- Chapter 37: Fight for Freedom -

"The Emild forces are approaching, Your Majesty," Lieutenant Geoffery reported. "It seems to be only half of their full army, but it is a significant offensive at the least."

The king nodded in acknowledgment, unsurprised. His father had always told him that if something can go wrong, one should be prepared for it to do so. "Is there anything unusual in their manner of approach?"

"No, Your Majesty. At a guess, they probably intend to whittle down the men defending our walls until they're in good position to batter through the gates."

"Inform me if that changes. Until then, the maneuvers Queen Mayfair trained the men in should be enough to repel the attack."

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, giving the appropriate salute to Cypress's defender.

"Lieutenant." King Nicholas left a pause to create an impression of significance. "Do your best, lieutenant. For Cypress."

Their trail wound through a thick forest and over a well-worn path, apparently so as not to leave a trail. Deanna's chest and limbs ached with bruises and cuts from the senseless torture Wallor had inflicted on him, and the forced marching made it worse.

However, the droop of his head, the slump in his posture, and his lack of anything to say were all feigned. His body was weary and aching, but his spirit was a long way from beaten. So he kept his eyes and ears at watch for any useful information that might come from his captors, for any weakness in their plans. That was how he spotted Wallor scowling out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't like this, sergeant. When I agreed to turn Deanna over to you people, there was nothing about transporting him anywhere else."

"And exactly what problem do you have with that, Wallor?"

Wallor gave an anxious glance at Deanna. "There's a decent chance of his escaping or being rescued so long as he's not locked up. He has that sort of fiendish luck. If there's a threat of his allies invading the shrine -and you tell me there is- we should have simply had him killed."

The sergeant shrugged. "Orders were to keep him alive for now. I don't give the orders."

They want me alive... to use as a hostage against Natasha and Edwin. That's the only use they could have for me. ...No, wait... Maybe the head supporter of Warderer's line just wants to avenge Warderer's death by making me suffer more. Or they could want to make my death public, together with Amelo's coronation. That would make their triumph complete in the eyes of Iom's citizens.

...Funny. I think I've actually begun to understand politics. I wonder if Hindel would be proud. Probably not unless I can get myself out of this mess.

He tested the ropes that bound his hands behind his back. They didn't seem too well-knotted, but they were strong, and he had no idea how to slip ropes. His only hope was to cut them.

"I'll be paid for my trouble, at least?" Wallor prodded.

"You've already been paid, Wallor. And no one asked you to come with us. If you want to see the man die badly enough to make this trip, then that's your choice. If not, no one's dragging you along."

They were fully engaged in their conversation with each other, which was exactly what Deanna had been waiting for. He had already mapped out the opposition: nine guards, plus Wallor, but most were either farther up or down the forest trail, some watching Yurligi and Amelo. His only immediate concerns were the sergeant on his left, Wallor on his right, and the guard prodding him along from behind.

Faking a stumble, he abruptly swung his head to the right, slamming the side of his head against Wallor. In the same motion, he stretched out his left leg to trip the sergeant. His head screamed in protest at the first blow, and his limbs groaned at his sudden exertion, but he still felt a surge of exultation as both of his targets hit the ground. One step closer to getting safely back to Natasha and Carla.

The guard behind him seized him by the collar. Even over the pain roaring through his head, Deanna heard the sound he wanted to hear: his captor drawing his sword. Gritting his teeth, he threw himself backward against the guard. They fell to the earth, Deanna landing hard enough on his opponent to knock the wind out of him. He could feel the sharp steel of the sword cutting into his arm. Fighting the instinct to avoid being hurt, he shifted his arms until the sword's edge had found and cut through the rope binding him.

From his faked stumble to severing the ropes had taken only a handful of seconds, but it was enough for the other guards to reach him and for Wallor and the sergeant to scramble to their feet. He had no time to take the sword from the guard beneath him. Instead, he leapt to his feet, eluded the weapons of his attackers, and lunged forward to grab Wallor. Wrenching the staff out of his grip, he held the healer in front of him, one arm around his neck, the other restraining his wrists. The soldiers hesitated, waiting for Deanna to make the next move. Looking them over, his gaze fell upon Yurligi. Her eyes were looking for an opportunity - perhaps to snatch a guard's weapon and throw it to him.

