On the mainland in their small territory, the lord of house Mattox, Alfred Mattox, sits in his office, his mind in deep thought. The plagues of the outside world, since the king’s death, were foreign to his lands thanks to his efforts. His land was safe. His people were fortunate. But outside of the stresses of rulership, the duke had one major worry on his mind. His son Glyn.

Glyn disappeared around the time the War Game in the Aloock Islands was proposed. It didn’t take him long to realize just what his son had done. When Glyn sent him that letter, he confirmed his fears that Glyn had run off to join in the War Game. But the only question on his mind was why.

Glyn had never expressed an interest in the political world or the nobility more than he had to. Because of his official status as the bastard of Hours Mattox, the son of the lord’s mistress, Glyn had no rights to any titles or land. All of it would be given over to the first and so far, only daughter, Eliana. But should Glyn have wanted it, Alfred would fight tooth and nail to help his son achieve his desires, but Glyn didn’t desire it.

That led him to reach one conclusion. His reasoning for entering the war was something more personal. But the only question he had left was what would Glyn do after his mission was accomplished?

“Ah, Alfred’s stuck in his head.” A voice broke him from his train of thought as he stares at the doorway.

A woman with short red hair walks in, staring him down with a smirk on her face. “You and Glyn have that same face when you're lost in thought. You know that.”

“Aria.”

“Just admit you’re worried. Hell, I’m worried. It’s been over a month since his last letter and the fighting’s already started.”

Alfred nods. “How can I not be worried? But I can’t let my mind focus on a single thing. I have to watch out for the territory and Eliana.”

“Oh, you don’t know? You haven’t been paying attention.”

“What?”

“Eliana ran off.”

“What!?” He leaps up from his chair, looking down on Aria. “Where did she go?”

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“She left a note. Saying she was going to bring back her big brother.”

Alfried grabs his head and shakes. “That girl….”

Aria laughs. “She’s too rambunctious at times. She takes too much after me sometimes, I swear.”

“Why do you sound proud of that? You realize how much of a troublemaker you were…. You’re still a troublemaker.”

“Come on, you know you love it.”

He sighs. “Fine. Eliana couldn’t have gotten too far. Even if it’s been a day or two, she’s still kind and wouldn’t be able to get out of the territory without assistance, especially with the monster outbreaks.”

“About that.”

“What? Don’t tell me Aoife went with her.”

Aria turns her head away.

“You’re kidding!”

“She said she was taking her Mama with her. I imagine she suckered up to her and Aoife went off.”

Alfried sits down, grabbing his head. “Damn it. She must’ve read the results.”

“Yeah. To think Glyn would win the first battle of the war. The boy doesn’t lack for a warrior’s spirit, I’ll say that.”

“Don’t praise him. He ran off and put himself in danger. Not to mention our daughter ran off to.”

“What? We ran off all the time when we were their age?”

“I was hoping our children wouldn’t take after us in this regard.”

Aria sits down on his desk, lowering her face to his. “Calm down Al. Glyn can take care of himself, and Aoife won’t let anyone lay a hand on Eli.”

“I know. But I can’t help but worry. My children are out there and I can’t do anything about it. These are dangerous times and all I can do is keep a lid on the situation here. With the bandits, the monsters, and other issues, it’s all I can do but keep our citizens out of danger.”

Aria leans in and kisses him before standing. “We’ll do what we always do. I’ll take my knights and take care of any monsters. You take care of any overzealous assholes with eyes on our land. And we’ll come together to take out the bandits.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It is when you think about it for more than a minute. Sometimes you get wrapped up in your head. Sadly, it looks like Glyn took after you with a similar habit.”

Alfred lifts his head and kisses Aria. “When Aoife gets back, we’re going to have a lot to talk about. But before then, let’s make sure they have a home to come back to.”

“Of course, my dear. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to kill some monsters.”

“And I’ll look over the budget and finish this paperwork.”

“Good. See you tonight.” She says, slamming the door shut.

With Aria gone Alfried sits at his desk and stares down at a stack of papers. He shakes his head and reaches into a desk drawer, pulling out a small portrait. He stares at the portrait of himself alongside a young Glyn. He smiles and puts the portrait back into his drawer and returns to the papers.

“Glyn, be safe. When this is all over, I’ll see you and then I’ll give you the scolding of a lifetime for running away from us.”