Sieges are boring.

Yeah, we got to go kill that one group of tough zombies, but most of the zombie siege was just standing on the wall and shooting them. Over and over. Or learning to shoot a bow, becuase zombies are great training dummies, and I needed a lot of practice. I mean, you'd think I could hit one shambling, braindead corpse from a horde, but bows are not easy to fire. You put an arrow on the string, pull back, and release, but you have to aim correctly, and breathe. I never knew breathing was so hard. It's almost like there's so much going on that you can't even do the one thing we do almost instinctually.

So, anyway, that's what most of the siege was like. The zombies were pretty much stupid, so they charged up to the walls, and then stood there and stared up at us, occasionally there would be some tougher zombies, but none of them showed up in a formation, and none of them spoke. It was almost as if the invasion was supposed to teach us how to defend the castle with a nice easy battle. We fought hordes of zombies, and had a bit of a mini boss, but it wasn't really that hard. Which made me realize, if this was a tutorial fight, there was probably going to be a boss at the end.

"Hey, Bjorn?" He was teaching some refugees how to use a bow.

"Yeah?" He kept watching his students, but he glanced at me when I said his name.

"Do you think a boss is coming?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing we have a few hours. It'll probably get here right after sunset."

"How long have you known?" I was feeling a little embarrassed for not realizing sooner.

"Pretty much since the beginning." He turned to look at me. "Bwyd, I'm your general for this battle. It's my job to predict the enemy, so you can practice archery."

"But it is my castle, shouldn't I be more, regal or something?"

"Well, you could try to hit the zombies." He laughed, I glared. "Hey, at least you're doing more than Lily, she's been napping."

"That's why she has so much energy. She's like a cat."

"And look at Marcus. He's is just experimenting. He keeps throwing different things on the zombies, 'for science'."

"You'd think it would be for magic..."

"Yeah, but the point is, you are doing fine. The person in charge doesn't have to be the best, you just need the experts to work for you."

"So, what, I should just sit on a throne and look pretty?"

"You know, you've got a dark vibe going. You could go with dangerous instead of pretty." He stroked his chin.

"Uh, Bjorn? Are you trying to set me up as some kind of evil demon queen?" I put my hands on my hips.

"I was thinking evil dragon queen. You don't have the sexiness for a demon." His tone was completely serious.

"So, I'm not sexy?" I wasn't sure whether to be mad yet, I wasn't really trying to be sexy, but he did just say 'dangerous instead of pretty'.

"Not really."

"So what do you see me as?"

He chuckled, "You've got the girl next door look, with intense glares. You also remind me of my niece, but a little bit older. You've got an innocence, that makes me want to protect you, and wish I had children of my own."

"Oh, so you think I'm like a child." I was half teasing him.

"No. I'm just old enough that an adult could be my daughter." He smiled at me, but it was kind of a sad smile.

"You don't talk about your family much."

"There is a reason for that." He turned to look out over the dying zombies.

"Sorry, you don't have to talk about them if you don't want to."

"Don't worry about it. I don't." He sounded a bit sad.

We stood there for a while before I finally joined him and just watched zombies expload, or get hit with arrows and javelins. They were actually getting good at using the bows and javelins. Much better than I was anyway.

Eventually I broke the silence, "So, can I launch a few fireballs? I need to compensate for my bow skills."

"Compensate? You just need more practice."

"But fireballs are more fun, and free."

"Mana isn't free, and your castle spawns arrows and javelins, so they are free."

"Fireballs don't cost mana."

"What?" He looked confused.

"Fireballs don't cost mana."

"You use magic for them, right?"

"Mhm."

"It is a spell, right?"

"Yep."

"How?"

I smiled at him, "I'm special."

"Oh, it's a dragon thing. Well, I think everyone has gotten plenty of practice, so fire away."

"Yes! I can hit them with a fire ball. But it isn't a dragon thing, it's mana conservation. All my spells that normally cost three mana are free."

"Does Marcus have that?" He looked curious.

I shrugged, "I don't know."

While Bjorn digested the new information I gave him, I made zombies expload. There was so much fire raining down on them that the archers-in-training stopped and cheered. It only took me a few minutes to completely clear the zombies away from that part of the wall.

Bjorn then gave me permission to clear the rest of the walls, hoping that would bring the boss out before sunset. He also told me it was good publicity, so I walked along the walls destroying zombies as I went. I got cheers from the people on the walls, and a lot of them thanked me when I passed. Not just for destroying zombies, but also for letting them come here, for giving them a chance to see the sun, for hope. I was a little overwhelmed by the time I walked the entire wall, it was a bit more than I was expecting.

Hearing the refugees just made me want to protect them more.