Chapter 3
It took the Eirenians several days to get to Asthateia, especially due to the limited speed of the carts carrying their supplies, but eventually they reached the border that separated Eirenia from Asthateia. Upon entering a dense forest, still on the Eirenian side of the border, they passed a sign detailing how many soldiers had bravely given their lives there in a hopeless attempt to protect Lord Anderson and his family. When they finally emerged from the forest, they set up their camp just over the border.
Kurt was sure Sebastian's scouts had already spotted them and were probably already on their way to warn their king of the Eirenian threat. At least, if he was as smart as Kurt thought he was, he would have placed some scouts near the border. After quick deliberation with Sam and the rest of the commanders, he decided they would stay there and put their plan to action the following day.
In the morning, most of the soldiers prepared themselves for battle. While they marched in the direction of the Asthaterian castle, which was considered the centre of Sebastian's power, the healers would stay in the camp along with a small group of soldiers to protect their supplies. Kurt sent out some scouts of his own to find out what would strategically be the best place to carry out their attack.
An hour later, they were all in position, waiting for the first group of Asthaterian soldiers to appear. They didn't have to wait long. As Kurt had predicted, Sebastian had left a considerable portion of his army in the country. After casting a last look at his troops, Kurt took the horn hanging from his belt and blew the first signal. As one, his soldiers readied themselves, set to come into action as soon as Kurt gave the second signal. When he did, the two armies advanced on each other, meeting each other in the middle of the field Kurt had selected for the battle.
Spears met their targets, swords came violently into contact with shields, some of which broke from the force of the impact. Horses reared up or fell to the ground, crushing their riders.
Blaine opened his eyes, having been woken from restless sleep by a loud sound. The perpetual semi-darkness he was in immediately reminded him of his current reality. He was still in the dungeon, where the only light came from torches outside of the cells, which he could only catch a glimpse of through the small window in the door. A guard patrolled the hallway, even though that was useless considering the only prisoner who was still alive was much too weak to even think of escaping. At least, Blaine assumed the other cells were either empty or occupied by prisoners who had already been granted the questionable mercy of a slow death given that he never heard any sounds coming from them. Bones were lying scattered across his cell, most of them in a heap, as if someone had tried to clean up the mess.
Noiselessly, the door to his cell opened and a small person slipped inside.
"Blaine," Tina whispered, kneeling beside him. "It's me, I've brought you some food."
From underneath her clothes, she took out a small flask, an apple, some dried meat and a piece of bread that was larger and fresher than the tiny chunks he was given every day. She stalled the items out next to him where he could reach them and handed him the flask first.
"It's water."
Blaine desperately wanted to drink, but he couldn't lift his arms high enough, and the heavy shackles weren't making it any easier on his weakened body. When Tina saw his struggle, she put the flask to his lips and helped him drink, while also making sure he didn't choke on the water.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come back sooner," she said quietly.
It had been almost a week since the last time she had been able to steal some food and bring it to him. Stealing wasn't the problem because no one knew exactly how much food there was in the first place. The real problem was getting to Blaine without raising too much suspicion. And then she also had to make sure the guard was someone who they could trust wouldn't rat them out. Everyone in the castle knew the main purpose of the dungeons was to let prisoners waste away. It hadn't always been that way, but king Christopher's untimely death had changed everything.
"Tina," Blaine mumbled weakly. "You shouldn't come here anymore. You should just forget about me and let me die… Please..."
"No, Blaine, I can't. I can't let you die. You deserve to live."
"This isn't living, Tina. I might as well be dead."
Tina knew her friend had grown considerably weaker since he had been locked up in the dungeon, but she refused to let his life end like this.
"Don't say that. Please don't give up yet, Blaine." She laid a hand on his sunken cheek. "I'm not giving up on you and I beg you to hold on just a little bit longer. I will find a way to get you out of here."
Blaine shook his head, his exhaustion clearly visible on his face and in every movement he made.
"You can't. It's too dangerous. Sebastian would kill you if he found out you've been stealing food for me, I can't imagine what he would do if you tried to rescue me."
