Chapter 14

Deep in the heart of the Levantine Empire lay a magnificent city.

If one were to see it, they would be entranced by its beauty, towering walls made out of the finest stone, not a flaw could be found.

Guards patrolled each and every inch of this giant monolith, ballistas lined the walls and there were even some of a new type of invention that the empire had created which they called the 'Canon'.

Past the wall lay a sprawling city, several enormous markets lay throughout the city with thousands of people flitting through them.

In the lower part of the city lay the slums, however, even the slums were quite rich compared to other places. In the slums, cozy houses could be seen layered in rows which formed a maze in which one could easily get lost.

Above them and past an enormous gate that was patrolled by dozens of guards, lay where all the nobles lived.

Manors that sprawled over kilometers of territory formed a half-circle at the end of which they converged against a massive castle.

This castle was so big it put everything around it to shame, spiraling towers that seemed as if they could reach the clouds encircled the castle forming a ring around it.

Walls that were only slightly shorter than the city walls formed a square around the castle.

Once past the gate to those walls, one would come upon a sprawling garden that led to a set of marble steps.

Above those steps patrolled guards dressed in the livery of the Royal Guards.

A blue military uniform outfitted with steel armor, a long fur coat dyed blue hung from their soldiers.

They carried a strange assortment of weapons on them, aside from the regular halberds and swords which were a symbol of the royal guard, they also carried what seemed to be a long wooden stick with metal pieces attached to it in places, this long wooden rod could shoot little balls of lead which could pierce through leather armor easily and even pierce through thin layers of steel.

The reason only the royal guards possessed these so-called 'Rifles' as they named them, was due to the cost of manufacturing them, it was simply not feasible to make so many therefore the ones they had were given only to the best of the best.

Past all of this, one would enter a large foyer that bustled with servants at the end of which lay a set of large double doors made out of the finest dark oak wood and lined with steel.

As usual, the castle was bustling with activity even though there was a blizzard seemingly on the way.

Just then a voice shouted,

"Clear the way!"

The servants all turned to look at a man who was running with all haste towards the set of double doors.

This man was garbed in military attire however the insignia on his shoulder said that he was quite high up in the military, on his shoulders, a large blue fur cape fluttered in the wind as he rushed up the steps.

His boots tracked fresh mud and snow as he pushed past all the servants.

Upon reaching the double doors he stopped and composed himself.

The guards looked at him silently and he nodded, signaling them that he was ready.

They quickly saluted before slowly pulling open the double doors.

"General Hans Glibber!" announced a slim man who had taken a moment to check who it was that had arrived.

Hans nervously shuffled inside and proceeded to walk down a long blue carpet until he came before a massive throne.

He heard the loud bang of the doors closing shut behind him and he could only let out a loud gulp.

Glancing up he looked at his surroundings.

Massive gray marble pillars lined the throne room with blue banners hanging down from them, upon which was a snarling wolf with a crown on its head.

Tap!

Tap!

Tap!

Hans was broken from his reverie by the sound of fingers drumming against an armrest.

Hans flitted his eyes back to the center of the room where a large throne made of black marble stood proudly.

On the throne was a person shrouded in darkness, the light was quite dim in the throne room and the person's face was cast in shadows.

A pair of slender fingers drummed against the armrest causing Hans to fidget.

"My dear… dear… Hans…" said a slow and gentle voice which was quite obviously female.

"You seem to be nervous… Why is that?" asked the voice with an almost icy edge to it.

Hans gulped.

"I am simply awed by your majesty's grandeur…" Hans said, lowering his gaze as he kneeled.

A light laugh echoed through the empty throne room.

"Is that so…" said the voice.

"Then what brings you here my dear Hans?" asked the voice slowly.

Hans stood up and formed a salute.

"Your majesty, the Royal Alliance has retreated and abandoned their posts in Rowen, they have instead begun marching towards the Arturian Kingdom."

"I know…" said the voice airily.

Hans looked shocked.

"But… how…"

The fingers on the armrest stopped drumming, the slender and pale hand slowly lifted until it was positioned by the person's face.

One finger slowly raised up and slowly moved side to side in an 'I'm not telling' motion.

"You should know better than that my dear Hans...." said the voice in a sultry tone.

Hans once again gulped audibly before nodding and reaffirming his courage.

Stealing his gaze, he said.

"Of course your majesty, please forgive this ignorant one." before bowing low, almost groveling.

"Now… now... Hans, we wouldn't want anyone to see you like this, now would we? The glorious and fearsome general of the Empire, groveling on his knees, no we couldn't have that…" the voice said with an edge to it.

Hans felt the cold sweat that had formed on the back of his neck slowly drip down as his hair stood on end.

Getting up on his feet, he stood straight and saluted.

"Much better… Now, what is it you have come here for?"

"I request permission to pursue the enemy and strike them in the back," he said regaining his courage.

Suddenly the room froze, it was so still as if all life stopped existing in it.

On the throne, the person sitting on it shifted slightly.

