[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV
Northern kingdoms.
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With things beginning to stabilize for the Nilfgaardians as they started to take control of the country of Cintra, the armies then began to march mostly to the east, to aid in the fight against Sodden, which still held protecting the south of the kingdom against 20,000 Nilfgaardians attempting to pass through the southern gorge. Now with Cintra fallen, they could also invade the next kingdom from the side, leaving Sodden in a rather bad situation.
A part of the force that remained from Nilfgaard went to the west, while the fight against Skellige had not yet ended, trying to also conquer the islands, even though the major focus of Nilfgaard would be the continent itself.
Sodden was already aware of Nilfgaard's movements while in the south, King Thorne continued fighting against the forces of the black soldiers.
"How are the soldiers today...? Can we fight?" King Thorne asked his war council at that moment.
"We have enough strength to combat the enemy's advance, my king. However..." the general murmured, they were managing to hold off Nilfgaard's advance very well, but given the extraordinary and with news from the west... things were not going very well for them.
"I know... I want you to prepare the men for another battle in the coming days, let's try to expel those damned from the north, before we need to divide the army to fight the two fronts that we will face..." Thorne spoke with a firm tone and everyone nodded.
As everyone left the place, Thorne turned to a man waiting for him. "May I speak with you, my king?" Lord Vergan, as always, his reliable advisor.
"Of course, have you received any news from the capital?" Thorne asked.
"Yes..." the man murmured, making Thorne a bit worried.
"Is my family alright?" He asked worriedly while thinking about his wife, the sister of his ex-fiancée, and the son they both had in this marriage.
"No, my king... a noble who fled from Cintra, his name is Victor Hugkil... he said that Madara Uchiha helped him and mentioned that you could help him if he came to the capital... he was lucky to find some nobles who knew Madara, so the message was passed to him." Lord Vergan said, as Thorne sighed before turning to him.
"I see... send a letter to the capital and help him, give him shelter until I speak with him, anyway... Madara is alive then?" Thorne asked.
"Yes... He helped him before reaching the border... it seems Madara was in the capital of Cintra." Lord Vergan spoke.
"I see... I wonder if he is alright... but knowing him, he will be fine..." Thorne said. Madara had helped him greatly two years ago to become the position he has today in the kingdom, he owed a lot to the strange boy who once threatened him.
'I hope to meet him soon or someday...' Thorne would not deny him help.
"Anyway... now that Cintra has fallen... we must prepare for the attack coming from that side." In the end, Thorne sighed looking at the map in front of him.
"Yes... we received the news of Calanthe's death and the fall of the capital this morning...but we also heard about Cintra f**king the Nilfgaardians better than they expected... And Temeria is raising its army also marching to the south..." Lord Vergan said.
"Yes... we have some chance to protect the kingdom from the north... anyway... it's better we continue, prepare all the troops, I will lead the army in the next fight!" Thorne spoke with a serious tone.
Temeria - Castle of Vizima
The morning was grey over the Castle of Vizima, and the heavy air of humidity due to the lake that surrounded the capital, seemed to match the somber mood that permeated the audience hall.
King Foltest, ruler of Temeria, was seated on his stone throne adorned with tapestries of past battles. His face, normally proud and resolute, was marked by a thoughtful expression as he calmly thought about everything he had heard.
In front of Foltest, a high-ranking officer, dressed in the armor with colors of Temeria, remained at attention, after giving the information from the south to his king.
"So, Cintra has fallen..." Foltest's voice was grave, filled with disappointment. He had placed Temeria in a neutral position... like many other northern kingdoms.
But seeing the fall of Cintra in such a brutal and rapid way... left him somewhat alarmed and worried. "And now Nilfgaard possesses a new stronghold to the south of our lands," he murmured.
"Yes, Majesty," the officer replied, not daring to raise his eyes to the king. "The Empire crushed Cintra's resistance and Queen Calanthe... she is gone. Sodden continues fighting to the south, but the Nilfgaardian army has started to move there," he said.
Foltest let out a heavy sigh, leaning back against the throne. "And Calanthe's granddaughter... I heard some mages tried to rescue her. What happened to her?"
The officer hesitated for a moment before responding. "Our scouts and spies have listed her as missing, Majesty. There are rumors she managed to escape before the fall of the capital, but her whereabouts are uncertain. Nilfgaard is also searching for her, but so far, there's no confirmation of where she might be," he spoke, unaware that she was in Verden at this moment.
King Foltest clenched his fists once again, clearly displeased with the news. "The last heir of Cintra, a key piece that could turn the tide in favor of anyone who captures her, and now she's missing amid the chaos," he shook his head, his eyes scanning the hall for answers.
Triss Merigold, the kingdom's official mage, a young woman who had come to court a few years ago and had remained silent until then, stepped forward, her face expressing calculated calm.
