“Derek, it is good to see you.” A warm voice entered Derek’s ears, prompting him to look up from the map he was scrutinizing in the command tent. At the entrance stood his mother and a few others. The guard that had let them in saluted before exiting.

“It is good to see you too mother,” Derek smiled, before turning to Captain Drake. The man had already stood and was bowing to her.

“It is a pleasure to see you once again My Lady. We were going to make a trip into the city to visit you once we had settled the men.”

She smiled at them thinly before responding, “Yes, well, I decided to meet you out here in the camps instead. Things would be a little difficult if you came to the castle right now. The delegation from Elnon has arrived at the castle and made it clear their displeasure with the events that occurred in the city.

“While they were undoubtedly in the wrong, the King and Crown Prince of Telis have attached great importance to their alliance and they have made great efforts to placate them. In light of that, having you visit the castle would create an awkward situation at best.”

Derek nodded. He could put two and two together. Alicia’s family must feel quite threatened to continue to push for this alliance even after the disgraceful actions of Prince Blake at Windreach City.

Walking over, he took his mother’s hand to lead her to the table at the front of the tent. “It must have been hard on you.”

She reached up and straightened his hair with her hand, “It hasn’t been too bad. Neither Telis nor Elnon are interested in angering the Academy further so they have stayed civil. It has helped that not everyone in Telis is pleased with their new allies or their behaviors, so their delegation has been quite stifled since they arrived and have had to behave themselves.”

Frowning, Derek thought for a moment before speaking, “Well if they haven’t bothered you, then that is fine I suppose. How has Alicia been?”

Eona smiled at him, “She has been fine. She was very happy to see her family members again after so long and since Blake arrived at the city, he has been the consummate gentleman in their interactions. They seem to have been making progress in overcoming their barriers.”

Derek glanced at Tristan. His friend’s expression was an unreadable neutral mask. Derek sighed. They all understood that people like Tristan and Alicia would never get to pick their own spouses, but the two had hit it off quite well at the Academy and most of their classmates had considered them a well made match.

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Eona seemed to have understood so she changed the topic. “Since we couldn’t meet in the palace, the Queen sent food and some servants to serve it. We can at least eat dinner together here. Captain Drake, summon your officers, I have enough for all of them with me.”

That night they ate well and Derek got to spend some time with his mother. The next day they set off once again. Telis’ contingent fell in at the back of their column, one thousand elite infantry and archers. Derek lost sight of the city within a few hours and by the end of that week they had already proceeded into the next country.

Norintal was the northernmost country on their route north. Beyond their borders was the plains and steppes of the barbaric north. The route through Norintal was much easier than through Telis as they descended from the highlands to the plains. Finally, almost a month after they left Windreach, they entered a valley between two hills that opened up into a basin that spread far beyond what the eye could see.

Captain Drake turned to Derek and Tristan who were riding next to him, “This boys, is the Charis Basin. The first part of our journey ends here. We will meet up with the columns from the east and the Grand Master’s column should join us in the next few days. After that, we will hire scouts and head north.

“The basin is the gathering point of the southern tribes. These tribes have the most interactions with the civilized lands and have benefited greatly from them so we should be able to hire some reliable scouts to guide us. So far, this campaign has been quite peaceful, but north of the basin is enemy territory. Things will get difficult from there.”

Derek and Tristan nodded. Their column travelled into the basin and marched north along a dirt road through farmlands along a riverside. The switch from stone highway to dirt road had introduced a new discomfort to the student soldiers, dust now caked their skin and irritated their noses, mouths, and throats. Derek spit out some that had gathered in his mouth as he continued to ride next to the marching soldiers.

After marching one more day through the basin, they arrived at a large campground centered around a premade supply depot. The depot served as a trading post throughout most of the year but now it served its primary purpose. Arrayed around it like spokes on a wheel were dozens of encampments. As they arrived, their forces were guided into campgrounds of their own. They set the men to preparing their camp and sent runners for further instructions.

Over the next few days further columns joined them. Now that they had arrived at their destination, there was little for them to do as a whole and many of the students found something new to complain about, boredom. The veterans merely shook their heads while in response to those complaints, the officers obliged with more drilling.

Finally, a week after they arrived, the end of their boredom was heralded by the arrival of the final column of troops from the south.