There was an unpleasant stuffiness in the air that drove the sweat from one’s pores. It was hot and it had rained heavily the night before. A number of men were now standing on a training ground, all wearing training robes that were somewhat thicker to prevent any wounds from unlucky sword blows. It was another day of sword training for Alexander, as well as other young up-and-comers of the army elite. A flock of sparrows perched in the nearby bushes was providing a musical accompaniment to the scene. The Kuhn offspring wiped his soaking wet forehead. "Huh! What stifling weather!", he complained. The others didn't feel much better, but they accepted the conditions without a word.
"All right, girls!", Ulrich alongside a few other instructors began to address the boys in a childish manner. "Today we're doing practice fights again. We're going to rotate from where we've just fought to the next partner in a clockwise direction. Everyone who has been given a white ribbon is a "switcher", those who don't have one stay where they are after each match. Is that clear so far?" The boys lined up in a row signaled their agreement. "All right! Let's get started then. Ragnar, you go over there, Laszlo has the spot over there....." He divided everyone up. While this was going on, nobody noticed that a spectator had "snuck up" on them. To be fair, she was also in a place where you wouldn't immediately look.
A girl in a long beige dress was now sitting on top of the military barracks next door. Her hair was red, and she was trying not to skid on the slippery, old roof tiles, some of which were already covered in lichens. When she had somewhat found her footing, she looked curiously at what the young soldiers in training were doing here. She wasn't allowed to do this, and she actually was supposed to be devoting herself to her studies at this point in time, but the princess had once again given herself the freedom to slip out through the window. She peered over at the boys as they began their first sword swings.
Very soon, however, a few of the trainees noticed the unsanctioned spectator. Alexander saw her too. He recognized immediately who she was, of course, as he knew the girl. Now he was especially spurred on. He had to show what he could do! With all his strength, he struck his opponent from the left and right, but the guy always blocked his blows skilfully. Finally, his challenger parried him and hit the young major general on the wrist. "Hey, watch out!", the young man growled angrily. With the urge to prove himself, he then made a bold leap forward. A big mistake. The damp grass under his soles caused him to slip and he fell forwards directly onto his face.
The young Kuhn got up again in an instant, but it had already happened. Not only was his counterpart laughing at him, but Viktoria could also be seen laughing on the roof. He was humiliated. He almost wanted to throw an angry statement at his opponent's head, but then held back. After all, it wasn't his fault. Alexander had only himself to blame for this. He wasn't a good fighter and deep down he knew that himself. But now the instructors here were also taking notice of the girl on the roof. "What are you doing there? You're not allowed to be here! Get out of here! Leave!", one of them shouted loudly at her. The young lady was startled for a moment and then immediately flew away.
Ulrich now approached his protégé and said to him, "You always act too rashly. Think before you act." - "If I'm quick enough and take my enemy by surprise, it'll work! Fighting is not a science!" Alexander refused to accept the advice of the Vice Supreme Marshal. "No! A fight is not a game of chance in which you risk everything just because you think you can catch someone on the wrong foot!", Ulrich explained to him in a slightly irate tone. The lad didn't seem to be listening to him. In the background, the other warriors were whispering to each other, "He just doesn't get it! Kuhn's always been a stick-in-the-mud! Shhhh! Shut up! You don't want to get into trouble with his father."
Young Alexander hated that everyone looked down on him like that. He was a real man! But he had to prove it to these guys. No, he had to prove it to everyone.
It was at a late hour. A waxing gibbous moon shone down from the starry sky. Its brightness made it easier for Viktoria to see where she was going. The rendezvous point she had chosen was a place where no one would find her so easily, but which she herself could also find somewhat easily. That was why she was now on the lookout for the landmark on the basis of which she had chosen the location of her meet-up. She flew over a dense, dark canopy of leaves. Then she finally saw it. A high stone peak rose out of the forest in the distance and the girl set course for it. As she approached, the forest opened up beneath her, revealing a small number of houses. A tiny settlement in the middle of the Karantian Forests. The mage flew on towards her target and then landed slowly and carefully in front of it on the ground paved with cobblestones.
