"We have to go."
"But aren't they your people?"
Davina looked up at the carnage, quickly pulling her eyes away. She had recognized some of the fighters, along with some of the fallen. She was once in their ranks, fighting beside them as a proud Ronnan warrior, but now she had been reduced to this sorry state, barely able to protect the child by her side. She would do no good to anyone by jumping in the battle.
"Yes, they are. But it doesn't look like it will be a sure victory for them. We can't afford to stay here if they lose. There are too many soldiers."
She stared at the girl who couldn't keep her eyes away from the battle. Her fingers covered the trembling eyes.
"Don't look anymore. Let's go."
The cool hand blocked the gruesome sight, but Neera could still hear the sounds. In all honesty, she gratefully welcomed the reprieve from the morbid scene, following Davina's lead as she pulled her farther and farther away from the symphony of metal clanging, tearing flesh and pained screams.
By the time Davina let her look around again, she couldn't hear the battle any more.
"So, where to now?"
"I am familiar with this part of the mountain. We are about a day's journey from the last outpost."
"The last outpost?"
"Yes, we Ronna have military bases just like the Cambrians do. They are just better hidden. That is how we supply the forward troops and attack squads."
"It is still quite far away from the main front."
"Well, we have more hidden places where we keep supplies further down, but they tend to change quite often to prevent the enemies from finding them and cutting our supply lines."
"So it's best to just head straight to where we are sure there are allies."
"Exactly. I also want to get out of this area as soon as possible. There is too much conflict here. The farther we are from the Cambrian stronghold, the better."
"Okay."
Davina lead the way forward while they both walked in silence.
They didn't encounter any more forces from either side, probably due to the large scale confrontation they had seen before.
The Ronna guided the girl towards another cave for them to sleep in, having eaten some of the leftover rabbit meat on the way.
"It is quite cold."
"It will only get colder from here on out. The higher we go, the worse it will get. Come here."
Davina opened her arms and Neera huddled up to her, pressing her cold hands against the woman's chest and laying her head on her shoulder. She slept soundly until morning, feeling the steady heartbeat beneath her fingers.
By the time the sun had fully risen in the sky, they were already walking again.
Their pace was slow, nonetheless, they still managed to progress bit by bit. They traversed the distance Davina had calculated for a one day journey in three, but it was within her expectations. There was nothing to be done with the heaviness in her stomach and the wounded state of the child.
She looked back to watch the girl sort over a rock. They were carefully scaling the side of a small cliff, holding onto the protrusions of the rocky wall to pull themselves up.
"How are you holding up?"
"I'm okay, but I think my leg began bleeding again."
"Don't over exert yourself. We still have a bit more to go before we reach it."
Neera nodded, pulling her tangled hair away from her eyes with her grimy fingers.
Her appearance right now could not be described as anything other than feral. With her torn clothes and the animal blood now having dried, creating a brownish crust all over her body, she looked like a creature from the tales she had read in the library. Her blistered fingers held onto the stone, while her scrawny arms pulled with all the strength they could muster to move her small figure upward. From her lips, heaving breaths turned white as they made contact with the diaphanous mountain air, and her ears could only register the sound of her own struggle and the wind, tickling the matted tresses at her back.
She chuckled to herself.
She was miserable. Her whole body was in pain, her tired limbs screamed for rest, her nails painfully grinding against the mountain side, but she had never felt a cleaner air entering her lungs, caressing her face. She had food every day, she didn't have to hide, or fake sickness in order to not alert others. She had a future to look forward to, and a warm body to fall asleep against every night.
She looked at the back of the woman climbing ahead of her, who's smell was so familiar that she felt she could've described it if the words to do such a thing existed. A smile graced her lips, the dried blood cracking at her creased cheeks.
She turned back to the ground. The forest was far bellow them now. Between the crowns of the trees she could see the somber walls of the military compound, and behind it, like a small speck in the distance, stood the last city, framed by hills before the earth rose to the sky into the peak she was now climbing. Everything was below her, and the sun stood before her, as if looking back with its defiant crimson stare.
Her eyes drank in the sight, so different from the muddy cobblestones of her early childhood, or the damp walls of the basement. There were no luxurious halls, dark tunnels and furtive gazes. Gone were as well the pained cries along with the flashes of crimson over the dirt. It was just her, Davina, the mountain, and the sky.
