The water is warm,

The sound of waves is calm,

Horizon is missing,

But you, you are here.

Wounds of the spirit,

Are more intangible than those of the body,

More insidious than those of the heart,

But you, you are here.

It doesn’t even rhyme, Trinne.

In the end, Nay was only half right. The meeting hadn’t been that unending, but that was because the many news had been way too bad for her to get bored. The usual pleasantries had only lasted a dozen minutes, which was a first. There were only a few Archbishops invited at the reunion table of the Chambers, the same one that was used to host dinner, the only members of the clergy present were those involved in the war effort: which meant Defin, the Archbishop of Lebe and the Archbishop of Patrex. The rest of the invited were the Empire military high officers. Dolio Dorico, the chief of police in Leïn, wasn’t there, showing exactly how exclusive the information unveiled was going to be.

Trinne was sitting two seats on the right of Jarl, Hyn between her and him. Grenat was also here, which should have been obvious, if you considered her status. She was sitting between other high ranked officers. Nay had crossed paths with everyone present in the past, but not enough for her to remember all the names. They all looked a bit like the old Academy director, Tiër-bis. Maybe not in appearance, but in presence, it was evident. There was quite the obvious difference between those that came from noble families and those that had gotten here through military exploits though. Already, you could spot the difference in the number of scars and war decorations on the armour. Medals were only given to those having proved themselves in war, and no nobles had any. Nay wasn’t actively participating in the strategy talks, sitting at the end of the table in front of the Archbishop of Lebe. At least it was giving her some distance to observe everything with objectivity. Her first instinct would have been to say that she should not listen to the nobles, only to those who had actually proven themselves in combat, but she had changed her mind after observing so many meetings. One of the generals especially, a noble man in his sixties with bright white hair that once had to have been blond, had expressed a critical viewpoint on many subjects that were more than full of sense. He was the one who had convinced the assembly to forgo the Tertia cavalry of the eastern clans until the railroad system was finished.

Logistical costs and risks associated to Tertias in case of a siege battle were way too high. And unfortunately, with the current news of the day, it seemed like the chances of a siege were high, but one lasting more than a month were low. The spies and the Imperatrix’ Jewel that had infiltrated the Mindor clan had brought back frightening numbers: Two hundred Carradin warships, in other words, two thousand men, five hundred transport triremes, or ten thousand men, was the current evaluation of the Carradin war force. The Empire had quite the bigger army, the number varying between twenty and twenty-five thousand, but it was impossible to mobilize the entire army on one front. With the start of the war estimated at the beginning of autumn, they had only the tempestuous summer to prepare. As soon as the first Mos leaf would fall, the Carradins would attack. That didn’t leave the Empire much time. Gîte was the evident target, as the biggest coastal city and the only one able to hold the massive Carradin army in case of capture. The officers around the table expected eight thousand, maybe ten thousand defenders. In a normal situation, defending the city where Nay was raised with such a number should have been easy. In truth, you needed almost double the men in the Carradin army to really threaten the coastal city. But with the almost extinction of the Ducal guards, the death of the Commandare, and even worse, everything on top of the Ducal plateau being destroyed, the city was almost wide open to any invader. The northern city wall would need years for the parts destroyed by the Angel to be rebuilt, and the current hastily stitched together wall was more like a fence against an army of foot soldiers and mages. It would not be much harder to invade a rural village.

The discussions around the table were often heating up, the tension almost palpable, and Hyn often had to raise her hand to ask for calm. The Emperor himself was not talking much. He was listening, only asking very precise questions, then letting his advisors debate between them.

Garnet and two military officers had finished enumerating all available troops two months from now on when Jarl spoke.

“Duchess. You know your city best, and I know you are aware of the Carradin methodology. What will they do, in your opinion?”

There was a short pause, then Trinne rose to her feet. She took a pencil to point at the gigantic map of Gite in the centre of the table. It wasn’t a question coming from nowhere, she had prepared it, Nay had witnessed Trinne’s research first-hand and it had started weeks ago.

“Carradins are looters. We don’t exactly know how they fight on solid ground, as they are generally only raiding from the sea, and when they try to reach deeper into the land, they do it by forming small bandit troops. But Gite is a coastal city, and I believe they will use the same strategy that they use on coastal villages, only on a bigger scale. Bombardment during their disembarkation, then a decisive strike on the weakest point of defence. Once inside, chaos is their best ally. We can assume that if the barbarians reach our streets, we’ll have to either take refuge on the Plateau or…”

“Skip that. If it happens, we’d have lost already.” The Emperor interrupted her.

