The journey back to the Camelia was going to take the full two weeks with Brendan and the nursemaid's family. Eric pulled Chenzhou aside while they were packing to offer a contingent of guards to escort them, but Chenzhou refused.
Between Chenzhou and Eirian, mostly Eirian, and the nursemaid's husband, who was a soldier himself, he expected they would be fine. The route between the Capital and the Camelia was treacherous due to the terrain, so treacherous that it was rare for bandits or thieves to attack. The Imperial Army also took the few attacks incredibly seriously, tracking down and slaying all those involved.
Eric wasn't entirely happy about it, but he didn't push. "Eirian seems happier than I expected."
It was somewhat out of the blue, though he'd expected it to happen at some point. "I think she's pleased to have something interesting to do."
Eric nodded. "She always did like a mystery." He studied Chenzhou for a moment. "You are not what I was expecting."
Chenzhou shifted, unsure.
Eric seemed to realize Chenzhou wasn't sure what to say. "I was worried when I first heard. Uncle has been known to overlook character in his ambition."
Chenzhou nodded; that had become obvious over his interactions with the man.
"Eirian is not the type to choose an easy life." Eric smiled, impressed. "For a while I thought she might be my queen."
Chenzhou frowned. "That relation is a bit close." Even for the nobility.
"Not in that way," Eric explained. "We have no interest in one another like that. But we work well together. She is a good partner to have, and neither of us has any true interest in children, so it would have been easy to decide which would have the heir."
"I am learning that," Chenzhou admitted.
"Good." Eric lowered his voice. "The next few months will be challenging for me. Until things have settled, I will not be of much help with what is happening at the Camelia."
"I understand." Chenzhou acknowledged, face grave. Eric would be fighting for his throne and his life, just like Chenzhou and Eirian were fighting for the life of the Camelia. Neither of them would be of much help to the other.
Yuze had expected something to shake loose eventually, but he hadn't expected it to be quite so big, so quickly.
Mingzhe wasn't pleased, but he was the one who'd noticed first, and they were his soldiers, so he was entitled to be upset.
"A week isn't too late. Especially given the size of the area they are patrolling." Yuze frowned at the atlas and the pieces representing Mingzhe's forces.
The other lords had finally managed to send out their forces for patrol, but they were still en route to their areas of responsibility, so only Mingzhe's were actually generating reports.
Of the four thousand soldiers he'd sent, the two brigades had split into four companies based out of four outposts along the border and sent out smaller platoons to patrol even deeper into the contested lands.
Reports were sent every week, unless something significant required early reporting.
So far, nothing had gone wrong, aside from one of the outposts being a week late, and everything seemed to be going as expected.
"Except they've routed us four times now," Mingzhe growled, offended on behalf of his men.
"They've always had the advantage of knowing the terrain better than us." Yuze pointed out.
"Four times in a row?" Mingzhe shook his head, unwilling to let it go.
"My commanders know what they're doing. If they're suspicious, it's something." He paced around the giant map. "And they don't report late."
Every commander at the Camelia exercised complete control over their forces and decided how and how often they received any reports. For the most part, they all understood the Camelia and Chenzhou's priorities and adjusted accordingly when needed.
Yuze knew Chenzhou wouldn't be too worried about one late report. Especially since they weren't in open conflict and the units were still settling into their patrol rotations for the season.
The only thing that was worrying Yuze was how certain Mingzhe was that something was wrong.
As much as he had a reputation for pugnacious focus on the details, he was recognized as one of the camelia's best commanders. Respected enough that most people willingly overlooked his quirks.
Fox, thoughtfully looking at the atlas, offered to ride out and check on them. "Would only take me a week there and back."
"The report will most likely come in while you're gone." Yuze sighed. Reluctant to send him out for something that had a decent chance of being nothing, and also because he'd gotten used to or was getting used to having him around. It was strange since Yuze didn't generally feel that way about people. Even Chenzhou, who was arguably the person he was closest to in the world.
Fox didn't usually hang around the way he had been recently, either. Something that made Yuze giddy and terrified in equal measure. Sometimes he even thought Fox was watching him. Not in a creepy way, Yuze generally felt his skin crawl when he was being spied on or the sensation of ants behind his ears.
With Fox, it was in his stomach, the flutter of something exciting instead of dread. Something brief and light, the way his interest in Akari had almost been in the beginning, but not quite. It was different enough that Yuze wasn't sure what to call it, wasn't even sure he wanted to find out. He'd already been left once, and he clearly remembered the pain.
He didn't need to feel it again just to be sure.
He could just live vicariously through Chenzhou's fascinating, disaster of a love life. His clueless brother had two people interested in him, and each other, and still hadn't noticed, even though he was giving off all the signs of being interested in them in return.
And then there was Anna and Chenzhou's stubborn determination not to acknowledge he was changing out of fear of hurting her.
Yeah, Yuze would leave all the pain and intrigue to Chenzhou.
And firmly ignore the warmth of Fox next to him.
~ tbc