A large obelisk stood vertically in front of her. At its base, a warrior statue was integrated into the monument and a metal triquetra was attached to its top. The statue held a sign in its hands that read:
In memory of those who died in the Holy Revolution
Freedom or death
Praised be the Martyrs
Even though she understood the message of the memorial, the princess did not grasp its significance or context. The monument stood on a small, paved square in the middle of an abandoned settlement. But it was still “relatively” new. Viktoria couldn't say why such a monument had been erected in a ghost town, but she didn't give it a second thought.
She had been here many times before. Not only could one be alone here and have peace and quiet, but this former settlement was also fairly easy to find. Nowadays at least.... The girl now walked to the southern edge of the village, where there was a fairly new sign reading “Lagersdorf”. A few meters away from it, he now was waiting. Leaning against an old, rotten fence, a person in dark clothing, illuminated by the moonlight, looked over at the princess.
"Hello, here I am. I'm glad you came!”, he addressed her in a deliberately softer voice so as not to frighten her in this place devoid of people. When the girl turned to the side and spotted him, a smile crossed her lips. “Hello there, how are you?”, she asked in an exaggeratedly eager tone. Her joy and nervousness somewhat got the better of her and came out like this. He returned, “I’m fine, but it took me a while to find this village out here in this no man's land.” He was fibbing a little there. Firstly, there was one path leading here from Soldach that was still good to use and secondly, Lucius had led him here, as he would most likely have gotten lost on his own. Incidentally, the aforementioned man was still present. He was just hiding in the nearby bushes.
Then he returned the question, “And you?” She didn't answer but pointed with her index finger into the forest to the south of them. "Let's go a little further. Sometimes people pass by here. It happens quite seldomly, especially at this time of day, but let's not push our luck."- “Um, okay,” was all that came back from him. Then, the two of them walked a little way through the forest, which wasn't too dense here. Achaz couldn't think of much to say and remained silent for the time being. Viktoria, on the other hand, blabbered on about her journey here and how annoyed she was that the wind always messed up her previously well-combed hair. “My hair doesn't look terrible now, does it?”, she asked him bluntly. The young man was surprised that she spoke so nonchalantly to him, as if she had known him for a long time.
"I can't say for sure. I can't see it very well,” he replied. Shortly afterwards, however, they reached a place where the light of the moon could shine down. It was a large pond in the middle of a small clearing. Viktoria stopped in front of it and turned to the boy. “So?” Confused, he asked, “What?” But then he realized that she was referring to the question she had asked earlier. He looked at her hair. It had already been visibly messed up. "It's somewhat okay, I guess. You can definitely see the effect of the wind, though." Disappointed, she said, “Really? Geez..." She looked annoyed. The fact that she couldn't go on her date with her hair arranged the way she wanted it, annoyed her immensely. Even a blind person could have seen her state of mind at that moment.
Meanwhile, Achaz's overseer, who had been following them inconspicuously, had caught up again and had hidden in some distant undergrowth. Unfortunately, it was quite prickly in there, but he had to refrain from making any noise whatsoever. Viktoria didn't notice anything. Achaz walked closer to the edge of the pond and looked at its surface, where a few closed water lilies could be seen. He then turned to the girl standing right next to him, "Why did someone of your rank agree to have a date with me? You don't even know what estate I’m from." This question irritated the princess. She replied, "What does it matter? Rank? Wealth? Pshaw!" The boy was instantly surprised by her direct and downright rude manner, which he, since the ball, had almost forgotten was one of her personality traits.
He asked the counter question, "And what about your parents' opinion?" That seemed to hit Viktoria unexpectedly and she slightly swayed back in response. "My parents don't know anything. It's better if I don't tell them everything." The young man added, "Mine don't know that I'm here either. I think it's better that way." - "You said it!" Then they paused their conversation briefly. A cool night breeze caused ripples to glide across the surface of the pond and the two of them watched this in silence. "It's really nice here. I can see why you like this place," Achaz noted. She agreed with him, but also said, "I mainly come here because I can be alone. Nobody bothers me here when I'm practising my magic."