Trinne nodded. Her expression tense. The Emperor’s comment was well thought out and meant more than just the fall of the city. The only real solution once Gite had fallen was to wait for the end of the railroad work in Hymere, to quickly bring the army stationed east of Leïn, without weakening the other parts of the Empire. But that would let the Carradins have the time to settle in Gite, and create a fortified position to help sustain the rest of their invasion. If Gite fell, it would mean the start of a long, long war. In the end, the invader would be stopped, very likely before ever reaching Leïn, but the losses would be terrible. Striavie, the Western plains and maybe even Thiers would fall. The Empire would only be a shadow of itself.

In conclusion, Gite had to hold until the end of the railroad work.

“Their warships are the heart of their army. That will be where most of their mages will stand, and it is where the officers and the king of Mindor will oversee the battle…There have also been reports of…ships using powder weapons.”

“Ridiculous!” One of the generals immediately shouted back at the Duchess.

Trinne didn’t even look at him. “Carradins do not have our laws against saltpetre powder. All of you heard about this new technology replacing ballistas.

“Even then, using powder during a war is suicidal. Carradins are barbarians, but not that idiotic.” The general responded.

This time, Trinne met his gaze. “You are correct, but I believe it will serve as a distraction. I heard about five naval ships using this technology, maybe there will be a few more. Those ‘canons’ permit a mageless crew to use bombardment spells. It will force us to intervene. The Emperor himself may need to blow them up with the powder curse, as those ships will have to be separated from the rest of their flotilla.”

Jarl raised an eyebrow. “Something to make me vulnerable?”

“If this intel is accurate, then yes, it will be a trap destined for you. The simplest solution would be to use a dozen of our God-Touched that can attack at long ranges, as the enemy on those boats will lack any mages, they could not possibly defend…”

“Enchantments? If it is only a few ships, Carradin runes could be inscribed on the wood.” The Archbishop of Patrex countered.

Trinne stopped for a second. “I…yes. But even the best of enchantments can’t hold on against a sustained assault of miracles, so, if some of our Touched…”

Jarl raised a hand. “No. This is a distraction, you said it yourself Duchess. To mobilize our limited God-Touched and their miracles to attack five simple ships is not acceptable. If we see this strategy put in place by our enemies, I will put an end to it myself.”

Hyn jumped in her seat. “Jar…Emperor, this is too dangerous for…”

“Mother. They underestimate me. Let them try and stop me. Every ship they fill with powder will be one less we need to worry about.”

The ex-Imperatrix lips were pinched close together, but she bowed then straightened her back up straight on her chair.

“Tri…Duchess, you may continue.” Jarl the Bohemian gestured for her to continue.

The young redhead acquiesced. “Other than those cannon ships, the remaining troops will use bombardment through their mages. Fortier village was raided last week, and the Carradins used some sort of solid block water magic. I believe this to have been a test, that had to have been conclusive for them, unfortunately. If you read the attack report, you will understand how difficult this magic is to counter, as unless you have cover under walls or houses, losses would be catastrophic. “

“So…are we obligated to hunch down in Gite while they disembark?” One of the generals asked.

“No. Because we know where they will be landing.” Trinne pointed towards the coast of the Refugees, north of Gite. “The weakness in our wall is visible and known by all. We can dig trenches in the beach and use the dunes as cover for the magic artillery strike. The magic of hard water is not precise, and once their triremes will have unloaded the foot army, the Carradin warships will not be able to provide support. We should also bombard the triremes when they come close to the coast.”

This time, Grenat was the one to interrupt her. “But in that case…it will be our army of eight thousand against theirs of ten. We’ll already suffer losses because of their magic, and they, in turn, will lose some soldiers to our miracles, but their army will be larger than ours nonetheless.”

Trinne nodded. “We need to hope our training and equipment will make the difference. As their mages are greater in number, as well as much better performing in a maritime setting, putting ourselves in a situation where their mages are unable to intervene effectively is our best bet.”

Another military man spoke. “What if they land south?”

Trinne turned immediately towards him. “The walls there are strong, and will hold them back, giving our troops north time to surround them, or bolster our defences. This would be honestly very advantageous for us: their magic will be blocked by the Plateau, and our miracles will easily be chanted from the Plateau and on top of the ramparts.”

