Grimbald breaks into a laugh urging Cadran to join with a clap on the small of his back. It breaks his lips to a smile, I can't blame them. It's absurd, a clear cover up to protect the child maybe, An odd way admittedly.
A child from another world sounds ridiculous. Valoise is many things, but I don't believe gullible idiocy is not one of them.
"Do you believe the babble from this silverfish!" Grimbald's laugh renewed at the notion. I can't feel their joy.
I want to spit in his face, I could do it now but it's simply immoral to a leader who knows when the battle is lost. However the cost was some 2 500 men and peasants as collateral, I finally realise the glares that the men and women looked at me with. Hate. Lives were lost, and it was my Kingdom that I violated and robbed from her men and women. Shame grips me and it must have been heavy for my men to bear before I realised this.
I am a lost sword.
I break from my thoughts and look at Lousie consideringly, I take my knife as long as a baby's arm. Sharpened to a razored edge by Volgrin who's only gotten more skilled with small blades.
Lousie screams as I raise it to the air.
-
I move to where Volgrin leans back against the shed door that trembles under the assault of the boy. I barely understand his muffled voice when I'm close enough to nod to my squire, understanding my intent he quickly steps aside to let the boy push past the door and fall. He is scared of me now, I see it in his wet eyes, "Ya killed 'em didn't you, ya bastard."
I shake my head at the accusation as much as I'd like it to be true, "He's alive, I just gave him a matching scar." I crouch down to him, "After all that, we're even."
The boy is weary of me, good. I look at the pure blue sky then down at him and his strange intricate attire, "Would you like to tell me where you're from boy?" I repeat.
He looks at my pale eye and looks away to the ground, "you wouldn't believe me."
"That you're from Urd- another realm?"
He dares a glance at me, "Yes..." I stand and sigh reaching my hand out to help him up. It's true, I know it is because there's no reason for Valoise to use information about this boy to save himself. Every kindness I seem to show him unsettles him shown in his reluctancy.
We need to find out more.
One of the scouts aproach us hastily and he leans in to mummur something to Volgrins' ear and he comes to deliver the message to me.
"General..."
"Bad news?"
He nods, "The... queen summons you."
"Of course... tell Grimbald to stay with the bulk of the army so we may rebuild the road, outpost and reseed the land. They will warriors in gardens until my return; and Cadran to come with me 10 strong, with the boy we ride to meet her majesty." I bark the orders and Volgrin salutes unwaveringly.
He steps away swiftly to deliver my orders, leaving me with the boy. He still hasn't taken my hand, his distrust running deeper than I thought. I let my arm fall back to my side. If he doesn't trust me yet, I can't blame him for it.
"You're right to be cautious," I say, more to myself than to him. "Trust doesn't come easy in times like these. You will find that I am not at fault for the battle here."
Agnus looks at me for a long moment before finally pushing himself up, dusting off his strange, clothes. The words on it are not embroidered but seemingly embedded into it. Prehaps it's a reminder- he's not like the rest of us.
"I'll go with ya," Agnus says, but his voice is small, hesitant but his heavy accent still rings true. The bravery he showed earlier is frayed now.
"Good," I respond, keeping my tone steady. "Stay close, and keep your wits about you."
Soon, Cadran and the chosen ten arrive, saddling up swiftly. Volgrin, always efficient, delivers the horses and makes sure every soldier is ready for the road. The boy follows after a request to fetch his bags swollen with it's contents. He doesn't know how to travel light. I mount my horse, my eyes catching Louise's form in the distance. His pride wounded, but his body spared. The scar will serve as a reminder- a mutual agreement carved into skin.
The road back to the queen will be long, but it will be nothing compared to the battle I'm about to face against her ire. She won't be pleased with how this has played out. She'll want answers, and I'll have to tread carefully. The boy is valuable now, an asset I can't afford to lose, no matter how reluctant he might be to trust me.
As we ride, the mood is somber. Cadran rides close to my side, his eyes scanning the horizon with the wariness of a seasoned soldier. The land we pass through is still scorched in places, reminders of the recent conflict. The weight of the kingdom's losses sits heavy on my shoulders again, but I push it down. There will be time for remorse later.
I close my diary after scribbling it's latest entry. It's a new one, it will be structured unlike my other ancient one tuckeda in some corner of the house.
Agnus rides beside me, gripping the reins awkwardly, as if he's never ridden before. Perhaps he hasn't, in this world or any other. I can feel his eyes on me occasionally, as if trying to make sense of the woman who spared him. I wonder what he sees and I find myself wanting his approval- if he sees the same shame that the men and women of my kingdom saw.
After what feels like an eternity of silence, Agnus finally speaks up, his voice soft but clear. "Why didn't ya kill 'em? Louise, I mean."
