“Incredible,” Suleiman said and swallowed. He passed by the remnants of the mighty fortress walls, touching a piece that was taller than him. His Janissaries had gone ahead of him, and they already subdued the soldiers and knights within. After Alice punched it down and disabled over three hundred knights by herself, the morale of everyone within plummeted. She didn’t even pull her punches when they shouted out their surrender—she couldn’t understand anything they were saying and neither could Burc.

“It’s terrifying,” someone behind Suleiman said. “Is she still human? Do you think the great conquerors in history had abilities similar to hers? How else could they so easily expand their lands?”

“Maybe not the conqueror themselves but people underneath them,” Suleiman said and stroked his beard. “At this rate, we’ll be able to advance towards and conquer Mohács before the year ends. I didn’t expect it to take a single day to bring down the fortress of Rhodes.” Suleiman sighed and shook his head. “However, my war plans weren’t designed around this humanoid deity. I don’t know how much longer she’ll stay by my side after all.”

Suleiman walked past the rows and rows of prisoners before frowning. Then he walked back to the front. The first person who had confronted Alice was the leader, and he was defeated in a single hit. His arm was broken, and his soul was even more broken. Philippe stared up at Suleiman with empty eyes.

“I won’t hurt your people,” Suleiman said, looing down on the defeated leader. “All the knights and soldiers shall be allowed to leave. I’ll give you one month’s time to pack your belongings. The citizens shall be given one year. If they choose to stay, I don’t mind accepting them as people of my empire. Your churches shall remain untouched, and no one will be forcibly converted. Are these conditions agreeable with you?” A small smile appeared on Suleiman’s face. “Of course, I don’t think you’re in any position to decline.”

“You’re going to let us go?” Philippe asked. It wasn’t a surprise for the ruler of an empire to know multiple languages. “Just like that?”

“Yes,” Suleiman said. “I gain nothing from killing you, and imprisoning you is a waste of resources. I may have mobilized a lot of men, but I haven’t lost anything from this war. A ransom is unnecessary.” He stroked his beard and sighed. If it were any other battle, he wouldn’t have minded demanding a ransom, but with Alice doing the majority of the work, it wouldn’t sit right with him. It felt like cheating, and he couldn’t help but be sorry for his opponents.

Philippe nodded. “I understand. We accept your conditions.” He swallowed and leaned forward, glancing to the right, along the road leading further into Rhodes. “I just have one question,” he said and wet his lips with his tongue. “About that little girl…, what is she?”

“She’s a witch,” Suleiman said with a straight face.

“That’s impossible,” Philippe said. “If she were a witch, the inquisition would never be able to hunt them down. Witches would rule the world.”

Suleiman shrugged. “Then what is she?” he asked and raised an eyebrow. “She told me she was a witch, and she demonstrated supernatural abilities.”

“She’s a devil,” Philippe said. “There’s no other explanation.”

Suleiman smiled. “Perhaps she is a devil.” He stroked his beard and chuckled.

“You’re willing to work with her despite knowing she’s a devil?” Philippe’s face darkened, and his lips curled back in a snarl.

Suleiman raised an eyebrow. “But have you considered,” he said and chuckled again. “If she’s not a witch, and if she’s not a devil, then she must be an angel.”

Philippe’s expression froze. He lowered his head and stared at his broken arm. Then she swept his gaze onto the prisoners who were sitting behind him. They were tied up as well, but it was easy to see that their limbs were in no better shape than his. “Would an angel do something like this?”

“Well,” Suleiman said and grinned. “If you look at it from my perspective”—he swept his arms behind himself at his army which was still streaming into the fortress from the breach Alice had created—“isn’t she an angel? One hundred thousand men, and not a single one lost during a siege. My angel is with me. Where’s yours?”

Philippe bit his lower lip and remained silent.

***

Mary yawned and leaned back, her armor digging into the wooden seats of the carriage. Her head turned to the side, and the man sitting next to her swallowed. “Yes?” he asked. “Is there something wrong?”

“Is this really how people travel?” Mary asked with narrowed eyes. “It seems impossible to get from place to place in a reasonable amount of time.”

“It’s…, yes,” the man said and nodded. “It’s one of the most common forms of transportation. How else would people travel? What’s faster than a carriage other than riding the horse to exhaustion?”

Mary raised one finger. “Flying on dragons.”

“We, uh, don’t do that,” the man said, cold sweat running down his back. “Dragons don’t exist, and if they do, they haven’t existed in Europe for a very long time.”

Mary’s eyes narrowed even further as if she were trying to see into the man’s soul. She raised another finger. “Teleportation portals.”

The man swallowed and shifted in his seat. “Those … don’t exist either.” Upon seeing Mary’s countenance darkening, he shouted, “But! But if they did exist, we don’t have the ability to create any.”

Mary snorted. She raised a third finger. “Horseless carriages.”

The man stared at Mary with a blank expression. He pointed outside where the horse was clopping along. “We can unhitch it if you’d like. I’m not sure how you expect it to move though.”

“Through explosions,” Mary said. She nodded. She had seen Vur driving one once, but he wouldn’t let her touch it. She wanted to hit him, but she knew she’d lose.

“You wish to explode the carriage?”

Mary sighed and shook her head. “Never mind.”