The military man nodded. “So, north.”

Nay couldn’t hide a smile. Despite the quite grim prospects spoken here. Trinne had to be two or three times younger than any man and woman around this table, but even then, all had understood that she was the Duchess of Gite, and that her opinion was important. They were listening to her carefully and seemed to consider her an expert. Oh, she was certainly aided by Jarl’s official stance in supporting her, but Nay was still proud of her. If it had been herself, she would have made a fool of herself after two sentences.

“Now, lay it down to us honestly Duchess, what do you expect our chances of victory if things happen according to your plan?” Jarl questioned.

Trinne seemed a bit taken aback by that, her expression progressively growing darker.

“In all honestly? If we manage to overcome the barrage of solid water, and stop the foot soldiers from reaching Gite…we should be able to create an impasse for our enemies. Losses for the two sides will be high, but it would not end in our defeat… It will force them to fall back and regroup to attack again. In terms of chances though…I believe our chances are not on our side. There are too many unknowns, and there would only need to be one spell we are unaware of to bring the balance heavily in our enemy’s favour.”

“What is, in your opinion, our best solution?”

Trinne looked at Nay for a fraction of a second.

“Our best chance of victory would be to eliminate the King of Mindor. Many clans do not agree with the invasion, and only participate in the war because of the Blue Tower. Valamut is controlling it with an iron hand, and if the clans do not respect the king's will, he has the power to refuse them entry into the Tower. A clan without mages is a dead clan. Without Valamut though and considering the high cost of this attack on their treasury, many clans will simply cease to be hostile. Gordior clan, for example, has suffered immensely since the commercial exchanges have stopped between Gite and Carradinoris.”

“But the king is too well protected. Almost to our advantage, really.” The noble general, the one with grey hair interrupted Trinne politely, waiting for a break in her explanation. “Some of the best Carradin mages are entirely devoted to keep him safe. Rumours say that Archebald Grosstaichier, the right hand of the king, is as gifted as our former Commandare and as powerful as our sovereign himself. The fact that they shall not participate…”

“Ludicrous.” Defin had a threatening expression.

The general looked at the Archbishop with a smidge of fear in his eyes before continuing.

“…The fact that they shall not participate is beneficial to us. As such, isn’t simply continuing to threaten Valamut’s life enough?”

Trinne shook her head left from right. “Our Emperor was asking for the best solution. Killing Valamut is the best solution. He is a tyrant, and although many in the Mindor clan think like him, they don’t have his influence with the Blue Tower. Carradins have always been a fractured people, the only thing that bonds them is the Tower. If we remove it from the equation…there is no war.”

There was a short silence in the room.

“And? How do we do kill Valamut?” Jarl asked.

Trinne closed her eyes for a second. “If I knew that, I would have spared you the long demonstration of Gites defences, Emperor. The main issue is reaching him. His palace in Mindor is too well protected, and finding his warship during the war will be close to impossible.”

“What if we do find it? What about his right arm and his close guards? Our spies could inform us about his ship, and I could approach it easily.”

Nay saw Hyn blink wildly, her Rreico having never been so easy to decrypt. She was scared for her son.

Trinne shook her head. “No, even for our Empire’s greatest God-Touched, this would not be realistic. We cannot risk your life. Without you, the Empire would never hold against its exterior threats.”

Hyn was perfectly emotionless, but Nay could almost hear the sigh of relief in her Rreico.

Trinne continued, unaware of the ex-Imperatrix’s internal struggle. “What’s more…we have methods to face mages. Much more reasonable ones than sending you in the heart of the enemy army.” Neither she nor the Emperor was looking at the Legio, but Nay was still feeling like they were doing exactly that.

“That is way too risky.” Jarl said.

“I do think the same.” Trinne nodded.

The Emperor sighed. “Is our only hope an Angelic victory then?”

Nay grimaced. That saying was a new one, referring to the terrible cost that the summoning of the Angels had had on the Empire. They had won the War, but now terrifying monsters were roaming around in their land. Even if they managed to stop the Carradins from invading Gite, they would still have an army of many thousands stranded on the Western fields. Men more closely related to bandits than soldiers, ready to loot, raze and burn.

The Duchess of Gite did not answer, she was grimacing as well. She sat back down on her chair.

“Well. We have a clear view of the situation, now, how do we improve it?”

Jarl’s question brought a blank look to many, until a few generals started talking again.

