Maude crawled around in the bush. She and the soldiers had gotten into position, and had been lying in wait for about twenty minutes. There was still no sign of the enemy, but Maude knew it was only a matter of time.

From across the clearing in the forest, Maude could see the other two commanders waiting for her signal. Their eyes were fixated on the bush she was hiding in. The forest gave them many places to hide, but Maude had been sure to ask them to choose good spots in hopes of not being seen by the enemy at all.

The only problem she knew she needed to iron out while everyone was fighting was how to show up and make it seem as though she’d been fighting alongside them the entire time. She knew one snag she hadn’t considered while plotting to not fight, was how to not get reported by one of her soldiers. The last thing she wanted was to make it home alive and peaceful, only to get executed by the emperor for failing to follow through with his perfectly laid out plan.

She had yet to come up with something. Hopefully something in the battle would spark her to come up with a plan. That’s what she was shooting for anyway.

The clearing had been silent, and Maude had gotten used to hearing her breathing. It had started out a little panicked, but had quickly calmed as more time passed without any sight of the enemy.

But now, she could hear it. The sound of boots hitting the ground in a uniform order and pattern.

The enemy was near.

She met eyes with one and then the other leaders of the other two parts of her unit. Winslow’s eyes were half closed. Huntington nodded at her. He heard them too.

The sound of boots continued to grow louder. Maude’s heart started to race, and she felt her whole body tense. It was almost time for the moment she’d been dreading for nearly two weeks. Her mouth was going dry and she licked her lips.

Closer and closer the boots stomped. Then, the battalion entered the clearing.

The emperor’s spies are good, Maude thought to herself. Right on time and right in place.

The battalion stopped in the middle of the clearing. Maude noticed a man at the front who was holding his fist up into the air. The leader, Maude thought.

She looked over at Winslow and Huntington again. Both of their eyes were focused on the enemy before them. Winslow was grasping the hilt of his sword.

It’s time, Maude thought. She whistled. The enemy drew their swords. From trees surrounding the clearing, she saw her soldiers charging into the field. Winslow let out a war cry.

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“Charge!” Huntington cried out.

Maude saw a couple of soldiers looking around towards her bush as they were running into the fray.

The clang of blades meeting one another rang out into the air. And then, the screams began.

Maude saw Winslow get cut down nearly as soon as his blade met his enemy. Huntington’s scream rang out from the clearing. Her eyes turned to him, just to see him have a sword eviscerate his chest. He’d been grabbing his leg, where blood had rushed from a different wound.

“Lady Maude!” she heard someone scream out. “Where’s Lady–ugh!”

Maude located the source of the sound, just to see another one of her soldiers get cut down.

Maude squeezed her eyes shut. What in the world is happening right now? Didn’t the emperor say he’d be giving me a unit of elite troops?

The screams continued. She wondered how many of them came from her soldiers in comparison to the kingdom’s soldiers. She couldn’t bear the idea of looking into the field of carnage and blood that most certainly awaited in front of her.

The smell of death quickly overwhelmed the calming earthy smells of dirt and decaying leaves. Maude felt bile rising into her throat.

Thank God I’m not out there fighting, she thought. I am no more elite than these men. I’d already be gone. I am not elite. I can barely hold my own in a duel.

She shuddered.

“Maude!” she heard another person scream out, interrupting her thoughts. “Traitor!” She heard the person scream out and make a gurgling noise. The bile rose higher, threatening to reveal her hiding spot. Another one of her soldiers was gone.

After what felt like eternity of hearing screams and suffering, the battle fell silent. Maude could hear her breathing again.

Is it safe? She wondered. She was afraid to open her eyes and witness whatever horror was in front of her.

She waited several more minutes. She’d yet to hear the sound of anyone retreating. All she could hear was her rapid breathing.

Finally, she opened her eyes. Bodies were now crumpled all over the clearing. There were only a handful of the kingdom’s black and white uniformed bodies on the field. The vast majority were her own men, who appeared to have been mercilessly obliterated.

As far as she could see, none of the kingdom’s soldiers had stuck around. Yet, she hadn’t heard them leave at all.

Surely the emperor’s plan had been a good one. The information he’d gotten from his spy had been accurate as well. Was it possible that the nearly infallible emperor had fallen for a trap?

Her stomach couldn’t handle it anymore. She vomited everywhere. Loudly.

“There!” she heard someone say. “In that bush!”

Fuck, she thought. I’m dead.

She felt someone roughly grab her bicep and pull her out of the bush. She was still vomiting.

“What the fuck?” the black and white uniformed grabber said. “It’s the empire’s sword saint.”

They know who I am? I am so dead! Maude cursed at her stomach for not being able to hold out any longer.

“Should we kill her?” another soldier asked. She heard a sword being drawn. She felt the poke in the back of her neck.

“Wait,” a deeper, more authoritative voice said.

The leader, Maude thought.

“Why should we wait?” bicep grabber asked.

She heard straining leather boots stopping behind her. “We bring her with us,” the leader said. “We can use her as leverage to stop the war. The sooner we end this madness with the empire, the sooner we can all go back home to our daily lives and loved ones.”

What? Maude wondered. What does he mean by that?

“You got it boss,” the man holding the sword to her neck said. She felt a sharp pain on the back of her head, and blacked out.