A Visitor

"Three, two, one, Heave!"

Elisar lifted the corpse of a horse with Jop and several other soldiers into a wagon. The animal was heavy and he ran out of air.

It took them three tries to load the animal and he was panting after the effort. He sat on a nearby rock. Jop also sat beside him.

"Haaaa!" Jop let out an annoyingly long sigh. "We went here to ask around, but we are helping them clean their camp instead."

"Don't complain. You know this is the easiest and safest way to gather information."

"But I'm tired." Jop complained "I have the urge to ask them directly and be done with it."

"And how are you going to talk to them huh? 'Hi I'm Jop, do you know where Erik Connel's prison is?' " Elisar imitated Jop's voice in an exaggerated way. "Patience is important Jop. Although His Majesty said that we need to hurry, I think he knows that spying takes time."

"Well, you're right. I did find some other useful information on my own though." Jop revealed a smile. "They say that Prince Ivan had ordered a retreat to Nirvana. Our attack last night shook the Prince."

Elisar felt delighted. When he first heard that Prince Ivan was coming to Solon with an army of twenty thousand, he thought that thousands of Castonian lives would be needed to stop the aggression. But if Jop's information was correct, then that means the number of casualties will be lower.

Elisar hated fighting against fellow Castonians. Their current enemies were their past friends. Even though his loyalty to King Timothy was still absolute, swinging his sword towards old friends was hard.

The retreat of Prince Ivan would not mean the end of the Civil War, but at least they will have a respite from the fighting. How he wished for the end of the civil war to come soon. He hoped for the day King Timothy enters Nirvana as the King of all Castonia.

"And what about the men? What are their reactions?" Elisar asked.

"Most of them are afraid of King Timothy. Just like us, they regret gossiping about King Timothy's birthright. Most of them don't believe the gossip now. They say that if King Timothy was indeed a bastard, then how in the world did he turn into a lion last night?"

Elisar laughed. He was familiar with the habit of the soldiers to exaggerate things. The rumors about King Timothy having the ability to turn into a lion must have resurfaced after the attack last night.

"And what about their morale?"

Jop went closer to him. "Many of them wanted to switch sides. They say that Prince Ivan is incompetent and this war was King Leopold's fault in the first place."

Of all the news and rumors they've heard today, this was the best. Elisar hoped that many of the Castonians would switch sides. He hoped that his brothers will see that King Timothy is a better leader compared to King Leopold or Prince Ivan.

"Let's go back Jop. Although we haven't discovered the location of Erik Connel's prison, we need to report our findings to His Majesty. It's almost dark anyway."

Jop agreed and the two of them stood up. They were about to go back to their camp when a woman approached them.

The appearance of a woman in a military camp was strange enough. What really was strange was the fact the woman looked like a noble.

She had a long black hair tied into a braid. Her clothes were plain but the way she wore them gives off an aura unique to the nobility. If Elisar was to guess, she looked like a Vanadian. She was pretty despite the scar on her face.

"What can we do for you milady?" Elisar bowed his head a little. Jop looked at him and imitated his actions.

"You are King Timothy's spies" she said without batting an eye.

Elisar's heart almost stopped. She knew? How? Thousands of thoughts entered his mind. He perceived danger. They had been discovered.

Beside him, Jop had also realized the danger. He was looking around and had one hand on the hilt of his sword.

Elisar was about to run with Jop when the woman reached out her hand. "I am Sylvie"

**********************************************************

"No, I don't trust her. I can't trust her and never in a million years will I trust her." Timothy said after hearing Elisar and Jops's report.

Sylvie, the crazy woman who betrayed and tried to kill Lucia, contacted them. She said that she needed help in setting Erik free. She wanted Timothy to cause a commotion in Ivan's camp again and send a rescue party to get Erik out of prison. She also said that she will be their guide and eyes inside Ivan's camp. Timothy doesn't buy her story. She had betrayed Lucia before and she could betray them again.

Although the prospect of having a well-rooted spy inside Ivan's camp was tempting, Timothy doesn't want to gamble. After what she did, he can't trust her. She could be working for Ivan or Skall and was luring them into a trap.

He looked at Henry who was sitting beside him. Although he had almost already made up his mind, he wanted a second opinion. After their talk last night, he realized that he needed to hear the knight's opinion before making a decision. "What do you think?"

Henry seemed surprised that Timothy asked for his opinion. "From what I know, she betrayed Lucia. Isn't that right?"

Timothy nodded.

Henry continued. "The book of Knights puts heavy emphasis on redemption from sins. In fact, I am working for redemption now. The Omniscient forgives betrayals. But forgiveness is different from trust."

Timothy discovered that Henry had the same opinion with him. But he wanted to hear an opinion or a reason different from his. So he turned to the person in the room who had a very different opinion to him.

"And what about you Arthur?"

Contrary to Henry's good etiquette, Arthur had the audacity to eat while they were discussing plans. The Prince put down his spoon and wiped the smeared porridge off his mouth.

"Sylvie? Yea. I know her. She was pretty noble girl with long legs. The shape of her body is good too."

Timothy ignored Arthur's lecherous remark and continued listening.

"Don't trust her." Arthur said. "When she was at the palace, I thought she was an angel. She was proper, kind, you know it. Turns out she is crazy. If she can put up an act like that, I don't think you should trust her."

After hearing the opinion of Henry and Arthur, Timothy was disappointed. Both of their arguments were similar to his.

He found Lucia's absence to be tiring. Discovering spies, traitors, schemes and plans were Lucia's expertise. Timothy on the other hand, was bad at these things. If Lucia was here, she should have already given a convincing advice.

"We will not trust Sylvie. It's too dangerous" Timothy gave Elisar and Jop his decision.

After discussing plans to further weaken Ivan's camp and increase the number of defectors, Timothy dismissed Henry.

Although the day wasn't a busy one, Timothy was still exhausted. He had waited all day for Elisar and Jop's report, only to discover another hard choice in the end.

He went to his bed and snuffed the candle. The moon was bright so his tent had good illumination.

The moon, Timothy thought bitterly. The moon remind him of Lucia. He missed her already. His decisions were flawed without her and he had no one to discuss his deepest feelings with. How he wished that she was beside him.

From her last letter, Timothy estimated that she had arrived in Solon with King Edmund. At least she was safe, he thought. With Ivan retreating, he will also go back to Solon soon. Although he wanted to chase and harass Ivan on his way to Nirvana, they were running out of food. Horses consumed more food than he expected.

Just a few more days, he silently murmured. He will come back to her in just a few more days. He was losing himself and he needed her.

Timothy lay on his bed and pulled the blanket. The night was cold and winter was fast approaching. He turned to his left side, his usual position of sleeping.

But in the darkness, something caught his eye. At first he thought that he was seeing things. He was tired and it was dark so it could just be nothing. He blinked and the thing became clearer.

It was a man standing just about a meter away. He was tall and his clothes were, weird. Timothy had never seen such clothes before.

The man had a black coat, but it was not the same coat Timothy wears. He also had white buttoned clothing underneath the coat and some sort of clothing accessory on his neck. On top of his head was a hat. The hat was equally weird. It was black and had a cylinder-like shape. But what really stood out from the man's outfit was his cane. He wasn't old yet he was carrying a cane. It was a smooth black cane that looked like a stick at a glance.

Timothy's first reaction was to scream for help. He was almost sure that the man was an assassin. But before he could open his mouth, the man put one end of his cane on his lips and leaned forward. His movements were smooth and fluid.

"Shhhhh" he gave a sinister smile. It was so sinister that Timothy felt shivers down his spine.

"We are here to help"