The Union 115 A Rue Too Late

The air inside the tent was heavy. Bloodstained and grubby, the officers hung their heads low.

"How many did we lose?" Rickard asked the quartermaster.

"Including those who deserted sire?"

Rickard nodded and bit his lips. He waited for a number that would soon give him heartache.

"Eight thousand" the quartermaster said and as expected, it was too high.

Rickard examined the faces of the officers inside his tent and all of them had their brows furrowed. Heavy breathing can be heard.

Rickard tapped his finger on the table. "So? Who among you can explain to me how this happened? How in the Omniscient's name did you fail to break those Castonians?"

A Knight Prefect raised his hand. Brave, Rickard thought. The Knight was brave enough to answer his question.

Rickard leaned back. "Go on"

"They just won't rout sire"

"Won't rout?"

"Yes" another Knight prefect confirmed. "They won't rout. Many times we hit 'em sire. Many times. But they stayed."

There was a hint of respect on the Knight's voice. Respect for enemies huh? Rickard mused. Respecting one's enemy was dangerous. He made a silent reminder to himself that he will discipline this man later.

"Sire I…" a cavalry Prefect b.u.t.ted in. "I have something to report"

Rickard c.o.c.ked his head towards the Prefect. "Speak then"

The Prefect was lowering his head. "I… think. I mean I'm not sure but I do think I saw Firstspear among the enemies. He was leading their cavalry."

The news gathered angry grunts from the officers.

"Traitorous degenerate!"

"Man without honor!"

"In the next battle I will find him first and let him taste a kiss of steel!"

Rickard himself was distraught by the news. Henry was skilled. Yes. With him being the cavalry commander of the Castonians, his men will be in danger.

But the effect of Henry fighting for the Castonians goes more than that. Henry was once the face of the Knights. He was the most popular Tulosan Knight, just behind the Grandmaster himself. Henry was even more popular than Rickard. He was young, full of vigor and he knew how to inspire his men. Many knights still view Henry with respect and awe. For them, Henry was the perfect Knight. This will become catastrophic if his Knights will revolt against him in favor of Henry.

"n.o.body shall speak of the Firstspear again. Understand?!" Rickard bellowed. "From now on, he is not Firstspear but merely a nameless traitor. Anyone who speaks his name again will be punished!"

The officers were silent. Rickard then decided that he had enough for today. Although his army is still intact, he just lost a huge chunk of his forces. Without reinforcements, failure was almost certain. Nevertheless, he would see this through. He will defeat Timothy and then convince the King of Tulosa and the Queen of Calgari to renew the war with Castonia.

"Leave" he ordered while resting his forehead on his palm. The officers left one by one.

"Not you" Rickard said to Luther. He gestured towards the seat beside his. Luther transferred seats.

"General…"

"You're right" Rickard admitted although it breaks his heart. "Timothy Castonia is someone dangerous. His soldiers are fiercely loyal. He also knows his stuff. "

Luther pinched a chunk from the bread in front of them and ate it. "So are we going home General?"

"No. The King will probably execute me for taking his army without his permission. Things would be different if I defeat the Castonians."

"And how are you going to do that General? I mean, not to put you down. But we are in a bind here. Morale is low, deserters flee the camp as we speak and Timothy Castonia will soon catch up to us."

"I don't know" Rickard exhaled heavily. "I honestly don't know. We probably need to make deals or something. But for now we will lick our wounds and fight another day."

Just then, the cloth of the tent was flapped. "General! I have something to report" a familiar face almost shouted. Rickard remembered the man to be a Centurion under Luther.

"Learn some manners Centurion Lyn. The General and I are still talking " Luther reprimanded with a hoa.r.s.e voice.

"It's alright. Let him speak. I think whatever he wanted to tell me, it's important" Rickard said to Luther.

He turned to Centurion Lyn. "Speak boy. Good news or bad news?"

Centurion Lyn hesitated. He bit his lips. "Bad news General"

**********

A combined force of Castonians and Wismarines marched on the road that leads to Knightsend. They carefully avoided Timothy's host yesterday and chased the defeated Tulosans. With banners held high, one would a.s.sume that their morale and integrity were absolute. But Leopold knew better.