"Don't do it," he said to her, his voice coming out as a loud, painful croak. His captors had allowed him precious little water over the past days, and it felt strange to speak again after such a long silence. But he knew his eyes could speak to Yurligi more effectively; after all she had gone through to find her son, he did not want her to get herself killed just helping him escape.

"Don't be even more of a fool than you usually are, Deanna," Wallor gasped against his tight grip. "I don't know what they want you alive for, but my gut says they'll settle for killing you rather than risk your escaping. You're unarmed, outnumbered, and in the middle of nowhere. Even if you could get away from them, a weakling like you will die of dehydration before you reach a town."

"Don't think about me, Wallor," he said, his voice tense with anger. "Think about Lym. A woman who served her commander and her nation loyally. Who was willing to fight and die for what she saw was right. And you... killed her."

"I didn't... You saw it; it was the others who..."

"You killed her," Deanna repeated, louder this time. "The men who cut her down were just fighting for what they thought was right. I killed some of them, but I did it to defend Yurligi and Lym. You... you betrayed your commander, betrayed Lym, just to satisfy your personal hatred for me. She died because of you. That's why I promised I would kill you, Wallor. I... I failed to protect Lym..."

"No," Wallor pleaded. "You need me alive, you -"

"...but at least I can give her justice." With an involuntary sob of remorse for Lym, he gave a sharp twist of Wallor's head, snapping his neck.

The guards rushed for him, and he turned and ran, crashing into the thick of the woods. Despite his wounds, despite his long enforced march, Deanna's limbs felt near to bursting with energy. As soon as Wallor's Dispel magic wore off, he would be able to use his Spark spells to discourage continued pursuit, and the thought of how unhappy Natasha and Carla would be if he died was more than enough motivation to keep him running for that long. His chance of recovering Amelo was lost, but at least he was free.

"Excuse me," Dawn called to the mage guard as he passed down the cells, readministering Dispell. "What are those noises we're hearing? It sounds like we're under attack."

"I don't know," the elven mage shook his head. He looked nervous; though the flickering light of the lamp he held wasn't enough to clear night's obscuring touch from his facial expression, Dawn noticed that for the first time she had seen, he was holding his staff with both hands. This was especially awkward with the lamp also in one hand.

"The Cypress army couldn't have arrived yet," she went on. "Is there any possibility of a revolt within Emild?"

"It's possible," he admitted, giving a quick glance about him. "The people like King Ian well enough, from what I hear, but some of the nobles might not like his starting a war with Cypress. They might feel it's their duty to get rid of His Majesty in order to save Emild from a Cypress invasion."

"'Get rid of...' You mean, assassinate King Ian?" The mage let silence be his answer. "Please, let us out of here. Your king may have allowed us to be imprisoned, but it is Akron who is the real problem. We don't want your nation thrown into chaos by regicide. If you let us out, we can protect King Ian and prove we are friends of Emild!"

"I believe you're friends of Emild. But I can't trust you." He looked away from her, towards Varmo. The kyantol had allowed her to do the talking, as the four cellmates had agreed(though she had suggested the rest of them keep quiet primarily with Jaha in mind). "You could be lying about wanting to help His Majesty. You could just want your freedom. If that's it, my duty is to keep you from -"

He was cut off by the sudden appearance of another guard. He came in running, gasping, "It's... an attack... couldn't stop..."

A third guard, the last of the group assigned to watch the prisoners, strode forward. "Who? The Cypress army?"

Dawn couldn't hold in a leap of hope that they were being rescued, even as she told herself that the attackers were probably as much their enemy as Emild's. But before the new arrival could answer the question on all their minds, a spear pierced his back, coming out through his chest. As he fell dead, a familiar russet-coated centaur stepped over him, removing the spear from his back with a grim expression on his face.

"Not the most honorable way to kill a man... but, it's war." He looked up at the two remaining guards, his expression brightening. "Okay, then. I'm Lieutenant Apis, here to declare that the Guardiana army is liberating the inmates of this prison. So, we have to fight you guys to do that, I take it?"