"My dear Hans… can you truly not think of a better way?" the voice asked, this time it seemed like there was real danger if Hans didn't answer correctly.

Hans took a deep breath, thinking back to all the information he had, he tried to come up with a plan that would be better than what he had proposed.

Several minutes later under the sound of the fingers drumming Hans finally had an idea.

"If the Royal Alliance moves their forces and routs the Arturian forces that we know are moving in their direction from our scouts, then the division guarding our border with the kingdom will have to move to assist leaving the border open for attack," he said eagerly.

"But wait… that isn't possible I remember that old bastard Louis, he wouldn't be stupid enough to leave it undefended," Hans said, reconsidering.

"He does not possess the means to defend…" said the voice.

"What do you mean?" asked Hans, confused.

A loud sigh could be heard.

"Well I suppose since you don't know I'll just have to tell you won't I?" muttered the voice.

Hans looked terrified but nothing happened to him.

"You are aware that his son tried to poison him, correct?"

"Of course."

"Then do you really think he would send the division he has in the capital to defend the border?"

"No... but!"

"But he has two other divisions, is what you want to say?" the voice asked calmly.

Hans nodded, unsure.

"The Alliance is not the only one attacking them right now, are they?"

It was as if a light bulb lit up in his head, Hans seemed to brighten up immediately.

"Now do you understand?" asked the voice in a lecturing tone.

Hans nodded enthusiastically.

"Then go, you have my permission to begin." said the voice dismissively.

"Of course, your majesty!" Hans said, saluting, before quickly rushing out into the freezing blizzard.

***

Alex walked briskly through the snow leaving large footprints in his wake.

The snow pounded his body causing him to shiver slightly.

Upon arriving near the tents where the soldiers slept he saw that many torches had been lit and were covered in a canvas sack of sorts, enough to protect them from the snow and wind but not enough to smother them and leave them without air.

Alex stopped next to Colonel Hansen, nodding at the man Alex stepped up to the makeshift stage that had been erected.

Alex peered down at the men.

Some were still in their nightclothes and were shivering intensely while others were in various states of putting on their armor.

"All of you quickly put on your armor!" Alex shouted.

The soldiers sighed in relief and quickly rushed to change.

Several minutes later they were all assembled before him and no longer shivering as badly.

"Attention!" called the lieutenant.

They all stood stock still and formed salutes, not caring about the wind beating in their faces and the snow piling on top of them.

Alex nodded in satisfaction.

Raising his voice he began.

"The king has sent us a message!"

"If we do not force the Toryn's to accept a peace treaty quickly, we won't have a kingdom to come back to!"

The men stared back at Alex in shock.

"However!" he suddenly shouted, breaking them out of their reverie

"Fear not, for we shall accomplish this!"

"I have a plan! Or more specifically I should say, your new commander has a plan!"

The soldiers looked at each other confused, what did he mean, new commander?

From the side, Alice stepped forward amidst a hail of gazes that were directed at her.

She paled slightly under the pressure of their gazes but nevertheless gathered her courage and walked forward.

"Preposterous!" shouted Hansen.

"A woman cannot command an army!"

The soldiers all nodded slightly in agreement, while they all greatly respected Alex, for them to have a woman as a commander was unthinkable.

"Do you wish for your families to die?" Alex suddenly shouted, gathering their attention back to him.

"Your friends?"

"Children?"

"The only way to save the kingdom is to work as quickly and as efficiently as possible."

"That means we need to have a good commander, a commander who can think, who can adapt, who can plan. And the best commander is standing right here." Alex said, pointing at Alice.

"She is the ticket to saving this kingdom, and if I were you, I'd be the first damned man to accept a woman as a commander and condemn everyone else for doing the same!"

The men stared blankly at Alex as they began reconsidering.

At this moment Alice stepped forward.

With all their gazes focused on her, she began.

"I may not be good at leading, and I am also not good at fighting."

"However, if you accept me as your commander, then I promise you that each and every one of you will have a higher chance of surviving."

"I have commanded smaller armies before, and if you ever take a look at them, you will see that their survival rate is much higher than that of others."

"So, if you want to survive, if you want to go back and see your family and friends, I suggest you listen to my orders from now on."

At this point, she was practically shouting.

Behind her, Alex smiled slightly.

'I knew I wasn't wrong.'

The men seemed to come to a universal agreement as they nodded to each other before standing at attention and saluting.

Alex then stepped forward and said.

"Pack everything up! We leave in an hour!"

***

Back in the command tent, Alex and Alice were looking over a map as they began planning their best course of action.

"But I'm worried that it is too simple," Alice said worriedly as she finished explaining her plan.

"Using a simple method to accomplish something impressive, far outshines using a complex method to achieve the same thing," Alex said, placing his hands on her shoulders reassuringly.

"But shouldn't we take some more time to plan?" she asked, leaning into him.

"Fail to strike the enemy once you know their location, and it'll be too late to even regret the chance," Alex said comfortingly as he rubbed her back.

"How do you do it?" she asked softly.

