The next morning, Elen summoned both Tigre and I. After yesterday's events, I went back to the cell for a time to theorise what had occurred. It was later that day that Lim gave Tigre and I a proper room instead of a cell. Currently, Lim was escorting us to Elen, and we seemed to be attracting almost everyone to look at us. I had a feeling that it wasn't Tigre's bed hair.
"Why is everyone staring at us?" Tigre then asked the question that plagued us.
"Eleonora will explain." Is all we were given for an answer. Not long after, she stopped by a certain door. "Eleonora, I have brought Earl Vorn and Vex." She spoke after knocking. We were immediately answered with 'Enter.' Lim opened the door and gestured for us to enter. Elen had just finished writing a document and looked up at us.
"Did you have any difficulties waking him up?" Elen asked.
"No. He awoke when I called him." Lim answered.
"You woke me from across the hall just by your killing intent, of course he woke up." I remark snappily. After realising what I had just said, I apologised immediately.
"You aren't the only one who needed to apologise. I did not think that they would give you such a poor bow." Elen said. "The three men who did that will have their heads taken-"
"No, wait a moment." Tigre interrupted her. "Certainly, they played a terrible trick, but isn't that going a bit far?"
"Aren't you angry? They laughed at you before many others and tried to dishonour you. They will compensate with their deaths." Elen says while watching Tigre curiously. In fact, so was I.
"Will you allow me to forgive them?" Tigre asked.
"If you wish it, I will do so. It will not happen again." Elen answered.
"By the way, why did you have me do such a thing yesterday?" Tigre asked.
"That's right, I never told you… Lim." Elen called for her. She responded reluctantly.
"Including me, many of the soldiers expressed frustration that our commanding officer, Eleonora, who has not once taken a prisoner in her many campaigns, decided to hold you captive."
"So, I'm your first prisoner of war." Tigre confirmed.
"And I'm the first to willingly surrender yet have more power than most of you." I say jokingly with a smile.
"Yes. Because of that, a foolish rumour went about the soldiers." Elen continues.
"Rumour?" Tigre asks confused.
"The rumour was that I fell in love with you at a glance." Elen finished.
Tigre went wide eyed hearing the words while I simply chuckled.
"Those fools don't know how love works. I already have a wife and it took months of fighting together in war before we developed feelings." I say, earning amazed looks towards me. "Hey, don't forget that if I add all my lives up, I may as well be around 60 years of age." I say with a shrug.
"You have a point there." Tigre says. "Anyway, continue Elen."
"A love in the battlefield, a love that arose between enemies… It seems like something out of a drama, everyone enjoys talking about such things. Well, perhaps it wasn't a mistake. It was not quite love, but I was certainly charmed." Elen says.
"You were charmed… By me?" Tigre asks confused.
"Your skill with the bow. Unfortunately, it was not you." Elen clarified with a radiant smile. Tigre returned the joke with a shrug of his shoulder.
"Thank you. It would be embarrassing since we had not spoken." Tigre says honestly.
"Can a woman like me not fall in love without speaking to you?" Elen asks jokingly.
"It requires time to see my merit." Tigre responds.
"Though your peculiar habit of sleeping late was noticed immediately." Lim attacked his weakness.
"So how many women have you fallen in love with until now?" Elen asks. Tigre raised his hands in surrender as to say none. "In any case, many soldiers have overreacted to the rumour. We hoped to stop it at its source." Elen turned to look at Lim.
"I merely stated there was a rumour." Lim said. I then cut in.
"From the way you have acted around Tigre, I highly doubt that." This comment earned me a glare from Lim and laughter from Elen.
"I simply needed to have the associated parties come out. I figured the quickest way to shut them up was to show them your skill. It was more effective than I anticipated." Elen continued.
"You only had to explain it to me when we met." Tigre said.
"And I am still confused as to why my weapon was summoned to my hand, but I have a few theories, I just need more evidence." I say.
"It's fine, since the result spoke for itself. Was there a need to tell you? You are a prisoner I took from Dinant for a ransom. Of course, it was my benevolence that kept you alive, though really, you entertained me a bit." Elen said.
