As the cheers of victory continued, Varsus gave orders. The man really did seem like the epitome of the composed and brave knight. With his blonde hair and tall, lean figure, he looked heroic. It was ironic since Reginald had done far better on the battlefield. He and Ham had slain many satyrs and undead, while Varsus had largely focused on command. Still, he looked thoughtfully at Relma when he thought she didn't see him. Relma felt Varsus was judging her as surely as he was judging him.

He was the son of Sir Arthur Gabriel, one of the greatest Paladins of his era. But he didn't seem at all like a Paladin. He didn't have the kind of light you'd expect. But then William hadn't had that light either, not in the same way. Maybe Relma had the wrong expectations for them. Either way, people cheered Varsus on where he walked. Aunt Pan was similarly looking at her, and Relma felt awkward here.

"...I wasn't aware that Zeya owed Elranor any favors," said Aunt Pan suddenly. "It must have been some recent event. I wonder what it was?" Relma felt that whatever it was, it had nothing to do with her.

"It is of no present relevance," said Varsus, who seemed to agree. "Men, see to the wounded and get the dead off the walls. I want those plants cleared off now." That sounded like something William would say. But Varsus seemed to mean it more, somehow.

"Relma, go among the men and heal anyone injured or hurt," said Aunt Pan.

Relma nodded and moved off. She spent what seemed like hours healing people and accepting pledges of gratitude. Several people clapped her on the back as she walked, and she nearly stumbled. Even so, she managed to heal many of the less wounded people. She left the rest for the more experienced healers. But she heard men whispering that she had healed thousands,

Relma felt more like the face of a legend than a person in her own right.

Then the gates opened, and Frederick came through on wolfback. With him were all the other parts of the army. Relma moved down and saw Estela going to meet Frederick. "Lady Estela, I see your steel is as sharp as always," said Frederick, dismounting.

"Sir Frederick, I'm flattered you think so," said Estela, bowing.

"Where is Lord Anias?" asked Frederick. "Should he not be here?"

"Lord Anias is dead, I'm afraid," said Estela. "We'll explain in private. For now-"

But at that moment, the woman who'd assigned Relma to the walls grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Good, you're here. We've got dozens of wounded coming in from the advance force. I'll need you to tend to the less serious cases." And she moved off before glancing at Relma. "Come quickly, girl! We've got no time!"

Relma blinked. "Yes, ma'am."

The wounded from the battle were far worse than those on the walls. Some of them were covered in thousands of tiny bites. Their skin had gone an unnatural purplish color, and their breath was short. "What happened to them?" asked Relma.

"These ones were attacked by the spiders," said the woman. "They've got many smaller wounds, and the venom is within them. They aren't for you." She led her out to a room filled with people suffering from ordinary wounds that weren't as bad. "These are yours."

Relma quickly got to work, healing everyone she could. It wasn't long before she became tired from doing it, feeling the sweat drip from the effort. Channeling the divine was hard work. Then she saw someone she knew. "Ronald?"

Ronald had several cuts on him, and a blade cut his curly hair unevenly. But he smiled anyway. "Hello, Relma, fancy meeting you here."

"How went the battle?" asked Relma, setting to work on him.

"Didn't you see?" asked Ronald. "We rode them down by the dozens. Of course, then they-"

At that moment, a man was hurried through on a stretcher. His face was white, and his eyes looked dead. He was hardly breathing. "What happened to him?" said Relma. "There are hardly any wounds on him."

"He was gripped by the dead," said Ronald. "It's one of the powers of the Withering, Lucius domain. If you are held by one of its creatures too long, it seeps into you."

Relma shuddered as she finished. "I have to move on to others. We'll talk later."

At the last moment, a girl rushed up to the woman who commanded all of them. She was a very tall elf, with long silver hair tied into a bun above her head and clad all in white. "Healer Atraya."

"What is it, girl?" asked the woman.

"The wolf leader requests your aid tending to some of his wolves," said the girl.

"Wolves?" asked Atraya. "Do I look like a druid? Or a Seer of Laevian?"

"They are suffering from ails their own healers are hard-pressed to heal." said the girl.

"The effects of the withering, no doubt," said Atraya. "Very well, let them in. But if my workers are bitten or scratched, they all go out."

And so the work began anew. Relma was kept plenty busy moving from one wounded person to the next. When she finished the less-wounded, she was simply moved to the next. Finally, it was done, and Atraya took her to one side. "Well, that deals with most of them, I think. You did a reasonably passable job at the whole thing. Reasonably."

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"What would constitute a good job?" asked Relma.

"Something out of your reach, I assure you," said Atraya. "Now clean yourself up and get out."

"Yes, ma'am," said Relma before obeying.

She'd only made her way out of the healing rooms when she was approached by another familiar face. A girl with dark hair and the ears and tail of a gray wolf, clad in a fur cloak. "I was wondering where I'd find you."

"Anya, what are you doing here?" asked Relma, remembering their last encounter.

"I live in this region, not that it's any of your business," said Anya. "I would have been content to let this whole region fall, but Ajax convinced me it was in our interest."

"So you've made up, then?" asked Relma, remembering their rivalry. Anya had felt like the unfavorite between her and Ajax. She'd felt that Telix favored Ajax without reason. And Relma, privately, thought she might have had good reason to believe so. Ajax hadn't struck Relma as a very mature person when they first met. Though Anya had nearly turned Relma into a werewolf as part of that vendetta.

So Relma would not be saying that to his face. Especially since Anya seemed to have similar problems. Best to stay tactful and keep them working together toward a common goal.

