I couldn’t tell when we crossed the border. While I had the map perfectly stored in my memory, it didn’t show every detail, and the surroundings were too irregular to give me any real clue. I’d looked at a few more detailed maps, but not of this area. There hadn’t been time for everything, and maps weren’t a priority. Not that it mattered.

Aston leaned over and raised his voice to be heard over the wind. “Your Highness, we’ve now crossed the border into Velisha territory!”

I nodded and glanced at the airships accompanying us. Just when I’d thought I knew everything the Empire’s airships had to offer, they’d surprised me. The four of them, including the one I was on, flew at what any native would consider breakneck speed even for air travel. Not as fast as some planes from Earth, but it still ate the kilometers beneath us. The shielding couldn’t quite keep up, and while it kept the worst of the wind off, enough made it through.

Of course, for military deployments, you’d assume that any soldier wouldn’t even be inconvenienced by a little wind or cold.

I watched the soldiers waiting on the decks of the other airships, standing still and silent in a more professional manner than I’d expected. We were taking a good chunk of troops from the defensive line the local generals had set up. Some had tried to argue against it. But I agreed with those who said that we needed to primarily support the Velisha and stop the Dominion’s advance as well as we could.

I shook my head as I remembered yesterday’s meetings at the outpost and base we’d traveled to after Earthhaven. There’d been even more reports to take in and hours of meetings, but at least now I was confident that I knew my way around the local situation.

“I’m not making the wrong decision, am I?” I asked Tenira, who stood beside me, quietly, though I knew she could hear me.

She shook her head. “You said that we needed to move quickly, and you were right. Still are. The Dominion’s trying to overwhelm us, keep us off balance, by attacking this rapidly. We can’t let them take this much territory from us and settle in.”

I nodded. I think they call it shock and awe tactics, or something. There’s no way they’re able to sustain this kind of pace, they must already be spread somewhat thin. Not with the way they’re pressing the attack at the Yellow Graves, too.

“I’d still bet Aston has orders from your Mother to keep you out of trouble,” she added. “In case you were thinking of coming with the troops on the real attack.”

I snorted. “Don’t worry. I’m just going to talk to the Velisha, like we said. But there’s no good reason not to take the soldiers with us for the first part of the way. Safety in numbers and all that.”

We were interrupted by an officer walking up to us with a sheet of paper in hand, tucking a communication talisman away. He bowed. “Your Highness, we’ve established contact with the local soldiers and the Velisha, as expected.”

I turned around. “Give me the key points, please.”

“Yes, Your Highness. The positioning of both Dominion and Velisha combatants is largely as we expected. The Dominion has a stronger presence in the next town, at target location two, than we thought. There’s also been movements to the north and northwest. The way to target location one is clear. They report they’ve just wrapped up their fighting there, and the local commanders have relocated there.”

I glanced around, noting Aston’s expression, before I straightened. “Alright, commander. It looks like our plan is a go. Proceed as discussed. Move quickly and strike hard.”

The commander bowed again. “As you command, Your Highness. By your leave.” He turned and jumped off the airship in a fluid motion. A second later, I caught him seemingly running across the air to enter the next one, where he started scrambling the soldiers.

A minute later, two of the other airships peeled off, accelerating even more and turning to head to the spot we’d chosen to launch their attack. If all went well, they’d be able to disrupt the Dominion’s efforts, shake their grip on the region and soften them up for follow-up strikes. The contingent was mostly soldiers in higher stages, including a good number of elites, so I had no doubt they’d be able to accomplish their objective. If they took some heat off the Velisha to help us talk to them, that would be a good bonus.

“Anything around that we need to be careful of?” I asked Aston.

He stared into space for a moment, perhaps conferring with Mior, before he shook his head. “No, Your Highness. Our route is clear. We should reach the Velisha’s current base soon enough.

I nodded. It felt reassuring to know that Mior was there. While they weren’t supposed to interfere too much, I knew they would step in if my life was in danger. Or empower Aston to do it.

