Please enjoy and feel free to ask questions!

Many hours later, late in the evening Lena rouses herself from her desk and makes her way to the dungeons. The men are cheering and celebrating their utter victory over the Cypress army. They toast and cheer as they happily praise the Captain having allowed them each only one cup of Ale to drink. After all, the enemy could still attack and drunk men cannot fight.

Being so busy celebrating, the men fail to notice Lena pass by and even finds the regular guards missing from their post. The cool air of the dungeon feels refreshing against her skin as her footsteps echo loudly as she descends below.

The four men glance up and wait for the Captain to seat herself in the chair before him. Lena leisurely cross her feet and rests her hands on her stomach. The men hold mixed expressions as they move to speak as she motions for them to speak one at a time.

They close their mouths with a snap as Lena turn towards one of the men. “Let us begin with the first topic at hand. Chief Officer Gauthier, please report your findings,” Lena ordered.

Chief Officer Gauthier clears his throat nervously and answers, “I have long suspected our forces of having a high-ranking spy among our midst. After all, how did the Cypress army know when and where to attack, being especially aware of the forts biggest weakness?

If not for our deceased Captain Lark, carrying out a surprise inspection on the walls, the walls would have surly been breached and the fort would have fallen.”

At Chief Officer Gauthier’s words, Lieutenant Darrell, Staff Sergeant Jones and Sergeant Robertson, all frown as their expressions darken at the mention of a traitor. However, even though their eyes are full of questions they bite their tongues and wait.

“After our meeting, I remained behind and explained my suspicions to Captain Bartholomew. With the aid of the Captain, we came up with a plan to trap the traitor; I was to deliver a change of plans to Lieutenant Darrell.

Only three persons where present and had access to the message: myself, Lieutenant Darrell and Corporal Vernal,” Chief Officer Gauthier paused for a moment to allow his words to sink in.

Lena hides her smile at Chief Officer Gauthier superb performance. If she had been the one who initiated the idea, the men would instantly rally around the traitor and be aghast at having their loyalty questioned. But if it was one of their own, they would have a much easier time of accepting the idea of a traitor.

Chief Officer Gauthier more confidently continues, “There was only one possible person left as the traitor, Corporal Vernal.”

Before the men can open their mouths to protest Chief Officer Gauthier quickly rushes through the end of his report, “Through some hidden means, I can personally attest to the fact that Corporal Vernal is the traitor. Not only did he send the enemy a message of our impending attack, but their reply that I stole prior to Corporal Vernal receiving it.”

Reaching into his pocket Chief Officer Gauthier pulls out a small scroll and hands it to Lieutenant Darrell. Lieutenant Darrell quivers with rage for a moment as he takes the scroll from Chief Officer Gauthier hands as Staff Sergeant Jones and Sergeant Robertson crowd around Lieutenant Darrell and peer over his shoulder at the message in Lieutenant Darrell’s hand.

“Corporal Vernal,

Your ailing mother has received your message and will take care to wrap herself up well, in order to avoid the cold.

Mother.”

Lieutenant Darrell with silent fury in his eyes crumbles the paper in his fist, while a vein pulses violently under an eye of Staff Sergeant Jones and as an utter icy coldness enters Sergeant Robertson’s kind eyes.

“Thank you, Chief Officer Gauthier, for your service,” Lena kindly said before continuing, “Did all of you have time to check the pole in the ground before the attack?”

The men all unhappily nod at back. “The pole is no longer vibrating for the time being, as the attack was successful in halting the digging. However, the silence won’t last for long. Estimating at the latest we have three weeks until another batch of soldiers arrives, but closer to a week and a half, I would hazard to say.

In that time, we must ready the fort as best as we can. For his majesty, will not be able to send reinforcements, therefore we must rely on ourselves and other creative means by which to fortify the fort,” Lena honestly said, not lying to them about the dire state of the fort.

Staff Sergeant Jones angrily bellows, “And what of the traitor! How can the traitor suffer to live, while our comrades lay dead because of him!” Sergeant Jones places a kind and warning arm on his shoulder, bringing him back to reality.

“Yes, that is exactly what we will do,” Lena softly said at their stunned expressions, having expected a demand for the traitor’s immediate death.

“Do you know how to catch a nest of rats?” Lena said as she paused for emphasis as the men stare blankly back at her.

“I watched an old hunter drop food morsels in a trail that lead to a large barrel with a small cloth opening. The rats foolishly follow in hordes the food crumbs into the empty barrel. At this point the barrel is rather full, but the rats cannot get out.

Well, you see a strange event begins to occur, the rats begin to starve. At first they angrily bite each other, but the smell of blood causes them to enter a feeding frenzy. They kill and eat each other until not a single rat is left alive in the barrel.

