N:   "We will see you there," Johann said before following Mandara out of the nursery. As they walked, he told the Mandorian, "when Sir England and I went last time, Xanthos was restless but I was able to somewhat calm him down."

"However, Cinnamon wasn't eating at all since Thunderstrike's death hit her hard," England added, "she looked hopeless, and I doubt my attempts to help her were useful."

"Cinnamon needs you, Mandara," the human boy concluded, "you're the closest to her."

M:   Mandara didn't look very surprised, he just sighed sadly, "of course it hit her hard, Thunderstrike was like a brother to her, they were raised together so were basically family."

When they got back to the main stables, Mandara immediately went over to Cinnamon's stall, the horses hadn't moved since England was there, though the hay under her head looked a little damp.

Mandara opened the stall and entered but Cinnamon didn't react to him, he sat down and stroked her mane comfortingly, speaking soft, reassuring words while the mare continued to cry. After a while, he just silently pet her while her head was resting on his lap, not crying anymore but still clearly depressed.

N:   Saxon felt uncomfortable in the atmosphere in the stables; the emotions were too much for him, and he usually found it hard to process particular emotions. He muttered to Anglo that he would take a walk outside, wanting to get away, and began to wander aimlessly.

Johann grabbed for the food bucket on the stall door and entered slowly with it. He placed it on the ground next to Mandara and sat down opposite him, looking down at the horse. "Why do the people we love go," he thought out loud.

M:   "I don't know," Mandara said, "it's not fair and definitely doesn't seem right, but there's nothing we can do about it, nothing lasts forever. Us countryhumans aren't immortal, we may not die from age but we can still die by sword or sickness, it's just up to fate to decide who goes and who stays, and that's that."

He heard Cinnamon sigh so he stroked her muzzle, "don't be sad Cinnamon, Thunderstrike is still with us even if we can't see him, he'll live on in our hearts."

Cinnamon just snorted, she didn't want him in her heart, she wanted her brother back. The horse moved her head out of Mandara's lap and turned away from the kids, exhaling loudly and burying her head in the other corner.

N:   Johann rested his head against a wall, watching as Cinnamon turned away, and spoke quietly, "Memories last forever as long as there are people to remember." He looked up and sighed, "when you first think about it, being a Countryhuman is better than being human as you spend more time with the people you love and you live for longer. But being human we cherish every moment we have in our limited lives and we have a chance of dying peacefully," he glanced at the horse, "that's why we can't accept it when someone goes before their time because we know there was so much more the person can do.

"What makes a countryhuman's life full and complete, if it ever could?"

"That," Anglo spoke up, surprised by the question, "is a very complex question, and perhaps mentions of death would be better discussed not at this current moment?"

M:   "Maybe, but it is inevitable," Mandara sighed, then turned back to Johann, "you think being a countryhuman is better, it's not, I'm still a kid so I don't have much of a say in this, but I know that I will live a very long time, and when you live to be centuries old like Father and the English, you eventually have to watch as all your friends grow old and die, losing loved ones is hard, but losing several lifetimes of loved ones is unimaginable, and that's why we tend not to associate with humans too much, because we know that they will eventually leave us, then we would be all alone."

N:  "That," the human boy murmured, "is horrible." He hung his head, trying to not think how countryhumans would have to experience it their entire life.

"Can we please not talk about losing someone," Anglo reiterated, his wings slightly fluffing up. He had his share of losses, and he didn't need a reminder of losing them.

But Johann pushed on regardless, and spoke just above a whisper, "so why would you associate with me? Why know someone you would one day lose?"

M:   "Because you don't want to live a lonely life either," Mandara said, ignoring Anglo's requests, though he did say with his wing that the other could spend time with Xanthos if he was uncomfortable, "and as I said, I'm still a kid, I'm supposed to be making friends and not worrying about the future. I know that everyone in this kingdom will go someday, but that is why we strongly believe in reincarnation because we live long enough to see it happen. To put it simply, you shouldn't shut everyone out because you will live longer than them, you make friends because you know you will see them again in another life."