Two dwarves and an elf bearing a mage's staff came to stand at Apis's side.

The Emild guards took several steps back. The mage cried out, "Wait, wait... We surrender, we surrender! Right?" The other guard hastily nodded agreement.

Apis lifted his eyebrows. "Woah. That's refreshing. Alright, so one of you gentlemen has the keys, I assume?"

The human guard tossed him a big ring of keys.

"Thanks. Okay, gang, let's get these two tied up. ...Oh, and you sir, would you mind giving that lamp you've got to Dyne? Wendy here can light our way when we need it, but I'd prefer to conserve her magical energies. Yes, thank you, sir."

While the elf and two dwarves tended to the Emild guards, Apis approached the cell. Dawn's heart pounded with relief and excitement; she hadn't realized just how much she hated being trapped in that awful cell until that moment.

Apis gave a sigh like a man just finishing a long day in the fields while he sifted through the keys on the ring. "Sergeant Dawn, I take it?"

"Yes, sir. I know you don't remember me, but I had the honor of checking your invitations to King Nicholas's coronation, and fighting beside you during his trials. I don't know how you knew to come to our aid, but we are most grateful that you did."

"Darn straight!" Jaha piped up.

Apis worked the key into the lock. "No problem; we're allies. I'm just sorry Ruce couldn't be here. He sends his regards, but he had other responsibilities. Here you g-"

As soon as he opened the cell door, Varmo zoomed out, nearly knocking Jaha over, and threw his arms around Apis, sobbing. Dawn stared in astonishment.

"Um..." Apis shuffled his hooves. "You're, um, very welcome, sir."

"Hey, Varmo, bud," Jaha said. "We're all happy to get out of there, but take it easy, okay?"

Jolted by Jaha's words, Varmo pushed himself away from Apis and wiped away his tears. "Yes, yes... I apologize. I just let the moment get ahold of me... that's all." He straightened himself up.

"Okay..." Apis said uncertainly. "How about we let your comrades out?"

They went to Theo, Lana, and Binuto's cell first. The three humans were already lined up at the bars of the cell.

Varmo cleared his throat. "Um... Might I suggest that we leave that one in his cell?" he said, pointing to Binuto.

Dawn grimaced. "I'm afraid I have to second that proposal, lieutenant Apis. He's already attacked another member of our group."

"Don't you think that's a bit petty, sergeant?" Binuto said. "We have a war on our hands. If you leave me here, that's one less soldier on your side."

"Our goal isn't killing Emild troops, Binuto. It's getting Lady Sarah back to Castle Cypress. Even if she decides we need to take care of Akron first, I doubt she'll think it wise to bring you along."

Apis shrugged as he opened the cell door. "You heard the lady. Stay right where you're standing, sir."

"Thank you so much," Theo said with a level of gratitude higher than any Dawn had shown in her life. "I -"

"That's enough," Apis interrupted, though with a friendly smile. "I think I've had my fill of that sort of thing for today, thanks."

"Well, we're the ones who owe you the most thanks," Lana remarked. "You just liberated the two of us from the Awkward Cell."

Jaha smirked. "Yeah, lots of fun with killer there, huh?"

"Well, yes. Plus Theo dumped me a while ago."

Dawn gawked at her, taking only a moment to glance at Theo and see him blushing bright red.

"Ah HA!" Jaha exclaimed. "I knew there was something going on with you two!"

"Please," Lana said with a toss of her head. "You didn't know anything. You just happened to guess partly right." She smirked up at Dawn. "Guess I'll have to find another boyfriend now, huh? Somehow, I don't think that'll be hard."

Dawn stared at her a moment, then said, "I don't believe you," and turned to follow Apis to Lady Sarah's cell.

"What do you mean, you don't believe me?"

"I don't believe Theo was ever really your boyfriend."

She watched Apis unlock the door to Lady Sarah's cell. Grawler smiled at her. "Good to see you again, fair lady." She forced herself to politely return the smile.

"My most sincere thanks, Sir Apis," Lady Sarah said as he let them out.