This interested the young man and he asked, "Magic? So, what things do you do there?" The question was deliberately vague, as he wanted to know what she was able to do with her powers, but he didn't dare to ask it directly. Unfortunately, Viktoria replied with an equally vague answer: "Especially things that involve strength. Out here, I don't have to worry about causing damage like I do in the city." - " Erm... okay," was all that came back from the lad. But then he pulled himself together and asked, "What exactly are you doing? Knocking down trees? Or...I don't know what else?" Carefree, she replied, "Yes, I mainly use trees as test targets. Their wood splinters from my telekinesis. I can even fell the really big, ancient oaks in one fell swoop. I often practise lifting the fallen trunks, as they are very heavy. That also works without any problems, actually."
Jokingly, Achaz then said, "You could almost start a career as a lumberjack!" - "Haha! Maybe. I don't think the menials the forester has for this would be too grateful," the girl commented amusedly. "You're probably right there," he confirmed her. "I think it's really amazing that you can fly. That must be an incredible feeling," he then remarked. A smile came over the wizard's face and she asked him, "Do you want to try it out too?" Without hesitation, he replied, "Yes. That would be really great!"
So, they took each other by the hand and Viktoria let them both float a few meters over the pond. "We can go higher if you want." - "Mhm," he agreed. Then they flew over the treetops and quite a distance over the moonlit forest. The girl's magic sent them hurtling away with surprising speed. The strong breeze made his robes flutter wildly. But Achaz was not afraid. This flight through the skies of Ordania made the adrenaline flow through his veins and had an almost intoxicating effect on him. After a short time, however, they returned, and the princess set them down exactly where they had taken off. "That was the most exciting thing I've ever done!", the boy claimed with a delighted expression on his face. The girl couldn't prevent his enthusiasm from rubbing off on her.
After that, they talked some more for a while. Achaz had obviously found a fascination for her magic now. "I wish I could do things like that as well," he revealed to her then. "Unfortunately, you have to be born with such abilities. There's no other way," Viktoria had to take him down a peg. Of course, her conversation partner was fully conscious of this. He simply interjected offhandedly, "No wonder you're so self-confident. You can probably do pretty much anything!" This wasn't a lie. He was expressing how he actually perceived her. Viktoria seemed to take his statement as a compliment and joy beamed from her face. A little after that, however, she returned something unexpected, "There's a lot I can do. But I think you're overestimating me here. A magician is only human. In many ways, being a mage actually alienates you from others." That made sense to the boy, but he couldn't immediately think of what to say next. He fell silent again for a while. The princess also remained quiet for some time.
Under the moonlight, they looked at each other. The girl let her gaze wander over the young man's features and clothes and vice versa. When their eyes met, Viktoria turned away, blushing slightly. He was handsome after all. Now the boy wanted to find out something important: "Can I see you again? I like you and I don't want this to be the last time we meet." This made his counterpart visibly flustered, something very unusual for her. She thought about it for a moment and then responded, "Yes. I want to see you again, too." So, they arranged their next date.
A short lady in a monochrome dark blue uniform was quite literally leaning into her work. Spread out on the floor were several huge sheets of parchment on which she was drawing. One was already finished and depicted an intricate magic circle that still had to dry fully. The black head was now bent over another one, carefully applying stroke after stroke. But then there was a knock on the door, and she spilled a little of the ink that was dripping from her brush. " For God's sake!", she huffed. "Come in!"
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Her boss entered the library. When he saw what she was busy with, he felt a little remorse. Although he had knocked as gently as possible, his intrusion was, of course, a disturbance. Silke immediately stood up and greeted him, "Good afternoon, my lord! I'm pleased to see you again, and I'm glad to see you safe and sound." - "Did you think I was going to be eaten by monsters on my journey?" His Majesty quipped, adding, "A simple basilisk is nothing to me." This seemed to cause some confusion with his assistant. He would explain later what exactly he had meant by this statement.
"We need to discuss a few things," Wenzel pointed out to her. He had only returned from his trip to Camenia a few hours ago. Now it was important to fill his assistant in on what had happened and what he had found. As a result, the two sat down together and he shared with her everything that was important for her to know. While he was talking, he placed an object wrapped in cloth on the table next to him. The lady listened attentively, of course, but kept peeking over at the object, as she already knew what it was.
