In times of war, the further away from the front lines the people lay, the easier it was for them to ignore the conflict. Particularly the nobility. While they were tucked away in the safety of their lands, it was the commoners that had their villages pillaged and their sons conscripted. The sons of the nobility weren't openly recruited, but that hardly stopped them from searching for glory on the battlefield. Particularly the sons who had no hopes of inheriting their family name. Those sons were expendable. That is, unless fate handed a family an unfortunate hand.
Ether wasn't nearly as far from the front lines as Raven's Wood, but from the way everyone behaved, it may as well have been halfway across the world. Within the palace, servants milled about to prepare for a tea party that
