Partings

Two thousand horsemen were passing in front of them one by one. There were still noticeable flaws in the way they ride their mounts which showed their lack of proper training. Nevertheless, their current performance was a far cry from their performance in the battle of Knightsend.

Henry's guidance works, Timothy thought. Even though the Knight had encountered difficulty at first in gaining the trust and respect of the men, he was able to train the two newly-built Western Castonian Cavalry Cohorts. Even though the Leons were still better riders in Timothy's opinion, his cavalry were not far behind. He even predicted that one day, Castonia will have a cavalry matching that of Tulosa.

"You don't look nervous" King Edmund commented beside him. The King was also on horseback like Timothy.

"I am nervous. Nothing is for certain after all. I just don't want to show it in front of the soldiers. My confidence will give them strength." Timothy answered.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're secretly an old man, Timothy. Your words are too advanced for you age." King Edmund chuckled. "But I admire that about you"

"Thank you. But don't give me your full admiration yet. I'm still not sure of our success. My cavalry is still untested." He looked at King Edmund. "But I will do my best. This is for our shared future. I'll leave the rest in your hands."

King Edmund patted the armor of his horse. The reflection from its gold coat was blinding. "Yes" he nodded. "Leave the rest to me. I may not have experience when it comes to battles, but I think even a fool can do my part. I'm surprised though, I thought you will come up with some complicated plan like what you did in Knightsend. This feels too simple"

"Simple is effective." Timothy said. "People often associate simple plans with incompetence. But that's not true. The simpler the plan, the better. There's no need to complicate things."

Their plan was as what King Edmund said, simple. Since Ivan wanted a fight, then Timothy will not give him a fight. Ivan knew his strength. Timothy's brother knew that mercenaries were unreliable. This was the reason why Ivan rushed to attack Timothy. He saw an opportunity.

This was the price Timothy had to pay for reinforcing Greenwater. He was now separated from the rest of his elite soldiers in Solon. Ivan will surely catch them halfway through the city.

But Timothy had no plans to give Ivan a battle. He would lose if he did that. According to reports of the scouts, Ivan had twenty thousand men, five thousand of which were Wismarines. The fifteen thousand mercenaries and two thousand cavalry he had were no match compared to Ivan's force. If Timothy was foolish and met Ivan in the field, the mercenaries would buckle leaving his poor cavalry at the mercy of Ivan's army.

So Timothy will not give Ivan what the latter wanted. He will avoid battle at all cost and will rely instead on harassing Ivan with his cavalry. Timothy's two thousand cavalry were superior compared to Ivan's and he will use them to slow the enemies down. He would cut their supply lines, raid their camps and use hit-and-run tactics. By the time Ivan catches the mercenaries, his army would have already been weak enough for Timothy to accept battle.

Timothy himself would lead the cavalry while King Edmund would be in charge of leading the rest of the army towards the safety of Solon. Normally Timothy doesn't want to get involved in battles but he lacked good leadership in his ranks. He missed having a capable second-in-command like Erik.

King Edmund remained silent after that. Timothy had been with him long enough to know that the King was thinking about something important. He had the urge to ask but King Edmund talked first.

"I saw you enter my daughter's tent last night." He said with an expressionless face.

Timothy's heart raced after hearing him. The King's lack of expression further increased the tension. "Yes, I did enter her tent" Timothy admitted.

Kind Edmund straightened his posture and sighed. "You know, I don't really have any qualms about it. Both of you are old enough to think about your future. Also, I know the feeling. When I was your age, I even did those things with multiple women. One of those women was Arthur's mother, my current wife." He paused and frowned. "But having a child now will be hard for the two of you. You are fighting a war and that will make things difficult for my future grandchild. I'll give the two of you the freedom, but please heed my advice."

It seems King Edmund had the wrong idea of what really happened. Well, he was not entirely wrong though. Something did almost happen last night.

"Nothing happened between us. Your daughter is a virtuous woman" Timothy smiled. "And yes, we will heed your advice. There is a right time for everything."

"Thank you. And if that time finally comes, I would prefer a granddaughter." King Edmund said with a grin.

"A granddaughter?" Timothy was surprised. "Why?"

"Although it will probably ruin your succession in the future, that's you problem." King Edmund patted Timothy's shoulder and laughed. "I just wanted another Lucia in this world"

Timothy also laughed. "That would be quite good. A granddaughter it is"

The two men looked at each other and there a long silence between them. The last of the cavalry had already passed. It was time to go their separate ways.

King Edmund offered his hand to Timothy. "Stay safe King Timothy. May the Omniscient be with you. I still want my granddaughter to have your blood."

Timothy grabbed his hand. "Thank you. I know I don't have to say this, but take care of Lucia. If necessary, retreat to Greenwater."

With these words, the two Kings parted ways. King Edmund went to his mercenaries while Timothy turned his horse towards the cavalry.

But Timothy still had to say goodbye to one more person and this goodbye will be the hardest. He went to Lucia.

It didn't take him long to find her because she found him first. Both of them dismounted their horses and approached each other.

The two were silent at first. Timothy didn't talk because he felt bad about leaving. Lucia on the other hand, was glaring at him.

"You sure have talent in making me worry. When you told me that you have a plan, I didn't expect that your plan would include putting yourself in danger yet again." she said.

"It can't be helped. Only I can lead them."

Lucia's glare turned mellow and her expression turned sad. She wrapped her arms around him. "I will never forgive you if you don't come back. So come back."

Timothy also wrapped his arms around her. "This feels like our first parting. Only, this is sadder."

Lucia wriggled her face on his chest. "I am more reluctant in letting you go. I don't want to be away from you. I also don't want to worry day and night. But I don't have a choice, do I?"

"You don't. We don't. " Timothy lifted her chin and looked at her face. He was heartbroken when he saw that her eyes were wet. "It's just for a few days anyway. Yes my life will be in danger, but this ordeal will be over in a blink of an eye."

Lucia nodded. "I will be waiting for you Tim"

"You better be" he put his lips against hers. It was a long kiss and a sad kiss. He could feel tears tricking down their cheeks. He doesn't know to whom the tears belong. They could be Lucia's, they could be his, or maybe the tears belong to the two of them. It doesn't matter anyway. If only the world is perfect, but it is not. Dangers must be faced and partings must be done. Only then could this imperfect world become better.

Lucia wiped her tears after their lips parted. "See you in a few days" she forced a smile.

"Yes" Timothy agreed. "In a few days."

The two of them didn't want to say goodbye as the word only brings pain and uncertainty. Their future was already certain. They had decided that they will win this war.

Timothy and Lucia went to their horses and mounted. After staring at each other for a while, they understood that it was time to go. They turned their respective horses opposite each other and went their separate ways.

Timothy gripped the reins of his horse. He forced himself not to look back. He doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to be put in danger. All he wanted was a peaceful life with her.

But he can't. Wars and troubles follow them. Suddenly, he felt the strong urge to see her face again. In case he doesn't make it back, at least he would have one last look at her. Even a single look would satisfy his raging feelings. He finally gave in and turned his head around.

But it was too late. They were already too far from each other. She was but a dot in his vision. The world was cruel for not giving him the comfort of seeing the face of the woman he loves one last time. With an aching heart, he turned his head forward again and continued.