We will use this little rat to draw the hordes of rats into our trap and watch them destroy themselves,” Lena firmly said as the men gaze back with mixed expressions at the chilling words.

“Now then onto the next pressing matter, Lieutenant Darrell report on the events of the battle,” Lena matter-of-factly stated.

Lieutenant Darrell steps forward, finally remembering his manners properly salutes the Captain before replying, “Sir, upon receiving thy command as planned, we readied the infantry and Calvary to go out into battle. However, per Chief Officer Gauthier’s last minute orders the Calvary marched, whilst the infantry remained assembled within the entrance of the fort.

We rode swiftly forward and engaged the enemy for a time until upon spotting the enemy swiftly approaching, we retreated to the fort effectively drawing the army into following us. The Calvary gathered outside of the walls of the East Gate as if ready for battle.

As the enemy neared our position, we remained steady fast until I gave the order to retreat into the fort and close the gates. The gates had barely finished closing with the enemy nearly upon us, that I gave the signal for the fire mages to spring their distractions and delay the impending army in place.

From the forts walls, the fire mages cast their already spells and per instructions attacked the army stalling them in place. At their readied signal, the fire mages ceased their bombardment and allowed the enemy army to rush blindly forward.

Sergeant Robertson in charge of the mages, ordered the mages to release their large and complex spell. The earth that had been moved and softened by the water and earth mages, groaned and created a massive landslide efficiently sweeping away and destroying most of the enemy.

Not only was the invading force rendered into oblivion, but the east wall will no longer be a point of attack. The landslide has virtually rendered the terrain surrounding the east gate and the mountain side almost impossible to traverse without great care.

The enemy remnants that survived were those at the back of the charge. Our surveyors estimate that the enemy lost approximately 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers in their encounter with us. And I am very pleased to report that we did not encounter any losses during our encounter with the enemy.”

I sigh in my mind at the numbers, I was hoping for a bit more, but I will have to live with them. The enemy is still roughly 3,000 men or so strong with an unknown number of reinforcements on the way. Well, let’s see what I can do to chip away at that number into a more reasonable one.

“Thank you for your report, Lieutenant Darrell-,” Lena said before being interrupted.

Staff Sergeant Jones demands to know, “Why weren’t our mages able to sense the tunneling of the enemy? What have they been doing this entire time! This is exactly why they are being paid!”

Sergeant Robertson winces and says, “Begging your pardon, Captain, but I can answer the Sergeant’s question.”

Lena accepts as Sergeant Robertson turns to face Staff Sergeant Jones, “Jones, it’s not that our mages are incompetent but they can’t. Mages can sense when another mage is using similar type magic. But what if no magic is being used for them to sense?

The enemy uses enchanted tools to manually dig through the earth. Though it takes more time, it is a much easier and safer method for the tunnel to remain undiscovered by opposing earth mages until it is much too late,” Sergeant Jones steadily said.

Staff Sergeant Jones scratches his scruffy beard in embarrassment and gruffly says, “Sorry, I forgot that could be done.”

“Well, in that case this meeting is adjourned,” Lena firmly said as rises to her feet with Chief Officer Gauthier closely following. Lena abruptly halts as Chief Officer Gauthier almost crashes into her.

Lena gaze back at her officers and warns them, “I expect all of you to perform at your best. Do not make the costly mistake of giving that valuable piece of information away.”

Without waiting for a response, Lena heads back to headquarters. Lena sits down with a tired sigh as Chief Officer Gauthier closes the door, before seating himself.

Chief Officer Gauthier fidgets for a moment before asking, “Captain, sir, why did you allow my fellow officers to believe that I am the genius behind the attack?”

Lena quietly replies, “Chief Officer Gauthier, I need a face. You see men’s hearts are fickle and though I won the hearts of the men today, that may not be the case tomorrow. I need to have a bit more standing with the army and I don’t quite have that yet.

To remedy that I need to quietly gather strength. So for the meantime, Chief Officer Gauthier, you will have the honor and privilege of being my face.”

Chief Officer Gauthier nods slowly, but curiously asks, “But Captain Bartholomew, how did you know that the traitor was a high-ranking officer?”

The first night Lena had arrived, she had called up her subordinate interface, the interface pulled up as a list and a map showing the individuals locations and health of each of her subordinates within a fifty-mile radius. Any of my subordinates that were out of the radius had blue marks beside their name indicating out of range, but still showed their current health status.

After spending, most of the night up, Lena narrowed down the list of possible subordinates that were spies to ten, but only two seemed rather suspicious. Using the interface, she checked and saved their names on the subordinate list to automatically find them on the subordinate map in the future.

“Now, now, Chief Officer Gauthier, I am a woman and though I am a Captain, I still like to keep my secrets to myself. After all, a woman without secrets is a rather boring woman, don’t you think?” Lena lightly said with a mischievous twinkle in my eye.

