Separate kingdoms bordering other kingdoms is dangerous. I hope you're sister manages, this is the situation I find myself in.

[He suggests the route she has been considering. He may not have wanted to be king, but he had a head for statesmanship.]

Our country is small in comparison, but there is another way to build an army. There are mountain clans, natives unalligned to either cause. If I can negotiate with them, they may help. It is possible, if we offer something to their benefit.