Four people and two horses found themselves at the same ruined house where they met the mysterious man in black, or rather August, who had not deigned to introduce himself that time. Indeed, the estate was just a stone's throw away, so the travelers did not hesitate, but immediately set off.
"Maybe you should stop fidgeting?" Klaus could not stand it when Egor almost fell off his horse for the third time, trying to sit more comfortably.
'It's not my fault that I'm uncomfortable!"
"Last time, when we were also riding on the same horse, you didn't complain! Or is it already unpleasant for you to sit next to me?" Klaus got angry.
Egor remained silent, but he also stopped fidgeting, allowing the prince to pull him closer and lean him on his chest.
"Sir, do I have to wear this helmet? We are going to your uncle's estate, maybe it would be easier to present me as a bed slave rather than a soldier?" Lilith spoke up.
"Don't be silly, anyone can use bed slaves if they do not have a personal brand on them, and I am not going to brand you. It is safer to pretend to be a soldier. At least they are not touched without prior consent."
"Dear nephew! You have made me quite worried! Why so long? And how did the reunion with mother go? Tell me everything." He turned to a passing slave and ordered, "set the table for three, and take the prince's companions to the kitchen. By the way" he had already turned to the prince "I see a new addition to your retinue? Will you tell me?"
"Doesn't Uncle already know everything that happened to me?"
"Don't overestimate the old man," laughed Jiro "I'm not an all-seeing eye. Come on, there's someone who can't wait to meet you."
This made Klaus a little wary, but he waved his companions to the kitchen. All three of them didn't move, and Jiro raised an eyebrow.
"Klaus, I think you're not raising your soldiers well. And by the way, where is that young man, the newly-minted slave?"
"I left him in a village nearby. You were right, dragging him around with you isn't exactly... convenient. I told you to rest," he addressed his friends in a tone that brooked no argument.
Reluctantly, his retinue moved from their place, but Egor lingered a little. He didn't understand why the prince had hidden his presence, but he still decided that now was not the best time for questions, turned around and followed the others.
"So who is this mysterious man who is eager to meet me?"
Jiro didn't have time to answer, as a young man in expensively embroidered light armor and accompanied by five guards practically ran down the stairs.
"Brother!" he exclaimed and only then did Klaus realize that in front of him was Abel Deffender, August's younger brother.
"Abel? I thought you were serving at the border."
"Yes, but as soon as I heard that you were visiting our estate, I decided to put things on other shoulders for a while and meet. Where have you been?"
"It's a long story and I don't want to tell it now."
Abel hardly stopped talking during the entire dinner. He complained about the difficult living conditions on the border in all colors, but the prince did not appreciate the suffering of the highborn, who considered the lack of a luxurious bed and the drafts in the tent at night to be worthy pretexts for pity.
"It would not hurt you to live a little away from luxury. It hardens a warrior," was all the prince said, and Abel's face darkened, but he quickly pulled himself together.
"Come on, brother! What good does it do? I have protection, and who in their right mind would attack me?" Abel laughed.
Klaus remained silent. Abel was right to some extent. He did not go hunting, and even if he came across some evil spirit, with his retinue the guy would not be in any danger. He was not the heir to the throne. There were no secret assassination attempts on him, as there were on Klaus. The prince could not relax from early childhood. The threat could come from anywhere. Even failures could not help find the instigators. All mercenaries or slaves, in case of failure, self-destructed, and any marks from their bodies were erased in advance, so there were many assassination attempts. The highborn were not afraid that their betrayal would be discovered, and in case of success, the crown would remain without an heir, which gave another family a chance to take power into their own hands after the death of the king.
"So why were you gone for so long?" Jiro decided to start the conversation.
"Some complications arose."
"Or more precisely?"
"Uncle, you have long known everything that happened in the estate of... the former queen. I managed to slip away, but I could not return immediately. I had to heal my wounds. And now, here I am. How are things with my father?"
"I recently received a message from him. He wishes you a speedy recovery, but he is not going to wait for a full recovery. Klaus, he is waiting for you at home."