N:   Anglo walked away and made his way towards Xanthos, and after figuring out which of the many horses was the one he was looking for, he found him. "Aren't you a beauty," he commented as he stretch out his hand in front of Xanthos to smell and figure the winged country out before allowing him to pet him. Once Anglo had gained his trust, he softly stroked the horse's muzzle, and quietly voiced as to not startle Xanthos, "a wonderful steed for a wonderful king."

Johann nodded silently as he pulled in his legs and hugged them. He rested his head on his knees and tilted his head so that he faced Cinnamon. Talking about death drained the human boy, and he mumbled to the horse, "you need to eat," before shutting his eyes and dozing off.

M:   Mandara watched as Johann went to sleep, not sure if he should keep him awake or let him doze off. Cinnamon heard the tiredness in Johann's voice and turned her head to him, seeing him falling asleep she moved closer to him and snuggled up to him.

Mandara decided to leave them alone and went over to Anglo and Xanthos, grabbing a brush and a step stool. When Anglo asked where Johann was he said, "he fell asleep and Cinnamon is taking care of him, I decided to give them time."

N:   "The both of them have gone through a lot," Anglo spoke solemnly, stepping aside so Mandara could brush Xanthos. After a moment, the winged country said, "if you subtract the times when things went lopsided, I have enjoyed my time here, so I would like to invite you all to the British Isles. You can come whenever you want"

Soon after he said that, Xanthos nickered and nudged the Englishman with his muzzle, earning a small chuckle from Anglo.

———

Near the fringes of the town, Saxon was wandering around, when he heard the clopping of hooves nearby. He turned to see a chestnut Calabrese trotting into view on the pathway which was obscured by a forest.

Confused, he approached the horse and noticed that it was saddled and was carrying a bag bearing a triskelion. "Isn't that Celtica's," he muttered, and he soon got his answer when someone smacked the back of his head. He whispered a small ouch before turning to see a very angry Celt.

"What is your goddamn problem, boy," she growled, elbowing his stomach, "you're lucky that I was nearby and that Scotty sent the letter to me."

"I thought you wouldn't come," the entity spoke, slightly wheezing from the pain.

"It was either me or Scotty, and you are a fool to think I wouldn't come," she spoke as she walked past him. Her ankle-long dress, blending with the flora of the forest, flowed behind her as she grabbed for something in her bag, "I'm bringing a letter from British Empire to the Kingdom of Mandoria, on the topic of England's capture."

"But first you have to announce your presence in the kingdom, otherwise," Saxon glanced at the nearby knights who were patrolling, "you're trespassing."  The woman nodded and followed the entity towards the castle, guiding her horse as they made their way.

M:   While Saxon was escorting Celtica, one of the said knights confronted them to see what was going on, and after Saxon explained the knight escorted them both to the stables so Celtica's horse could be put away.

Derogan was heading back to the main stables when he saw them coming, so he went over to greet the newcomer like he was taught.

"It looks like you brought a friend Sir Saxon," he said, bowing respectively, "Dahver Madam, welcome to the castle of King Mandoria, I am his eldest son, Derogan, it is a pleasure to meet you."

N:   "It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Derogan," the country curtsied, "and your manners are exemplary. I am Lady Celtica, Scotland's mother."

"And ancient," Saxon murmured under his breath, but the Celt heard him and jabbed him again in his side, causing the entity to fold up and inch away from her.

"Ignore him," she said, giving Saxon the stink eye, then she faced the prince, "could I possibly meet your father? I need to deliver a message."

M:   Derogan's respectful smile faded and his posture deflated.

"I am afraid that is impossible at the present time," he said, "Father and I were attacked by a rogue group of Prussian soldiers and he didn't fare as well as I did which as you can see -" he spread out his half plucked and bandaged wings for Celtica to see, "- was quite a brutal attack, if it weren't for the English, I'd say we'd both be dead."

N:   Celtica's face fell when she heard that, and muttered "My God." She faced and asked Saxon, "did that actually happen?"

