Lucon and his small army had been marching for over a day straight. It was night already and they had to resort to torches to continue marching. Many of the recruits were at their breaking point as their feet were killing them.

The past two weeks they had marched so much many of them suffered from bloody blisters. The last day was a fight against themselves more than anything else. Only Faust had no issue walking at all. He even took on some equipment from Cassius and Leona who were struggling to walk.

They didn’t talk much. They were too busy struggling with themselves. But deep down they all knew that this was part of a soldier’s life. Nobody questioned Lucon’s orders.

During training, a quote from him had been hammered into their heads.

“When you think you are at your limits, then you have only just begun to explore your real capabilities.”

And the entire training had been structured around this maxim. It had brought them to, and over their limits repeatedly. The silhouette of Vostrim Castle got closer and closer until they made their way up into the castle.

Leona got closer to Faust and spoke in a low voice.

“Faust. I want to go somewhere when we return before we do anything else. Will you please accompany me?” she smiled weakly, sweat pouring down her body.

He was surprised but nodded with a gentle smile.

‘It sounds important to her. I wonder what she will show me.’ He pondered.

“Will you tell me where?” he asked her after a short silence.

She shook her head.

“You will see. Let’s just put our equipment into the armory when we arrive, it won’t take long.” She repeatedly had to take pauses between words since she was out of breath. They were working their way up the hill.

When they arrived within the castle Faust was shocked. His group was the first one behind Lucon and his officers to enter through the gatehouse. Within it, there were countless torches lit and a small army had taken camp on the training grounds.

Lucon’s army moved past the open space and as Faust took a closer look at the soldiers that had taken camp, he felt fear.

A few meters away from him a bald warrior in full-plate armor was leaning on to a wall. He was two meters tall and was built like a bull. On his chest piece, a large golden wheel was engraved. He wore a scarlet cloak. He mustered the passing army from under his bushy eyebrows as he kept his hands on a large two-hander.

Faust gulped. The man’s eyes found Faust’s and they stared at each other. Faust tried to stand this man’s stare and was about to break eye contact when the other man nodded approvingly and looked at someone else.

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In the camp behind him, there were about 50 soldiers like him. The mere presence of this army put pressure on the much larger force Lucon’s army formed.

Faust knew that each and every one of those soldiers could easily beat any of the recruits and even veterans with ease.

‘Only Schenk would be able to compete with them… and maybe Lucon.’ He thought and gulped.

All of the soldiers were equipped with expensive plate armor and had the same cape and symbol on their chest pieces. They had big, armored horses, some tended to while others set up tents and fires.

Even the horse armor was made of many small plate pieces. To carry this weight along with their large riders these horses were much larger and burlier than the horses the soldiers on Vostrim Castle used.

“Leona… who are they?” Faust asked her, unable to hide the reverence in his eyes. These were the most elite soldiers he had ever seen.

Leona was mesmerized by the picture just like almost all other recruits. Only Lucon and the regular soldiers seemed calm.

Leona turned to him, and her eyes were glinting.

“This is… the Companion Cavalry. The most elite cavalry force in the entire kingdom. This is the personal guard and retinue of Alexander Argorus.” There was reverence in her tone.

Lucon who rode before them had heard their conversation. He looked over his shoulder.

“The only thing I am wondering about is why Alexander would be here. And they haven’t arrived long ago…” his expression was grim.

Leona gulped.

“He would not arrive unannounced if it wasn’t urgent. The travel time from Rodusium is a week.” She explained to Faust.

They quickly passed the training grounds and got to the barracks. Their group quickly put off their equipment. Cassius and Aquila immediately dropped into their beds while Leona nodded her head toward the door.

He nodded and they left. It was pitch dark outside. Leona led him to the castle gardens. It was completely desolate at this hour.

“Leona… can you tell me now?” she turned around, took his hands into hers, looked at him, and smiled.

“Soon.”

He could hear a sad undertone in her voice, and it confused him.

‘What is she sad about? Does she just want to be alone with me? Is that why she took me here?’ he wondered as they made their way through the garden between roses, tulips, bushes, and trees. All flowers stood in full bloom.

They walked to a remote corner of the garden. They were completely alone. Leona came to a standstill in front of a small oak tree.

Faust stood next to her and looked at her in confusion. The moon was bright today and he was taken aback when he noticed that a silent tear was flowing down her face.

‘What does this tree mean?’ he asked himself before he noticed a small wooden sword lying on the ground in front of the tree, next to 2 small candles.

‘It looks… like… is this a grave?’ he asked himself. He didn’t dare say anything. He feared he would say something unsuitable. He did the only thing that seemed right to him at this moment and put her hand around her, pulling her close.

She nestled against his body and looked at the tree for a bit longer before whispering.

“This is the grave of my little brother. He died of an unknown sickness a few years ago. He was only 5.” Her voice was husky and Faust could feel she was holding back her emotions.

‘She had a little brother?’ he was shocked. She had never told him. But it made sense. It was probably too painful for her to talk about a lot. He had never seen Leona like this. He hugged her and gently caressed her head.

She buried her head in his chest and sobbed a few times, but eventually she calmed down.

She looked up at him with teary eyes.

“He was only five years old, such an energetic little boy, just like father…” she explained.

He held her and kissed her forehead.

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” He mumbled, caressing her face.

She smiled weakly, nestling her face against his hand.

“Thank you.” She whispered. They spent a few minutes in silence, looking at the small oak.

“What was his name?” he asked, looking at the small wooden sword. His emotions were a mess. He was reminded of his little sister.

“His name was Victor.” A deep, male voice resounded from behind them.

Faust and Leona immediately jumped apart and turned to see the speaker.