Four

The queen was dumbfounded. No one had ever been so rude to her. She had to admit Celestria intrigued her but, she didn't like her. 

Meanwhile, Celestria was heading to the hospital wing. She expected most to be asleep. When she opened the creaking door, Wilheim soon greeted her. 

"Aye, m'lady! What are ya still doin' up this late?" he questioned. Another soldier joined the two of them. He was taller than Wilheim and had a darker complexion. His eyes were honey brown and his hair was black and kinky. The sight of him brought her some comfort. They had been friends since they were infants. In some ways, he was her closest and most trusted friend. 

"Well," she said, not sure of how to break the news. "There's been a bit of an alliance change…" The soldier who was with Wilheim, Anderson, straightened his posture and gripped his sword hilt. That's one thing she liked about him. When it came down to business and important matters, he was a no-nonsense man.

"What do you mean 'alliance change'? Have we sided with a former enemy?" The emotion in his voice was hard to read, but his posture suggested that he was highly unhappy with the thought of siding with someone we once fought. 

"No. I'd never allow the king to make a move like that."

"Then who is it?" Wilheim asked. "'Cause ya don't seem thrilled about it, m'lady." He was right. I hated the alliance.

"You're aware of the kingdom Lyndonori, correct? Their queen heard of our recent," she refused to call it a failure, "setback against Vykon. She has offered to help us defeat them."

"In exchange for what?" Anderson asked. Celestria froze. She was in shock. How had she not thought to ask that question? Could she be any dumber? It was highly unlikely that the queen wouldn't want something in return. Had she mentioned anything? The commander thought back on her time with Sigourney. No. She hadn't mentioned wanting something in return. She needed to figure out exactly what it is the queen wants from them, but she really didn't feel like having another encounter with the woman tonight. She looked at the two soldiers. It seemed as if Anderson was enjoying her incompetence a bit too much; he was biting his cheek as if to hide a smile.

"Wipe that look off your face, Anderson," Celestria said, obviously annoyed. "And to answer your question, she has not expressed what she wanted yet. Until we know, stay on edge. We're only here to do what we're asked of, nothing else."

Anderson nodded, not doing a good job at hiding the smile on his face. "Yes, of course, commander."

Celestria wasn't amused at the smug look on his face. She thought for a moment. It seemed he always found her mistakes funny, and she was tired of it. She was his commander, he should show her respect. Suddenly, she was struck with a brilliant idea. She needed to release some of her stress and tension, and Anderson needed to be taught a lesson. 

"You know, boys? I don't think you've been working hard enough lately." A devilish grin appeared on her face. "Anderson, you're on sparing, Wilheim, you observe and take notes."

A groan left Anderson's mouth. "Listen, commander, with all due respect–"

"Did I say you could speak?" 

He shut up, then shook his head. "No, sorry commander."

Celestria watched him for a moment, before opening the door, beckoning the two out. "Go on, quickly, before I lose my temper." 

The two rushed out of the door as fast as they could, not wanting to anger her. She closed the door behind her, nodding to them to tell them to keep walking. The three headed to the vacant training ground, Celestria in tow. The grounds were covered in dead grass. There were a few dummies, the straw they were filled with spilling out. In the corner was an armoury holding different swords. 

Celestria grabbed her favourite of the bunch, reserved only for her. The hilt was made of soft leather, dyed to be a royal blue. She pointed the sword at Anderson, the end only a few inches from his throat. 

"Now, Anderson, what was it that was so funny?" Celestria would definitely never intentionally hurt her soldiers. At least, not seriously. And her soldiers weren't dumb enough to argue or talk back to her. 

He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Nothing, nothing was funny." Wilheim chuckles at Anderson about how uncomfortable he looked. Celestria raises her eyebrows at him.

"Do you also think something's funny? Because we all know that I could just as easily take you both on." Wilheim's amusement quickly vanished. By now a crowd of soldiers, servants, and maids had gathered around them. It kinda reminded them of their first quarrel as children. Everyone had gathered, expecting Anderson to win. So, of course, Celestria had to prove them wrong. She'd been the better swordsmen since they were both old enough to walk, and that hadn't changed. She nodded her head at him, signaling him to commence the fight. 

He lunged at her, moving his sword in a swiping motion. She chuckled to herself as she dodged the move in two steps. He had always been so predictable. She turned so that she was behind him and brought her sword hilt down on the back part of his shoulder. The hit was hard enough for him to feel it. He quickly recovered and pointed his sword at himself. Celestria had never seen him make a move like this before. In her confusion, she didn't have time to react. He thrust the sword back past his torso and it connected with her stomach. She gasped and stumbled back a few steps. This gave him enough time to turn and fully face her. He charged at her and connected his shoulder with her body to knock her over. Celestria hit the ground with a thud but recovered quickly. She planted her hands and put all her weight on her arms as she flipped herself back up. She landed on her feet and held her sword up in a defensive position. The commander noticed the grin forming on her friend's face and had to fight to hide her own. As fun as this was, she couldn't be distracted and let him win.

She raised her sword and lunged. And she would've hit Anderson if a certain queen hadn't shown up. Celestria felt her previous annoyance flooding back. She snapped back to attention at the sound of Anderson's sword swinging through the air. She immediately put up her own sword, blocking the hit. The two of them were very close, noses inches from each other. A smug grin spread across her face before she head butted him, knocking him back a few steps. 

Anderson was hunched over, rubbing his head as he groaned. Celestria took that moment to shove the hilt of her sword into his abdomen, knocking him onto his back. Before he had time to recover, she climbed onto him, now in a straddling position. She held her blade against his neck, using her knees to pin his arms down. 

"Checkmate, Anderson," Celestria said. He glared up at her as the crowd began cheering for the commander. She got off of him, grabbing his hand to help him up.  

Instead of using her hand to pull himself up, he tugs her down. She lands on top of him with both legs on either side of him. She tried to adjust herself and get up, but he placed one of his hands on each side of her hips. She ended up straddling him with her hands on his chest. Pursing her lips, she pushed herself up with a threatening look as if telling Anderson not to try again. 

Celestria grabbed her sword off the ground by the hilt before turning to Wilheim. "I hope you learned something important," she said. She turned to the crowd and bowed as they all clapped. She then turned back to Anderson to motion for him to step off the grounds. He bowed to her before he stepped aside.

"I guess you won again, commander."