As he concluded his explanations, he then unveiled the Holy Artifact. The lady promptly snatched it up and examined it meticulously. The yellow stone set into it somehow seemed to glow, in spite of the fact that it gave off no light. There was not the slightest doubt that this was the original. "Ahem!", Wenzel cleared his throat to draw her attention back to him and then continued, "We'll have plenty of time to inspect the artifact later. But I would like to show you another find I have made." - "Do you mean the crystal that was feeding the magic circle?" He nodded at her and pulled it out of his pocket.
It was a transparent rock crystal, about the length and width of a thumb. Silke was immediately fired up and wanted to start exploring the two objects straight away. "I have plans for today, but I can help you a little with the analysis," His Highness then claimed. He was actually just as excited and full of enthusiasm to investigate his new discoveries. As a result, it became a long afternoon and eventually evening. In the end, Wenzel stayed and let his appointment fall through. But it had not been in vain. What they discovered was exceptionally interesting from the point of view of the two magic enthusiasts.
It turned out that in fact, the rock crystal had no inherent magical effect. It simply stored magical power. If the Chosen One performed magic while holding it in his hand, his output increased considerably. In other words, the stone significantly increased his magical power. "Should we destroy the stone to test what happens to the magic it contains?", his assistant suggested to him. The wizard thought about it for a while. Then he replied, "I don't think that will be necessary. I already know what would happen anyway. The magical power of the object would bind itself to the next best thing that can hold it. So, probably to me or to one of the other Holy Artifacts. To be honest, I don't want to get any more grey strands. The one from back then is actually enough for me."
The woman almost reflexively started staring at the ruler's hair for a moment. A single grey strand adorned his otherwise red mop of hair. His Majesty had already told her the story of how it had come about. She understood his feelings on the matter and would not pressure him into doing anything he did not want to do. Thus, the stone from the magic circle, even if it was not a Holy Artifact, would also be kept here.
A young man with a short haircut and attractively masculine, albeit not yet fully matured, features was grooming his horse's coat. He was brushing against the grain with the currycomb to remove the coarse dirt and bring out the beautiful brown and white spotted coat of his stallion Figaro. His work was painstaking and progress was very slow. Achaz's mind was simply somewhere else today. Time and again he gazed fixedly into the distance or simply at Figaro's coat without continuing with the brushing. What was the matter with him?
All he could see before his inner eye was the face of the girl with the crimson hair. Her voice, the way she talked, her pretty eyes and her bold manner never left him. Even when he closed his eyes, he could still see her beautiful face in front of him. She was all he could think about at the moment. He hadn't felt this at their first meeting, but this had changed since the last time. Already after the first few days, he realized what this feeling inside his stomach was all about. Viktoria meant something to him. That was a very bad thing! He was afraid because he knew what things his mother had planned and what she would ask him to do in relation to the princess. He absolutely had to talk to his mother about the matter again. But she wasn't here at the moment anyway. Yet another problem.
In the late afternoon, when the sun was already beginning to flood the area with its golden yellow light, he was finally finished with his work. He quickly climbed over the wooden fence of the small paddock and went back into the small hut where they were currently living. When he entered, he only saw Fabio, his mother's current partner, sitting on a small three-legged stool. No one else was there at the moment. The man didn't even look up when Achaz entered the dwelling, so preoccupied was he with repairing his boots. The light blazed in through the window. It was dizzyingly hot today. Without saying anything, the lad watched the gentleman go about his task for a while. He needed someone to talk to about that, which was occupying his thoughts so intensely. But Fabio? Was he the right person for this? He only knew him a little. All he really knew about the guy was that he gave in to his mother in everything and basically never defied her. Was he really someone he could discuss this with? On the other hand, it was just the two of them here now, an ideal opportunity to broach such an intimate subject. It was probably better to seize this opportunity.
"Excuse me, Fabio?", he opened the conversation. "Yes?", he returned. The man looked up from his work, meeting his stepson with a weary but otherwise rather emotionless glance. This made Achaz pause for a moment, but then he pushed himself to continue. "Do.....Do you know if Mother's plan will actually work?" Fabio gave him a questioning look and then said, "You mean the thing with the princess, don't you? Why wouldn't it work?" The boy now had to answer in a cunning manner. "Because it's based on a false assumption. Viktoria is not as hot-headed or even as susceptible to manipulation as you assumed.....as that Di Alduino's report claimed. She deliberately restrains her assertiveness and even apologizes when she has behaved too inappropriately!"
