Now Alayen followed behind Allen, leading a horse just as he had back when he was a squire. He kept recounting everything that had happened lately, from the surrounding terrain to the fields they had cleared, from the construction of the camp to what he had learned about the Northmen.
Every so often, the young man put in a good word for the Northmen Allen had hired. They "worked hard and steadily," or were "honest, down-to-earth people." Everything he said made it clear that he had grown quite fond of the people from these three villages.
"Mm. Good."
Listening beside him, Allen nodded calmly, answering his subordinate's chatter with a few brief words. Inwardly, however, he was considering what Alayen was trying to convey.
As a subordinate, Alayen was sparing no effort to praise the Northmen in front of Allen. The meaning behind that was all too obvious. Put plainly, it amounted to something like this:
"My lord, for the sake of all the years I've served you, could you look after these Northmen a little more?"
Allen knew that Alayen, once the heir to a lord, had received a full noble education. The young man surely understood what his words implied.
If Alayen had been an ordinary commoner rather than a noble, Allen would not have read so much into it. In Calradia, ordinary commoners were not generally so indirect.
Klethi would have simply said, "I like it. I want it," rather than standing nearby praising how wonderful something was and how pretty she would look wearing it.
A more ordinary commoner might not even have dared voice a request to a leader like Allen.
Only nobles were so keen on these roundabout approaches, expressing their wishes through veiled remarks.
If that was not the explanation, the only other