"I entertained you?" Tigre asked. Elen nodded.
"To begin with, the battle was terrible. It was disappointing and trivial." Elen's face was full of disappointment.
"We had 5000 troops. You had five times that, 25,000. Before entering the battlefield, I used all my wisdom to prepare many plans, since I thought it would be a difficult battle. Still, it ended in only half a day." She said.
"Isn't it good to win that easily?" Tigre asked.
"Lim said the same thing." Lim was half glaring at Elen. "I also think it never hurts to have an easy win; however, we won with only the initial plan. It was boring."
"The first plan, I see, the surprise pincer attack from behind at dawn." Tigre confirmed.
"I scouted the area beforehand. The Brune Army was divided into the forward and rear guard. Though the vanguard's morale was high, the same could not be said for the rear. I attracted the forward's attention with 4000 troops and attacked the rear with the rest. It was more fragile than I expected, since I could fight after dividing my troops. The Prince died as a bonus as well." Elen explained.
"His Highness died..?" Tigre asked in shock.
"Were you close?" Elen asked.
"Impossible." Tigre said, then shook his head after collecting himself. "I spoke to him once long ago. That was all."
"Do you hold a grudge against me?" Elen asked.
"It would be a lie to say there were no ill feelings, but it was a battle. I, too, killed Zchted soldiers." Tigre answered honestly.
"I see." Elen exhaled slightly and gave an expression of relief. "Let's continue. When the death of the Prince spread, the vanguard collapsed. They ran away and we routed them out. It was disappointing."
"I can see how that would be. For someone of your age, there needs to be some kind of fun somewhere, and for you it seems to be in battle. You enjoy difficult enemies, as the adrenaline rushes." I say. Elen nodded slightly.
"It was then I met the two of you. I was impressed you could shoot an arrow from 300 meters and his a target." She said, her face brightening at the memory.
"Even so, please do not rush forward on your own." Lim said.
"Well, it would have been dangerous if we didn't approach him, right? We were lucky he only had four arrows." Elen tried to justify her actions.
"It is as you say, but that is not your role, Eleonora." Lim scolded her. This conversation about Tigre's skill continued for some time. Elen then said something that I was waiting to hear for a few days.
"I brought you to LeitMeritz for negotiation. Will you serve me? I will treat you as an Earl. Unlike in Brune, your skill with a bow will not be discriminated." Elen said.
"… Are you serious?" Tigre asked. Elen's face showed no hint of lying. After some thought, he answered. "I refuse." Personally, I had a feeling that I knew why he said it, but his words would confirm it.
"May I ask why?" Elen asked.
"Because there is a place I must protect, a place I must return to." Tigre said with strength in his words. "Alsace. It is a territory I inherited from my father. It is far from the center of the country and is among the forests and mountains. There are only four villages and a small town… However, I cannot throw it aside."
"Alsace…?" Elen's brow furrowed. "Doesn't that territory border this country?" She asked.
"It is separated by only one mountain." Tigre answered with a nod.
"Your spirit is praiseworthy, but will you not think of the future?" Elen asked. "You are here now, you could lead a good life… However, if the ransom is not paid by the deadline, I will sell you to a slave merchant." She threatens.
"I have an idea. But I will only speak it to you and Lim when it's the deadline." I say. "If there is nothing else, Tigre and I will return to our rooms and discuss it." I say, motioning for Tigre to follow. When we entered Tigre's room, I explained my plan, and surprisingly for me, Tigre agreed with the idea. Now all we had to do was wait.
A/N – Done. I couldn't really think of a name for this chapter, as it didn't really have an event worthwhile. I will be trying to get the chapters done more thoroughly from here on, so they updates may not be very often. Other than that, I would like people to start creating time-loop ideas. A reference for what I am after is Numair's 'The Continuing Adventures of a Time Travelling Padawan.' Then, give me the link and I will likely start to compile them into a time loop story, as the final book. Review and give some ideas. Nut Out.