"No," said Anya, as if surprised she'd even consider the idea.

So much for that.

Then again, Anya and Ajax were both much older than they looked. Ajax was born around the time of the Escorian Civil War several generations back. That had been the death of Erik the Voyager, Varsus' ancestor. As Relma had learned, it had a defining effect on everyone who lived through it.

Ajax never spoke of those days. Aunt Pandora sometimes did, and Relma felt it was the reason she was so overprotective.

"Oh, so when did you move here?" asked Relma.

"I didn't," said Anya. "My wolves and I were withdrawn to the Wolven Forest on the order of Father. We were expecting a war. When one didn't happen, we went back home."

Well, this was awkward. "Well, I'm glad you were here."

"So am I," said Anya. "With all these satyrs dead, it should be much easier to carve out new territories in this domain. I could lead you, humans, to their strong point.

"Or it might be better to play the sides."

"Wouldn't it be better to stick with your allies?" asked Relma.

Anya shrugged dismissively. "Humans don't stick with their allies. When we lived in Escor, House Vortegex pledged our broods territory in the Fair Forest. That is south of the Fairy Hills. We lived there for a hundred years and secured his border against their enemies in the north.

"Then he defeated those enemies and drove us out. We've only a small brood in that region now, hunted by their kind."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Relma, meaning it.

"You being sorry doesn't change anything," said Anya. "What frustrates me is that we didn't even get any meat out of this."

"Meat?" asked Relma.

"Yes," said Anya. "We eat satyrs and humans too, you know. Or at least my pack does. Ajax and his are squeamish about it all."

"Oh, I see," said Relma, somewhat taken aback.

"And elves," said Anya. "They're probably the best meat, but they don't really give much of it. Also, they tend to put up a better fight than your average human. A much better fight, actually."

"I'd rather not talk about this," said Relma. Oddly enough, she didn't mind per se. It was just another culture. Humans always killed humans, so eating them meant the meat wasn't being wasted. Still, discussing it so openly was probably not a good idea.

Then Ajax barreled into view, leaping clean over the walls to land before them in a crouch. He stretched and moved forward. "Relma, there you are. The scent of death is so strong I couldn't find you. Was that you on the battlements with the sword?"

"Yes, it was," said Relma. "Though it wasn't me calling the lightning. It was me who drew the sword in the first place.

"How did Ronald do?"

"Let me think," said Ajax. "I remember he speared down two satyrs with his lance before he was pulled down. But he got loose and cut their legs out from under them. Then they rose up again as the dead. He was pulled down, but De Cathe and Frederick came quickly to his aid.

"They hacked their way through dozens of the monsters and pulled them away."

That sounded... deeply unpleasant, though Relma thought it very impressive. She hoped Ronald wouldn't expect her to be deeply impressed by it. The thought of those satyrs families learning about their deaths...

But then, Ronald would have been killed if he hadn't killed them, and they were the attackers.

War was terrible, Relma supposed, and that was why she had to become King. To make sure things like this didn't happen. Or at least that they were kept under control.

"Where are De Cathe and Frederick now?" asked Relma.

"Well, Frederick is meeting with Lady Pandora and Varsus," said Ajax. "Last I checked De Cathe was pulled down by the undead." He looked at Anya. "Anya, they wanted to meet with you. Or so, I guess. I'm not interested."

"Well, I'd hate to keep the sheepherders waiting," said Anya. Then she walked off.

"Sheepherders?" asked Relma.

"A name for humans," said Ajax. "I heard the Lord was dead before the battle started. Know anything about that?"

"He tried to steal Lightning Trail and died before I could stop him," said Relma.

"Oh good," said Ajax in relief. "I was afraid something less pleasant happened. Well, on the brighter side, things should be easier when going through the Black Marsh. We've killed a great many satyrs today, and the others won't be in a hurry to challenge us."

"What were you doing all this time anyway?" asked Relma.

"Well, after I headed on ahead, I started moving through the wilderness, trying to sort things out," said Ajax. "Lucius has been gathering support from the various satyr clans. They were trying to get them into his service.

"Those we fought here were the first to rally to his banner. Several braves from every clan were sent for this. While they mobilized, I got in contact with Frederick and De Cathe. I led them by some of the secret ways in the Black Marshes.

"By the time they arrived here, we were fast behind them."

"But what did the satyrs want?" asked Relma.

"All of them drank a poison supplied by Lucius before going into battle," said Ajax. "I saw their warlocks brewing it. Even if they hadn't all died here, they would have died abroad."

Relma stared at him. That didn't make sense. "Why?"

"They wanted to die, obviously," said Ajax.

"Okay, but why did they want to die?" asked Relma.

"It was a sacrifice to Lucius," said Ajax. "He's their ultimate ancestor and so worthy of their total loyalty. He asked them to die, so they did. They just decided to do it while hurting their enemies."

"That's horrible," said Relma.

Ajax shrugged. "It's the way they live. They don't care about survival as long as they spill blood in the name of their gods."

"But why would Lucius order them to die?" asked Relma.

"I don't know. I'm not a sorcerer or a demonic archon," said Ajax. "If you want the exact reason, ask Pandora. I'm sure she has theories upon theories. All of them wrong."

"You should tell Aunt Pan about this," said Relma. "This could be important."

"Fine then, let's go," said Ajax.

Wait, she was going, too? She guessed it was important.

"Hail Relma, Heir of Kings!" called someone.

"I wish they'd stop doing that," said Relma.

"So do I. I can hear it a mile away." snapped Ajax.

Well, at least she wasn't suffering alone. Now, all Relma had to do was end the suffering entirely.