Twelve

"What? Intruders?" Celestria immediately rushed over to the town square where people were running even more frantically. Wilheim followed after, trying to keep up.

"M'lady, I believe the intruders are from Vykon. Sneak attack." He had taken a sword for himself at this point. It was one of the shorter swords, since he was better at close combat. The two were trying to have all the civilians run into safe places, sending three to alert the king. Because of the panic, townspeople were running around the town square rather than running into their houses. There were soldiers of Vykon, dressed in navy blue and yellow painted armour. The metal of their armour clanked as they ran through the panicked crowd, slashing randomly.

Celestria and Wilheim had finally approached one of the small crowds of soldiers. They both fought furiously, two soldiers grouping up on Celestria. She wasn't surprised. Their king must've told them how dangerous she was. But two measly soldiers wouldn't stop her. 

At this point, more of Celestria's colleagues had joined the fight. Some were still badly wounded, but it didn't stop them from taking down a few soldiers. But they wouldn't stay down since it was hard for them to seriously wound them with half or even less than half of their strength. Some of the commander's own soldiers had already been even more injured, which would make it harder for them to recover.

She slashed her sword through the air, blade meeting blade. As she fought, she caught a glimpse of Sigourney joining the battle. She wasn't wearing Ardonian armour, but rather colours that didn't look familiar to the commander. The colours of Lyndonori, perhaps? The sight of the queen surprised Celestria, making her falter. And in that moment, a soldier managed to land a sizable blow to her leg. 

She hissed, cursing as she continued to fight off soldiers, clutching her leg to keep the bleeding slow. There was a split second where no one came after her, and she took that moment to hide behind a building.

Lifting up her armour pant leg, she grimaced at the stinging. Celestria ripped off the sleeve of her under-clothing and tightly wrapped it around the leg. The wound quickly bled through, but there wasn't any better she could do on the spot. Just before the commander got up, the queen showed up. 

"I saw that soldier cut you. You were limping," she said, looking behind her to make sure no one attempted to attack them. Once she was sure no one was noticing them, she grabbed a thick roll of bandages from a med pack she had. Sigourney ripped the bandage with her teeth to about a few feet long before wrapping it tightly around the wound.

Her eyebrows were furrowed as she made sure the wound wouldn't bleed through. "We can clean and dress it when we get back to the palace. For now, this will have to do."

Celestria nodded, keeping her grip tight on her sword. She didn't ask why she came and helped, since she came to Ardon for the sole purpose to help the war. The commander tried her leg. She was no longer limping, at least not noticeably. It was still painful, of course, but she wouldn't show any weakness to her enemies.

Sigourney made sure she was stable before going back out from the other side with a loud cry, distracting any soldiers nearby. Celestria came back out, no one's attention on her, so she took that to her advantage. The commander had snuck behind one large soldier, grabbing a dagger she usually had strapped against her thigh. She stabbed him in his side, twisting the dagger as he screamed in agony. He dropped to the ground, leaving Celestria's torso covered in splattered blood. Moans of pain left his mouth as she grabbed the dagger from his side. She didn't bother to finish him off, since he'd die anyway with such a large wound. 

There weren't many Vykon soldiers left. It was a bloody scene and as if it wasn't already bad luck; it began snowing heavily. Celestria let out a sharp breath as she continued to bring down other soldiers. Throughout the entire battle, she endured many cuts, but the worst was the wound on her leg. The snow clung to her skin, melting anytime it came across a fresh wound. 

By the time King Stephen had appeared at the scene, most of the Vykon soldiers were dead, and the others had retreated. He was on his royal steed, a pure white male that was faster than most of the other horses. Exhausted, Celestria limped over to him. One of her soldiers, Charles, had rushed over to help her. He wrapped her arm around his neck, and she leaned some of her weight into him. 

Sigourney had joined them as Stephen had jumped off his horse. He looked upon the scene of dead soldiers as the snow kept falling, thick and heavy. 

"I was just notified about the ambush. I see my best commander got everything figured out." He spoke smugly, as if he didn't realise how wounded Celestria and the others were now.

This annoyed the queen. She just grabbed Celestria's wrist, moving her arm onto her shoulder instead. "I'll take her to get her wounds dressed. My soldiers will help clean things up here." And then she left, taking Celestria with her.

The commander was confused but just continued with her since she was in pain and tired. She leaned her head against Sigourney's shoulder, closing her eyes and just letting her lead. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the palace. The queen took her to her room instead of the hospital wing. 

Sigourney's room was large and expensive, no doubt decorated by King Stephen due to his infatuation. He was always trying to show off, especially if it meant a possible one nighter.

There was a black cat that slept on a teal cushioned chair in the corner. It woke up as the two entered the room, but showed no interest as it went back to sleep. 

She laid the other on her bed, propping her head up with pillows. Sigourney rummaged through some of her drawers before finding a first aid kit, taking it to the bed. She cut off the fabric on Celestria's leg to keep it out of the way. The commander kept her eyes closed, still so tired. 

With her eyes closed, she spoke. "Queen, you do realise there's a hospital wing for us warriors, right?"

Sigourney didn't look up from the other's leg. She grabbed some alcohol and pain medicine before soaking a small rag in the alcohol. Then she put the rag on Celestria's wound, making her hiss as she cleaned it. "Yes, I know," she simply said as she continued to clean the blood off of the commander's leg. 

"Then why am I here instead?" she questioned through gritted teeth, letting out a sharp breath when Sigourney removed the rag. 

The queen didn't answer at first. Furrowing her brows, she put a numbing medication along the cut before wrapping it tightly in thick bandages. "They'll be full, and knowing you, you'd wait until everyone else had been treated before getting yourself treated." She wasn't wrong, Celestria always wanted to make sure that her soldiers were okay before herself. 

She stayed silent as she sat up, wincing. Sigourney cleaned out the rag before putting more alcohol on it. "I need you to take your shirt off," the queen said as she got smaller bandages. 

"Could at least buy me dinner first," Celestria chuckled, but Sigourney looked unamused. She turned quiet before shaking her head and took her shirt off to be left in just a brassiere. "No, but seriously, I do need food. Fighting can be quite draining."

"Later. After you've rested."