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Tarion

“Give me the medics,” said my wife as she stood, hands folded in the corner. All eyes in the meeting tent lay on her calm face. It should be her first time at war but her deamour spoke that she was one more. out of hundreds as she spoke proudly amongst the Isberg army leader. No one disagreed with her request.

“You have them.” I declared, and she smiled.

Lands above, I love that smile.

“Work with Jimmy with management of the camp, Lord Masse will be your guard and helper.”

She and Masse bowed, “Yes, Your Grace,” and left the tent.

“Bradshaw.” I point to below Maize at the shanty towns on the map table. “Your army and Alarians will take over here, establishing a base close to the walls and another direction of attack. Our aim is to split their attention.”

“Understood,” Bradshaw said.

“Good. As me, my knights and regiments will press…” I looked up from the map. Count Shopen, the bald and grey goatee'd gentleman, mused at the very end of the long table in silence.

“Speak your mind, Count.”

“Can we?” He asked.

I leaned away from the map table, scanning the noble. A noble from the most western area of Osberg, I had no chance to see him at court. Quite a bit of trouble had been caused by his people spreading rumours like a mob of gossip girls. I stared down the seventh circle. From how he bore his plates and his strict posture, he had never skipped training since the northern war.

I ruffled my long black hair. “You're too old for this bullshit. Grow the fuck up.”

”The old geezer slammed his gauntlets-encased fist on the table, making a dent.

“What did you say, you foolish upstart!!”

“Count” My voice was nearly a whisper in his right ear.

My speed, too much for his aged senses, made the old man jump back, almost unsheathing his blade. “I have had enough.” Knowing how dumb of a mistake that would be he put his right hand back at his side. He slowly turned to me.

I leaned on the table.

“Straightened up,” he did. “Face me.” He gritted his teeth and did as told. “Explain like an adult.” I sat my butt on the map, feigning patience.

“What are your issues?”

The bald man kept his hairy mouth tightly shut.

“Is it my age, my inexperience?” I saw him twitch. “Oh. Is that all?”

“It's everything! You have not proved your skill, nor have you shown you can lead a siege of this size!” Shopen words spattered like unrestrained vomit. Bradshaw came in between us. “Okay, let's relax-” my mana tethers pushed him back where he stood.

“What about Kirgfield?”

“Sly tactics won't work on boulders like Maize. You cannot make the run. They in the best place to be. And for sure they have enough supplies to last months without leaving those walls made by the great giants of the old age, hundreds of metres high and several metres thick. Even if you fly over with your new regiment, thousands of trained archers will fire upon you. The one tactic you could have implemented was spent on a county's castle.”

“Mm.”

I may not have met the man, but from the details in his report, his career in the North was outstanding by every metric. But what stood out for me was his cautious nature. Osberg is full of brunt people, always ready to carry their weapons to certain death if it means victory. Shopen opposed the way of thinking entirely, only thinking of bringing his men home whether the mission was successful or not. Getting off the table, I fidget with a key from my inventory.

“I will waste life pointlessly.” I juggled the key in my hand, staring deep in Shopen’s worried eyes. “Unless you think like you men do. That this war is pointless.”

“No, your grace! It is just…”

“Your men will accompany mine; you will be our vanguard. Leading the way for the knights. You can get a good view of my ‘failure’ from there.”

"Yes,” he remembered to salute. “Yes, Your Grace!”

“Mm. Now for the west.”

Hours of planning ended, and the crescent moon showered me with its silver light. I rest high in the sky with another who loved the skies.

“They keep annoying me. Asking and begging for my help.” The man’s medals clink and clatter on from the breeze as he floated down next to me. “They are my mother's family, I can’t forever,” the prince said with a face of apathy. “I am letting this be as it fights for the territory that all duchy are entitled to. In the end, it doesn't matter who governs the land as long the understand it is MY land.” Cold, blue eyes stare waiting for my answer.

I bowed deeply in the night sky to his highness. “Always was, and always. And about their pleas. May they fall on a deaf ear because their disrespect doesn't deserve to be heard.”

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The prince sat on the air like thrown, lifting his eyebrow with puzzlement.

“Disrespect?”

A gust turned me to Maize and its large walls in the distance. I point to the large vioden city surrounded by bountiful farms and green forests. “Look at what they have. Any duchy aspires to get half and yearn for more. More money? They have enough to compare to royalty. Food? They feed this nation, pricing at their discretion. Even the crown succumbs to their prices. Can’t even get a family discount.” The prince's eyebrow tensed.

“I mean no insult to the crown. Friedman is the Wolfburn’s.”

The prince leaned forward on his throne. “Get to the point.”

“I ask you, why the sacrifices? The Ghouls and the cursed. You must have heard of my missing monument. Why, Your Highness, why?”

“Because they yearn for more...”

The prince turned away, his hand on his Greek sculpture of a face as he mused in silence. “I see.”

“You can't be a neutral party in this dispute anymore, Your Highness. They won’t finish with the commoner, with me or the other duchies. Probably won’t finish with you.”

Stepping off the cloud throne, Kyros pat me on the shoulder. I nearly flinched from his icky touch. This should be the hero but everything about this handsome prince gave me the creeps.

