"The enemy forces that circled to our east and west have been repelled as well. However, Aber Village was caught in the battle and burned to the ground," A messenger reported to Kenric as his troops tied up the enemy. After the death of Targur, some of them had tried to flee, but most had surrendered.
"I see," Kenric said, "Tell Gerard and Edward to return to Blaidd. We'll discuss the rest there."
The messenger bowed and took off, and Kenric took a seat on a nearby rock. He glanced at his leg, the magical blue band was still around his leg. Almost as though the thought of magic had summoned her, Elizabeth rode in on his horse, her wand raised towards him.
"You did well to maintain your spell while I was behind enemy lines," Kenric told her as she came to a stop in front of him.
"Th-thank you, Lord Wulf," Elizabeth said embarrassedly, "Are you all right? You just jumped in, and…" She didn't seem able to describe what had happened next.
"I am fine. You may release your spell now," Kenric said.
"Yes, of course," Elizabeth lowered her wand, and the band disappeared. She seemed distracted, looking around at the blood-soaked land, taking in the corpses and the enemy being made prisoners.
"Is this your first time seeing people die?" Kenric's voice was not gentle, but he did try to make it as gentle as he was capable of.
Elizabeth shook her head, refocusing her attention on Kenric, "No. I've witnessed executions before. Most nobles are shown such things at least a few times in their youth."
"I see," Kenric said, "A wise policy. In my case, it was never necessary; this land has always been at war. Corpses are plenty."
"Yes… still, I cannot say this sight is easy to get used to," Elizabeth said quietly.
"No, it is not," Kenric agreed. He stood, and Elizabeth rushed to pull his cane from its holster and hand it to him, "Lord Wulf!"
Kenric chuckled silently, taking the cane and supporting his left leg once more, "A few seconds won't do me any harm, Lady Filangris." He looked to the mountain pass, "Come, since we are already here, I should show you something. Would you like to walk, or is riding preferable to you?"
It was a simple, inconsequential question, and yet Elizabeth seemed put on the spot, as if there was a right answer here. She glanced at cane and said, "I should like to walk, provided you will be walking as well?"
"I will," Kenric stifled his annoyance, making sure to keep his voice even. Nobles, always obsessed with image. Elizabeth had probably chosen to walk because riding while another noble walked was improper or something.
She got off her horse with ease, proving she had trained in riding horses before, and they set off.
"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asked.
Kenric pointed at the mountain pass, "There. That would have been my first question if someone asked me if I wanted to walk or ride." Elizabeth blinked, and Kenric moved on to more important matters, "You've studied in the Royal Academy, tell me of the Kingdom of Yareth's history."
"What about it?" Elizabeth asked slowly, as though he were leading her into some sort of verbal trap.
"Tell me of our expansion, and of our borders," Kenric specified.
They walked, and Elizabeth began, "Well, in the time of our previous King, Alfred Gwydon, the Kingdom of Yareth was a small nation surrounded by many Kingdoms of similar size. Then, on the 14th of the First Month, 977, our western border was invaded by the Kingdom of Feren using the land route of—"
"Not that specific, I'm looking for a more general overview," Kenric said.
"Oh," Elizabeth said. She gave it some thought, "In that case… The Kingdom of Yareth used to be a small nation of no note, but then His Late Majesty Alfred began a war of expansion after the Kingdom of Feren provoked us. He defeated Feren, subjugating it, and then went on to do the same to all the other Kingdoms that surrounded us."
"And then?"
"Our borders expanded until we became large enough to rival even the Empire of Wereion, and then His Highness Alfred died of illness. Our current King, His Highness Alvin Gwydon, took the throne, and he realised that not only had our wars gone on for too long, but also that we were perfectly geographically situated to establish peace, so—"
"What about our geography made it so perfect to establish peace?" Kenric asked leadingly.
"Our southern and eastern borders are coastlines," Elizabeth answered, as though reading from a textbook right in front of her, "To our west is the Cere Republic, and though they may span almost the entirety of the western half of the continent, they are constantly occupied by civil disputes. And to our north are the Rommi Mountains—it stops the Wereion Empire even further north from committing to a full invasion."
"I figured that's how it would be taught," Kenric said, they were at the mouth of the pass now, and they stopped. Mountains rose to the skies from their left and right, but a wide path remained ahead of them, curving right and out of sight in the distance.
"Is it wrong?" Elizabeth asked.
"I can't speak for the other borders, but when the King decided he wanted to stop our expansion and make peace with the Wereion Empire, my father protested. It is true, Yareth's north is protected by the Rommi Mountains, however, this pass exists. It has no name, but it serves as a perfectly viable access point for both sides. The only problem is that, further in, in the centre, there is wall that spans the entire horizontal length of the pass. It is called the Grey Gate."
"The Grey Gate…" Elizabeth repeated.
"The Grey Gate is constantly manned by Wereion, and it serves as the perfect launching point for any and all incursions into our lands," Kenric explained, "My father told the King this, he begged for just a little more time to conquer it. With the Grey Gate in our hands, the north would be secure—the only way around it are the treacherous mountains, after all. But the King thought he understood everything. He called my father a warmonger, eager for glory at the cost of human lives, and ignored his pleas."
"And that's where all these mercenaries supplied by Wereion attack from," Elizabeth realised.
"Correct," Kenric said, "Peace on its own is not a bad thing to want. However, the King should have thought of the future before mindlessly establishing peace as soon as he could. Because of him, our northern border, specifically my lands, remains shaky and under constant threat."
"Why doesn't the King do anything?" Elizabeth asked, "If Wereion has been so brazen all this time, then surely he'd do something."
"What does he care?" Kenric said darkly, "He hasn't lost any territory yet. He doesn't want to risk war for the sake of tiny border skirmishes. The only time he'll move is when Blaidd falls. He doesn't understand that if Wereion takes Blaidd, they'll have a powerful staging point for future invasions into Yareth."
"If your family has resisted Wereion for this long, then why don't they just go around Blaidd and attack another city?" Elizabeth asked.
"We're too close to the pass," Kenric explained, "If Wereion goes around and tries to conquer another city, they'd always have to worry about us attacking from behind. And say they do succeed in their attempt, we'd always be here to disrupt their supply lines. They need Blaidd to fall before any attempt at invasion can be made in earnest. However, they want to be sure they can defeat us quickly enough before the rest of Yareth arrives with reinforcements. That's why they're whittling us down by going for our farms and villages so often. If they succeed, we lose supplies, and even if they don't, we lose soldiers. Like I told you when you first arrived here, it's just a matter of time until we fall."
"Th-then maybe a barricade in front of the pass? That would work, right?" Elizabeth suggested desperately.
Kenric smiled wryly, "We've tried that a few times, but somehow an overwhelming number of well-equipped mercenaries always manage to attack at just the right time. And now, we don't even have the resources to attempt something like that anymore." He sighed, "Don't forget, I am the lord of a small land trying to fight the machinations of an entire nation."
Elizabeth stared, she clearly did not know what to say. Kenric took one last look at the pass and turned, "Come, let us return."