“How far do you reckon that he has gotten since he was last seen?” Braydon asked the scout as they rode ahead of his men. One of the first things that Braydon did when Rhydian told him about Viscount Sharpe was to go and find the scouts that had been responsible for finding him. Since he was not going to have any of his knights with him for this, he wanted to prove to himself that he was able to act without their assistance if need be but that did not mean that he would be reckless. He had to know as much about his enemy as possible if he did not want to be an embarrassment.

“Since he has a couple hundred men, he should not be moving that quickly. And from what was seen he was not exactly trying to move fast, to try and avoid detection. We should be able to pass him in an hour or so.” The scout was very sure of his deduction, and with good reason. He had been doing this for many years and had earned the trust of the King’s scout captain to take on important tasks.

“That should give us enough time to prepare an ambush.” Braydon mused, still unsure if an ambush would work in such flat terrain. He knew that he already had the numbers advantage over Viscount Sharpe but it was not by much. Even after he had returned, he had only gathered another hundred or so of his men to join his original just over 100. If he took any more, there would be no way of maintaining the security of his border and an orderly town in Mapjess. He was honestly impressed that Rhydian had managed to make it so that he could take half of his forces at a moment’s notice.

“I would not advise an ambush, Sire. From what I have seen, Viscount Sharpe is on high alert for any suspicious activity around him. I could only get so close in the first place because I was a single man. And with the terrain being so flat, even if there were a small forest nearby, he would be able to see an ambush coming a mile away.

“So it was as I suspected, a frontal battle is what it comes down to.” Braydon was confident that he could win such a battle against Viscount Sharpe but that did not mean that the latter was harmless. He still had almost as many men as Braydon. Even if they were not as well trained as his own, they would still be able to punch back.

“If we have the time I at least want to go and say hello to Cinar. He probably has the most stressful yet boring job of any of us at the minute.” Braydon also knew that Cinar would be glad to hear that Nela wanted to see him now. And if it came down to a battle to defend the Bridge, it would be one less thing on the man’s mind.

"Has there been any more news from Mapjess?” Cinar asked one of the guards. Since he had been told about the possible betrayal of Viscount Sharpe half of his attention had been behind him instead of on the enemy in front of him. And he knew very well that if Duke Ryder decided to attack that would only serve to hinder his defences.

“Not yet but the scouts should have returned to Mapjess a few hours ago. If help is going to arrive, it will still be another one or two hours yet.” The guard replied. And the answer did help to calm Cinar’s nerves a bit, even if he would have preferred help to arrive sooner than that. He did not want to be caught in such a besiegement again. Not after the last time. And especially not when he did not have city walls and months of food supply in the city.

“Come to me as soon as you see any sign of anybody. Friend or foe, I want to be told about it as soon as possible.” Cinar knew that Duke Ryder was smart enough to know that Viscount Sharpe might fail in some way. He was sure that the Duke would have some insurance in place in the event that help arrived before Viscount Sharpe. Either that or Viscount Sharpe was just a distraction.

“Sire! You said you wanted to be the first to know, well here is something to know about.” One of the other guards stood on lookout, who was slightly further away shouted over to Cinar, grabbing his attention before pointing down the road to Mapjess.

“It appears to be a scout or a messenger again.” Cinar muttered to himself, somewhat glad. If it was a scout or messenger, that meant that a decision had been made in Mapjess. And he knew that Rhydian was competent enough to realise how important it was to hold the bridge.

“Marquess Burgess.” The man dismounted and greeted Cinar as soon as he noticed that he was standing there.

“No need for the formality, I am guessing that you have come from Mapjess then?” Cinar was more than eager to know what was going on. He would be able to plan around the decisions that Rhydian had made, making his job a whole lot easier than it had been.

“Exactly, and help has already been dispatched. We have learnt of Viscount Sharpe’s movements and Viscount Fiton is already on his way here.” The scout gave the most important information first. Though Cinar had already assumed that Viscount Sharpe had decided to betray them rather than just head home. Such a drastic action meant that he had already decided to side with Duke Ryder quite some time before he decided to escape. It was just his incompetence that had exposed him early.

“I am sure that Braydon was more than willing to jump at such an opportunity. Is there anything else to report?” Cinar smiled. After spending several weeks with Braydon, he had gotten to know his temperament pretty well. And he knew very well that Braydon liked to be on the front lines, a feature Cinar presumed that he had inherited from his father and Rhydian alike.

“Sir Kelly has also decided to send a few thousand men to guard the river banks to the south, in case Duke Ryder finds a way to bypass Duke Burn’s ships, Earl Downs has accepted leadership of that operation.” When the scout finished, Cinar looked slightly surprised. He had been told about the discussions when the leader of the army was being decided, and he knew quite well the position that Earl Downs had taken on the matter.

“It would seem that Earl Downs is a much more honourable man than I had given him credit for.” Cinar wondered if Earl Downs would have a bright future if they came out on top at the end of the war. It seemed likely to him, at the very least.