” Braydon responded, looking to see if Gerald was around.

“And I do not mean just Gerald, you’ll need more than just him for going into one of the Duke’s lands. I don’t want a report of your capture and hostage to return to.” Rhydian decided that he should take his leave for the night, he had many things to do.

“He got you there. You would definitely have done just that.” Nela giggled as Braydon shrugged his shoulders. He was not going to confirm or deny her accusation. Though he was glad to see that Nela had gone back to a smiling face so soon after Jett had ‘taken his leave’.

Rhydian and the guard captain had ended up being used to ‘escort’ him to his carriage. Braydon had been surprised to learn that he had made the trip by himself, only taking his carriage driver. Though it would make sense, had he tried to take guards, Earl Blake would have stopped him doing something so foolhardy. ‘I can’t tell how he displays such cunning with a complete lack of intelligence and wisdom.’

“At least there is some silver lining to have come out of today’s events.” Braydon returned the conversation to their earlier topic. For once causing Nela to draw a blank, a rare sight indeed.

“What good could there possibly be? I don’t think venting your frustrations on his face quite counts.” She could not understand what Braydon was going on about, Earl Blake would likely try to go after him in any way possible after this.

“With how he has treated you and behaved in the presence of an outsider, there is no way that you can still be expected to marry him. As soon as today’s events are made known, he will likely be cast out of polite society for a long time. Long overdue, in my opinion.” When Braydon mentioned her engagement, it dawned on her. She could rightfully withdraw from the agreement after the attitude he had shown. It would be a different matter if it had been said behind closed doors, but it had been said in front of another noble. There was no way this could be hidden.

“It needs to be carefully planned though. If we went to the royal court and just proclaimed it, things could get dicey. We don’t know how the other factions would decide to react.” Nela was right, the conflict caused by Jett’s fiancée running away and being in the protection of another faction suited the bystanders quite well.

Neither the Earl’s or the King’s factions could clearly come out on top and they would clash over this issue, it was different if one side managed to win the feud though. The side that won would get a clear advantage and grow stronger. None of the other factions wanted to see it, they would rather the stalemate continued. Especially Duke Burn, he thrived on other’s conflict.

“Perhaps this is the time to temporarily make use of Earl Blake and Duke Oakley’s conflicts. If they can be played up, then it is unlikely that the other dukes will try to stand on Blake’s side.” Braydon floated the idea, though he knew it would be hard. None of the Dukes liked being the pawns for each other. Duke Burn only got away with such things because he was extremely good at it. There was no way it would be so easy to emulate.