Chief Officer Gauthier nods unsure of what to make of the comment. “Per the Captain’s orders, I have my smartest spirits to watch and report per orders. As of now, my spirits have nothing to report other than what was expected,” Chief Officer Gauthier proudly said as he slightly puffs out his skinny chest.

The door suddenly slams open as Chief Officer Gauthier flinches and Holly rather briskly stomps in carrying a pile of neat paperwork. She rather angrily, but neatly slams the stack of paperwork onto the desk.

Lena flutters her eyelashes in gratitude as Holly glares at back and coldly retorts, “If the Captain has time to converse with others, then perhaps the Captain should personally do her paperwork rather than have others do it.”

Lena merely continues to flutter her eyelashes as Holly angrily purses her lips causing Chief Officer Gauthier to shrink in his chair, desperately trying to get out of the range of Holly’s wrath. Without responding Holly turns on her heels and loudly slams the door shut causing the stack of papers to quiver for a moment.

Lena eagerly reaches for the much-awaited report on top of the stack and quietly scan the report; whilst Chief Officer Gauthier inconspicuously straightens himself in his chair. After a moment, Lena grimly hands the report to Chief Officer Gauthier to read.

Chief Officer Gauthier hesitantly takes the report and begins to read. After a few minutes Chief Officer Gauthier pales dramatically and quietly says, “Captain, sir, how on Gardenia did the fort reach this state?”

Lena shrugs as she taps her fingers against each other. “I don’t know, but I can say, that even with the added time we won, we will surely lose seeing as we lack any major defensive weapons with which to defend the fort. As for finances, that is primarily why, my maid, Holly is in such a foul mood.

Captain Lark dreadfully mishandled the forts finances. I am not sure if he is to blame in the end, but the situation is a rather tangled mess. Luckily, I have Holly to aid in this endeavor and through some careful budgeting the fort will be alright,” Lena seriously said, before a solution pops into her brain.

Lena smile brightly at Chief Officer Gauthier as Chief Officer Gauthier shifts uneasily at the look in her eyes. “Well, we’re just going to have to get creative now won’t we. Chief Officer Gauthier, you wouldn’t happen to know any merchants that happen to be so creative, now would you?” Lena casually said as she leaned forward.

Chief Officer Gauthier pales and stutters, “Captain, sir-, you aren’t suggesting, that we- go against army regulations!”

“Of course, not! I’m merely asking to meet some creative merchants, whose talents are not always recognized by the masses. Chief Officer Gauthier, do I need to remind you of the conditions or your employment?” Lena kindly mused out loud.

Chief Officer Gauthier miserably replies, “I might know someone like that.”

“Please set up for a meeting as soon as possible, “Lena pleasantly said, before turning attention to the stack of paperwork before her. Chief Officer Gauthier miserably rises from his seat and quietly sulks out of the room.

Lena reviews and signs the much-needed paperwork as she keeps an eye on open subordinate interface. Hours later, Lena finally retires hoping Holly didn’t hide her pillows.

Whenever Holly gets angry, she always takes her fury out on Lena’s poor, innocent pillows. Why the horror and inhumanity against them? What crime had her pillows ever done to Holly, other than being impossible soft and fluffy?

~ POV of Prince Icarus (Second Prince of the Kingdom of Cypress) ~

Finally, having brushed off his annoying retainers, Prince Icarus falls into an exhausted sleep. Unwillingly, his dreams transport him to the day’s battle.

The sky is bright as their flag proudly soars at Prince Icarus side with Colonel Graham laughing on his other side as they proudly lead over 3,000 men. The earth pounds beneath their hooves as the leading units at include the Heavy Calvary that had never lost a fight.

Prince Icarus raises his gaze ahead and in the distance their weak foes ambush their men. Prince Icarus snorts under his breath, the enemy is far too weak and resort to such petty means to survive. However, upon immediately spotting their might force the cowards rather than standing their grounds retreat cowardly back to their fort.

Prince Icarus eagerly urges his stallion forward, but to his anger Colonel Graham grabs hold of the reins. Heat crosses his face in fury as he contains himself from striking Colonel Graham for his impertinence.

“My Prince, please retreat to the back. One never knows what petty tricks the enemy may pull. Once we begin our assault on the fort and smash open one of the gates, please lead the victory charge inside.

And, there are two ripe women to be had. Our sources state, one is a beautiful maid and the other is the daughter of the prime minster,” Colonel Graham persuasively said.

Prince Icarus nods in satisfaction at the proper treatment of his royal self. He licks his lips happily and imagines satisfying his needs with the two women. The entire time trip he had been unable to satisfy himself.