The entity nodded, "now King Mandoria is still suffering from the consequences, resting in his room as we speak." The green country took this in and turned back to Derogan.

"I'm terribly sorry that this had to happen to you all, and all I can say is that I hope you, your father, and anyone else who was injured will have a swift recovery. I am happy that my family has done good here," she quickly glanced at the entity.

England, who was in the stables, popped his head out when he heard talking, and called out, "Celtica, what a pleasant surprise."

"England dear," she smiled; however, her smile faltered when he saw his arm in a sling, "what happened to you? Was it the Prussians?"

"Huh, the Prussians-oh, it's fine. It is nothing to worry about," the English country quickly said, so he redirected the topic, "Follow me so you can take your horse to the stables, and Fa is inside too." He led the group inside.

M:   Derogan watched them enter the castle, then went to the stables to fetch Mandara and Johann. He saw Mandara brushing Xanthos but didn't see Johann anywhere, so he ask his brother about it.

"He fell asleep with Cinnamon, I decided to leave them alone, why do you ask?"

"There is another English that arrived," Derogan explained, opening the stall door. He entered and saw Cinnamon curled up with Johann so he very carefully shook the boy's shoulder,' "hey, wake up, another English country came, we should go see what's going on this time.

N:   "Wha," Johann murmured, his eyes open a slither as he gradually woke up, "another?" When he was awake enough, he slowly ran his fingers through Cinnamon mane and carefully got up from where he was sitting, not wanting to disturb her. A half asleep human boy followed Derogan out of the stall and met with Mandara and with Anglo, who was petting Xanthos.

"Another English country," Anglo thought, tilting his head as he tried to remember who the prince was referring to, then his eyes lit up, "oh, so Celtica is here." He then turned to Derogan, "Just for your information, try not to call Lady Celtica English, especially in front of her. It's not that she doesn't like us, but she doesn't want to associate with us as English."

"So she doesn't like you?" Johann asked, trying to wrap his head around the explanation.

"She just rather be called British, as a way to represent the Isles, and not just England."

M:   "Ok, I'll remember that," Derogan agreed, Mandara nodded to show that he also understood

"So why is she here," Mandara asked, stepping down from Xanthos, "I thought Saxon told Rowen that she wouldn't come."

"She said she had a message to deliver to Father," he responded, "it must be urgent if she would risk coming here, but from her reaction to me explaining why she couldn't see Father, I guess that she didn't know about the Prussians, and England seemed adamant about keeping it that way," he looked to Anglo, "England and Saxon took her inside, we should probably go find them.

N:   Anglo hmmed, "I understand why my son would do that, but he also needs to understand that we cannot avoid the term 'Prussia' whenever she's around." He walked out of the stables along side the children, and he continued to explain, "there was a time when she trusted Prussia, to the point that when it came to forming an alliance with him, she advised British Empire to accept it. When he broke his trust, and learnt who he really is, she felt guilty that she trusted him and to anyone who was hurt by him."

The group eventually found Celtica, England and Saxon, as the Celt and the younger English countries laughed at the expense of the Saxon.

"I should have tried to come earlier," she laughed, "you are lucky that I missed the opportunity to see you jump on a table, kid."

"Don't call me kid," muttered Saxon, annoyed that he's the target, "I am way too old to be called that."

"Not to me," she turned round and saw Anglo, and stretched out her arms and pulled the winged country into a hug, "It is nice to see you, Anglo."

"And to you too," he replied, then his tone went semi-serious, "have you whacked Saxon on the head today?"

"Of course I did," she grinned, she pulled away so she can see Anglo's face, "someone once in a while needs to remind him that he's a dollophead."

He only shook his head disapprovingly, but the smallest smile could be seen, and he stepped aside so Mandara can see Celtica.

M:   Mandara was again nervous about newcomers he hasn't seen before, so half hid behind his brother, though he did laugh a little at Saxon being called a dollophead.

Derogan chuckled too until he started staring off into space from getting a message through his wings.

"Father said that one of the knights told him you're here, Lady Celtica," he translated, "he says that you can go see him he just won't be able to speak directly to you since his throat was injured."