I keep my eyes forward, the sound of hooves filling the air between us. "Because killing him wouldn't have changed anything. We need his skills. Sometimes mercy is a sharper blade than steel."
Agnus doesn't respond, but I can feel the weight of his thoughts hanging in the air. What foreign though runs through his mind, I dearly want to know.
I ride my horse close to his, "How old are you boy?" He breaks from his thoughts, "Wut?" I quickly respond, "Age."
"Eighteen," he looked at me up and down, "Why?"
"My squire is turning twenty this summer." The boy looks over to cautious Volgrin peaking back at him with grey eyes.
He nods, "How ol' are ya?" I look to the horizon pretending I didn't hear that, "You're home, tell me more about it. Urd."
He shrugs a smile cracked on his lips as he steadied his horse, "Well der ain't much to say. We're lot more advanced than you."
"Really, how so?"
"I'm not tellin'."
"Why." I asked but he doesn't answer and I break from him back to Cadran, "We'll be at the Capital by the time the sun rises and falls to noon!" I call to the boy.
-
The capital is not like Louise's castle, lone in the highlands it's a stonghold made to be abandoned but also produced resources, man power, knights, soldiers and farmers. Made to fuel the the other cities and towns.
The closer we get to the epicentre of it- the more dense, developed and populate it becomes.
Cadran leads the boy's horse now after he lost control of it during our trip, it allowed the boy to looks around the cobbled streets filled with bright eyes and well-dressed citizens and gaurds, brick buildings decorated with labeled fabrics, worn bright paints with curiosity and child-like wonder.
"Enjoying sightseeing the capital boy!" One of my men booms,Valdyr who's been running his mouth to the boy until now. Proud to share a bit too much.
"Yeah!" He looks down the street and asked, "why aren't there many horses here?"
"Horse has the habit of crapping all over the place you know. Gotta get a licence for them." He hugs his horse's neck and shows him a medal tied to it in chain links engraved with a seal.
The boy smiles looking over the droves of people that make way for us.Children look at as with admiration and trepidation, women and men with envy, Nobles with jealousy. After all, our horses are mighty and stalwart bred for war not for showcasing.
By the time we arrive at the Queen's court, dusk has begun to settle over the capital. The castle looms before us, white briliance glows, a towering presence of stone and iron. Where the queen will be waiting, her patience worn thin by the events of the past 3 weeks.
We dismount, and I nod to Cadran and the others to remain outside. Agnus hesitates but follows me as I stride towards the grand doors of the throne room. The guards recognize me from a glance at my cheek and open them wide without a word, and we step inside.
The queen is there, seated on her throne, her expression unreadable as we approach. Her sharp rose eyes flicker from me to the boy at my side, and I can feel the weight of her judgment.
She doesn't waste time on pleasantries, "General," she says, her voice cold and cutting. "I trust you have an explanation for your... actions."
She is embraced by thin white silk, cloth wraps around her into a dress, a purple flaring fur cape hangs over her shoulder. A silver spiked halo hangs over her head not daring touch her tame long brown curly hair.
I've seen her a dozen times but the weight of her sovereignty still bring me to my knee and I bow my head. Cadran is quick to do the same and the boy follows suite.
Only a menifistation of prideful self-bravado made voice breaks the spell, "Allow me to clear the contents of which makes their unsightly visit for you, your most supreme majesty!" A pause then he clears his throat, "The word of scouts and word from fleeing peasants say that, general Tobu... The Man Eater was in a battle!" He pauses for dramatic effect, "with OUR troops! Against castle Valoise of Baron and Chancellor Louise au Valoise. WHO I may add were both summoned to attend to the theatre of Westeria and deal the final blow against their capital!"
The man is about to continue but stopped as the commanding voice of the Queen filled the room instead, "Raise your heads." It's cold and clear, "twenty-three days ago we marched, fourty-seven-thousand strong to Westeria. You, Valoise and 3 000 of your army were to attend and command... a third of them." Her jaw works and her glare burns, "We essentially marched with half of our army blind folded because we spread our commanders thin!" Her voice is rising threatening to errupt in the swelling space, "WE LOST!!!"
The Queen's voice thundered through the throne room, sharper than any blade. "You betrayed us, Tobu!" Her fist slammed down on the arm of her throne, the sharp crack of it echoing in the chamber. Tearing her sleave, "You, the man eater, the one I entrusted with leading our forces, turned on your own!"
Her eyes burned with fury, and I could feel the weight of her judgment pressing down on me. I stood straight against her flames. The boy Agnus shifted uneasily at my side, his small form shrinking in the face of such raw power.
"You fought Valoise, one of my most trusted commanders after his father! You crippled his forces, while thousands of our men lay dead on the battlefield! My men! My kingdom!" She stood from her throne, her voice trembling with rage. Her thorny halo turns in her rage above her head, "And now you stand before me expecting me to believe you acted in the kingdom's interest? Valoise wanted to kill you- and with good reason! You are a liability!"
