Before anyone asks me where the chapter where Masaru explains Clan politics to Gaius is... it's in another story. One told from Masaru's POV. XD You'll just have to wait for that to go up sometime next year.

Honestly, NaNo's not going well. (I know, Day 2 and I'm saying this.) But, I'm hoping to turn that around tonight.

(Yes, I'm procrastinating. But I'm also eating, and I'm not great at writing and eating at the same time.)

Part 4 - The Shadow of the Battlefield

Gaius looked over the battlefield, countenance frigid as stone, and yet as unsettled as sand in a windstorm within.

So many dead. So many lives lost because The King Bergan took offense to the princess refusing the hand of their prince.

Gaius couldn't blame her. It would have trapped her in a political marriage that she was not only not ready for, but wouldn't have been beneficial to Kaminari in the least.

"Colonel."

He turned, and noted that he was correct, and the soldier was, indeed, addressing him.

"Sergeant?"

"A message from the capital," the lower officer said, holding out a note.

…From the capital?

That was odd, Masaru wasn't in New Ebenthan right now. He'd been sent out toward the desert with troops to fortify Sheikahn.

He accepted the note and opened it quickly.

Ah. Princess Anastasia's coronation, and he was requested to be in attendance. He could do that, so long as the promised replacement made it out here in a timely manner. If not… Well. Much as he'd enjoy being in the fair lady's presence again, he did have a war to fight.

"Thank you, Sergeant."

"And sir?"

"Vhat else?"

Once, his accent might have gotten him in trouble. Fortunately, his was a rather well-known name now, and despite the accent, he didn't have to worry about it getting him in trouble.

"Brigadier General Barakaru is on his way from Sheikahn. He's left Brigadier General Raxan in charge there and… I believe actually requested the transfer. Something about emotional compromises?"

Gaius smiled a bit.

Ah. Yes. He'd forgotten about that being in the last letter Masaru sent.

"Masaru and Alaire had just started… dating… vhen this var broke out," he said, stumbling over the unfamiliar but apparently 'current' word.

Why did the human language—languages—change so much?

It made misinterpretation so much easier…

"Ah. Well. General Barakaru is on his way, should be here in about three days."

Three days was more than enough time for Gaius to get to New Ebenthan. Excellent.

"Thank you, Sergeant."

"Sir." The man saluted and left, and Gaius looked over the battlefield again, smile once again failing him as another man walked up.

"Colonel?"

"Vhat do you have for me, Lieutenant?"

"Casualty reports, sir. Would you like them now, or shall I put them on your desk?"

"If they are in writing, I vill take them now. There is no point to make you run an extra errand," Gaius replied. A clipboard was held out for him, and he tucked it under his arm, not wanting to look at the reports right then.

This war was going to kill so many men if it was not ended…

And Gaius knew just the trick to ending it, as well.

It wasn't something he was going to be proud of later. He'd used that tunnel for ages to get in and out of Bergan without his commanding officers noticing so that he might get innocents out of the line of fire.

And now he was going to make use of that information and see if they couldn't do the very same thing that had sparked the initial hostilities; kill the king of the enemy country. Certainly, the king of Kaminari had been killed by a member of a Clan associated with the country, but the problem was, that had sparked Bergan's interest in them, which had led to the refused proposal, which had lead to war.

Gaius was not going to enjoy taking this to the council, and he wasn't sure what Anastasia was going to think of it, either. The problem with assassinating people was that it would backfire rather often.

And in this case, there was a much higher chance of it coming back to bite them in the ass than not, but…

But, there was also the large chance that the war would simply end if the current king died. His heir was young, younger even than Anastasia, and he was supposed to be a gentle type.

Gaius could only hope this was so as his eyes raked over the battlefield one last time…

Was that…?

He started moving before he could really think about his actions. There was a man in the middle of the battlefield, looking over some of the devastation left behind, and… He knew that coat, knew that hair! It had haunted him since that night at the gala, when Archibald had been killed…

Red-violet eyes met golden-brown again as the man whipped around, and Gaius wondered how he had realized Gaius was coming toward him. It was too quiet, there were no sounds that could have alerted him, he'd been certain his footsteps were too soft…

The man was gone, running off and then slipping into the shadows as soon as he thought he had enough distance between them.

Gaius knew better. Shadow was playing some sort of game with him, and wasn't bothering to explain the rules.

He'd have to work them out later, he mused, seeing as how he had three soldiers on his heels.

"Colonel!"

Gaius sighed. "Return to the camp," he ordered, glancing around and heading back toward where he'd first seen the man.

"Sir…"

"I saw someone out here," Gaius said rather bluntly. "I need to figure out vhat he vas looking for, because he did not seem to have found it yet vhen he saw me."

"I understand, sir."

The men left, and Gaius stopped about where the man he was now certain was Shadow had been looking about.

What had he been doing here? What was he looking for?

Gaius looked over the battlefield. He didn't see anything special…

He did, actually, he realized quite suddenly.

The men feared Gaius for his earth magic, which was less the magic he made it appear to be, and more just him growing weary of the fighting and drawing the earth up into stalagmites and pillars so eerily similar to what the humans could conjure.

He'd used that power more and more with each battle, and now he could see the battlefield was positively littered with the proof that he had unleashed his wrath on the enemy.

Gaius swallowed.

They needed to end this before someone realized exactly what Kaminari had on its front lines.

He glanced around, looking for the shifting shadows, the lengthening darkness, anything.

Shadow was gone, and would not be returning until night had fallen, and no human would be able to find him.

Gaius needed to talk to him.

He turned, forcing himself to return to the camp. He would return to the battlefield that night in a manner that no one would suspect, and he would speak to Shadow.

He needed to thank his brother for pointing out that he was coming far too close to revealing himself.