"This is the most awkward ride I've ever been on." Patrick hissed. He, Emmy, and Finn had fallen back a few paces when the three Lords joined the party.
They set off again in silence, following the road down a gentle slope until it reached the flat prairie that stretched to the horizon ahead.
Lord Zhao's falcon had taken to the sky once they'd started moving and was making slow circles as a dark spot above them.
"Pretty bold to ambush Lord Ye like this." Emmy whispered.
Finn snorted. "Really? This kind of thing happens all the time in Aontacht. Well, I guess normally its single men and women ambushing each other during the season to try and one over on someone else, but it's happened other times too. The High Court's officers ambush people during investigations. My mother once surprised a woman who owed her money in the middle of a summer luncheon."
"And how'd that end?"
Finn shrugged. "Lots of tears. People still talk about it. But my mother got her money back."
"And probably traumatized that other woman." Emmy pointed out.
"You don't cross my mother." Finn shuddered. Lady Vermeer was one fo the most respected and fearsome women in the capital. She was a singer, whose four-octave vocal range was celebrated throughout the Land of Sorrow and her commanding performances were always in demand.
Finn had grown up listening to her practice in the music room, had even tried to sing along when he was really small, and it was still cute. It got less cute as he got older, and it became clear he hadn't inherited her talent.
She'd always seemed a bit disappointed about that and he'd learned to stay away from the music room when she was there.
She took her reputation seriously, and only took on the most promising, most dedicated students. Most of whom burned out within a few years. She only had two long time students, both of whom were considered the peak among their peers, constantly leading performances (that his mother wasn't in) and enjoying immense popularity among high society.
She spent more time with them then she did with her actual children, as both Finn's older sisters had chosen to go into the City Guard rather than pursue the arts, and they were frequent guests at the Vermeer Estate.
They were nice, just as obsessed with their voices and music as his mother, Finn didn't really have any complaints other than his mother's preference and attention.
The Lords were still silent and Chenzhou didn't seem like he was going to break the awkward silence anytime soon.
Eirian had her face buried in a book, one of the Camelia's Histories, and didn't seem to notice the awkward tension.
Or she was just very skilled at ignoring it.
They still had four hours of riding before they set up camp for the night.
Finn couldn't imagine going through all of that in silence.
Thankfully, they didn't have to.
Another hour of riding in silence, Lady Yang guided her horse next to Eirian's and. "You are reading the Histories. It's wise to know your people." She sounded approving.
Eirian gave her a sunny smile. "And your enemies."
Some of the warmth left Lady Yang's face. "Yes, your enemies too."
Eirian snapped the book shut, which was kind of impressive given she did it one handed, and the book was twice as thick as her arm. "How long has your family belonged to the Camelia, Lady Yang?"
"Since before the Ye's." She responded instantly.
Chenzhou shot her a flat look. "The timing of both our family's arrival at the Camelia is a matter of debate and based on familial myth more than anything else."
"My family arrived the summer the Age of Warfare ended." Lady Yang put in. "They came from an ancient kingdom in the Land of Song and Snow. Its name has been forgotten now. It suffered a great calamity at the end of the age and was destroyed. My ancestors were some of the only survivors."
They'd journeyed west, she said. Crossing the Blooming Gorge that bisected the Land of Song and Snow and then the same flat prairie land they were preparing to explore. They reached the Camelia when it was a still a small estate on the edge of the kingdom. When the Arnheim family was still clinging to it and a century of warfare had taken its toll on the populations of, well, everywhere.
They'd been starving and penniless, Lady Yang said. With nothing but the clothes on their back, but the Camelia had been so desperate for bodies that they'd taken them in with little question.
"My ancestors were miners," Lady Yang continued. "They provided the materials for metal and spell working before the great mines ran dry. When they came to the Camelia, they had to learn new skills to survive, since they had great upper body strength and accuracy due to their years in the mines, they became archers. Now, the Yang family commands the Archer Battalions of the Crimson Army." She had a stunning bow strapped to her back, polished black wood inlaid with rubies. It was nearly as tall as her and probably required as massive amount of strength to pull. "Next to the infantry, the archers are the oldest established part of the Crimson Army."
"The Ye family commands the Infantry." Chenzhou explained.
Eirian nodded and turned to Lord Yin. "And your family?"
"We command the Defensive Forces of the Crimson Army." Lord Yin announced voice grand and booming. "It may seem to be the forgotten arm, set aside for the glory of the attack, but who do you turn to when everything goes wrong? Who do you trust with the defense of your family? Of your children?"
"The Defensive Forces?" Eirian guessed, a bit wide eye at his enthusiasm.
"The Defensive Forces!" Lord Yin beamed and there was a terrible moment where Finn thought he'd actually slap Eirian on the back if he was close enough to reach her.
Good thing he wasn't.
"My family is not as prestigious as these others," Lord Yin shrugged. "My great-great-great-great-grandfather was an outpost commander who fell in love with a woman from one of the tribes. Quite the scandal, but she was willing to leave her family behind to join him and he was respected enough by his men that they spoke on his behalf. Since it was unsafe to remain at the outpost, he took an assignment in the Camelia proper. Due to my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother's knowledge of the tribes, he was able to advise a great deal on the defensive tactics the Crimson Army used at the time, which were terrible. Her insight saved them more than once and eventually, as thanks, they were elevated to a lordship."
~ tbc