Nanowrimo 2023 Best Bit and Word Count - Day 26 (Patreon)

I managed to catch up today by writing 2,385 words to bring the total word count to 43,385!

Ayden stood atop the wall that surrounded the Duke of Sky's manor, her eyes on the line in the distance where patchwork crop fields gave way to wild, rolling grasslands dotted with blossoms of pink and red. The border that the duke watched so diligently for years. Ayden wondered if the Kingdom of Red had gotten word of her movements yet, or if Addie's work clamping down on the flow of information had pulled off. Considering she could not see any soldiers in bronze-red armor, she could only assume it'd been successful.

"What worries you, Your Majesty?"

Ayden turned to see the Duke of Sky approaching, one hand tucked into the pocket of his dressing gown and the other holding on to a gently smoking pipe. She'd never seen the old duke in such a casual state of dress, it almost made her feel like she was intruding despite having been invited into his home.

"I worry that just because I cannot see them, doesn't mean the enemy isn't there," Ayden said, her eyes drifting back to the not-too-distant border. "I worry I'm leading them all right into a trap, and everything will end before it can even begin."

The duke hummed thoughtfully, coming to stand beside her, his own eyes on the border. "If I may speak freely, Your Majesty?"

"I welcome any wisdom you have, Your Grace."

"The Kingdom of Red is not known for its underhanded tactics on the battlefield," he said, pausing to take a puff of his pipe. The scent of it was strangely herbal, unlike the tobacco smoke Ayden remembered from the butler's pipe in her youth. "They are called Valiant Red for a reason. What they do they do openly and with pride. They did not bother to hide who it was that struck our crop fields and raided our caravans, though the queen and her nobles would deny it. They will meet us head on, or not at all."

"Sounds reckless," Ayden said plainly.

"It is," the duke agreed. "But it is also the most glorious. They say their armor is red so that you cannot see if they're bleeding, so that the courage of their companions need not waver in the face of injury." He chuckled. "Everything they do, they do with every ounce of their souls. In some ways, I envy their passion."

He turned to her once more, a grandfatherly shine to his gaze. "I see much of that passion in you, Your Majesty."

"Do you?" Ayden asked, a single, curious brow rising high on her face.

"I do," the duke insisted. "Fury is just anger felt with the whole of one's heart. And I've never seen a fury so beautiful as yours."

"You flatter me," Ayden said dismissively.

"Perhaps," he agreed, a slight smirk just barely visible under his beard. "But the young lords from Green and Red would agree with me. And I think your little assassin would say the same."

Ayden eyed him suspiciously. "I'm not sure what you mean. Assassin?"

"I've seen many maids in my lifetime, Your Majesty," the duke said plainly. "None of them carry themselves like Miss Adelaide does. And certainly, none of them can take a grown man to the ground like she did."

Ayden couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I don’t plan on siccing her on you if that’s your worry.”

“I don’t believe you’d tell me even if you did,” he muttered around his pipe, almost as if he was pouting.

“I suppose not,” she agreed. The sun had long since left the sky, and with it her ability to see across the border. She turned away from the wall, pausing at the top of the stairs.

“Do you think I am right in this?” she asked, uncertain she wanted to hear the answer.

“No more than any man is right about anything in this life,” the duke said cryptically. “But no less, either.”

Ayden nodded. She could hardly call that a straightforward answer, but she supposed that was as good as she was going to get. Anyone else she could ask would have flatly agreed with her. “Thank you for your honesty.”

“Thank you for your trust.”