The afternoon goes by without incident, every time I look over my shoulder, I see more villagers on the road behind us. I am surprised at how quick they managed to pack up and leave, but I suppose they expected to have to leave since the Nobles ordered them not to sow their fields.

The group of four peasants in front of us slows down as the sun lowers and stops on the side of the road. We reach them just as they finish gathering some wood and applying a fire flow construct.

“Greetings, good people!” I shout out.

They look at me somewhat suspiciously but that probably has to do with my bloody appearance and the fact that I look like a Noble.

“We welcome you to our fire, Lady…?” The woman who blocked the barn’s doors speaks up.

“You can call me Elizabeth, no need for manners.” I wave my hand dismissively.

“Your warning was just in time, it could have been trouble. Will you three join us for a meal?”

“We can pay for our food in silver if you’re willing to share.”

“Of course, we would be happy to!” She exclaims with a relieved expression.

“That was brave of you to block the way.” I note as Ulf and Teva approach the fire to join the other three villagers. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Rosie, it was all we could do, really.” Rosie shakes her head sadly. “Do you know anything about these Rykz?”

“Not much, but they’re in the area so it would be good to depart early tomorrow and hurry.” I add.

“We’ll do that then.” She nods.

I take a couple silvers out of my money pouch and hold them out. Rosie stares at the coins brightly and takes them. She walks back to the fire and sits down in front of it.

I should let them get to know each other. The fact that they think I’m a Noble probably makes them nervous. I move to the side and start training with my hammer. I exercise making the weapon spin around me to chain swipes together.

The grip change behind my back isn’t too complicated but I need to be able to do it while using my footwork. I lose the initiative if I don’t move and I can’t do that against more experienced opponents.

I caught the Nobles I took down during the battle by surprise and that won’t work if the next time because I’ll be their only target. We should avoid getting into fights as much as possible, I’m capable of defeating untitled Nobles but a Baron could be a challenge.

I stop training once fatigue starts kicking in, I take my helmet off for a second and wipe the sweat from my forehead.

A large group of ten villagers makes camp a hundred meters away from us, on the other side of the road. I catch some of them throwing suspicious glares my way. I look away, I should get used to being stared at with hostility.

I’m used to being unwelcome, but this level of animosity is new to me. I make my way to the fire, sitting in between Ulf and Teva. They’re cooking a feast of wheat, corn, carrots, and a rabbit.

“This looks delicious.” I remark while taking my helmet off.

“I’m sure you’re used to much better.” Rosie replies modestly.

“We’ve been camping for a while without finding much to hunt. Trust me, this is perfect.” I make a thankful smile.

“This one said he could find something to hunt in a desert.” One of the men throws a quick look at Ulf.

“I’m sure that’s true, but not every day.” I shrug. “It is possible that my upbringing has somewhat spoiled me.” I wink.

“We wouldn’t dare to suggest something like that.” Rosie says hurriedly.

“I’m saying it myself. I’m the third daughter of a mainland Baron, you don’t need to stand on formalities.” I shrug dismissively.

“Could I ask what you’re doing here then?” Rosie asks.

“Rosie! Don’t pry into the Lady’s affairs.” One of the men admonishes her.

“It’s quite alright.” Damn, being careful about how I talk is painful. “I decided to take a trip and see the world since my sister will inherit the title. We don’t get along very well.”

“It must be tough.” The other man says. “I was crushed when Mother decided that my brother should take over our family’s lands.”

“I was never really in the running for the title, so it wasn’t a surprise. How did you fare once you left home?” I ask, curious. I wonder how my own brother is doing, he is in a similar situation since he decided to leave on his own.

“I found a good spouse.” The man chortles, looking at Rosie with kindness. “It took us some years of hard work to convince our Lord to give us some land of our own.” He pauses. “And now, we’re leaving it behind without knowing what we’ll come back to.” He shakes his head sadly.

“We can always rebuild.” Rosie says cheerfully. “Hey, the food’s ready!” She adds, looking at the pot.

Ulf takes our bowls and spoons out of the backpack to hand them over to us. I turn my bowl upside down to prevent Rosie from serving me first. She shrugs and moves on to everyone else before coming back to me.

I wolf down on the food, glad to finally have something consistent to eat that isn’t a mushroom. I finish first despite being served last and wait until everyone is done to ask for more with those who also want another serving.

“Are you going to Castle Lance?” Rosie asks us.

“We were hoping to catch a ship in Meria to back to the mainland before finding out about the Rykz.” I lie. “I was told that we could find a small boat in a coastal village.”

“Well, I hope you do.” She says with a bright smile. “There, finish the pot, I can see you staring at it.” Rosie serves me the last of the rabbit stew.

“Thanks.” I accept and get to devouring.

