“Your Highness, we should soon be able to ensnare the rebels that stayed behind. If we were to go for a head to head battle, it is still likely that we would win given the numbers that have decided to return to deal with Earl Fiton.” One of her advisors gave his report on the state of the civil war. It was not surprising since she had already gotten such news a few days before from people she actually trusted but that did not mean that she would mention it to him.

“And what do you think that we should be doing?” Alima asked, not because she actually wanted his advice but because she wanted to know what his lord was thinking. If there was one thing that her late husband’s advisors were good for then it was getting to know what the influential lords thought about certain things. Or at least what they wanted to show her.

“With all due respect, Your Highness, I think it would be better to let the rebels deal with Earl Fiton before we move in to clean up the then dispersed rebels. As they are now, the rebel lords that are trying to retake their lands could turn around and join the battle when we least expect it.” The advisor stated. Not all that surprising since the lord that had paid him off held considerable amounts of land in and around where she wanted her armies to fight the rebel lords.

“And let them re-entrench themselves in their reclaimed castles?” It would merely move the battle further east and give them a more defensible position. How would you deal with that?” Alima asked. She was not about to shy away from criticising an idea that came from a lord that wanted to remove her from power as soon as the civil war was over.

“If we force them all back into their castles, they will be far less able to join together to pose a challenge to the rule of the Grand Duke. It is doubtful that they will leave their castles so readily once more knowing that there is at least one hungry Fiverian ready to take advantage of them.” The advisor was clearly less comfortable answering this question than the first. Either due to him not having a good answer prepared or knowing that his sponsor had never thought that deeply about it in the first place.

“A lord that they will not have to worry about anymore if we let them go unmolested. And you should know well that we have a deal with Earl Fiton that encompasses more than just our immediate conflict. You were quite vocal with your advice on that matter too. I highly doubt that he will uphold his end of the deal if we let him take the brunt of the rebel lords.” Alima knew that neither the advisor nor his patron cared much for the deal that she had brokered with Braydon since they got little out of it. But that was not the same for her. Much less the benefits of the deal, it would not gain her great repute to so obviously backstab a foreign lord in one of the first deals she had made with anybody outside of the country since rising to power.

“It was merely a suggestion to think about, Your Highness. Nothing more nothing less. I can say that there would be quite a few lords that would be opposed to more forceful approaches. After so long many of them have depleted their coffers.” A translation of that was there were a number of lords that were very stingy about using their own men to fight the battles even though they chose to take a side in the conflict. It was one thing if one lord wanted to take advantage of others doing the work to pretend to choose a side but if too many did then there was no hope of winning like that.

“And I would like to hear from the rest of my advisors before I come to a decision on that. Preferably by the end of today. Otherwise I will assume that they agree with me.” Alima did not want to wait around for their politicking since to at least 3 advisors and their patrons that was the goal for now. They wanted to delay and take the fight later.

“I will be sure to let them know of your concerns, Your Highness.” The advisor nodded with a slight sweat on his brow. He had realised over the course of the conversation that the Duchess Regent was not going to be waiting around when she saw an opportunity to end the civil war in her favour right in front of her. Not for anyone.

“You might be forcing some lords to start actively opposing you sooner than you would like. Especially the Marquesses and powerful Earls.” As the advisor left a tall man in resplendent armour entered her study. He was one of her husband’s knights and now the man she had chosen to lead her armies. Unlike the stories of powerful warrior queens she was definitely not cut out for the battlefield. Her domain was one of politics and administration and she knew as much.

“If I can end this farce of a civil war sooner than I had expected that will not matter.” Alima replied. She had not expected Braydon to be able to move as quickly as he did. But since he had, she was going to take full advantage of the slight panic that had set into the rebel lords.

“That is true but only if the right people come out with less casualties than the others.” It was a hard balancing act to make sure that the lords that genuinely supported her came out on top of the battles to come. They both knew it.

“And what do you think of Earl Fiton’s chances of keeping hold of his gains?” Alima asked curious of what one of the few knights loyal to her thought.

“If I were to guess he might lose a castle or two but somebody resourceful enough to take as much as he did will surely be able to keep a majority of the lands he took. It is obvious he knew the limits of what he could defend and pushed past it just enough to give him room to breathe.” Her knight had a fairly high opinion of Braydon.

“What makes you say that, Sir Sharek?” Alima had her own opinion on the matter but she knew that she had very little knowledge of how actual battles played out.

“From what you have said he aimed to gain control of the iron mines and his actions have been to secure the castles necessary for that as well as at least one population centre to give him a town in Shuluk to stay out of Fiverian control if it came to it. He has then also taken three extra castles that were not strictly necessary but definitely helped his position. At the very least he has shown more talent on the planning side of war than his father did.” Sir Sharek had faced Isaac Fiton on the field in the previous war between Fiveria and Shuluk. As much as he was good at leading armies and had good knights, he still ended up being pushed back, surrounded and eventually killed in battle. He could not see it playing out the same way with Braydon Fiton.

“We shall see.” Alima nodded, she had come to a similar conclusion but based on her negotiations with him. It was clear that he had a vision for his broader picture.