The Vixen who won the war but lost her spirit
In the fall of the year of the Almighty, 1267, Uno broke out in all-out war. The time had come to end the Careinian dominance and to seek independence as free people. After the bitter skirmishes in Cavask, now a free city once again, noble lords, some of which once held alliances with Canvhis proper, began to prepare for various attacks on fortified garrisons and outposts. One of these lords was Eriuso McDunliuz. McDunliuz was a middle-aged fox in the prime of his life who held lands near the southeastern side of present-day Uno. His castle was among the most beautiful of the entire continent – dedicated to his wife, Lady Ivalsa, whom he often said made the fort ugly when she stood in front of it with her striking beauty in comparison. He loved her among no other, and she the same. Though she was once a simple peasant, the noble lord took her backwards background in stride, never letting anyone of the Unonian or Careinian courts make any snide remarks about her.
The fight for independence carried outside of Lord McDunliuz's castle walls one day. There on the beach stood four hundred Careinian soldiers of heavy armor and long swords. Upon horseback they clamored and clanged up to the top of the mountain where his castle stood majestically over all his lands.
But the noble lord was not distraught over their numbers. Instead, he worried about his wife, who had decided to walk along the shore of the river to watch the ducks swim across. He was overcome with despair. The mere thought of her in the hands of his enemies made his stomach turn. Immediately he called out for his best men – then anyone he could find. Even pages and advisors brandished swords and wore the finest of Unonian armor, which was thin and plated at best. They lined up in rows and prepared to exit the mighty doors of the castle.
Meanwhile, Lady Ivalsa was far from the entire ordeal. She had decided to walk farther than she ever had before, past the nearby outpost even. Though she knew it was dangerous to do so, her curiosity drove her forward. On a slight hillside she knelt, careful not to ruin her elegant pink dress
As the Careinian army group positioned itself for attack, Lord McDunliuz did as well. Using the back gate of his castle, he moved his men on both sides of the large hill, hiding their numbers behind the enemy. He didn't want to attack them for fear his wife was in their ranks. So he waited silently, crouched on the side of the large hill, hidden in a sparely-treed lot.
Evening fell and Lady Ivalsa returned to the grounds of the castle. She spotted her husband among his men camping out just before the top of the hill. Alarmed, she ran to him and asked what was transpiring.
"My grace, where have you been?"
"Watching the ducks from across the river as I always do, my love."
Lord McDunliuz hugged her immediately. "At least you are safe, my rose. Go back to the castle. Run to your quarters high in the building and lock the door behind you. There you will wait for me. We will battle throughout the night, but by morning we should be finished. Listen for me. If you here two knocks, all is well, and I will be there waiting for you. If three should dare come from my fist, all is lost, and I will take you to Cavask immediately."
She kissed him and then ran to the fortress, doing exactly as he asked. Though she was the only one left in the castle, she knew to wait for him, as he would never let her down.
By nightfall the Careinians, their numbers growing steadily throughout the day, had decided to give up for the day, thinking that the noble lord was a coward and tomorrow would be ripe to siege the castle. But in an instant McDunliuz's men flew down on them with great vigor, seizing the moment and taking advantage of the Careinian's lax judgment. They tore through the lines like fire through a forest and cut down many men.
Yet soon the Careinians were beginning to hold their own. The plates of their armor proved too thick for most men's swords, and their stature too strong to be beat down by the hooves of horses. Soon the battlefield was a stalemate, with men from both sides dying quickly.
Lord McDunliuz, sword in hand, vanquished many enemy soldiers atop his mighty horse. He fought hard for his wife, knowing that each man slain would bring him closer to her. Quick with his weapon, he tore into opponents throughout the night.
By daybreak the battlefield was a wasteland of death. Lord McDunliuz, the lone survivor of his people, combed the entire area for any of his fallen comrades. But he knew they were either dead or chasing down enemy soldiers, as no Unonian flees a battle. Exhausted, he walked up the hill to return to his wife. Though he hated to think it, it was no longer safe for him to reside in his castle without an army. He would have to take his wife to Cavask.
As he walked up the corridor to his wife's quarters, he spotted a Careinian at her door, just about to break it down. Immediately he gripped the burly creature and flung him down the stairs, letting the vile man cascade down countless flights of stairs. But before the man fell to his death, he readied his crossbow and aimed it directly at the noble lord. Just as he was about to knock on her door, the arrow struck his back, and he too fell down the dark corkscrew, body torn and wrapped in bruises.
But Lady Ivalsa didn't hear the commotion from the thick door behind them. Instead, she continued to wait, staring outside her window, searching the battlefield with her eyes as the morning light approached, hoping to see her husband appear from the mess below.
Almost two weeks would pass until riders from Cavask would arrive at the castle. They had hoped to see the noble lord safe and sound, but instead beholden a battlefield of decaying flesh and looted bodies. When they reached the stairway leading to the lady's quarters, they saw where the noble lord had fallen, and decided to take his body out of the castle to properly bury it. As more men arrived that day, they began to search the castle for anyone still alive within it.
When they searched the lady's quarters, they found her dead, her body still sitting in a chair near the window, though pressed against one of the casements in a lifeless state. Her eyes, though tired, still stared out to the battlefield, searching for the husband who would never let her down. She too was buried that day.
Thankfully, the Careinian army group had been destroyed, though. And Unonian independence was all but assured after the battle on McDunliuz's hill. Yet, amidst the vines and vast forest that now covers the castle in ruins, it does not sleep. For it is said on a clear cast night one can see from a window the lady waiting for her husband to arrive and offer her two knocks so she may return to him once again.