We traveled the rest of the way in silence. I could tell that the others were a little nervous. Lei never stood at any spot on deck too long before moving, and Tenira looked down at the landscape as if it held the secrets of the universe. Kajare would pace a few steps before he stopped, only to start again after a bit. Only Yarani seemed unfazed, but I could see the faint tension in her posture.

I glanced down at the landscape. Everything looked quiet here, so far, but there were too few people out and about in the small towns I saw, and the fields were almost deserted. From further north, faint plumes of smoke curled into the sky, though their sources were blocked from my sight.

Finally, after what seemed like too long a wait, Aston reported that we were nearing the area of the fighting, and would soon get to the current headquarters of the Velisha leadership.

“At least they’re near the front and contributing to the defense of their country, not cowering somewhere,” Kajare muttered.

I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment.

The Velisha didn’t have a fixed capital, but the place their king had held court most recently was located closer to the Dominion, and the Zarian had overrun it two days ago. From what I’d heard, the king and his family had taken charge of the fight and mostly retreated with their soldiers. This was the first time they’d actually moved their base back towards the direction of the Zarian. The first time they’d managed to beat them back, more or less. I assumed I’d meet the king there. And considering how few Imperial soldiers fought here compared to Velisha, it might be a bit of a sore point.

The airship slowed and lost altitude as we neared the town. It was encircled by a tall wall, but I counted half a dozen spots where that wall had been damaged, with at least two breaches. And not everything was covered by it, anyway, as a number of buildings stood outside the town walls. One side of the fields surrounding it looked burnt, with large furrows dug into the earth. Most of the people I could see moving around carried weapons, presumably soldiers.

Looking down at the scene as we came closer, I sighed. After a moment of consideration, I turned toward the front of the airship. “Slow down a bit more, and go lower.”

I wondered if they’d heard me, but a moment later, I could feel the airship decelerating, and we dropped down even further.

By now, we were close enough to get a good look at the scene. I analyzed the fortifications, clearly hastily reinforced. A few cultivators were patching the breaches in the wall. There were a lot of soldiers in the town, perhaps twice the number I’d taken with me, although I suspected the average stage of cultivation was lower. I could tell the town had been hit hard by the fighting. A few houses on the edge were only smoking ruins, many more had clearly been touched by fire. I would hesitate before moving into any of them for fear they might come down on my head with the next storm, but the inhabitants might not have a choice. And then, of course, there were the bodies.

“Does this match your expectations?” I asked Kajare.

He frowned, taking another look over the airship’s railing before he turned his head to answer me. “I don’t know.”

“This is the first battlefield you’ve seen, isn’t it? Assuming you can count this as one.”

“Well, yes.” He hesitated for a moment. “What are they doing with the bodies?”

I glanced at the soldiers who were laying out corpses in neat rows, clearly separated in three groups. One had everything, including clothing, stripped from them and gathered, clearly the Dominion’s fallen. It was the smallest group. The one where a few townsfolk lingered was probably the largest, with people in various different kinds of clothing.

“Clean-up, I presume,” I answered. “Taking stock of casualties, tallying numbers, and gathering the equipment of the fallen. This is going to take a while, I’d say. Cleaning up after a fight often takes longer than the actual fighting.” Especially with cultivators.

He nodded and continued watching the work. I noticed that his gaze flitted all over the scene, but his knuckles slowly whitened where he clenched his hands.

“It stinks,” he finally commented.

I took a deep breath, then regretted it as my enhanced sense of smell picked up the scent of death, blood and excretions. “Yeah.” I grimaced. “That’s how you could tell that a number of civilians died. Soldiers are stronger cultivators and usually don’t eat much, especially in a war. Their bodies don’t stink as much.”

He pulled a face. Tenira had joined us during the conversation, and I noticed her rolling her eyes from my peripheral vision. She didn’t look down except for brief glances.

“What point are you trying to make?” Kajare asked after a moment.

I shrugged. “Nothing, really. I’m taking a look at the state of the town and the Velisha’s forces. Get ready to disembark, we’re almost there.”