But Nay knew that nothing else important would be said after Trinne’s presentation. The Archbishop of Patrex was already informing how the men could dig the trenches so that they would be protected as much as possible from the solid water spell. Details that didn’t matter to her, in short.

Getting out of the meeting/dining room, two hours later, Nay was exhausted, but even then, wide awake. She wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to sleep that night. It was the same for Trinne, as they played Comptoy until very late in the night.

Every move was mixing with the previous one in the head of the young Legio, and Nay had stopped counting the many games she had lost just by blundering pieces like a beginner.

“…Why won’t they try to just land in the city?” She asked as she put the pawns on their starting location after having lost in a particularly brutal way.

Trinne had her foot on her chair, her chin resting on top of her knee. She was wearing a nightgown that would have been scandalous outside the bedroom, but it was covered by a green sweater much too big for her. Ra’fa had sewed it for Nay, and the girl with cloudy eyes wasn’t sure if Trinne was aware how risky it was to steal her mother’s gift so ostensibly. The young redhead’s right eyebrow rose.

“That’s a rare line of questioning coming from you.”

“…It is my city. My home is there. I hate discussing strategy, and talking about my old neighbours and friends as pawns…” Nay turned the marble piece covered in silver lines in her fingers, before putting it on the last row of the checkboard. “…but well. You weren’t exactly reassuring, today. I am worried.”

Trinne did not answer right away. “I am too. No naval flotilla, even ten times bigger than the one we’re expecting, can attack Gite directly by sea.”

“Ah?”

“You’re tired, yes? My Plateau Nay, think.”

The Legio looked at the checkboard, before understanding what her friend was telling her. “Ah, the Ducal plateau…yes of course.” She scratched her eyes, refraining a yawn.

“The Duchess plateau.” Trinne corrected with a voice very much as exhausted.

“The Duchess plateau, sure… Were you thinking about me? To kill the king of Mindor?”

Once again, Trinne took her time to answer. She pushed one of her pawns forwards.

“His close guards are dangerous, and he is as well, of course. He has quite the reputation with a war axe. But I do not believe them able to stop you. Especially if I come with you. From what my informer told me, he is too dependent on his mages. You would have quite the devastating surprise effect. But…I do not know how I could bring you on a Carradin warship in the middle of a war so…It wasn’t more than a passing thought.”

There was a long silence. “Would you have asked?” Nay finally questioned.

“I would have asked your opinion, who do you think I am?” Trinne immediately answered.

“No, that is not what I meant…Would you have ever said anything about that plan if Jarl hadn’t asked about it? And you know my opinion about it. My city, in exchange for what? The Empire, tens of thousands of innocent people…for what? My sound mind? Me not feeling guilty about killing? I would take that trade, all the time. Notwithstanding that as usual, you are overestimating me. Listening to you, it would be a breeze for me to murder the entire crew of the best Carradin warship on my own…But even then…If I reach the ship, I hardly think it would be difficult for me to assassinate someone and then run away using the Conqueror’s door. You’re the only one, with maybe the Imperatrix, who knows what a Legio as an Assini is capable of. So, why not tell me about it?”

Trinne avoided her gaze. “I did tell you about it. I told you Hyn would maybe have given it to you as a Mission. And I didn’t go into further detail because I don’t know how to bring you on the ship. You can’t sneak around a flotilla of Carradin ships. It does not matter if you’re immune to spells if five hundred arrows plummet to end your life.”

Everything her friend was saying was logical and full of sense. Her Rreico was calm and lacking any lies as well. But Nay was starting to know who the Duchess of Gite really was.

“If you had found a way for me to reach the king’s ship, you would never have told me.”

This time, Trinne didn’t manage to control her Rreico, like a shimmering in her life’s rhythm.

Nay smirked. There weren’t many that could mislead her sixth sense so perfectly.

Trinne removed her hand from the Comptoy checkboard. “It doesn’t matter. There is no way for us to infiltrate the ship.”

Nay’s smile disappeared, overtaken by an expression of surprise. This time, she had perceived the lie in her friend’s Rreico.

Trinne saw her face. She lowered her foot to the ground and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Biach.” She swore.

The Legio wasn’t sure if she had to be angry or impressed.

“Really?”

“I have an idea. One I have no desire to put into action. It would bring us a lot, and I mean a lot, of problems.”

“Did you lie to the Emperor? To Hyn?”

“If I had explained the plan, I would have been put into arrest for high treason Nay.” Trinne replied in annoyance. “And I don’t care about lying to them, I do it all the time.”