"I'll take the risk."
"No, Tina, I'm not worth it. And I couldn't bear knowing you died some horrible death because of me. So please, don't come back. I'll be fine. Besides, death can't be much worse than this dungeon, can it?"
A sharp pain pierced through Tina's heart when she heard her friend's broken pleas. But despite how much she wanted to continue comforting him, she knew she couldn't stay much longer. Because Blaine was right: she would be executed on the spot if this secret came out.
"Just... hold on, okay? I won't let it end like this. I won't let Sebastian win." Giving him one last hug, she whispered in his ear. "I've got to go now. But I'll be back, I promise. I'm not giving up."
She hastily but quietly left the cell, leaving Blaine alone in the darkness. While she hurried away, nodding at the guard in thanks, she could hear his chains rattling softly.
She'd return. She always did, despite her friend's repeated pleas to let death take him from this never-ending nightmare.
Kurt drove his horse forward into the throng, knocking down enemies left and right. He knew – or assumed – that Sam was right behind him to protect his back. As he charged, he caught a glimpse of Sebastian, surrounded by a group of soldiers that seemed to act as bodyguards. In a way, it didn't surprise him that the young king would let others fight his battles for him. From the very beginning, Sebastian had watched from the sidelines while his pawns were sent off to the coastal countries to carry out his plans for him, to lead the invasions in his name. He was the kind of person who relied on sneaky tactics to win, who didn't care about honour or fighting fair or how many people died for him, as long as he ultimately gained the victory. As he made his way to his adversary, Kurt thought of the promise he had made to himself the previous day.
"King Sebastian has arrived with the rest of his army."
Sam entered Kurt's tent, where he was looking over the maps detailing the surrounding area.
Their plan was working. It had been more than a week since the battles had started. After the first few clashes, in which Sebastian's men had suffered many losses before they had finally retreated, Kurt had decided to wait to give the rest of the Asthaterian army the time to arrive. As much as he wanted to win this war, Kurt wanted to defeat Sebastian in a fair battle, and fighting against a group of soldiers that was much smaller than their own, didn't fit into that category, no matter how valiantly they defended themselves. So they had called a temporary truce. Kurt knew it wouldn't take too long before the Asthaterian army arrived, and now the waiting game was over. There was only one thing Kurt had been wrong about when he had speculated on Sebastian's plans. Contrary to what he had presumed before, the king hadn't gone with his army to lead the invasions in the coastal countries, which explained how the part of the army that had been left behind to defend the homeland had made it to the battle ground so quickly.
Kurt looked up when Sam's message sunk in.
"He's here?" he asked incredulously. "Sebastian himself?"
"Apparently," Sam replied. "One of the scouts said he saw him. I guess he's not enough of a coward to keep himself from participating in this fight."
"Or he's just trying to save his image," Kurt muttered darkly. "Either way, I don't trust him. He probably has something up his sleeve. If he thought he was going to lose this, he would never have come personally; he would have run. He deems himself too important to risk getting killed."
"What do you want to do?"
Kurt thought about the question for a while. Sebastian was smart, so it would be dangerous to underestimate him. But it could also be a bluff, an attempt to confuse them and make them doubt their plans.
"We stick to the original plan. Even if he's bluffing, we still have the advantage of numbers and the fact that we have the coastal countries on our side."
"Okay. I'll inform the other commanders."
Before he could leave again, Kurt called him back.
"Sebastian's mine. I'll take the smirk off that meerkat face of his and make him pay for all the innocent lives he's ruined on his power trip."
"Be careful, Kurt."
"I will be. But we can't let him get away with this, Sam."
"I know. You know I've got your back, right?"
"Of course I do. I trust you with my life."
Sam smiled and left the tent without another word. They didn't need to say more. Sam knew Kurt would do anything within his power to make good on his promise, and if he failed, Sam would be there to finish the task in his stead.
