“Why are there so many people?” Braydon had to ask. He knew that winning a civil war was something worthy of celebration, but most of the peasantry and merchants were not involved at all. While it may have been a big thing for the nobility, he did not expect to see half of the continent’s merchants around as well.
“Newly empowered King with few connections and even fewer allies. Take a guess.” Nela had been back out in force over the past few days of travel. Without Mireille to keep herself entertained, she had set her sights on Braydon and Gerald. And Gerald had decided that riding outside of the carriage would be better for his health.
“I can guess what they are thinking but I was more expecting nobles to try and curry favour than merchants. There are only so many merchants that the King is going to have a use for, and I doubt that an unplanned trip to Boshil was not expensive for these guys.” Braydon could only roll his eyes. He may not have learnt much in his time as lord of Cliforge but he knew enough about merchants to know what they were thinking most of the time.
“Good job that they have a city full of customers then, it is almost as if most of Fiveria’s nobility is going to be in the city at the same time. That includes you too.” It was Rhydian’s turn to take a shot. Braydon was not sure if his intelligence was being challenged or he had just been called the next best option. He had a feeling that it was both.
“And I am sure that you will have to turn many of them away for me. Just because the King is too busy to deal with them, does not mean that I am free.” Braydon could guess that a number of people would approach him as one of the people that was closer to the King. But it was not like his territory was all that great for trade. Not with a civil war in Shuluk. Not when they technically had a trade embargo in place. If anything they would try to get him to arrange a meeting with somebody more financially attractive.
“You will have to meet with at least a few of them you know.” Nela knew that Braydon would rather not meet with any of them if he did not have too. But looking out of the carriage as they approached closer to the city gates, the queue of merchants looking for entry to the city was a long one. She did not imagine that the scene at the other gates would be any different.
“They have to get into the city before we leave for that.” Braydon was glad to abuse his position as a noble to skip the queue. Even if he did not like most other nobles, that did make him averse to making use of the power that came along with the rank. And the symbol on his carriage meant that it was not likely that he would be stopped by any city guards in Fiveria now that most of the strife was settling down. Even if it was slightly different due to the difference in ranks, it was close enough to the Earl of Fiton’s symbol for anyone with a bit of knowledge to know that he was the other Fiton lord even if they did not know it was him to begin with. Not that he liked the association with his brother.
“You just thought of something you hate.” Nela pointed out.
“My brothers to be exact. I’ll have to deal with that now that the fighting is over.” Braydon was unsure of what his brothers’ situations were now. That the remaining men of Duke Oakley’s faction were gang pressed into joining Duke Ryder’s army might help him. Though given his younger brother’s sliminess, he had his doubts that he could remove them that easily.
“Oh? Not expecting it to be a walk?” Braydon had not been the only one keeping track of his enemies. Since she had a lot of free time, even with her school building project, she had made sure to keep up to date with how things were going on as best she could. Of course it would not matter had they lost, but that was no excuse. Plus they had won.
“Even if my older brother cannot be saved, I have my doubts that we could pin Sam the same way. After all, he was not the lord of Fiton when all of this went down. Even if they look united against me on the surface, I would not put it past either of them to make the other a sacrifice.” Braydon had heard stories of worse. And he knew for damned sure that both George and Sam were worse than the stories when it came to infighting. Were it not for their father blatantly picking sides, he doubted that Sam would have submitted to George.
“Feels like an eternity.” Nela said as they finally passed through the city gates, Braydon had to agree. While it had only been a few months in actuality, it felt like much longer since he had been in the capital. He could hardly even remember if he had been to the Shuluk capital more recently or not.
“Feels like the queue outside is more thriving than this.” There was a marked difference once they were inside of the gates. The city was much less bustling than the last time they had visited. Something that Braydon did not think that he would see after they had won the war. It was not like the capital was taken at any point.
“Well civil war is hardly good for business. From what I saw none of the merchants lined up outside were foreign.” Rhydian had been paying attention to more than their conversation, having noticed something more telling about the real situation. It would take longer for the foreign merchants to decide to start trading in large numbers again. It was barely over a week since the war concluded. It would take more time for the first foreign traders to return, let alone the bulk of them.
“Give it time. Those Leighians are nothing if not greedy.” Nela scoffed. She did not doubt that they would return. They always did. Even to cities that they had tried to sack. She, of anyone, should know. It was her father that lost the most to them.