The four peasants start cleaning up as I eat, putting their cooking gear away into their cart. Our groups naturally split apart with casual goodbyes. Ulf and Teva pick a spot a dozen meters away to lay down.

Once my bowl is empty, I grab my helmet and rejoin my companions. I move a couple of meters away from them to lay in some comfortable looking grass and remove my chain-mail.

— — —

I am startled awake by some panicked screams. I grab my equipment and hurriedly put it back on before taking hold of my hammer. I stand up and glance around. Teva and Ulf don’t seem to be alarmed so I relax a little.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Someone saw a large group of Rykz on the road behind us.” Ulf replies.

“Alright, we’ll follow the first group that departs.” I nod.

I watch as the two dozen peasants that stopped nearby to spend the night busy themselves. Their expressions are fearful but not overly panicked, they have somewhere to go after all.

“Can you give me some mushrooms, please?” I ask Ulf while we wait.

He opens the backpack for me and I ruffle through it to find the sack of mushrooms and grab a handful that I quickly snack on.

“We have our excuse to take refuge in the castle.” Teva notes.

“All that’s left is to hope that they won’t question us too much, but that shouldn’t be an issue. These warriors are supposed to chase us down so they’ll accelerate once we get closer to the castle.” I reply in a low voice.

“They’re leaving.” Ulf says through his beard, pointing at the four peasants we ate with last night.

We engage on the road together, our pace today is a lot quicker since the villagers ahead are hurrying along. I lay my hammer on my shoulder and adjust my helmet over my eyes.

“How long do you think it’ll take to prepare your construct, Teva?” I ask.

“A few hours, it isn’t too difficult to balance but it will decay within a few days. I have to assemble another one if that happens to ensure that it isn’t dangerous.” She replies.

“We’ll do that once we’re within the walls, then.” I nod.

We engage in the flat part of the plains, I pause to assemble an eyesight enhancing construct and take a look behind us. The lack of relief to obstruct my sight around us allows me to see further.

I easily spot the thirty warriors following along the road, they’re not that far from the last group of evacuating villagers but seem to be keeping their distance.

There is a black spot on the horizon. I squint my eyes and find what I expect, a tide of thousands of Rykz, the forest is a few kilometers behind them. I can distinguish the supply carts in the middle of the warriors. I turn around and jog to catch up with Teva and Ulf.

I make use of my enhanced eyesight to look towards the horizon ahead. I can’t even see the castle’s keep and there is no sign of the blue sea or the coast either.

“Fenyz is a day behind us but they’ll probably move faster than we will.” I inform my companions.

“How far is that?” Teva asks.

“At this speed? I would say thirty kilometers a day.” Ulf replies.

“Will we make it to the castle today?” I ask. “I can see the Rykz from here but no the castle who should be about as far in front of us.”

“That’s because the Rykz are on higher ground, you can only see about five to ten kilometers ahead on flat ground.” He explains.

“Oh. I didn’t know that.” I drain the enhancing construct of flow since it’s useless now.

The rest of the morning goes by monotonously despite my rising anxiety. It was much easier to make plans for the distant future. I can feel a weight on my shoulders, now that we’re about to actually infiltrate a castle to breach its walls from the inside.

Too many lives are on the line, I can’t allow myself to lose it. Yesterday morning was just a hiccup. I’ll find out for sure once I pin that coward down. I can have my revenge and save the Izla as long as I keep it together.

“Let’s stop to eat.” I speak up at noon.

We stop on the side of the road, just the three of us. Ulf throws us our bowls and serves the mushrooms. We take our time as the group in front of us has to cook and we don’t want to arrive at the castle first.

Teva moves to sit on my right once we’ve finished our meals. Ulf is wiping the bowls with a rag and storing them back into the backpack. She rests her head on my shoulder despite the discomfort that the chain-mail must cause her.

“I’m no good for you, Teva.” I tell her, fitting my helmet back over my head.

“I don’t know that.” Teva shakes her head. “Can you stand to be alone?” She asks.

“I’m not. She took something from there.” I tap my heart.

“Let go. You’re only hurting yourself.” Teva takes hold of my hand and squeezes it.

“I can’t. I don’t want to.” I try to stand up.

“Stay.” She grabs my right arm with both hands and pulls on it to forces me to remain there. “Just for a while, we’re waiting anyway.”

“Teva, this can only be one-sided. I don’t want to do that to you.” I try to take my arm back.

“Will you use me again?” She asks directly.

“No, I didn’t even plan to but she arrived and…” I pause, unable to explain what goes through my mind when I am in my Lady’s presence. “And I’m really sorry for what I did to you.” I finish lamely.

“It was bad timing.” Teva shrugs. “Or great timing.” She adds with a chuckle. “It’s up to me to decide if this is what I’m looking for.”

“What is that?” I ask, glancing down at her.

“I want to help you fix yourself. I’m really not losing out in the bargain.” Teva replies with a lustful smile.

