The smoke of Kantar and Sodleim Harbor looked almost iridescent under the morning light, golden swaths of silk against a bruised sky. From the bay, Astna could still hear the crackling of fire and the wails of children and women and men. Her fingers were stiff around her reins, cold after a long night of waiting out the battle.

"My Queen!" shouted Lord Nurtanden. He rode up the hill towards her, his horse gray with soot. "Victory is confirmed!"

She nodded, unsurprised. "Thank you, Lord Nurtanden. Have the survivors rounded up. Give them food and water, but treat our soldiers' wounds first."

He bowed his head. "Yes, your - "

"And no rape," she said firmly. "Remind them that the punishment is castration."

"Of course, my Queen."

Astna watched him go, her head pounding. She wondered if she'd become a nocturnal creature - every sunrise, it seemed, made her exhausted. Or maybe it was just the smoke.

She had staunchly refused to use fire for this battle. Victory was almost guaranteed, anyways, with Prince Verradaen's superior forces. The tiny troops of Kantar and Sodleim Harbor hadn't stood a chance.

Her men were leading Sodleim Harbor's supply train towards her army encampment. Astna could hear the laughter of men and the clinking of goblets - where did they get those? - punctuated by the screams of babies and the stifled sobs of women. Two faces of the same coin, she thought numbly.

"Your Majesty?"

She turned.

Ellac approached her, riding a horse of his own. Behind him was another horse - Alskande's. The peasant boy had taken off his helm, and his golden hair shone under the young sun.

"Ellac," she said. She nodded at Alskande. "Alskande."

"Your Majesty," he said, dismounting and kneeling.

"You have a horse?" she said.

Alskande looked up. "I - er - yes, your Majesty. Ellac promoted me. I am the captain of one of his troops now."

Astna almost smiled, barely resisting a laugh as Ellac looked at her with wide eyes. "Congratulations, Captain," she said warmly. "I did not yet hear of your prowess on the battlefield, however."

"He took down the East Wall of Kantar by himself," Ellac said. He looked at her somewhat fearfully. "This is allowed, right?"

Astna smiled. "Yes," she said. "You are one of my commanders, after all. Of the navy. And now of the peasants, I suppose."

His face lit up. "Thank you, my Queen!"

"Thank you, your Majesty," Alskande echoed.

"Go rest, Alskande," Astna said. "Ellac...you and I must talk."

The peasant glanced at Astna, then Ellac, then nodded. "Yes, of course. Thank you, your Majesty."

Astna and Ellac watched Alskande ride back down the hill. When he disappeared, Astna turned to Ellac.

"What is it between you and him?"

Ellac hesitated. "I...I don't know what you mean, your Majesty."

"You are lying," she said. When Ellac did not respond, she sighed. "I have seen you two talk like best friends," she said. "Forgive me if I am mistaken, but sometimes it seems...sometimes it seems that you are more than best friends."

He bit his lip, his cheeks red. He refused to look at anything but the ground.

"Ellac," she said, "I would not mind any...relationship...that might arise beween you and Alskande. However, I know of some who would. Just be careful, all right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said in indignation. Finally, he turned to her, his eyes wide with hurt. "We're nothing more than f-friends."

A lie if I ever saw one. Still, she just shrugged. "Forgive me, then. You are dismissed."

He nodded stiffly at her, then galloped down the mountain at breakneck speed.

She ran a hand through her hair as she watched Ellac go. Had she been too aggressive towards him? No...she'd merely told him to be careful....

"Your Majesty?"

Again? She turned to the sound of the voice. Princess Lorelei stood at the edge of the mountain, looking as prim and elegant as ever. And - Astna's heart sank - Prince Verradaen stood next to her, one hand resting casually on his sword.

"Yes?" she said.

"Do you mean to see the cities?" Prince Verradaen said. "Kantar and Sodleim?"

I know what cities you are talking about. "I can see them from here," she said stiffly.

"It would help gain popular support," Lorelei said quietly, "if you rode down there and offered them - "

" - it would give them a face to hate, yes," she said. "But nothing else. My men are delivering them water, food, and medicine. You will deliver your gowns, of course."

"Very well," Prince Verradaen said smoothly. "But now...I was wondering when you were planning to take Straendkusp and Lersteln, my Queen. Lersteln surely would've heard of your conquest of Kantar and Sodleim by now. And Straendkusp is essential to secure the border between Masseig and Skoslant."

She gritted her teeth. "I know," she said. "We could march today, but our men are tired. They have gone a night without sleeping."

"My men are not tired," he said. "They will fight."

Your men are a bunch of ragged peasants and refugees. They'll break lines if either of the two cities surprises us. "No," she said. "We will stay here today and rest."

Prince Verradaen opened his mouth, then closed it. "Very well," he said, his eyes narrowed. "I shall go tend to my men."

"Do not marshall them," she warned.

He stared at her, and she returned his gaze steadily. After a few moments, he broke away and headed back down the hill.

Astna turned to Lorelei. "Is there anything you wish to tell me, Princess?"

Lorelei hesitated. "No," she finally said. "Only that...you should be careful around my betrothed, my Queen."

Do you think I don't know that? "Yes," she said. "What else?"

Lorelei strode towards her. "Forgive me, my Queen," she said, "but I must tell you this. Your allies are not your enemies. Verradaen may be as cold as his homeland, but he does want to fight for you."

"And how do you know that? How do I know that he did not ask you to tell me this?"

She shrugged helplessly. "That I cannot say," she said. "But perhaps you could trust me, no? In war, trust is all we have."

"Wrong," Astna said. She turned to look at Lorelei, freeing her hand from the reins. Her fingers tingled as blood rushed back to them. "In war, trust is what kills us."

"Queen Astnorden!"

She turned around, frowning.

A man was running up the hill - a messenger, by the looks of his brown garb.

"Yes?" she said.

"Your hydra," the man panted, his eyes wide with distraught as he struggled to catch his breath. "Ra-Rasla."

She frowned, dismounting. Her heart was pounding, her skin clammy. There's something wrong....

"What is it?" she demanded. "Did you - did you come all the way from Ormina?"

He nodded, gasping. "Y-yes. Your hydra - it has killed two servants."

Astna's eyes widened. "No. That cannot be possible. Bring her to me - send word back to Ormina - "

"N-no," the messenger said, shaking his head. "You do not understand, your Majesty. The hydra has escaped from the palace. Rasla is gone."

~~

Uh-oh...what do you think will happen now? Where do you think Rasla went, and what do you think Astna will do next?

As usual, please vote and comment!