In the Cyrene Kingdom, the town of Neim, near the Neim border two men prepared for their departure.
"We should be heading back to Eraregord, they've been expecting you," Llewellyn Charter, the captain of the C.L. Charter said to the man beside him, General Lucian Williams.
They've delayed their stay at Neim long enough, the general thought to himself. The royal court sent out a letter requesting his presence for the arrival of the next queen. However, in the general's eyes, his expectations for the girl were low.
Seeing as the only other commanding position higher than the general was the King, his mother, Queen Orizelle, was fond of tampering with the cardinal, in an attempt to upgrade her son's status.
Orizelle wanted to keep the throne in her family. She hoped that tampering with it would deem the entity unfit to choose the next successor, forcing the throne to remain with her family, even after her reign is over.
Although Lucian, her son, never agreed nor consent to her plans or actions, she was still his mother. Her trial was swift as she pleaded guilty to the high council of the crimes charged against her, and Lucian's involvement was denied, which was the truth.
"Are you going to be brooding the entire ride cause if you are, I'd be more than happy to let you walk your way to the castle?" Llewellyn said playfully to the man he considered his best friend.
Lucian chuckled at his remark, "I'm touched, I didn't think you'd notice especially after coming home with that red-haired beauty you thought would go unnoticed."
A low smirk started to form on Lucian's face as his load was gathered by the maids who placed his things in the carriage.
The look on Llewellyn's face was enough to throw a person into a fit of laughter.
Lucian walked out of the manor they stayed in and towards the carriage only to turn back and yell, "Don't worry, I won't tell Clarissa a thing." He let a low chuckle flow through him because he knew that he didn't have to tell his mate a thing for her to realize he was unfaithful again.
Although Llewellyn and Clarissa were mates, he always saw the girl as a sister that needed watching over despite his iron-clad bond with Llewellyn.
"Load the carriage, we'll leave at noon." Lucian didn't want to delay their stay any longer than they already have.
"Yes General," The Neim soldiers that accompanied them were meant to assure that the captain and the general arrive at and leave the manor safely.
Though, communications with the Neim soldiers were a bit rough considering English was not their mother tongue.
A few months ago, the magistrate of the city had sent in reports of mercenaries who had gone rogue and resulted in robbery and murder of Neim citizens.
Eventually, the mercenaries gained control of trade in the town and sold goods to Neim citizens at three times the original price. Which directly bled the civilians in the town of their money.
The majority of the population of the people in the town of Neim were humans. Though knowing of the existence of the supernaturals that walked among them, the fear that had shown through their eyes upon the arrival of the captain and infamous general.
The current ruler of Cyrene sent word to Nydisia to take care of the issue but due to the faint numbers in the military, the general and the captain took care of the matter discreetly while the remainder of the Nydisian military continued to train at the base.
For the past six months after the death of Queen Orizelle, Lucian and the captain have been infiltrating trade in the town to gain back control and round up the mercenaries.
The other kingdoms can't be aware of the current state of the Nydisian military. If they did their goal would be to take the kingdom and the cardinal with them.
The cardinal determined the kingdom that ruled over the other kingdoms and possession of it would shift the hierarchy of the kingdoms.
Interestingly enough, the general was very cautious when agreeing to help Cyrene. He believed that the Cyrene kingdom could've taken care of the mercenary threat themselves without involving another kingdom.
It was as if they were trying to test the strength of Nydisia's military, Lucian thought to himself. Either way, he knew he had to tread carefully. The rebellion within Nydisia was causing enough trouble on its own.
Ever since the decree was signed, the Zelanian Kingdom has been trying to get their hands on the cardinal and overthrow Nydisia as the reigning kingdom in all the lands.
As it is if word was to get out about the condition of Nydisia's army to the Zelanian ruler, Nydisia might not be able to withstand an attack from both Zelania and the rebellion.