“Fine. But Colonel Graham, the women are mine. Anyone who dares to touch what is mine, must perish!” Prince Icarus coldly commanded Colonel Graham.

Colonel Graham gratefully bows, before leading the charge. Prince Icarus and his attendants watch as the cavalry majestically charges towards the pitiful fort. Suddenly fire mages attack the oncoming charge forcing the knights to scatter to avoid the oncoming spells.

The attendants nervously fidget on their horses as Prince Icarus sneers at their weakness. “It’s merely dogs baring their fangs at lions. Their weak attacks will soon cease from fear of our mighty forces,” Prince Icarus loudly proclaimed.

As if the very heavens heard his words, the mages ceased their attacks as Colonel Graham heroically roared and the cavalry roared alongside him in triumph. The thundering cavalry hooves and shouts fill the valley like the valiant warriors they were.

What force can possibly destroy such a glorious army? Prince Icarus eagerly shifts in his saddle as the fearless warrior approach the fort, when an earth-shattering moan is heard.

The earth shakes violently as the horse’s neigh and buckle beneath them. Prince Icarus grits his teeth at the humiliation as he whips his horse into submission. But the fickle animal bolts back to the camp. Prince Icarus vows to turn the stupid horse into meat to feed the dogs.

Prince Icarus suddenly sees his attendants whipping their horses forward alongside him. With unease, he glances back as half of the mountain slides loudly forward as enormous, roaring, dark waves sweep away everything in the valley below. Full of fear Prince Icarus whips his horse forward to escape the hurrying wave.

The horses pant heavily as white froth drips from their mouths. Without caring for the blasted horse, Prince Icarus impatiently tosses the reigns to a stableman as he turns back to gaze at the battlefield. Terrified men ride back to the camp as less than a hundred men survived.

The valley is silent and peaceful as ever. The only indication the remained was the ragged tear in the mountain and the large, rough plain of fresh mud before them. Their great and glorious army had literally been buried alive.

Yet to make matters worse, the new terrain was rough and broken surrounding the east wall and stretching far into the mountain and e into the valley pass. The new terrain would be impossible for the Calvary to charge through without a horse twisting a leg or throwing its rider. It would even be rough for the infantry to climb over the unexpected, treacherous terrain without dying from enemy attacks.

Prince Icarus angrily marches into the tent of General Custer, who waits patiently inside. General Custer, stands self-righteously before him without even not even bowing to Prince Icarus as was his royal due.

“My prince, I did warn you. Not only is Colonel Graham dead, but we have lost close to 3,000 men,” General Custer lectured him.

How dare a mere general speak to him in such tones! He was a prince of royal blood!

Prince Icarus crossly snaps back, “What does it matter now? What I want to know is who is responsible for the humiliation against me? I want them dead!”

General Custer furrows his brows. “For now, may I suggest we wait for reinforcements. And as for the dishonor, that should be attributed to Captain Bartholomew,” General Custer coolly said as his lips slightly twitched with mirth.

Prince Icarus gashes his teeth together in fury as he bloodthirstily curls his fists. “I want him dead! And as for the two women, they belong solely to me. Make sure that the men are aware,” Prince Icarus vehemently said.

General Custer raises his hand to cover a faint smile at the command. Prince Icarus slams his fist onto the table and roars, “General Custer, explain yourself! If not, I will have you charged with insubordination!”

General Custer apologetically bows as Prince Icarus relishes to see the arrogant old man bow before him. “Prince Icarus, I am afraid you must clarify your orders. Do you wish Captain Bartholomew dead or not, which is it?” General Custer patiently said as he rose to his feet.

Prince Icarus frowns at the old man for daring to toy with! “General Custer, has your age addled your mind? I clearly said I wanted that person dead. I will not repeat myself,” Prince Icarus furiously said through clenched teeth.

General Custer wisely answers, “ I will ensure that the maid be protected at al times."

Prince Icarus raises his hand, before remembering himself. “Captain Bartholomew is a woman and not a man, my prince,” General Custer smugly said.

Prince Icarus pales as he slums against a chair. A mere woman? How dare she be so impudent!

“I changed my mind, don’t kill her. Let the men have their way with her until she pleads to be let out of her misery! I don’t care what happens to her afterwards,” Prince Icarus demanded.

General Custer didn’t quite manage to hide the frown on his face. “As you wish my prince. Is there anything else the prince requires, before this old man retires to bed?” General Custer distantly said.

Prince Icarus brushes aside the old man and marches to tent to sleep. Once, he became King he would thoroughly humiliate that old man and exile him out of the kingdom. But even raze that entire house to the ground leaving not a single stone behind.

With his heart pounding, Prince Icarus blindly peers around his tent. Breathing rapidly, he swallows as he lays back down. Once, it was morrow, he would order that guards be posted near his tent at all times.