She was no one's possession, no one's vassal or enemy. She was just herself. In her whole life, Neera had never felt more free.
She kept climbing with her irises full of light. When she was finally making the last push, a dirty hand extended towards her while a cold gale brushed upwards around her legs, as if pulling her up as well.
"We are here."
Davina's voice was tired, but happy.
"This is the last bastion of the Ronna. We don't have to hide anymore."
"We made it?"
"Yes. We made it."
----
Far away on the other side of the duchy, in the capital, Singre, the Duke paced around his study in frustration.
"So you mean to tell me that we don't know who this investor is?"
"Yes. The company has been registered under the name N. Laurier in the documents we found in the Count's mansion, but it is not a member of your court, my Lord. Or any other court for that matter."
"Where did this 'Laurier' bastard pop out from then?"
"We found him in the civil registry."
"So he is a citizen of our duchy."
"Yes, my Lord. The certificate and identification were created a year ago."
The Duke smiled. His crooked teeth peeking from under the well-groomed mustache.
"So he pays us taxes, right? He is under my rule?"
The assistant grimaced, adverting his gaze. His hands had been trembling ever since he had arrived in front of the Duke, but now he felt all strength leave his body, stopping his incessantly wiggling fingers.
A bead of sweat appeared at the crown of his receding hairline, tentatively sliding down his forehead while he pondered his next words.
"Well... About that..."
The drop trailed into the valley of the uncertain crease between his eyebrows.
"We, umm..."
It followed the bridge of his nose, finally falling into the abyss after hanging from its tip.
"We can't really touch their business, because it is not under our territory."
The Lord of the manor froze before slowly turning to look at the man. His eyes were ablaze and his voice sounded low, like a growl.
"...What do you mean?"
"The taxing rights were transferred to His Majesty the King the moment the company was created."
"So, the registration was made under the crown's jurisdiction?"
"...Yes."
A vase crashed against the wall, smashing into pieces.
"And you tell me this now?! How did we not know of this before?! Are you this incompetent?! How can such a wealthy person move like this right under our noses?!"
The assistant crouched down to the floor, barely missing an incoming book flying at his head.
"My-my Lord! Please calm down! We had no way of knowing-"
"And you dare make excuses?! How can my secretaries not know what happens in my own castle?!"
"The registration was sent to the capital without our knowledge, my Lord! It was mailed along with the rest of the correspondence! Someone must have put it there in secret!"
"What do I care if it was done secretly?! Do you not understand what this means?! We have no way of confiscating the business after executing the Count because it would mean stealing taxes from His Majesty! There is no way he would let that pass with how tight things are in the royal treasury!"
The assistant glued his eyes to the floor, scared of meeting his master's gaze.
The Duke sighed and pressed his eyelids. He had begun having migraines ever since this fiasco started. Oh, how he regretted not having taken care of that damned Count sooner.
"You said he owned fifty percent? Even if we took over his shares of the company we wouldn't be able to offset the damage of the decrease in our own wheat sales. I was hoping to take over the business and expand it, but now, without my support, the rest of the nobles will spare no expenses on bringing it down."
The assistant finally had an idea.
"Wait, my Lord! What if we join them? The ships are being built in Vinoa as we speak. Wouldn't it be quite easy to take care of them before they sail?"
"We can't. That port is under the army's supervision because of the naval fleet in construction there."
The Duke pondered for a while longer.
"But... Maybe you're right. I mean... There is nothing to be done about it if the new commercial fleet suddenly sank after departing from the port, is there?"
Both men looked at each other and smiled, finally seeing a viable solution. Sadly, their excitement was short-lived after a courier burst through the office doors.
"My Lord! My Lord! Urgent news! Urgent news!"
"What is it?"
The young man took a couple of seconds to breathe in much-needed air before he spoke again.
"My Lord! His Highness the Third Prince Lukas is on his way north!"
"He's coming here? Did we mess up our tax payments to the palace?"
"No, my Lord. He's not coming to the duchy. He's going to the Evernon county. The Count and his vassals have already been informed of his arrival. It seems he is interested in the new naval business."
"Damn it! Get me a carriage! Now!"