Chapter 173: ...But the Cicada Already Left

"So what are we doing now, Your Majesty? Are we giving chase immediately?" Braydon asked once he had accompanied Ethan back to where the King was standing. Since Duke Burn's army had been defeated, there was not much else to do. The only real threat to King Aled's rule was now Duke Ryder and he was the weakest that he had ever been.

"Duke Burn's not dead." Cinar responded, much to Braydon's confusion. It was rarer for nobles to die in battle than it was for them to live even when they lost. Most of the time, they would either escape or be captured and ransomed or executed later. Whichever it was, Braydon did not think that Duke Burn would be able to come back from losing on the field.

"Did he manage to escape?" It was the only reason Braydon could think that it had even been mentioned. If he had been captured, then he was as good as dead. There was no way that Duke Ryder would let him live. Not after all of the trouble that the man had caused him. It was Duke Burn inviting Duke Rotleach to help him that had caused so many problems for Duke Ryder. Problems that culminated in the current situation.

"If my spies and scouts are to be believed, he was gone days ago." The King sighed and it was obvious to everyone that he had a headache. Just when everything was going so well, something had to happen that he had not accounted for.

"Days ago as in…" Braydon was beginning to see the problem. It was one thing for Duke Burn to have been defeated in battle and have fled, it would be likely that a plurality of his key supporters would have been captured along with what remained of his army. But if he had been gone for so long, it was likely that he took them with him. And the south east of Fiveria was still perfectly un molested. His ships had made sure of that. Even if the loss of such a large army was painful, it was not the end of the world for his faction. Nobody believed that he had brought all of his men with him to the north.

"As in the same day that Duke Tetland crossed the border. Speak of the devil." The King said as he looked over to the now arriving Duke Tetland. Having left so long ago, it was not unlikely that Duke Burn was most of the way back to his lands already. So long as he and whomever he brought with him had good horses, there was no reason why he would not reach Wathamalin within the next day or two. If he pushed himself, he may have already made it there.

"Things not going to plan? Duke Ryder found himself another army?" It did not take a genius to guess that King Aled was not in the best of moods, and Duke Tetland could at least be considered intelligent. If things had gone as well as the battlefield suggested, the King should not have been able to control his laughter.

"Nothing of the sort, Duke Ryder is as good as dead, we will be hunting him down as soon as morning comes." The King schooled his expression once again. Even if Duke Tetland was considered an ally, there was no such thing as eternal allies. Let alone when he was talking to a fellow monarch who had been all of happy to help him after he had killed Duke Rotleach. A man who was de jure his ally.

"Then it was Duke Burn who came out on top?" Duke Tetland switched out which Duke he was thinking of. It mattered little to him, either way he would come out of this as one of the winners.

"Yes and no. Duke Ryder won the battle but lost the war." The King started explaining to the Duke.

"No surprises there." Came the response. Tetland was waiting for the actually interesting part. He was smart enough to know when there was more to a story.

"And Duke Burn was already long gone. He had abandoned his army the moment you came across the border." Once it was said, an expression of understanding came across the Duke's face. He could quite easily understand King Aled's frustration with that. And it was not his problem.

"How are we going to get back across the river?" Cinar voiced the most obvious concern. Duke Burn was not going to stop once he reached Wathamalin, he would return to his lands. Not to mention he could do the same thing to them as they did to Duke Ryder. Just block the bridges. His ships would take care of the rest.

"That is something for us to figure out once we have gotten rid of Duke Ryder." Rhydian said his bit. Looking at Duke Tetland's serene expression, he could already tell that the man had no intention of helping out if they had to cross the River Harmony. He could just pack up and go home. He had already achieved all of the things he had set out to do. The only reason that he was still with them was to uphold his end of the bargain. And that was to defeat Duke Ryder and help secure the King's position. Duke Burn staying holed up on in his little corner of the Kingdom was someone else's issue.

"As is right. We already have one rat who snuck away, we do not want another." The King quickly agreed to make sure that Duke Tetland would not wipe his hands of the whole thing. There were already complications. He did not want to create more for himself.

"We are setting off on the morrow?" Tetland more stated than asked. They had marched hard to try and catch whoever won on the backfoot. Not as hard as Duke Ryder had marched his men, but hard enough.

"Indeed, and we will be searching for any noble fallen. After all, they were loyal retainers of the crown who died fighting rebel scum." The King did not want to start moving so fast either. Ryder's army would be exhausted after the past few days. He was not about to try and even the playing field for him. Not to mention that collecting the fallen nobles was something that he would have to do if he wanted to consolidate power after the whole thing was over. He may have a number of houses that he wanted replacing but he did not have enough replacements for the entire nobility on hand. Some people would have to be forgiven, and others would be allowed to inherit. He just got to choose who.