Elya looks nauseous. Her face has lost color, her eyes open wide as she watches the carnage in front of her. While you and the staff are safely located behind the battleline, you're only fifteen yards away. The combat is visceral in front of you.
Formations quickly devolve. The fighting itself devolves. The peasant levies of both armies pile into each other like a drunken mob, except with less skill. As the battle continues its devolution, instances of one-on-one combat vanish.
It continues into animalistic, barbaric fighting. Those with hand-axes or maces strike swing at rapid speeds, no longer aiming with lethal intent, but rather blind desperation. Spears and other polearms strike from those in the second rank.
Most men are not killed outright. Instead, a mortal blow disables them and drops them to the ground. They bleed or are trampled. Injured men attempt to fall back behind their comrades.
But for your retinue, it's a different story. They're nearly indistinguishable from your levy in terms of arms and armors, but you can tell where your retinue is fighting just by looking for the spaces between the lines.
These men have undergone only a brief five or six months of training.
It is enough.
They carve through their untrained counterparts with incredible efficiency. The numerical disparity is lessened when half of your men actually know how to use a spear effectively.
The dismounted knights and nobles tear through the enemy levies with ease. When one is rich enough to afford a warhorse, one is rich enough to afford armor. And this armor, even the worst of it, is still much greater than that of any lowly peasant farmer.
And knights are rarely slain in combat. They're much more valuable when taken alive.
The roar of combat is like white noise to your ears. It barely registers on you. You've heard the cries, the cursing, and the clatter of blade on shield many times before. You've seen carnage and death. But Elya…
Her eyes are wide with horror as she watches the butchery unfold before her. Unfold for her, or rather her crown.
For you, there's no time to consider and contemplate the costs of such slaughter. You feel nothing. For now, at least. Afterwards, after the battle has concluded…
You're not sure how you will feel, then.
Now, you scan over the battlefield, watching as the combat ensues. You narrow your eyes as a fact hits you.
The enemy cavalry is missing. You keep this fact in your mind as you consider what to do next.