"Do what?" he asked, confused.

"Fight, how do you walk onto the battlefield knowing it might be your last?" she asked, leaning away from him and sitting down in a chair.

Alex sat down and sighed.

"In the battlefield, there is no place for hope. What lies there is only cold despair and a sin called victory, built on the pain of the defeated. All those people who met there have wholeheartedly admitted the evil and foolishness of this act called war. As long as people don't repent and don't regard it as the most evil taboo, then hell will endlessly reappear in the world."

"However, it is home."

"Even if you leave the battlefield."

"The battlefield never leaves you," Alex said, shutting his eyes.

"But once all the wars have been fought there is peace, justice, and kindness. There won't be any more battlefields." Alice said hopefully.

Alex opened his eyes and gazed into hers.

His eyes were hollow, devoid of life.

"Justice cannot save the world, it is useless."

"The world as it is, human nature as always, it is impossible to eliminate battles. In the end, killing is a necessary evil. Human greed is endless, they never realized the truth until they stood upon a mountain of corpses. At the end of that road, there is nothing left. You've sacrificed everything, you've taken everything, in the end, all that's left is you, alone and empty."

"Conflict is humanity's primal instinct. Eliminating it would mean eliminating humanity itself." Alex closed his eyes as the pain of memories long forgotten rose inside of him.

Suddenly he felt a warm feeling as a pair of slender arms engulfed him in a tight embrace.

"Thank you…" Alex whispered quietly.

"You know, we haven't ever really sat down and talked and got to know one another," she said.

Releasing him from her embrace she stood up and put her hands on the side of his face forcing him to look up at her.

"I know there are things you don't want to tell me, I will wait as long as it takes for you to tell me them, however, to not know anything about my husband is simply shameful."

Alex blinked.

Smiling slightly at his expression, she sat down and asked.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Red," Alex said.

She scowled slightly.

"Figures…" she muttered.

"Mines yellow," she said, raising her head with a smile.

"Why yellow?" he couldn't help but ask.

She paused and thought about it.

"I think it's because when I was a little girl, during the summer my mother used to take me to these large fields of sunflowers that seemed to stretch endlessly. We used to roll around in them and she would even read me a book in the middle of the field as the breeze made them flutter around us. It was beautiful." she said with a slight smile on her face.

Hearing her story made Alex recall a memory from a very long time ago.

***

"Alex dear! Don't run too far!" called his mother.

Alex turned around to see his mother holding hands with his father as they strolled through the field of poppies.

"Ok, mom!" Alex yelled back as he began running through the field again.

"Heh, look at those two, they're practically thick as thieves." said a man slightly behind them.

He was Duke Winchester.

The party turned their gazes to Alex who had just met up with a young boy his age.

"Yes William and Alex do get along quite well…" Alex's mother sighed happily.

Alex picked up a stick and said to William.

"Let's fight like knights!"

William looked slightly shy but also picked up a stick.

They then began sparring with their little sticks like knights, causing the servants and guards to cover their faces as they began laughing.

"Yes, our Alex will grow up to be a fine boy… and with William by his side what could go wrong?" said the king jokingly.

They all laughed at his comment.

Alex began chasing William through the field as the poppies tickled their legs.

Suddenly William tripped over a rock and fell to the ground.

Alex stopped running and stood above William not knowing what to do.

William for his part began crying as he clutched his knee which was bruised.

The parents watched on waiting to see what would happen.

Alex slowly bent down and held out his hand.

"Come on, your a knight arent you?" Alex asked with a toothy grin.

William looked at Alex for a moment before he stopped crying.

Sniffling he grabbed his hand and got up.

"Yeah…" he said rubbing his eyes.

He then grabbed his stick and smacked it into Alex's leg.

"Oww!" yelped Alex.

"I thought we were knights!" shouted William as he ran off.

Alex growled before chasing after him, while under the laughing gazes of the adults.

***

"Alex!"

"Alex!"

Alex snapped out of the daze he was in.

Alice looked at him with concern as he struggled to figure out what had happened.

Clutching his head he said.

"Sorry I don't know what happened I just remembered an old memory."

Alice sighed in relief.

"What was it about?" she asked cautiously.

"I was playing with my best friend in a field of poppies, we were pretending to be knights…" Alex said wistfully.

"It sounds like they were important to you," Alex said with a thoughtful smile.

"Yeah, he was…" Alex said.

Alice blanched slightly, deciding it was better to change the topic, she said.

"We should get ready shouldn't we?"

Alex nodded and got out of his chair.

They packed in silence.

Once they were done, Alex turned around to ask her if she needed help carrying her stuff to find her already carrying all of it in a sack.

Closing his mouth he was about to leave when he suddenly felt something warm engulf his hand.

Glancing down he noticed a pale slender hand grasping his firmly.

Looking up he saw Alice look at him for a moment before glancing away.

Alex realized that she was trying to get closer to him, so he squeezed her hand gently before marching out with her into the dark night, under the ever-falling snow.