Sebastian's group of bodyguards was tight. The Asthaterian king himself didn't even seem to have room to do any fighting himself. But Kurt didn't let it deter him. He focussed on reaching him without getting killed or injured. After dodging many blows and some close calls, Kurt finally managed to break through the wall of soldiers surrounding king Sebastian. While Sam and some others took care of the Asthaterian soldiers around him, Kurt could concentrate on his duel with Sebastian.
All of the Eirenians knew not to interfere, but they – and Sam in particular – were also ready to avenge their prince should things go wrong. However, it became clear very soon that that probably wouldn't be necessary. As Kurt and Sebastian moved around each other, lunging at one another and parrying, anyone could see that Kurt's skills surpassed Sebastian's. But while Kurt was forcing his opponent back, focused on taking him down, he didn't see how one of Sebastian's bodyguards came up behind him and tried to stab him in the back. Before the man could strike, however, Sam drove his horse in between them and warded him off, taking advantage of the other man's surprise to kill him.
Kurt was slightly thrown off balance by the interference, but was abruptly pulled back into focus when Sebastian used his hesitance to sneak up on him. Kurt struck back more fiercely than before, though still in a controlled way. All of a sudden, Sebastian's horse reared up, almost throwing his rider off. He was busy trying to regain control of his horse when Kurt thrust his sword forward and broke through the shield Sebastian had hastily raised, also breaking that arm in the process. The young king made a desperate attempt to retreat, but it was too late for him. Kurt knocked the sword out of Sebastian's hand, thinking of all of the innocent people his opponent had harmed in his hunger for dominion. Another swift movement later, the Asthaterian tyrant fell sideways off of his horse, bleeding heavily through his armour.
After Kurt had beaten Sebastian, the battle was over relatively quickly, as if the remaining Asthaterian soldiers figured it was useless to continue fighting now that their king had fallen.
The castle was in chaos. Everyone was running around like they'd lost their heads, but Tina wasn't sure why. She had been in the pantry, taking advantage of king Sebastian's absence to steal food for Blaine. But in the meantime, something must have happened.
"Tina!"
She turned around.
"Mike," she breathed, relieved to see him, and threw her arms around him. "What's going on?"
"One of the scouts came back. They lost the war. Sebastian's dead."
Tina gaped at him, shock and relief fighting an inner battle. She was glad to hear their dictator was gone, even though she had no idea what would become of them now. She also had never been happier that Mike had been assigned castle guarding duty instead of having been ordered to go to battle. Nevertheless, she knew that didn't automatically mean he was safe and that he could still be killed when the Eirenian soldiers took over the castle. As a woman and unarmed servant, Tina was relatively safe and less likely to be killed, but that didn't apply to her boyfriend.
"Mike, please, surrender to the Eirenians when they get here," she begged, realising she was asking him to go against his strong sense of honour. But right now, she couldn't care less. "King Sebastian isn't worth dying for. Please..."
"I was planning to surrender," Mike admitted quietly after a beat of silence, with just a hint of shame in his voice. "But I needed to find you first, just in case the Eirenians aren't as honourable as they're rumoured to be and don't take prisoners."
Tina gasped. She was suddenly aware that even as prisoners, their future would still be uncertain, unless they could somehow convince the Eirenian king that their loyalty didn't lie with Sebastian. But they could worry about that later. At the moment, they needed to focus on staying alive.
When the army of prince Kurt finally reached the gate and offered everyone in the castle the chance to surrender, Mike and Tina were among the first to do so. And they were far from the only ones unwilling to give their lives for a king they had never been loyal to. Very soon, they were pushed into separate groups standing in the courtyard, watching as the Eirenian soldiers entered the castle to seek out anyone who was still in there. Suddenly, it occurred to Tina that Blaine was one of those. However, there was nothing she could do for him anymore except hope that someone would find and help him.
Personally, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, especially the war scenes. But I figured I couldn't keep editing, so I decided to post it anyway. I promise the next chapter will be better (in my opinion at least). I do like the Blaine/Tina scene, though, it was one of the first scenes I wrote from this story.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on this chapter, so you know what to do ;)
(By the way: that last episode, wow!)
