Whispers broke out in the room as Hayate helped Erak back to his feet. Hayate stood there impassively as the Oberjarl sat down, ignoring the stares.
"Gilan." Horace whispered, "How do I join in?" Gilan looked at him in confusion, before realising what the young warrior was talking about.
"You stand up and tell the herald over there your name. I think there's a bit of a list though." Sure enough, the herald was surrounded with warriors all eager to try the strength of the prince
"They all want first hand knowledge of what Viridian is capable of." Halt muttered "We might be allies, but that doesn't stop them from wanting to know strengths and weaknesses to be exploited. It's the main reason they wanted to hold the conference in Viridian."
"There are lots of secrets here to be discovered." Will agreed
"And favours to be won." Gilan added. "If you could get the person who trained the Guard to teach a group of your warriors awhile, you would have an advantage."
"Which is, of course, the reason Ajak wanted Hayate to show off his skills. By displaying publically that he couldn't be beaten, Viridian would have a powerful bargaining chip. Clever." Halt admitted, returning his gaze to the Captain of the Guard. Horace looked from one ranger to the next
"But this is just a simple competition." He said, "There isn't even a prize." The rangers looked at him
"Horace, this isn't a good-will fight or whatever. There's no such thing. It's a way of showing off what your country has to offer as an ally." Gilan said
"But Duncan didn't bring anyone-" Horace protested, stopping when the three rangers looked at him again "Can you stop doing that?" he asked huffily "It comes across as rather condescending." Halt raised an eyebrow at the word, but deciding against being drawn into a debate about language. He hadn't forgotten Will's speech
"He brought you Horace." He said gently "And Gilan too, for what he's worth."
"Hey!"
"Yes, yes. You can use that stick of yours effectively. Now shh, it's starting."