Emily was shaking. Her long night gown was stained. Her feet were muddled.
"Mom" She called, smooth as a feather was her voice.
"Mom" She again whispered.
Nobody replied from the shadows. Her mother's calming embrace whenever she was scared didn't come to console her. She was alone. It was dark. It was cold.
"You did what!?" A woman's voice shouted. It wasn't her mother. Her mother's voice was music. The woman's was something else- dry and shrill.
"I was drunk! I didn't mean for it to happen. I know I am in the wrong here but let us first think about our next move. Word of this cannot be whispered in the taverns. My name would be cursed. We are winning. I will soon be King and you will be the Queen" replied a man's voice.
"Wasn't I enough for you?" Pain was on the woman's voice.
"Forgive me Sharon. Forgive me, truly"
There was a short but eerie silence.
"And the child?"
"I took her here. I know what you are thinking and no, I am not making a child disappear.
The footsteps grew closer and Emily heard the door open. When Emily saw the face of the Earl Brice, everything that happened occurred to her. Her mother is dead and she saw it happen. She saw what he did and it was horrible.
"It would be a hard to hide her forever" Earl Brice said.
"She looks like you. Is she really a serf? I will remember what you did for the rest of my life but I may have a plan to make use of her"
The woman went closer to her. She grabbed her chin "Yes, yes. Looks like you indeed. Uncanny. Maybe a distant relative or something. We don't need to make her disappear. What is your name child?"
Emily didn't talk. Her body was still shuddering.
"I heard her mother call her Emily" Earl Brice went forward and Emily flinched in response.
"Emily huh? You are not a talker Emily. Good. Lucky you we need an heir if we are to become the monarchs of this Kingdom and you could fill the place. Your mother is gone Emily. She is dead. Do you understand that?"
Emily nodded weakly.
"Starting tonight you will live with us. You will not tell anyone of what happened. Be a meek child if you want us to be kind to you. Now child..." The woman lifted her chin more "From now on, you are Emily Tulosa"
**********
The clouds cradled the sun in a warm day. Wind blowing from the east, Emily's hair swayed. It was cool. It was breezy. The day was good.
Unfortunately the sight presented in front wasn't good. Thousands of knights bearing the flag of Balian lined a few hundred steps from the moat of the fort. Their armors were shining. Their horses were large.
"The radiance of this flower is nothing compared to yours but please accept it as a token of my fancy" forced low voice, Commodore Bernard said. He held a yellow flower with six petals near her.
Emily spared the flower a single look before turning her gaze back to the knights. "Where did you get that?"
"I plucked it among the grass before we got surrounded. Such a beautiful flower" Bernard declared proudly.
"That is not a flower but a kind of herb. They grow during late spring in the Great Plains. They also grow in the north and nobles would pay professional gardeners to pluck these things out of their gardens"
"Oh" Bernard lowered his hand but Emily took the herb.
"But this goes well with mutton stew. I learned that secret from my mother"
"Your mother? Queen Sharon?"
Emily just answered with a smile. She sighed, deep and long and looked again to the knights "So Marquis Erik made a mistake"
"A tiny miscalculation I suppose. Who would have thought that Balian would shed most of his army just to escape"
Emily turned her look towards the river to the south. Three dozen galleys waving under the flag of pirates lay motionless on the placid river. They were more than twice the number of Vanadian ships under Commodore Bernard.
"And those" Emily lifted her head once towards the pirate galleys "Are those miscalculations too?"
"Lutani galleys. I know one when I see one. They may hide under those pirate banners but their long bows and ugly curved oars are trademark of Lutani ships. Lutan surely is playing with fire here. I hope Her Majesty Lucia would take actions and punish Lutan for intervening like this"
"Can you defeat them?"