Her words strike me hard. I wanted her approval most- that what I did was just- but I held my ground, "Your Majesty, Valoise attacked me unprovoked. He saw me as a threat to his ambition, not to this kingdom. He drew his sword first, forcing my hand."
The Queen's eyes flared with anger. "Do you expect me to believe that one of my barons, loyal to me, simply decided to kill a general of my army out of nowhere? That he jeopardized an entire war to settle a personal grudge?"
"He was protecting his position," I said, my voice steady despite the storm building in the room. "He feared that my presence, my command, would undermine his own authority. He sought to eliminate me before I could expose his cowardice."
Her brow furrowed with disbelief, her lips curling into a sneer. "Cowardice? You accuse Valoise, a man who has served this crown with unwavering loyalty, of cowardice? While you," she gestured toward me in disgust, "fought your own soldiers? You are worse than a coward; a traitor, Tobu."
"And if he did, you should've been the bigger man and ignored his betrayal for the good of this Kingdom!" A noble sycophant chimes and is put in his place quickly with a wave of the queens' hand.
I stood firm, though her words cut deeper than I expected. "I fought to survive, Your Majesty. Valoise would have killed me. My men would have been slaughtered if I had not defended myself. But this..." I gestured to Agnus, who flinched under her fiery gaze, "this boy is why Valoise wanted me dead. He is the reason I had to fight."
I feel deep shame creep into me, I lied to the queen. I don't know how but this boy has to be important somehow.
The Queen's eyes flicked to Agnus, her expression shifting from fury to icy disdain. "A boy? This child is your justification for betraying your own? A boy? Do you take me for a fool, Tobu?"
I kept my voice steady, despite the trembling in my chest. "I understand how it sounds, Your Majesty. But the boy carries knowledge beyond our understanding. Valoise knew it. He saw the potential in him, but he wanted that power for himself. I couldn't let him use the boy for his own ends."
"Enough..." Her voice rings, silencing the entire room. "You speak of power and knowledge as if you've discovered some hidden truth. All I see is a child. A child that you've dragged into my throne room to justify your treachery."
Agnus flinched under her words, his small frame trembling. I could feel his fear, but I kept my eyes on the Queen. This was no time for mercy, no time for hesitation. "The boy is valuable, Your Majesty. He's not like us. He comes from Urd, another world. He can give us an advantage- one that could turn the tides in our favor I wager."
The Queen stared at me, her expression cold, calculating. The silence stretched for what felt like an eternity. Finally, she spoke, her voice low but dripping with venom. "I should have your head for this, Tobu. You have not only cost me an ally, but you've nearly torn apart this kingdom's chance of victory."
I bowed my head, accepting her fury. "I ask for nothing but the chance to prove my worth, the boy's worth and win this war. Your Majesty."
Her gaze shifted to Agnus, who stood petrified, his eyes wide with fear. "Do you claim to be from another world, boy?" she asked, her voice laced with doubt.
Agnus nodded hesitantly, his voice barely audible. "Yes... Your Majesty."
The Queen's eyes narrow at his accent and lips twisted into a sneer. "You had better hope, boy, that you are more than what you seem. For if Tobu is wrong- if this is nothing more than a desperate lie to save her skin- then both of you will meet the headsman's axe."
Her words hung in the air like a noose around my neck. I straightened, forcing myself to meet her gaze. "I understand, Your Majesty. We will prove ourselves."
The Queen's eyes narrowed, her fury simmering beneath the surface. "Take him to Improst. He will be kept there under guard until I decide what to do with him. As for you, Tobu..." She stepped forward, her presence overwhelming. "This is your last chance. Do not think for a moment that I will forget this betrayal. You have crossed me once- there will not be a second time."
I bowed deeply, my heart pounding in my chest. "I will not fail you, Your Majesty."
As we turned to leave, Agnus cast a fearful glance up at me, his small hand clutching the edge of my cloak. I could feel the weight of his fear, the uncertainty that clouded his every step. And yet, despite everything, I knew one thing to be true: I would protect this boy, no matter the cost. For now, he was the only card I had left to play.
Outside the throne room, the tension remained thick in the air. Volgrin was waiting, his face drawn with worry. "What now?" he asked quietly.
I glance at the unreadable faces of Valdyr and Cadran.
I mounted my horse with a sigh, my thoughts heavy. "Now," I replied, "we prove to the Queen that this boy can change the course of history, or we die trying." I look at all of them, "Are you with me?"
Their answer was clear, three thump to their chest to dust the doubt from their hearts, "I may not be your Valkaries, but I will stand by you until the end." Volgrin proclaims.
"HA!!" The rest boom in agreement and I feel the weight on my shoulders being lifted by them, I wonder what they see in me.