Leaving the County

The people are starting to equip their golden helmets, the war is about to start. The air is filled with chatter and music as they prepare for battle, ready to fight in their last stand. But the only one who doesn't seem to be paying attention is the man who wears a golden helmet, who is sitting alone on his horse and staring at nothing in particular. It seems that he has no idea of the impending chaos of this great war. There are men like him not scurrying about since the impending war isn't obvious for young soldiers like them. They don't even look like they want to fight. They sit there as if the world wasn't ending soon. As if the world was not going to crumble in less than an hour. 

There's a small group of people gathered around the campfire where they're having a late dinner.

Some of them have ears sharper than others. They have lived for a long time, these, elves, these, warlike people. They've been in the battlefields for decades and seen things that would make anyone else shudder in disgust. And the things they saw are enough to give anybody nightmares for a lifetime. They have seen wars. Some of them have seen more wars than some of the humans that live among them. They know what it means when war starts, and how it ends. 

... ... ...

Meisa Abad sits on a chair looking off to the distance as she painfully pulls out her hair strand by strand. She hasn't slept well for days now, but she is still awake and alert as usual. But today is different, today Meisa can feel something. A tension, a sense of danger. It's the same kind of feeling you get before an earthquake or a tornado strikes. This is something that will shake the very foundations of the Elven Kingdom.

This is the first major thing to happen in her life. She's only 75... She's too young to die. Her children have yet to be born. Even though most of her friends are grown up already and settled down with husbands, wives, families, Meisa is still young and pretty. She doesn't have any kids to raise. And while she could always find love with a man, she never did like those kinds of relationships.

Her hair has formed a small loose pile on the table before she noticed. She brushes through it with a sigh as she tries to concentrate on the problem at hand. She has to find someone to do all the work for her. Someone to take care of her garden and animals until the war is over. Or else…

It doesn't matter. If she dies, her land and livestock will be redistributed. That's how wars work. It's just something that happens, and that's all there is to it. But she can't think about such things. She must keep her mind sharp. She can't let herself get distracted. Not now, not ever.

She glances up at the sky. The sun is setting. It's getting late. But that's not the reason that makes her glance up. She knows that the sun is setting. She knows this without looking up at it. Something else causes the hairs on the back of her neck to stiffen, something much stronger than the sun's rays.

She can see the flag of the Royal Army, she can feel it, Count Vadik Krall is planning a coup. A real, genuine coup against the Queen. The fighting... Is something she hasn't experienced before. She's embarrassed to admit, but at the age of 75, she's a raw recruit. It will take at least a year to equip armor, since most elves are landowners, only the wealthy are allowed to participate in wars.

She sinks back in thought. She has 300,000 acres of land herself. It should belong to her family if she dies. And if Vadik succeeds in taking the throne from the Queen, then he'll own most of her lands. If Meisa survives the coup, then she'd have to sell some her land and farm it to raise food for the starving population of the city. It would cost a fortune, it would hurt her financially.

So naturally, she could let those stinky humans starve... But if a lot of them die where will she get her workforce? How many will be able to pay her taxes? How many will want to come to her house and help her run her estate? Sometimes she wished these humans don't need to eat at all.

As for these elves and their retinue... Each elf brings with them 20 human riders, their most loyal companions. Although some of them just bring sex toys to battle. Meisa has to smile slightly at this thought. It's so odd to see a couple of humans and elves riding horses together, especially in the Elven army. She shakes her head.

Meisa is almost 100 years old. She doesn't look the age either, because she's tall, thin and muscular...

She is deep in thought when a plate of braised meat is placed on her table by one of her, ahem, men. This human is fairly young... About 45 years old... Well, fairly old and gruffy, just her type. He gives her a small grin, which she reciprocates with a smile of her own. He turns to leave, and Meisa hears the faint whisper of 'Good luck'.

Meisa looks up once more at the sky, she takes another bite of the steak she had been holding, and looks at the sky again. She then looks to her human retinue, only eating some jerky.

Not even the good jerky, the ugly, hard and leathery type of jerky. Ugh, disgusting food, as expected of worms. These poor creatures aren't even capable of doing basic tasks like cooking. Meisa snickers inwardly, then continues chewing slowly, watching the twilight sky.

"Meisa, I heard the news. You have been summoned to the Count," said one of the elves. "You'll have to be prepared in 3 months time."

... ...

"What!? Why such a short time!?" Meisa nearly drops her plate. "He couldn't possibly have found the missing prince within that time!" She exclaims indignantly.