"I see," was all Klaus answered.
"And that's all you have to say? What do you intend to do? We must resolve that issue," he glanced at his son and did not specify what issue he was talking about. Klaus realized that Jiro had not dedicated Abel to his plans.
"I can accompany Klaus to the capital!" his brother spoke up. "I haven't been to Anatodom for a long time. I miss palace life terribly!"
"Abel. You have service awaiting you," his father reminded him.
"What could be more important than the prince's safety! I have soldiers whom I would be more than happy to provide for protection, but I cannot stay with only half of my army! It would be easier to accompany him and only then return to this terrible border camp!"
"Klaus?" Jiro turned his attention to his nephew.
"Yes. We can discuss this after dinner in your office, but I am not sure that if I return to Anatodom..."
Klaus did not finish, but this was not necessary. Jiro also understood perfectly well that the prince would not last long in the capital, and it would be problematic to implement his plans without his nephew.
"Perhaps we can come up with something to delay your return home."
"Sir!" a soldier burst into the dining room and immediately fell to his knees.
"What could have happened that would have allowed you to barge in and ruin my dinner?"
"Master, disaster! The slaves have rebelled! We can't calm them down, they've gone crazy!"
"What rebellion?" Jiro was indignant - have they forgotten their place?
"We don't know. Everything was fine, but suddenly they started attacking the soldiers at once. We can't just kill your property, so we only tried to stun them, but we can't handle the onslaught. We need you to activate their marks!"
"I apologize, Your Highness. We'll continue our conversation a little later, when I've settled things."
Klaus only nodded, but a bad feeling was already growing in him. How could the slaves rebel? They know that if the master activates the mark, they will be subjected to excruciating torture. What made them take such a desperate step? And why now? It can't be a simple coincidence.
"Well, brother. Would you like to take a walk?"
"I would prefer to rest."
"You are ignoring me again! I came to see you, and you are not paying any attention to me!"
"Okay, let's take a little walk," Klaus sighed, and a satisfied smile blossomed on Abel's face.
They walked around the estate. There was nothing to see. Abel just wanted to talk, and the prince pretended to listen as they slowly made their way back to the estate, accompanied by a couple dozen soldiers.
"Why so many?" Deciding to shut up Abel's incessant flow of words with a question, the prince pointed to the guard group.
"I am the king's nephew and should not neglect my status. What will they think of me if they see me without an escort?" Abel was surprised.
"Four people are enough to maintain decency," Klaus noted.
"That's the bare minimum! By the way, you only brought three soldiers with you, and two of them are weak. Rumors will spread that the Crown Prince is flouting the law!"
"The law does not specify the number of retinues," the prince noted. "It only says that a nobleman must always be accompanied."
"Yes, and the higher your status, the more people you should be surrounded by."
"I'm not interested in that at all," Klaus waved his hand. He was always irritated by the crowd of useless people around.
In the castle, he was alone only in his bedroom, and not for long. As soon as he opened the door, guards were already waiting for him, slaves and chatterboxes joined in. It was irritating, but he never neglected propriety. His father would not have liked it. What had changed now? He no longer cared about his father's opinion.
"You changed after you disappeared," Abel noticed. "What happened to you?"
"Send one of these," Klaus waved his hand at the retinue "let them bring my people."
"Why? I took enough escort so that you don't lose face."
Klaus only looked down at his younger brother with a heavy gaze, and he immediately gave the order. Egor, Gorald and Lilith were already waiting for him at the entrance to the house.
"Your Majesty," Gorald bowed and the others followed his example. "Did you call us?"
"Yes. I want to rest."
Gorald only nodded. He knew about the rules of the highborn and with this Klaus gave the order to escort him to the bedroom and guard him.
"Are you leaving me so soon?" Abel said disappointedly.
"Yes," Klaus threw him without looking at his brother and went to the stairs, but Abel did not understand the hint and followed him.
Only when Klaus slammed the door in his brother's face did he finally understand and back off, but as it turned out, the respite was short-lived. A few minutes later, a scuffle and the clanking of metal could be heard behind the door.