We were coming up on what I assumed was the center of town, perhaps the manor of the local lord in normal times. They’d set up a security perimeter, and the airship had to wait, hovering in the air for a bit, before we were clear to land.

When we finally disembarked, every eye was on us. I smiled slightly, trying to project confidence and let them know I wasn’t rattled. Not everyone looked happy to see us. Most people kept away and tried not to make their stares obvious, while a greeting party stepped closer to us and bowed.

“Imperial Princess,” the man in the lead, probably an officer, greeted. “Please let me welcome you and your retinue to the Velisha.”

I nodded. “Thank you. My troops should have made contact with you a while ago. I’m glad to see things are well in hand here.”

“Of course, Your Highness. The king is waiting for you. And your companions, of course.”

We fell into loose formation as we followed the group, with my guards on the outside, watching our surroundings carefully. Kajare walked a step beside and to the side of me, with Tenira and Lei and then Yarani following. We’d set down on an open square beside the main complex, so we wouldn’t have far to go. I glanced at the tables set up in the area we walked through. They’d turned this into a command post, and people were communicating with what sounded like locations in the rest of their territory, and perhaps our strike force.

The Velisha king stood in the center of it all, accompanied by several younger people in rich robes and uniforms. He looked like he was maybe fifty, with a broad, imposing stature and gray-flecked hair framing a lined face. I recognized the people not in uniform as his sons from my briefing material, but the resemblance would have been obvious anyway.

They stopped talking as we approached and turned around, the king stepping forward to meet us, flanked by some of the others. Several of them openly scowled at me. I noticed some gazes stop on Kajare before they moved on. He tilted his chin up slightly as if in response to their looks.

For a moment, I wondered if I’d have to make the first move. Then the rest of them dropped to a knee while the king bowed deeply. An appropriate reception. “Imperial Princess Inaris, Prince Kajare, lords and ladies of House Leri,” he greeted us. “Welcome to our humble home.”

I bowed my head in response. “Thank you, King Valis. Please rise.” I waited as they did, hesitating for a moment, before I continued speaking. “I’m sorry for the death your people suffered, in this town as well as the rest. You have my condolences.”

Some of their expressions only darkened at the reminder. But I kept my focus on the king. His eyes widened a fraction, and his gaze sharped, before he gave a small nod. “Thank you, Imperial Princess.”

“I hope that with the reinforcements the Empire has sent, we’ll be able to turn this around on the Dominion,” I said. “How are things here?”

“Adequate,” one of the younger men grated out. He scowled at a sharp look from the king. “They would have been better had the Empire been here earlier.”

King Valis cleared his throat. “We understand that this sudden strike was unexpected for everyone,” he said. The look he shot the others was clear. Don’t be an idiot, we need them to win this. Or something like that. “Our counter-push is going well, thanks to the Imperial elites,” he continued. “We are already pushing them back, and may regain several towns soon.”

I smiled. “That’s good news.”

“Of course.” He glanced around. “Forgive my poor hospitality. Would you like to come inside for refreshments?”

I didn’t really want to, but I didn’t want to risk offending anyone, and it sounded like this was the time for social niceties and pleasantries. It helped that both Tenira and Yarani were looking at me expectantly. So I agreed, and allowed the king to lead the group inside the manor. It would be better to talk about things with more privacy, too.

And while I still felt a bit of the restless urgency, I knew that there wasn’t much I could do for the fight here. I needed to concentrate on my own challenge, dealing with our vassals.

On the way, Valis and Kajare started chatting. Apparently, Valis had met his father a few decades ago, and was now asking after his health and various people he’d met. Kajare was friendly, but I could tell this wasn’t just idle small talk.

I sighed. They’re not going to be happy if I tell them that the Kingdom of Terbekteri isn’t sending reinforcements. At least not here, not now.

Our alliance was only a few days old, in all. It took time to work things out, to set up coordination between our forces. And since Terbekteri had been left alone so far, they weren’t rushing their mobilization as much as some on our side might have hoped.

I shook my head and focus on the situation as we entered a large sitting room. One thing at a time. I’d learn what I could here, make a few decisions, and hopefully do my part in the war effort.