“Then no.” I tell her in a hard determined tone. “I’m not going back to who I was, Teva. I don’t have the luxury of weakening myself.”

“You think you’re strong?!” Teva exclaims in surprise. “You almost killed yourself! You’re four words away from shattering.”

“What?” I frown, what is she talking about.

“That Lady, what if she says: I don’t love you? What happens if she doesn’t love you back?”

I tear my arm away from her grip and stand up.

“You don‘t know what you‘re talking about.” I utter shakily and almost run away as I engage on the road, alone.

“Come back, Elizabeth! You need to stop fixating on her!” Teva shouts at my back.

That’s not it, I don’t love my Lady. Don’t I? Why would I love her? She broke our vow. She gave me nothing! Would it hurt so much if I didn’t? That’s… What about Jenna? Stop bringing it up! Do I love her? I… I.

I stop in the middle of the road. I hear Teva and Ulf running to catch up with me.

“Do you mind if I kiss you?” I ask Teva when she approaches close enough.

“I don’t.” She responds, puzzled but eager.

“It won’t mean anything.” I add.

“That’s fine.” Teva replies too quickly.

“I’m trying to find out whether I love her or not.” I explain.

“Okay.” She says in a small disappointed voice.

“You don’t have to.” I tell her.

“I… I honestly want you to kiss me.” Teva stutters, blushing. “I don’t care why or if it only happens once.”

I take my helmet off and stick it under my arm left arm. Teva steps closer, and then takes another step. I pass my right arm behind her waist and pull her against my chest.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Kiss me, you fool.” Teva groans, her breath short.

I lean in a bit and she closes her hazel eyes. I smother the void as it roars furiously at the idea of giving my first kiss to someone other than her. I lean in further.

My lips brush against Teva’s, hers shiver. The void in my heart suddenly turns deathly still in terror, realizing that it can’t stop me from going through with this. I’m terrified at the thought of betraying my Lady like this. I hurriedly pull away without kissing Teva.

“I love my Lady.” I mutter, stunned but grinning like a fool. “I’m sorry, Teva, but I can’t do this.” I add, realizing that she is still waiting.

“Oh.” Teva says in a tiny voice, opening her eyes. “Right.” She turns away and slips out from under my arm.

“I belong to her.” I feel an electrifying shock in the small of my back.

“Are you going to give up your revenge?” Teva asks, she looks saddened but not surprised by the outcome.

“No. We need to understand each other if we are to have a future together.” I giggle in delight. “My Lady.” I whisper longingly.

“You’re insane.” Ulf comments with a frown.

“So be it.” I reply, unconcerned. “Let’s go.”

“Elizabeth.” Teva speaks up to stop me. “What if she doesn’t?”

“Our relationship was never about what I want.” I tell them, shrugging. “It ends when she wishes it to end.”

“That’s not healthy.” Teva protests.

“So? It’s been established that I was insane just a few seconds ago.” I laugh.

“What about you?” She asks.

“I’ve told you what I’ll be doing, salvage this disaster of a war however I can. We need to go, they’re already gone.” I tell them both urgently.

I turn around and start walking at a quick pace. Teva and Ulf follow behind me at a distance. I can hear them whispering to each other but decide not to enhance my ears. My path is clear, if apparently insane.

Half-way through the afternoon, I spot the top of the castle’s keep on the horizon. Rosie’s group of four is a good hundred meters ahead of us. I decide to accelerate our pace once more.

I throw a quick glance over my shoulder. The thirty Rykz pursuing us definitely accelerated, they’re a lot closer to the last group of evacuating villagers than they were earlier today.

I look east and west but see no sign of the mercenaries or bandits. I don’t want to use my flow reserves to make sure right now. They took different directions so it might take them longer to get here anyway.

After a couple more hours of walking, I finally lay my eyes on the castle’s walls. They are ten meters tall and encircle a non-negligible area. There are no buildings outside the walls, the town is held within the walls.

Too bad you’re probably not inside. I slow down and wait until my two companions rejoin me.

“Let’s not talk if we don’t have to.” I point at the gates.

There are no guards outside but I can see shadows under the open hearse. We resume our march as a group. I see a group of three people approaching the castle from the east but they’re too far for me to recognize. Could be the bandits, but I told them to mingle so I hope not.

A half-hour later, I distinguish Brie’s face and groan. I enhance my eyesight with a tiny trickle of flow. I don’t see any blood or packages that they could have stolen.

That’s suspicious on its own. Let’s not be too paranoiac, maybe they didn’t find any groups to join or decided not to bother. Just because they’re alone doesn’t mean they did anything wrong.

We reach the castle’s gates first with a few minutes to spare. I can see a dozen guards with spears and shields standing in the pathway. There is a small courtyard inside with are three Nobles. I recognize one of them as Matfrid.