Damien stared at the horizon, squinting as the late afternoon sunlight burned his gaze. He felt the heavy metal plates on his shoulder shift, trying to even out the weight they had been carrying since dawn. He sighed and thought of his family back at home. He wondered if they missed him and his brother yet. His stomach grumbled. He would have loved one of Emmanuel's cookies right then.

Henri's horse trotted beside his brother's. "When should we set up camp?" the elder asked.

"Not until we're out of this field. I don't like the idea of being ambushed," Damien replied.

Henri nodded. "Good idea. How long will that take?"

Damien looked around the expanse of tall grass and wildflowers. He hadn't been this far from the castle before. The area was foreign to him, at least in this direction. The trek to the northern part of the country was filled with mountains and shaky terrain. Damien wasn't looking forward to it.

He reached into the space between his chest plate and pulled out the map he kept there. Henri, with a curl of hazel hair falling past his brow, looked over at the parchment. "Doesn't look like we'll be in it much longer." He turned back to the men. "The soldiers are getting restless."

Damien smirked. "No doubt they are eager to get started."

"I can't say I blame them. All this waiting does nothing for the nerves."

The younger prince agreed. "You'd best get back there and keep their spirits up then. I am not much of a morale booster," he chuckled.

Henri clapped an armoured hand on his brother's shoulder. "No, but you are a tactical man, and that's what we need right now." He turned his black steed towards the men and trotted off to his previous location in the throng of the soldiers.

Damien glanced at the map again. Their first village that held at least one troublesome lord was about a day's journey. He planned to reach it early tomorrow morning, locate the lord and his supporters then be gone from the area. He wanted to salvage as much of the village as possible, but when he and Henri were planning, they agreed that if the villagers were uncooperative, there would be no choice but to discipline them accordingly. In his mind though, Damien was prepared to give the people the benefit of the doubt. If worse came to worse, he would appoint one of the soldiers to stay behind and act in the lord's place until a suitable replacement could be found. He much preferred that then slaughtering innocent lives.

The prince stuffed the map back between his armour and focused on the path ahead. He scanned the grassy terrain as the men conversed around him. He knew Chip was somewhere in there and wondered what the older gentleman was talking about with his comrades.

A horse whinnied. At first, that didn't seem out of the ordinary, but when it happened again, this time with the horse sounding much further up ahead than any of Damien's men were, he stopped his horse. He raised a hand and the others slowed behind him. He looked around for the sign of the stallion but didn't see it. A minute later, he heard a few horses whinny. Henri walked up beside his horse.

"What is it?"

Damien placed a finger over his lips and drew his sword. Again, a horse cried out and this time he saw it crest a nearby hill with a rider in armour on its back. The prince looked behind him and motioned for the men to follow. As they approached, more horses with their riders appeared behind their leader. He didn't recognize the crest on the leader's shield and his stomach twisted. Could they be the rebels?

"State your business!" he shouted, but the leader didn't reply. The other group of soldiers kept marching, and Damien noticed a sword at the leader's side.

He raised his sword and his soldiers did the same. "Halt!"

The leader listened, causing Damien to pull his horse to a stop. He leapt off the animal and marched over with half a dozen men to surround the small band of possible rebels.

"Get off the horse," the prince demanded.

Up close, Damien noticed the leader was small. Damien guessed he couldn't be taller than the prince's upper chest. The man's helmet was still on, unsettling the prince. When the leader didn't move, the prince motioned for two of his men to lift the young man off the saddle. The leader struggled and his men tried to help him but Damien's kept them at bay until the leader was kneeling before the prince.

"State your business here," Damien said quietly. The leader didn't move. The prince sighed. "Take off the helmet." When the leader didn't listen, the prince grew impatient and took it off himself. The men around him gasped. A young woman with tanned flesh and curly, black hair stared up at the prince.

"You're-"

"She's a woman!" Chris whispered. The villager stared at the prince. "What do we do with her?"

Damien bent on one knee before the armoured woman. She avoided his gaze, glancing over her shoulder to her men. She said something to them and Damien placed a finger under her chin, making her look back at him. "What is your business in these parts milady?"

The nameless woman scowled at the prince, her sapphire eyes holding his stare. "I am looking for Prince Damien and Prince Henri's group of soldiers. My men and I are here to help them."

The prince smirked. "And how would you help them?"

"My men are trained for battle and like my father before me I am the leader of an entire village of warriors. We know the land better than the princes could," she stated without hesitation.

Henri came up behind his brother and chuckled. "She certainly has us beat, doesn't she Damien?"

The woman's eyes widened. "You—are the princes?"

"Indeed we are. I'd say the pleasure is yours, but I must say, your pedigree is impressive," Henri said.

The woman blushed. "What is your name?" asked Damien.

"Magdalene of Curemonte, sires," she said with a bowed head.

Damien rose up. "Well Magdalene of Curemonte, welcome to our group of soldiers. Are you prepared to fight alongside us against Princess Helena?"

She bobbed her head. "Yes sires, of course."

Damien nodded. "Good, then get back on your horse and follow us. We'll set up camp as soon as we're out of these fields.

Magdalene got up and pointed to the direction she came in. "There is a forest four miles in that direction. It would make a safe place from rebels."

Henri grinned. "I'm beginning to like this partnership already."