"Majesty," began Triss, her voice soft but authoritative, "Temeria should not have remained neutral with Nilfgaard's men and now they will be marching north..." she began.
"Tell me something I don't know, Triss," Foltest said with a tone of dissatisfaction.
"We should consider the possibility of acting quickly to locate her before them, but it is also wise to organize the troops for a possible invasion from the south, it's quite likely that Nilfgaard will focus on Sodden... but it's good to be prepared and even try to form an alliance with this country... I also want to know what my sisters, from the Brotherhood of Sorceresses have to say about this, I'm sure Tissaia de Vries will have an answer to this crisis," Triss commented.
Foltest thought for a moment about what he heard... "Do you believe you can find her using magic?" he asked.
"It's a possibility, Majesty," Triss replied firmly. "If a mage has obtained her belonging... we might try to locate her, but I will have to check with my colleagues from Aretuza," Triss said, trying to find a solution to this, she had never met Cirilla, so she only thought of her as a war asset.
"Very well, Triss. Do whatever is necessary. If we can locate Cirilla before Nilfgaard, we might use her to strengthen our alliances or, at the very least, prevent the Empire from using her against us, as heir to Cintra," he said.
Triss made a slight bow, already planning to contact her colleagues. "Leave it with me, Majesty. I will do my best to find her."
Triss exited the room and, as she headed to her quarters in the Palace, she stored the cloak she wore at court, before looking out the window and sighing. Her gaze fell on a corner of the room as she approached her magical mirror, her communication device.
Upon activating it, a strong light emanated, and a space among several of those mirrors began to show an image appearing, revealing a beautiful woman with black hair and purple eyes.
"Triss?!" The surprised voice of Yennefer was heard before she continued. "How are things in Temeria?" Yennefer asked with a cautious tone.
Triss nodded, greeting her silently before continuing. "King Foltest is trying to deal with the situation in the south, as you know, Cintra has fallen," Triss replied.
Yennefer nodded with a still cautious look, "Yes, things are not good for the north..."
Triss noticed the concern on Yennefer's face and did not hesitate to ask. "Any problems? I was wanting to contact you because of Princess Cirilla who has disappeared, but seeing your face, you seem quite worried."
Yennefer sighed before responding: "You could say that. Remember Geralt, the witcher?"
Triss raised an eyebrow: "Geralt? Of course, I remember. He was looking for you a few years ago." She spoke, recalling the witcher as he searched for her in the castle behind her friend. Triss felt a bit envious of Yennefer for having someone like Geralt, even though she knew her friend was no saint, the witcher seemed to love her, as if they were connected. Triss had always believed she would find love, which is why she hadn't been involved with many people, hoping to find someone like her friend, to have someone connected to live the rest of her life with.
"It's about Princess Cirilla," Yennefer continued. "What I'm about to say is a secret, but Geralt is bound to the girl by the Law of Surprise." Triss was quite surprised to hear this.
"Furthermore," Yennefer proceeded, "I convinced him to go to Cintra after the girl, since Nilfgaard's movements had been detected a long time ago. I asked Geralt to save her, after all, he didn't want to go, but if this is his destiny, he cannot escape it... but after what happened with Cintra, I haven't had any contact with him and I feel somewhat responsible for that. I didn't want him to die amidst the conflict." She admitted.
"He's a Witcher, isn't he?" Triss commented. "I believe he will be fine, unless he has to deal with an entire army. But he can easily escape from anyone pursuing him," Triss spoke, and Yennefer nodded, understanding the reasoning.
"I think you're right. Anyway, I would like to search for the girl as well, I can get in touch with Geralt if he's with her... There's also another boy... but that's complicated," Yennefer murmured.
"Another boy?" Triss asked curiously.
"It's better to leave that aside, anyway, no king can be informed about this," Yennefer said, causing Triss to frown.
"We can't, Yennefer. My king wants this. I need to do it," Triss responded, but Yennefer shook her head.
"First, let's talk with the Sorcerers' Brotherhood and then deal with this. But I will do everything to keep the girl as far away from those men seeking more power while everyone stood by watching Cintra being destroyed," Yennefer spoke with a firm tone.
Triss simply agreed: "Alright..." Despite being surprised, she believes speaking with Aretuza is the best option.
"I'll meet you there, then," Yennefer spoke before turning off the magical mirror.
The next moment, when the magical mirror was turned off,
Triss simply wrote a letter and handed it to a passing soldier in the corridor, asking him to deliver it to the king, explaining her absence. She then created a portal and disappeared the next instant from Vizima and went to Thanedd, which is also in Temeria.
Note from Raccoon: I made a gross error, I switched Angren for Sodden, the eastern war kingdom should be Sodden, but it's a mistake that just requires changing everything that happened to the name of Sodden, the events remain the same, only the country will be changed from this point on and I will fix all the chapters when I have time.