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Conrad Helvetii, Prince of Rhaetia, was angry. He sat slumped in his saddle, rising and falling with the Unicorns quick steps as it paced tirelessly along. The Princes companions, well aware of his mood, rode several lengths behind him, their handsome destier mounts trotting with their heads held high. The group, the Prince included, was a riot of colours as was often the case whenever Rhaetian horsemen rode together. The Prince was resplendent in a blue Tunic with the Helvetii crest stamped firmly in the middle of the chest. His companions, save for one, wore the same symbol on their left sleeve and breast, marking them as bodyguards, or the sigil of a smaller house. The only man who wore the sigil of another great house was Tavian Cotini, his tunic dyed evenly yellow and black with the fleur de lis over his chest. 

Conrad dragged himself out of his self imposed bitterness and turned to glance back at Cotini who gave him a sly smile and spurred his horse so that the two rode knee to knee.

"Got your panties out of their knot then?" Tavian asked with a slightly smirk. The two had been friends for nearly eight years, ever since they had met at the Academy. Tavian was the middle son of the Northern House and had nothing to loose from this adventure. Conrad on the other hand had everything to lose, his father having forbid him to do more than accompany his friend to Edontas. 

"Aye, more or less. Just annoys me. The old man makes sense but that doesn't mean I have to like!" Conrad slapped his hand down onto the pommel of his saddle as if to make his point. Neither the Unicorn nor the horse did anything more than flick an ear in the direction of the sound before continuing to ignore their riders. 

"He isn't King for no reason, we can agree on that." Tavian said tactfully.

"King by the sword. Father says it's a damn sight easier to rule with that as your legacy rather than being tupped out of some royal woman..." Conrad could not resist a chuckle at the look on his sisters face when their father had said those words in front of her. She had turned almost as red as her hair.

"I suspect my old man would agree." Tavian said with a nod. "They've been mates for long enough."

It had been that friendship that had led to Cortini being granted his lands in the north. The King knew the value of a strong ally along the border and made every effort to support his old comrade in arms with whatever he needed. Mind you, he did that with all the Great Houses, one could never know when you would need their help.

"Look on the bright side. I hear the Flitton's have a gorgeous wee thing of a Princess, mayhems you can tup her while the rest of us are suffering the looks of Ser Bagface." Tavian gave Conrad a light punch on the shoulder as he said it.

"Pretty Edontian? From what I've seen of them I'd sooner marry your horse..." Conrad replied gloomily. The Edontians he had seen or met generally came from diplomatic envoys, or could be seen in the markets. On a few occasions he had seen Edontian women in the slave market and nothing about them filled him with anything other than a desire to walk very quickly away. 

"You insult my horse!? She won't settle for anything less than a full blooded Pegasus to sire her offspring, no pitiful two legged beast like yourself!" Tavian announced with mock seriousness. 

"Why do we talk about these things?" Conrad groaned and then stretched his back. Before either man could continue one of the bodyguard urged his horse forward to join them. He pointed into the distance.

"The Rhaetian Wall m'lord." 

Sure enough, what Conrad had mistaken for a low line of hills was now slowly taking on the sharper and harsher shape of a massive wall. It stretched from horizon to horizon, further than he could see at any rate. Here, in the lands of House Cotini, the wall was broken in only a few places, but none could be seen from this vantage point. To their east, its surface almost as unending as the great golden plains, spread a massive lake. Sails dotted the surface as fishing boast darted about, hauling in a generous harvest.

The roadway here was higher than the land around it by some four feet. This served to prevent flooding during the rainy season when the lake was liable to increase in size by almost half again its usual size. This time of year though was considered ow water and a ring of reddish clay could been seen exposed along the edge for several feet. 

Conrad had to admit that Rhaetia was a stunning place and he always felt so alive in the great open plains. Here, if one chose, you could ride for days without having to stop or hit an obstacle you could not overcome. There were a few, of course, but that was hardly the point. Only further south did the land begin climbing again into small hills, foothills, and then eventually into mountains. 

"We should reach the wall by tower m'lord. Tonight we will stay here." The bodyguard gestured to fortified structure that was fast approaching. It, like everything else in Rhaetia, was tall and graceful. The tower was high enough to easily see the land around it and Conrad could see the signal light on the top glowing brightly behind its iron shutters. He sighed and rubbed his hands together. A drink and a leg of lamb would not go unwanted this evening.