Adam lulled his head in boredom from atop his horse. He glanced over at his father who still, despite many hours at of riding, kept himself straight on his horse like the proud king he was. They hadn't seen anything apart from trees and plains in over a day. Saying that Adam was bored and itching to actually do something was an understatement. They'd been riding west for over two days along the loosely traveled road towards the Vamistian border, a long and wide river that went to the sea and cut through the heart of the continent. The kingdom of Zemira, Adam's home, was a large country that would take someone weeks to cross on foot. They neighbored Vamista, a kingdom not much different from their own. They'd been at conflict for years, longer than his father had even been alive. His father, Alister the Brave, gained his reputation for sparing soldiers who put down their arms and surrendered, allowing them to be sparred from the death that a battle would have brought. He even allowed most of them to go home unless they held a significant rank. If they were officers then Alister would often pry information from them. The two countries had never gone to all out war, meeting their large armies on the battlefield or taking land. They were both too large and powerful that too many would die for it to be worth it. The winner wouldn't be able to hold the spoils of war for long with the heavy losses and the inevitable civilian resistance. Instead, the countries had such bad blood that the people did the fighting on their own. Alister hates everything Vamistian but still tried repeatedly to stop the attacks. They only made tensions worse between the two nations.
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