The new additions to the group intermingled with the thousands of other men and the group went off together for the forest. As they went along, Damien spotted Henri and Magdalene from the corner of his eye. The prince was telling one of his famous stories, likely the one about the bear, but Magdalene didn't seem impressed. Damien smirked and kept his head focused forward.

"Sire," Chris said as his horse weaved its way to the front. "Sire, I've been thinking."

The prince sighed at the younger gentleman. "What is it soldier?"

"I've talked with some of the men, and I don't know if we should trust what their leader says," he whispered. "I don't think they are who they say they are."

Damien raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, I just think it's strange they let a woman lead them. It doesn't seem like anything a leader of a village would let happen."

Damien chuckled. "You obviously don't know Sir Ambroise then."

Chris raised a dark eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Sir Ambroise is Magdalene's father. He had two young boys after Magdalene, but from what I picked up during gossip hour, she has always held the most promise as a warrior. Apparently the rumours are true," he said, glancing at the armoured woman. "Her village didn't send warriors when we sent a letter to them, but I should have guessed they would rather surprise us. Makes for a grand entrance."

Chris nodded. "Alright, but how can we be sure this really is her? Have you met her before?"

"Only when we were young," Damien explained, "and I was just a boy then. Do you honestly doubt this is her? What other woman would wear armour with such pride?"

"Your sister perhaps?"

Damien laughed. "Ophelia certainly would, but thank goodness that isn't her."

Chris sighed. "I'll still keep my eye on them."

"Don't strain yourself. This will be a long journey."

Chris agreed then went back to where his friends were lurking in the crowd. Damien looked behind him at Magdalene. She had changed a lot since her childhood, but Damien knew it was her. He remembered her self-assured strides and the sharpness of her gaze. He caught her smiling at the moment. Perhaps Henri had found a better story to tell.

By the time the group made camp, it was dusk. Tents were pitched, fires started, and food hunted down in spurts. The prince leaned against the table he had constructed and stared at the maps. They were on schedule still, thank goodness, but they would have to rise early to make it to the village in time to grab the lord. He didn't like to think about what he would have to do to those traitors, but the thought of Helena winning was worse than anything he could do to the men.

The large tent glowed from the light of a nearby fire pit. His cot was off to the side, against the back wall. Henri's was to the right of the small table and their bags were clustered in the left corner. He glanced at the bed then sighed. He wasn't tired enough yet. Since the plan started to be made he hadn't been able to crawl into bed until it was almost impossible to keep his eyes open.

How many men would he lose during this battle? How many families would be ruined because of this need for control? Damien shook his head. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

The tent flap opened. "Henri?" Damien asked.

Chip shook his head. "No, your brother is off hunting with Magdalene and a few others. Hopefully they bring down something bigger than a rabbit."

Damien chuckled. "If I remember Magdalene's skill, she should be able to get something decent."

Chip came over to the younger and stared at the map. "You're going to give yourself a headache if you keep looking at that thing."

The prince shrugged. "What else is there to do?"

"You could come sit by the fire. One of the men made some stew and it hasn't killed anyone yet."

Damien smirked. "How reassuring."

Chip smiled. "Come on, it will be fun. The one good thing about war is it forces men to bond. We wouldn't do it willingly anywhere else."

"True," he sighed. "Do you think all will go well?"

"With you and Henri leading us? Of course! How could it not?"

Damien nodded. "Thank you for your confidence in me, I can't say I feel the same most of the time."

Chip placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll make it out of here alive. Helena might have some northern lords, but we have an army and we're willing to protect the people. She can't win."

"Did you think it would come to this when we last saw her?"

"Honestly? I might have. She seemed—different back then. Colder than usual. I thought she could just use a friend, but it goes deeper than that I think."

Damien agreed. "If her father were alive I can't say things would be much different though."

Chip nodded. "From what I remember of him, he wasn't a kind fellow. The kingdom would be in turmoil over his ruling."

"Papa says he was better than Grandpa, but I have a hard time believing it."

"Well, he's not around anymore, so at least we can be grateful for that. Now come on, we have to get some food in you."

When the men exited the tent, the nearest fire pit of soldiers stood to bow. Damien raised his hand. "Please, none of that. I may be your commander but I only need you to follow my orders, not break your backs bowing every time I walk by."

The men chuckled and sat back down. One of the boys handed the prince a bowl and Chip sat beside him with a mug of ale. "At least we brought enough drink to last us," Chip chuckled.

Damien took a few sips of the soup. "Who's on patrol?"

"Chris' group," one of the soldiers replied. "He'll switch off with my group at ten."

Damien nodded. One of the fire pit groups started singing a traditional folk song. Soon the other groups joined in and their voices rose into the air, cloaking the forest with their tunes. For a moment, Damien forgot he was in armour. For one short night, he was merely a man in the company of friends sharing an evening of entertainment.

The music died away and some men turned in for the night, at least until they were up for patrol duty. Damien and Chip along with many other soldiers stayed by the fires, nursing them as well as their drinks. Henri and Magdalene returned with enough meat to fill the men's bellies and it was cooked as quickly as any of them could stand it. As Damien munched away, he stared at his brother. The prince's cheeks were lit up and the young woman glanced at him every few seconds.

Chip leaned over and smirked. "I wonder if all they did was hunt."

Damien shoved him lightly. "Be quiet," he chuckled. He tipped his head back and finished his ale. The stars shone down on him and he sighed. So far, so good.