His counterpart simply replied, "And how does that make her less susceptible to manipulation? Sounds to me as if it means the exact opposite, that the princess demonstrably adapts her behaviour for you if you just get close enough." - "Damn!", Achaz thought to himself. Fabio was right.
"Of course she's manipulable. Just like every human being!" it sounded in from the front door. It was the unmistakable, raspy voice of Lucius. The man who had once even been officially considered heir to the Ordanian throne pierced the young lad with his ice-cold eyes as he turned to face him. This made Achaz freeze immediately. "You will follow our plan and not ask stupid questions! Is that clear?" The boy flinched but gave him no answer. But when the vengeful man stepped closer to him, he squeezed out a soft "Yes".
Now his overseer leaned down over to him a little and said, "Good. Don't forget that the regime wouldn't hesitate to destroy you, if they found out whose descendant you are! This matter also concerns you. Besides, they're all just compliant servants of demons anyway! There is not a single reason to waver here or to doubt the rightness of our mission. Or is there?" The man, consumed by hatred, had asked him another question. It was as rhetorical as it was non-rhetorical. The lad replied with a simple, "Of course it is."
He didn't have the courage to reveal his feelings for Viktoria, especially now that Mr. Cornel was back. Achaz didn't even know how to deal with it himself. What a mess! So, what could he do now? What SHOULD he do now? The lad had no answer. He would continue to see the girl with the intention of ensnaring her. That was what his mother, Lucius and Fabio wanted, and especially the first two mentioned. He was forced to play a nasty game he didn't want to play, and Lucius would watch his every move very closely. There was no escape for him!
Light brown dust was kicked up from the trampled soil of the training ground in the centre of the camp. Strong men with sunburnt skin were practicing with spears and lances. They were competing against each other, but also were training on straw men and wooden practice targets. Those who were learning to use the lance on horseback in particular used simple wooden disks or straw-filled sacks as practice targets.
We were still in the early hours of the morning, but it was already relatively warm, which was partly due to the location but also to the time of year. One could see the Limesian Mountains towering not so far in the distance. Some of the men here were Camenians, but most of them were Ordanian-born. The reprisals of the empire had forced the majority of them to go into exile here. As one might have guessed, they were mostly Alethics, but not exclusively. A small woman accompanied by a man rode up to the sidelines of the action. Her name was Petra and she had been led by the Baron Di Alduino to this secret training camp, which was located in his lands.
The two stopped in front of the commander's tent and got out of the saddle. Purposefully, they promptly strode into the tent. Once their eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the interior, they could already see him: Etzel. He was sitting on a small table and above him hung a yellow coat of arms with three red lances across it. "Good morning, Your Serene Highnesses!", the former field marshal greeted them. For the sake of simplicity, he included Petra in his greeting, even though she was not a noblewoman. "'God's blessing upon you!", the Baron returned briefly. Then he said, "I'm primarily here to deliver the lady to you. Of course, I will also use this opportunity to see how the build-up and training of your fighters is progressing."
Etzel nodded to his patron and commented, "Building up the Free Lancers is a long and tough process. Many do not have what it takes to be a steadfast resistance fighter. Nevertheless, as you can probably see for yourself, my lord, the creation of our alethic organization is progressing steadily." - "And this is where I come in," Petra joined the conversation and continued, "A simple cell of resistance, or even several, will never be able to change the status quo in Ordania. For that, we need another indispensable component: My plan!"
That was indeed a correct assessment, due to the fact, that most Ordanians, but also Camenians, Zeemarkians and Corakians adhered to the main denomination of Teleiotism, the one, that not so long ago was referred to as “the Old Believers’ Faith”. They had remained the majority even under Alethic rule, so there was no simple way for this anti-Melgarian movement to turn back the hands of time. "I assume that's why you came to me, to inform me of the progress of your machinations, Petra," said the military man. She responded, " You've got it!" Etzel then pointed to a small chair on the side. She quickly fetched it and then they sat down together to discuss the progress of their respective undertakings.