The Legio blinked. “Oh.”

“Don’t act dumb now.”

“I’m not acting. I am sincerely surprised.”

“…I am sorry.”

“For?”

“For lying to you.”

Nay decided that, in the end, she wasn’t really angry, maybe she was too tired to feel it.

“I don’t know. Would you really have hidden that possibility from me? To protect me? Even if it had cost your city.”

“Gite is important to me.” Nay waited for the rest of it, but Trinne didn’t add anything.

“Trinne, you can’t just avoid telling me about a plan because you know it would force me to do something I don’t want to do.”

The young redhead put her nose high in the air, her expression the paramount of arrogance. She scoffed.

“I can do exactly that.”

Despite herself, Nay smiled. And also felt a bit sad.

“No. You can’t. Not about something as important as that. You want to help me with the dirty dishes and don’t ask me about washing them because I would not let you do it alone? I don’t mind. It’s a nice gesture. But here, it’s manipulative. You can’t protect me from something like that.”

Trinne’s expression grew ferocious, her expression accusatory. “If you took more care of yourself I would not need to…you are just too compliant. You’d rather do something someone else tells you to do instead of deciding by yourself! I have to guess what you want, then bring it to you as if you were doing it for me! Of course, it is manipulative, you force my hand!”

Nay hesitated. Trinne was never so emotional, so…fragile.

“Why?” She finally asked. “Why do all of this for me?”

Trinne visibly pulled back, her eyes filling themselves with tears.

“Why!? Why? Because without you I am that bitch the Duchess of Gite, the one who killed her own father, the one who schemes for her own agenda, the one without any friends, without any purpose except being the best sovereign of the Western fields. Perfect. Unbearable.” The Duchess rose, crashing her chair and the Comptoy checkboard on the ground. “With you…I am Trinne. Arrogant, but not really. Beautiful, but without using it as a weapon. Smart, but as a tool for others. With you…I am a good person. Without you…I am the one who poisoned the Angel with the ones that trusted me. Without you, I am the monster that gave Ja flowers, deadly drugs, to the poor souls that survived on the Plateau !” Trinne was out of breath. Tears fell on her face, making her unrecognizable. Her expression switched to one of horror when she realized what she had just admitted out loud.

Nay rose and grabbed her wrist before she could flee.

“Let go of me!” Trinne said as she tried to break free with all her strength. The table flew on its side, falling hard, accompanied by all the Comptoy pieces that hadn’t been on the checkboard.

“Let go of me!” She repeated. But Nay grabbed her other arm before she could hurt herself.

Trinne stopped quickly. She wasn’t dumb, even in her current state. If Nay didn’t want her to, she would not be able to leave.

“Calm down.” Nay asked in a soft voice.

“I am a monster.” Trinne said without looking at her.

“Me too.”

This time, Trinne looked straight at her, flames in her pupils.

“No, you’re not.”

“Then I guess you’re not one either.” Nay answered.

Trinne laughed mockingly. “That is not how it works.”

“And I know it didn’t happen like that. Not exactly. Karmena sent me a letter.”

“You…you knew?”

“Trinne. I am a master Legio. I knew before the letter just by looking in your eyes…what I did not know though, what Karmena told me…you took the Ja flower as well.”

The young redhead gulped. “I knew that Karmena would put me in one of the safest tunnels. She gave me a lower dose as well. It was my plan, I had to do it so others would follow.”

“You had no idea she would give you a lower dose. And really? Safe? With an Angel above your heads, does that really exist?”

“I had concluded that…”

“Oh, of course, you guessed that it was safe. No doubts, huh? You surely weren’t terrified, barely able to move a finger because of the flower, looking at the tunnel above you, waiting. Waiting for it to come crashing down? Waiting for the Angel to…”

“Stop.” Trinne stopped her, with a voice so weak Nay barely heard it. Her friend's whole body was trembling.

Nay repressed a sob, her heart clenching into something three times too small. She hugged her friend, pressing her head into her torso.

“Trinne. I am your sword, you are my Hani. You like making yourself the villain, Ja only knows why, but it doesn’t work with me. I don’t need the Rreico to know who you are.”

Nay felt the trembling arms of her friend hug her back. She was softly crying.

“Sorry…I am so sorry…” Trinne sobbed.

“Me too. I am sorry too.” Nay answered, even though she knew that her friend wasn’t apologizing to her.