The prince smiled with icy, dead eyes. “I really like this new you. Less cowardly, and much more entertaining. Okay, cousin, tell me how to fix your problems.”

“I will tell you, but..." I looked to the stars, where five figures hovered. Their eight-circle gold-grade hues could turn rock into diamonds with their pressure. Legends of the Northern War and key member of Haru’s party. They exemplify the best a human could be at their elements, each approaching godhood with the prowess in their respective element.

The prince giggled like an immature boy. “Don't mind them; the pantheons are just overprotective, me. I bloody went to war WITH them!” And he could very much fight them all at once and survive with little injury. Kyros came close to whisper. “They say you have the most potential to make me humble.”

“Mm…”

“I don’t see it. We all have our limit and it looks-” Kyros glanced at my chest. “Like you already arrived at it.” I could hear his smarmy grin as he spoke. But he did not lie.

“Limits,” I said. “Are meant to be broken.”

The prince tilted back, laughing aloud. “AHAHAHA True! Good attitude!”

I inspected the prince.

I need time, then it's possible.

“Cousin, heard you're getting divorced.”

“What…?”

“Heard some rumblings that the church finally approved it, Congratulations! I looked forward to you kicking out the bitch. But it seems the girl kicked herself out!”

My fists balled tight; I controlled my anger.

“Our blood is too precious to mix with the bile. A merchant daughter is one thing, but a prostitute daughter at that. That look… Oh, naive, lovestruck cousin! Don’t tell me you fucked her?!”

Finger on my lips, my Qi silenced all his noise, and my glare kept him quiet.

He hasn’t grown at all.

“The Divine Cult, Your Highness. Have you heard of it?”

“The mercs have sided with the Wolfburns. But our ravens have infiltrated their ranks.” Beatrice said, hidden by shadow. “Sandra and Lea are in their positions.”

“Mm,” I grunted while my eyes were glued to my wife being as busy as a bee. “Don’t wanna visit your dad before leaving?”

“Already did,” Beatrice responded with quickness. “A question, your Grace. Beiye?”

“Pissed off but well.”

“Thank you....” I felt her presence leave, and I caught Haru smiling at me.

“Your tent is ready.” Kurt appeared, face frigid as ice. But looking closer I saw some of that ice break off.

“Thank you.” Off my small chair, I pat Kurt on his arm with my knuckles. “It's a first for me too.” I gave him my more reassuring smile. “You will do well.”

Kurt nodded shyly, strutting back to his own tent.

Arms on hips, I breathed in; embers from blacksmiths, iron being oil and sharpened, filled my nose. No going back.

Haru

I wiped my brow, ready to turn. It was a big day tomorrow, but no bigger than any campaign I had joined to before. I could never get used to camping in Seoul Grand Park; now sleeping in tents for months has become normal life for me. Despite the bugs and dirt, life in the camps wasn't all bad. The merriment and the camaraderie were a joy to experience. Even as they sacrifice their lives each day, a pint of beer would get them back to a joyful mood. Day by day friendships form and grow, and lifelong friends are born. Till that lifelong friend gets killed by a stray arrow to the head.

I pulled open the curtain of my tent and was surprised.

Wow…Why does he seem bigger?

The six-foot-something beast of a man sat on the bed, crossed legs with only a pair of breeches on. The candles cast light on his perfect muscle like a photoshoot. Qi simmered of him like steam, eyes closed and posture relaxed as he meditated, unaware of my presence. He smiled so kindly, but there was some cheekiness in the corners.

“My bad, I forgot that I had to share. I can sit on the floor.”

I tried my hardest to look into his beautiful eyes. “It's alright; we can share. The bed is big enough.” I said

My eyes slowly drifted to his navel until he spoke again. “If that's okay with you. You rest while I meditate.”

I walked around the body, gazing at his chest breathing, his rolling shoulders and his tensed back. I made myself comfortable, covering my body with the duvet, and lying on my left side. My heart beat a thousand times a second knowing he was close.

“Haru,” Tarion said. His huge back was all I saw.

“Yes?” His husk from the long was like perfume to my nose. “Okay, what the hell is going on? Is it because of you that I feel this way?”

I gave up. As you wanted.

“What are your plans?”

“Plans? I asked,

“Your plans after the divorce.”

A stone was stuck in my throat, and I stuttered like an old car. “I-I-I-I” My body was in fight or flight mode, ready for Tarion to scream like others have. Destroyed as others have.

“I understand.”

Understand?

Tarion turned to look at me with his ruby eyes full of disappointment. Reaching out with a callused hand, he held my face with such gentleness that I fell between his fingers like yoghurt. Soft lips on mine spread electric around my body. Butterflies cause chaos in my stomach. Lips smack, and my body levitated with the high that filled my entire being. He pulled back, and my lips almost followed him. I could see him huffing like a dog, restraining himself. Up close, I noticed nail marks on his palm.

“This is your life, your body. But it is also hers. Don’t decide for her.” covering me with the duvet.

How…

Vanessa's voice was silent, but her love for this man overflowed.

“And don’t decide for me.” He pivoted back, crossing his legs and Qi fumed off his skin.

“…Your story..”

Fatigue came for me. “Come back alive, and I will give a chapter one.”

“Haha. Deal. Can’t wait.”

I drifted to sleep watching his reassuring back.