Meanwhile, the nobleman in his green pantaloons left the tent again and made an inspection tour of the camp. As he wandered around seemingly aimlessly, he saw the recruits and fighters doing all sorts of exercises as well as necessary tasks and chores. A tall, muscular man, who could easily have joined the grenadiers of the Holy Ordanian Army, was brandishing a greatsword. This particularly impressed the passer-by as it had a curved blade akin to a flame. Accordingly, it was also known as a Flammberge. It had been one of the iconic weapons of the Boskettian Company before it was disbanded by decree of the Camenian king.
However, Etzel's Free Lancers had now adopted their organization and method of warfare as their model. It was no coincidence that Etzel knew the former leader of the now banned mercenary organization, and that a good number of these former mercenaries had now joined here. Still, the structure and fighting tactics of this new organization of resistance fighters would not simply be the same. As the name implied, the types of weapons they prioritized here would be quite lance-heavy. Overall, there were many hundreds of fighters, that one could make out here alone.
At the edge of the camp, he also saw sutlers, who were mainly female. The baron was well aware of what such an existence entailed for them. As he stood there lost in thought for a moment, a strong gust of wind came along, causing the tall pine trees that were everywhere to shake violently. This caused a few pinecones to fall from the trees, one of which hit the nobleman directly on the crown of his head. Di Alduino took this as a sign to turn back. In any case, he had now been able to see for himself that his "investment" of his had not come to nothing. However, this did not mean at all, that their plans had been successful either.
At lunchtime, her mother had already noticed her lack of appetite. Sitting in front of an almost full plate of omelette, she had been asked by Amalie, “Is everything okay?” At first, the girl hadn't reacted at all and had just pushed her food from one side of the plate to the other. “What?”, she then had returned timidly. “I'm just not hungry today.” It should be clear that this had immediately struck both her parents as something uncharacteristic.
Later that day, the couple had a conversation about it. “Do you think there's something wrong with her?”, the father inquired. Shaking her head, his wife, who was currently sitting on the divan next to Wanja and stroking her, replied, “Not necessarily. Her behaviour is just .... unusual.” -”Indeed. Yesterday, she walked past me, looking like she was on top of the world, and greeted me in an overly friendly manner. She never does that. In general, she seems so absent-minded lately,” Wenzel laid out his observations. His sweetheart added, “Recently, she's also been using my perfume without asking me. You can clearly smell it on her.” That made her smirk a little. The Chosen One just looked at her blankly. She asked, “Can't you see it?” - “What?” - “Dearest, I think our daughter has a crush on someone,” she now stated for her unsuspecting husband. Wenzel blinked a few times. Then he spoke, “A crush? On a boy?” He was visibly unable to deal with the situation. After two minutes of his typical pondering, he finally announced, “I'll just ask her!” Amalie put her hand to her forehead but did nothing to stop her husband.
Without knocking, he simply walked in through her room’s door. The girl sitting on the desk looked up from it and at her father. “Who is it?”, he demanded to know immediately. The teenager looked confused and replied, “What do you...?” - “Your mother has the crazy suspicion that you have a crush,” Wenzel said, emphasizing the word "crush" in a peculiar way. Her pupils visibly widened when she heard that. “That's not true, is it?” Wenzel didn't even give her time to say anything. Only then did she reply with an expression, that was as inconspicuous as possible, “No. There's no one.” - “Oh, that's reassuring. It's still a bit too early for you. You still have a lot to learn before you should think about something like that,” the adoptive father thoughtlessly laid bare his inner concerns. “
You're probably right. Haha,” Viktoria responded awkwardly, while scratching the back of her head suspiciously. Her old man, who had no experience with such situations, immediately said goodbye and closed the door behind him. Directly afterwards, the girl who had just been confronted breathed a sigh of relief. She had not expected this. She understood that from now on she would have to be more careful when sneaking off to her dates with Achaz. However, in her naivety, it still didn't occur to her to have an excuse ready just in case. Though, she would henceforth also be more cautious in the presence of Ylva.