“Where is my father?” As soon as they were in a private room, Nela immediately asked the question at the front of her mind. She may not have noticed the hints that Roan had been giving her, but she had definitely noticed it when she failed to see her father in the study with Braydon and the King. He was too important to be far away from the decisions being made at such a time, not without a reason.

“And where were you?” Braydon, instead, answered with the same question to her. That she had returned so quickly showed that Lani had met with her and she definitely had the time, so Braydon could not help but wonder why Nela had not gone to visit her father when she had the chance.

“Err…” Nela was stopped in her tracks, she knew that it was a reasonable response considering what she had done. Even more so when it looked like she did not want to see her father when he went to her, but now expected him to be there when she wanted to see him. And it was not like she hid it well that she had come back to see Cinar, she had literally scanned the room before even greeting anybody.

*sigh*

“Never mind that, he isn’t here at least.” Braydon could tell that Nela felt guilty about her actions. Causing her to be even more guilt ridden than she already was would not help the matter. He was sure that it would be better for her to talk it through with her father than with himself anyway. Braydon would be the first to admit that he was no expert on emotions or women, let alone both at the same time.

“How come? It’s not because of me is it?” Nela knew that it was unlikely but could not stop herself from asking it anyway. Considering how she had just brushed her father off, it would not be unreasonable to be brushed off in return. The only thing that made her think otherwise was that he should not have had any way of knowing that she would return when she did to avoid her.

“No, of course it is not because of you. Cinar didn’t even know that Lani had left to go find you. He isn’t even in Mapjess, you would not have found him regardless of when you arrived.” Braydon was genuinely baffled at how Nela could come to such a conclusion. She should know him the best of anyone. Cinar was not the kind of person to run away from things, not least when it came to his family. There was no way that he would have stood up to Earl Blakes pressure otherwise.

“Then where is he now?” Nela was relieved that she was not being avoided but having heard that he wasn't even in the town, she had to know where he was. She was unsure if she would get cold feet about seeing him again. And Nela did not want to do the same thing to her father twice in a row. Let alone how it would affect him, she knew that she would never forgive herself.

“If you are planning on going to meet him now, I would advise against it. He is currently commanding our defence of the Harmony. If you get caught up in an unexpected battle, I do not think that I nor he would be able to forgive ourselves. Especially if something were to happen to you.” Although they were not expecting any battles in the immediate future, Braydon wanted to be as careful as possible. If he had gotten what he wanted, Cinar would not even be the one in charge of that. The problem was that nobody had any reason to stand against Cinar commanding the defence of the Harmony, at least not ones that they could say.

“But, surely I can…”

“I will personally stop you if I have to.” Braydon did not let Nela even try to think of a reason to let her go see her father. With Duke Ryder’s forces getting closer by the day and the uphill battle that would be inevitable, he did not want her anywhere near the front. She was a great strategist, but that did not mean that she could do what she wanted.

“Fine.” She could somewhat understand his concern, but that did not mean that Nela was happy about his decision, and the scowl on her face showed as much. Nela also understood that if he had the choice, her father would have made the same decision as Braydon had. One of the main problems she had was that such a decision showed what her own actions had caused. Because of her own choices, she would not get to meet with her father. And she did not know if she would get that chance before the civil war was over.

War was a fickle thing, and it was more likely that they would lose than win. And it was this knowledge that scared her the most, it was not likely that she would ever get to see her father if they lost. He was much too popular amongst the nobility and had a high enough rank that many might flock to his banner if he were to start a second civil war in the event that Duke Ryder won. Even if he wanted to, Duke Ryder would not be able to kill all of his opponents if he wanted to rule an entire Kingdom. There would not be enough people to replace them.

“I will see you tomorrow, I am sure that there will be more things to discuss.” Braydon chose this moment for a tactical retreat. He could tell that Nela was very upset, and it was due in large part to him not allowing her to go to her father. Trying to talk to her any further might just lead to her getting even more angry at him, which was not something that he wanted. He had seen plenty enough of what she could do when she was mildly annoyed, Braydon did not want to find out what she would do if she was truly angry.

“Make sure to keep an eye on her.” As he left the room, Braydon instructed Roan. He would have preferred to ask Rhydian, but he was even more busy than Braydon himself. And considering the choice would be left between Roan and Gerald, Braydon did not really have a hard choice there. He was not even sure if Gerald would understand both meanings of what he had asked. He knew that Gerald would at least try to keep her from being upset but that would probably be about it.

“I will, Sire.” Roan took a moment to respond, showing that he had actually thought about what he was being asked, putting Braydon more at ease. Given how upset she was, Braydon was not sure if Nela would try to just go to see her father on her own. It was not like he could be by her side at all moments of the day.