"Even since yesterday, you've been smiling from ear to ear" Braun, who was dressed in a full set of armor, said.

This was the first time Leopold had seen Braun in armor. A simple waistcoat coupled with long-sleeved s.h.i.+rt was the usual attire of his right hand man. When asked about his lack of enthusiasm towards armor, Braun would always say that armor is uncomfortable. But today, just for today, the Baron was wearing armor.

"Just happy" Leopold gave a nonchalant answer.

"Reason?"

Leopold just raised a brow for an answer.

"Right" Braun said. "I would be happy too if my son grew up to be someone like Timothy. Destroyer of Tulosans eh? You must be proud"

"Nothing of sorts. He is still my enemy. I'm just happy that General Rickard tasted defeat" he answered, lying both to himself and to Braun. He was actually sort of proud of Timothy. He doesn't want to admit it, but he knew that he was. It must be because of their shared enemy or maybe something else. Leopold doesn't really know and he doesn't want to dwell on the matter.

Braun looked at him in a way as if the Baron had discovered his lie. Smiling Braun said, "Well your business is your business"

Their gleeful conversation was interrupted by a sc.u.mmy man and his guards. Prince Skall Wismar, Leopold mused, destroyer of Castonian diplomacy and the main cause of this civil war.

Skall halted his horse near Leopold, causing Rupert and several other royal guards to flinch.

"King Leopold we have a problem"

"Is that so? We would always have a problem since you are stupid. Good thing I left Ivan in Nirvana or else your combined stupidity would doom us"

The prince opened his mouth in protest. No words came out.

"So what is the problem? Just tell me and be done with it" Leopold said.

"First, before I tell you, please understand that leading scouts is not my usual job. Amir was the one who usually does this in my stead and now Amir is dead" Skall started and Leopold felt anxious at the mention of scouts.

The prince continued albeit stuttering. "I… I mean we have been scouting earlier and some of my men may have been captured by them."

Leopold's face shrank into a deep frown. "So they have discovered that we are going to attack them? Is that what you are saying?"

"Yes. It's just bad luck. They just happen to spot us"

"Bad luck he says" Leopold said with a hissing laughter. "Incompetent! That's what you are. Have you realized what you've done!?"

"That is not really the worst of our problems Your Majesty!" Braun cried out.

"Why? They have just discovered us. General Rickard could run away. What could be worse than that?"

"No" Braun's face was filled with worry. "The Tulosans still have thousands of cavalry left. If.. If I'm General Rickard, I would order the remaining Tulosan cavalry to hara.s.s our forces."

Leopold realized that Braun was right. Armies were vulnerable to cavalry hara.s.sment when marching. Timothy countered this by swelling the number of his own cavalry. But Leopold's army had hundreds of hors.e.m.e.n at best, mostly used as scouts and messengers. Their original plan was to surprise the Tulosans but Skall's incompetence not only alerted their enemies, he had also put everyone in danger.

Leopold clenched his hand into a tight fist. Why is it that his past mistakes had been constantly haunting him from time to time? If he just went through with the alliance with Vanadis, this wouldn't have happened. If he just accepted Timothy as his son, they wouldn't be at each other's throats right now.

But he conspired against Timothy and now he's reaping the punishment for it. Instead of a stable alliance with Vanadis, he had a shaky, puppet-like partners.h.i.+p with Wismar. And instead of having a talented son that shares his love for Castonia, he had Skall who can't even command the scouts.

"Order a retreat to the east. An organized one." Leopold said in an exhausted voice.

"We can still fight King Leopold" Skall said while still propped on top of his horse.

"Better shut your mouth and follow my orders. After this is finished, pray to your Ashkara that I'll maintain our alliance."

Skall shut his mouth after that and just went to his Wimsarines.

Leopold looked at Braun.

"I lied earlier Braun. I am proud of Timothy and I regret my past decisions. But it is too late isn't it?"