“The empire’s sword saint,” the man in front of her scoffed. “To think we would find you hiding in a bush while all of your soldiers were cut down in front of you.” Maude’s cheeks burned, and she felt her lower lip quiver a bit. Duke Rosenberg was a tall man, and she was sitting on one of the couches making her feel even smaller.

“No wonder your men were crying out for you as we cut them down. You betrayed them.”

Maude flinched at his words. She heard one of the men’s voices screaming “Traitor!” at her. She remembered the scene that had been in front of her while the Aulbertian had the sword to the back of her neck. It had been a lake of blood and bodies.

Even just recalling it had a river of bile threatening to exit her esophagus.

“Coward,” Duke Rosenberg in front of her, said, a sneer on his face. “You could have saved them.”

Maude wished she could cocoon back up in the blankets on the bed. This was not the conversation she’d been expecting to have with the man who was holding her captive.

“Nothing to say to defend your actions?” he asked. His eyes were the color of the sky on a bright summer day. She never knew that color could look so fierce. “What will the emperor do when he finds out his beloved sword saint hid in a bush while her troops were massacred?” Duke Rosenberg asked.

“What does that matter to you?” Maude snapped back his comments, finally getting under her skin.

“Oh, so you are feisty after all,” he said, leaning back a bit and crossing his arms. “Quite a surprise, considering where we found you.”

“I was forced into this war against my will,” Maude sneered, clutching the fabric of her dress. “The emperor knew I didn’t want to fight.”

“And what excuse does that give you to have watched all your men be slaughtered in front of your eyes?” he asked. “You sacrificed their lives for your own.”

“I don’t fight,” she answered firmly.

“So you half ass things instead?” he asked her. “And you value your life over others? What a conceited way to live”, he sniffed.

Maude felt her body jerk backwards and her eyes widen. “Excuse me?” she said. “Who are you to judge? You led the group of soldiers that annihilated my men.”

Duke Rosenberg snorted. “Your men were untrained imbeciles. They would have been killed by any but the newest of soldiers.”

Maude clenched her fists. “They were an elite group of men. I saw it myself.”

It was a lie. Maude had no idea how good or bad any of her soldiers had been in battle. Though several of them had asked her for a duel in the two weeks they’d traveled together, she had obliged none of them. She’d kept to herself as much as she could, so she had no idea if they’d been dueling amongst themselves either.

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And while she disliked the emperor, she trusted him more than she trusted Duke Rosenberg.

He laughed out loud. Under most circumstances, Maude imagined that his laugh would be a welcome, joyful sound. Right now it felt as though he was mocking her.

“Lady Holloway,” he said once he was done laughing. “The only way that battalion could have ever been considered an elite group of men, is if you’d shared some of your powers with them. If you’d been in the fight and given it your all, it would have been a fair fight.”

Maude stared at him. Was this why the emperor sent her to fight this man? Surely the Duke isn’t that stupid, she thought. The emperor’s plan wouldn’t have succeeded no matter what...right?

“And how do you know that?” Maude asked him. “When have you ever seen me fight?”

“While I’ve never seen you personally fight, I've heard stories of your capabilities,” Duke Rosenberg said. “If you had been on the field, we probably would have each lost about half our men.”

The emperor had clearly told her that it was supposed to be an easy win. Aulbert must have swapped out a weaker group of men for the elite men that her unit had met on the battlefield, perhaps after finding out that she was coming with elites from the empire. That was the only plausible explanation.

Maude shook her head at the Duke in front of her. “I think whoever told you about me vastly overestimated my capabilities,” she said.

The duke started breathing heavily. His eyes looked bloodshot. Waves or rage seemed to be radiating off of him. “You’re despicable,” he said. “Don’t you realize what kind of situation you’re in?” he continued.

“Not quite,” Maude answered. “I was hoping to hear some useful information from you.”

She looked at the fist he was making. He was physically shaking. Why? Why is he so angry at me?

“If you get sent back to the empire, you’ll probably be executed for shirking your military responsibilities. All of the families of your soldiers will want to hold you responsible for their child’s deaths.

“And if you stay in the Aulbertian Kingdom,” the duke continued, “you’ll probably be executed for being the empire’s trump card.” As the duke was talking, a young maid slipped into the room, carrying a tray of food. “Don’t you care if you live or die?” he asked her.

“Of course I do,” Maude replied, feeling her hands flash with heat. They started to shake a little.

The maid came up to the duke and gently tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned and saw her, he looked relieved.

“Lady Holloway,” he said, addressing Maude. “This is Helena. She’ll be taking care of you while you’re here.”

“Hello, my lady,” Helena said with a small smile and a nod. “I’ve brought you breakfast.” She put down a tray of food in front of Maude. Maude’s stomach flip-flopped.

I don’t want to feel indebted, Maude thought.

“If you care about your own life, why put yourself in a precarious situation?” the duke asked Maude, continuing the conversation.

Maude felt something break inside of her. “If you’re going to have me killed, why are you care?” she shouted at the duke.

His eyes widened in surprise. Then his face contorted back to the scowl it had been when she’d met him.

“What a waste,” she heard him mutter as he stalked out of the room.

Maude looked up at Helena, who was fiddling with her hands nervously. Maude felt her stomach flip-flop again, and looked over the food in front of her.

She felt ill at the sight of the food. Thinking of eating it made some more bile rise to the back of her throat.

“You can take this away,” she told Helena.

“Yes, my lady,” Helena said, doing a little bow. She lifted up the tray and left the room.

I have to get out of here if I want to live, Maude thought. Tonight, I have to at least try to escape.