A war is much like a stone balanced at the top of a cliff. It might seem precariously perched, but as long as it isn’t disturbed it can remain sitting there unmoving, forever. But the moment it receives even the gentlest push, it will become an unstoppable force that gathers more and more momentum the closer it gets to the bottom until it eventually shatters. And that single falling stone can set off more and more…

-Excerpt from ‘Treatise on the Management of Foreign and Sovereign Populations’ by First Minister Darness of Iskallior

Rose made a split second decision. Stuck between a rock and a hard place she put away Sunsplitter and reached for the only tool that could help her now.

Her hands grasped Divine Serpent’s Lure as the rod appeared from her inventory. It was far easier to equip it now that it was a treasure and not just a regular rod.

Her arms moved even more fluidly with a rod in her hands than the twin blades. She was born for this and raised to excel.

The archers faltered for a moment as they saw her changing weapons in an instant. They might not know exactly what it meant but they could tell they were outmatched.

As soon as they recovered they hastened to fire, but the moment the arrows left the bow Rose had already raised the rod high and snapped her arms down. The serpent fang hook snapped the shafts in two before they reached halfway towards her.

A second swing of her arms made the line snap and twist. It shrieked as it sliced through the man’s throat. To her credit, the female archer barely faltered and was already shooting another arrow at Rose the moment her ally’s body hit the ground.

But she was far too slow.

The hook of her rod buried itself in the woman’s heart right as she released the bowstring. She fell and the arrow sailed into the sky, missing by a mile.

Rose didn’t even stop to watch her body hit the ground, pivoting to save the merchants before the bandits could slaughter them. She saw they were somehow keeping the bandits at bay, shoving them with pitchforks and shoddy swords.

Taking a single step back down the hill, Rose began to swing her rod. The line whistled as it carved a graceful arc through the air.

The bandits never knew what hit them. It wasn’t until the hook buried itself in the third man and he was yanked out of the fray that the rest realised something was wrong.

However, it was too late and they were much too far away from Rose to strike her down. One man turned and tried to rush her, but her next swing of the rod left him clutching at his bleeding throat and gasping for breath. The other two abandoned their attempt at killing the merchants and started to run away.

Rose killed the slower one and then smiled as the other was intercepted by the guard captain, who seemed to have dealt with the final two bandits and came to join the battle. They had won, but the cost was heavy.

She only counted two guards alongside the captain and one of the carts was damaged beyond repair. However, the bandit’s losses were far greater.

As she drew closer to the group, she saw them all looking at her with wide eyes. Reverence.

She hated it. All she’d wanted was to lie low and make her way back to Fairwater Bay without any trouble. Instead she’d ended up having to kill a bunch of farmers.

They only had themselves to blame, turning to banditry, but it didn’t make her feel better about it. Killing your own countrymen wasn’t something to be proud of.

“Looks like the old Captain was underselling your skills. I’ve never seen anyone fight like that!” exclaimed Danny as she walked up to the cart. “You were like an angel of death! An incarnation of Lestaire herself-”

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The guard captain clamped a firm hand on his shoulder and threw him a stern look that made him shut up. Turning to Rose he offered her a bow.

“Thank you, Rose. I’m not sure we would’ve made it out of here alive without your help. Get some rest, we’ll have the caravan moving again in no time.”

She nodded curtly and returned to her caravan. Entering, she saw the body of the man who’d flown in at the start. With a grimace she pulled it out and laid it with the rest of the bodies the guards were arranging.

One of the pair nodded towards her, eyes wet as he held back tears. They’d lost more than a few friends in the battle. She wished they’d called her for help earlier.

***

As promised, the caravan had started moving again just an hour after the battle. The guards had lit a funeral pyre for the fallen, including the bandits because no one wanted to leave a load of rotting corpses on the road.

When they reached Greengate, Rose parted ways with them after a short thanks and paid them quite a lot more than she needed to. Danny had tried to refuse her money entirely, but she insisted quite firmly.

Since leaving for the ocean, even the small amount of wealth she’d accrued made her richer than most on Emerlan Isle, including some of the nobles. It was a strange feeling, being just fifteen and yet stronger and wiser than most around her.

Not that she thought that in an arrogant way—after what she’d seen Rose knew better than most just how far away her goals were—but rather than the warmth she’d expected to feel upon returning home, she felt disconnected. It hurt.

Then again it made sense. Her path, her goals, had always laid out to sea. Now that she’d truly set out to achieve them it was difficult to stomach being back here.

She didn’t want to stay in Greengate longer than she needed to. It was actually only her second time in the capital of the Emerlan Isle, but there wasn’t much to speak of.

Other than the King’s castle and the pretty manors of the noble quarter, it was a hodgepodge of ramshackle houses and taverns. She made her way to the only one she knew, a place her mother had taken her to stay the first time they came here.

It didn’t even have a name, the sign only displayed a bed and a hunk of grilled meat. That was good enough for most to know what they were in for.

Opening the door, she smiled at the tinkle of the bell and the smell of fresh bread wafting from the kitchen. The girl at the desk was unfamiliar, but she waved at her all the same.

“Welcome to our inn, we hope you have a wonderful stay should you choose to lodge with us. One free meal a day is included in your charge and I have to warn you, that bread is to die for. I just had a taste and I can barely sit still here,” she began her sales pitch without delay. A true professional.

Rose knew she was going to stay here before she walked in the door but the girl’s warm smile and the mention of the bread confirmed her decision as the right one. “I’ll take a room for just one night. A loaf or two of fresh bread sounds like exactly what I need right now,” she replied, tossing a silver coin onto the desk.

The girl’s eyes went wide at the coin. “I’ll get your change right away, miss. Just wait there!” she exclaimed, standing and taking a step towards the door behind her.

Rose held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t worry about the change, just keep the coin. Maybe bring me an extra loaf with dinner,” she said with a wink.

“Of course, I’ll bring two! Would you like to eat now or should I show you to your room first?” the girl rushed out from behind the desk.

“Hey,” Rose said, placing a soft hand on her arm. “Relax, there’s no need for all this. I'm just here for a hot meal and a warm bed.”

The girl slowed down but Rose knew she wouldn’t stop her with a single sentence. The dining room had two other customers and a portly chef who she did recognise from her last stay.

She wasn’t sure he recognised her, but he greeted her with a smile and a wave regardless. This was more like the Emerlan Isle she remembered.

“Have a seat here miss, I’ll be right back with your bread and the chef will have dinner prepared in no time,” the girl said, pulling out a chair and walking off once Rose had sat down.

As promised, it didn’t take long for dinner to arrive, the chef delivering it himself shortly after the girl handed her three loaves of fresh bread. Rose wasn’t sure she could finish the hearty helping of stew and bread but she would do her best.

It wasn’t as exquisite as Nasar’s dinner’s had been, but there was something comforting about home cooked doori that made her feel fuzzy inside.

In the end she did manage to eat it all. Getting up the stairs with her belly swollen had been a tough job but the sheer relief she felt sinking into the blankets was worth it.

The bliss couldn’t last long though. Rose knew something was happening in her country and she needed to find out what.

Luckily she knew exactly who to ask to find the answer.