N:   She nodded and then glanced at Anglo, who also nodded, "I'll come with you to translate." She was about to follow Anglo to Mandoria when he noticed Johann, so she crouched down and stretched out her hand, "my name is Celtica, what is yours?"

Johann, having more confidence to meet new people than Mandara, shook her hand, "hello, Lady Celtica, I am Johann."

"That name sounds Prus-" she began but was quickly interrupted by the human boy.

"Saxon, madam. I am Saxon but I'm going to live in this kingdom now," he read her face as she wondered why he would stay. However, she had some idea of what had happened in Saxony, so she smiled weakly.

"Well, I hope that you have a wonderful home here," she concluded. She glanced to see Mandara hiding behind Derogan so she said, "Hello there. It's alright if you're nervous, it's normal when it comes to meeting new people. If you ever want to talk to me, feel free to. If you can put up with Saxon, then you are fine with me."

There was a small grumble from the entity, which got a chuckle from Anglo, who asked if Celtica was ready to go. She nodded, got up and spoke to the group, "I'm going to discuss some issues with King Mandoria, so if you are bothered to listen to adult talk then you can come, otherwise," she glanced outside to see the sun slowly setting, "it's dinner." With that, Anglo led Celtica to the King's room.

M:   Mandara and Derogan glanced at each other nervously when Celtica mentioned issues, and they had a fairly good idea what she meant by that.

"England started it," Mandara blurted, pointing to the English country, "he attacked Father's knights when he was asked to leave, he was trespassing too."

"Mandara, no need to stick blame," Derogan scolded, "that might not be why she's here, let's just wait for what Father has to say."

The two kids were silent the rest of the way, only speaking to explain to the guard why they were there. The guard let them in without any trouble.

Mandoria was sitting up in bed, he looked better despite being wrapped up like a Christmas present, his energy had returned little by little and no longer looked like he was on death's doorstep.

"Greetings Lady Celtica," Mandoria said through Anglo, "I apologize that you have to see me in such a state, but when I was told that you bear a message from British Empire, I felt it important to receive it. If I may, I am assuming that word of Sir England's capture had somehow reached the British Isles and BE is not pleased about it?"

N:   "Unfortunately, he is not," she replied as she pulled out a letter from her bag, and handed it over to Mandoria, "the letter is unnecessary long but I will quickly summarise it. BE stated that he would put tariffs on all Mandorian produce that goes into the British Isles and to any part of the British Empire. Also, he would switch his source of imports from the Kingdom of Mandoria to other sources such as the Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire. For how long he would do this has not been confirmed." She paused so that the information would sink in.

"But," Anglo questioned, "British Empire is not close with Austrian Empire."

"BE's relationship with the French Empire has been rocky for a while, and he said, and I quote, "To reduce French influence in the Continent"."

She turned back to Mandoria, "despite this, my son was able to sustain the alliance between our two nations, so he will still aid you in times of war; however, Scotland wasn't the most impartial advisor to BE when he heard the news. And finally, my son told me something that BE said. He said that you were his ally, his friend, and knows that he shouldn't have allowed England to go after Saxon. However, he wondered if you were ever going to tell him what had happened and that even when you captured his father, you didn't tell him."

M:   Mandoria slumped at every word Celtica said, he felt nothing but shame and guilt that he caused such rifts to form in his alliance with British Empire.

"I ... was advised to let the English inform BE about his father's capture," he said, not looking at anyone, "you know not the shame I feel for letting things escalate this far, and I know that no amount of apologies can right the wrongs I have done."

"NO," Derogan yelled, causing everyone to jump, "it's not Father's fault, he did nothing wrong!"

Derogan stood in front of Celtica and flared his wings threateningly, not caring about being respectful anymore, "how dare you accuse Father of wrongdoing, he had no choice. England attacked our knights when he was asked to leave, we tried to end things peacefully yet he was so focused on capturing Saxon that he refused to leave and attacked us"

He glared angrily at England, "tell her, tell her it's not Father's fault, TELL HER!"