"I don't know. If the Omniscient gives our oars strength we could. But one thing you must know about Vanadian galleys is that they are built for seafaring. The river is not our field"
"I am not versed in warfare but I can see what Balian wants to do. He wants to cross the river once more with those galleys. Those galleys couldn't ferry him to the other side with the threat of the Vanadian galleys. The Lutani galleys couldn't touch the Vanadian galleys unless they take this fort"
"You are smart as much as you are a beauty"
Emily ignored Bernard's youthful words "So what do you suppose we should do?"
"Retreat" A sudden seriousness showed in the Commodore's face "We can make them bleed but at the end of it all we would lose. Those knights would sweep the fort eventually. Forgive me for saying this but your people are untrained. Holding this fort would have been possible if what you have are Castonians but you have fresh levies. The Lutani galleys would also sink my meager squadron. So I suggest we leave this fort and retreat upstream. My galleys could accommodate all of your host. If needed we could even abandon my galleys and run back to Bivon"
"Balian would then escape"
"Better than dying right?"
Emily wetted her lips. She was tired. The snake grows from its head so the only way to end it is to crush the head itself. As long as Balian lives, there would never be peace in Tulosa.
"We will not retreat Commodore" Emily said in a firm voice "We will defend until Marquis Erik and Grand Master Henry arrives"
The usual smile on Commodore Bernard's puffy cheeks disappeared "You want to defend this fort? Those people are knights, armored knights trained for years. Their horses may be useless in an assault but they could still be terrifying even when dismounted"
"I know"
"Being stubborn reduces your beauty"
"Do you still fancy me now?" Emily produced a smirk
"I do but you are talking about defending a small fort from knights" Commodore Bernard then presented a small laugh "But alright, we will do as you wish. If I die because of this, you'll marry me in the afterlife?"
Emily smiled, a rare smile on her usual frowning face "I'll think about it"
In midday, when all of the knights including their small supply wagons have positioned, Balian went forward under the white flag. Emily doesn't want to endanger herself by going out of the fort but diplomacy was her expertise and she thought she could buy time through false promises. With about the same number of guards, Emily met them. Her guards were handpicked among her veterans just in case things turn ugly.
"Queen Emily" one of the knights greeted under his helm. Upon rising his visor, Emily recognized him.
"Balian" Emily greeted back and gave her sweetest smile.
"Grand Master Balian, Your Majesty" Balian looked back to his knights and chuckled "If you disagree, there are seven thousand of my knights to disagree back with you"
"Oh but I still disagree, sadly. Henry is my Grand Master and Marquis Erik is my ally"
"Not for long"
"Not for long?" Emily repeated, amused
"Yes, because I want to forge a deal with you. At the end of the day, you will open those gates to me and join me in Bivon. Together we will defeat the pretender and the invader"
A momentary frown formed on her forehead until she went back to her smile "So you are trying to buy my loyalty in guise of a parley" She looked around "Why am I not surprised by your slyness?"
"Yes, I am sly. But my offer is difficult to turn down"
Emily gripped the reins of her horse "Unfortunately I am not interested. Take your gold elsewhere. You'll need it for the wars to come"
Emily was about to turn her horse around when Balian said, "My offer is not gold but something more valuable"
Balian snapped his fingers. The knights divided into two and two people were dragged to the front. Brown burlap sacks were on their heads and chains were on their wrists. Balian took the burlap sacks off their heads. Emily's blood started to boil after resting her eyes upon Brice and his wife Sharon.
"I know your history" Balian said, words slowly pronounced "I know what they did to you and how your father did nothing to avenge what happened. I know your hardships, your tragedy. Well my offer to you is justice. The Queen of Calgari has offered me gold for them. That was a good deal but I thought I would get a better deal with you. Open the gates and I will give these two to you instead. If you don't accept, then I will let Brice and Sharon go to Calgari. They would become guests. Justice will be lost. Imagine that, these people will roam free. It is time to choose Queen Emily- or should I call you that? Do you really want to be Queen? Because for me, you are still that little girl who just wants her father back and avenge the death of her mother"
Emily's body was shaking as she looked at the two people she hated the most.