"It's Lieutenant Apis now, my lady."

"Lieutenant Apis," she nodded. "And if I am not mistaken, I see you have the valiant Wendy with you as well."

"Lady Sarah, you know these people?" Lana broke in.

After a brief glare at the interruption, she answered, "These are two of the brave Guardianans who helped King Nicholas liberate Cypress from Woldol."

"And who King Nicholas helped in rescuing Queen Anri from Woldol's grip," Apis added. "It would have been pretty ungrateful for us to not help him out in this fix."

"Ha!" Wendy laughed, striking a heroic pose. "Speak for yourself. I'm just in it for the adventure!"

Apis chuckled. "Actually, Wendy came along mainly because she thought she might get a chance to give King Nicholas a nice, solid kick in the crotch."

Wendy blushed. "That's not it! Besides, he deserves one."

Lady Sarah said, "Regardless of your reasons, we are most grateful for the rescue. May I ask what your orders are concerning your invasion of Emild?"

"We break in, we get you out," Apis answered. "That's it."

"That's it?" Varmo spoke up. "What about Akron? He's likely the main cause of all this trouble. Shouldn't we try to take care of him while we're already past the defenses of this castle?"

"Who's Akron?" Varmo opened his mouth to explain, but Apis retracted, "Never mind; we don't have time. As soon as I get Chester out of his cell, just show me where this Akron is, and we'll improvise from there."

Chester beamed at the sight of them approaching. "Dawn! Jaha! Lady Sarah! I thought I heard your voices, but I couldn't figure who you were talking to. The gods are still with me, I guess... For a while, I didn't think I'd be around to see Cypress rescue Emild from this mess."

Dawn was considerably less overjoyed at the sight of Chester than he was at the sight of her. "By the gods, Chester," she gasped. "What did they do to you?"

The elf's normally bright face was darkened by a number of hideous gashes, sores, and burns. He looked confused by the shock on her face at first, then smiled weakly in comprehension. "Oh, they've been interrogating me pretty thoroughly for the past few days. I'm surprised they hadn't started on you guys yet. Maybe they figured King Nicholas wouldn't have sent anyone who really knew anything, but they should have at least tried to get you to confess to whatever it was they put you in prison for."

"Actually, they did start interrogating some of us," Dawn said, glancing at Varmo. "Obviously they went much farther with you."

Chester shrugged, extending a smile of thanks to Apis as he opened the cell door. "Well, I am a traitor. I don't suppose you guys could heal me up?"

The mage guarding the cells had already cast a fresh Dispell on Sarah, so Lana stepped forward to oblige Chester, wincing as she laid hands on his harsh wounds. Apis cleared his throat. "Make that quick. We've already hung out here too long, ladies and gentlemen."

"Wait a second," Halron said. "Where's Binuto?"

Dawn grimaced. "In his cell, where animals like him belong."

"But... If the Emild guards find him there, they may kill him."

"It's likely. What do you care?"

"It's a fitting enough punishment for his crimes," Varmo put in, giving Halron a "quiet you fool" look. "And it certainly makes more sense than leaving him at liberty, where he could take the opportunity to help Akron's men."

Halron stared fixedly at Apis. "Set Binuto free. Or I'm staying here."

The whole of Lady Sarah's escort exploded with cries of varying mixtures of vehement opposition and disbelief. Only Theo remained silent.

"If he was willing to betray this whole expedition, he wouldn't have saved us when we were captured by the raiders," Halron said over the small din. "I'm the only one here who's threatened by him, and... He wouldn't have fought me if I hadn't stalked him over unfounded suspicions. I don't think I could live with myself if he dies because of that."

"Sounds fine with me," Apis shrugged, and made his way back to Binuto's cell.

Dawn cantered after, reaching her ill-behaved fellow soldier first. Looking him in the eye, she said, "Listen to me, Binuto. I don't care if you see Halron attack one of us right before your eyes; you are not to go near him. You are not to attack him, touch him, or even say a word to him. Promise that, for what your word is worth. Or I swear, I'll see to it that you stay right there."

Binuto contemplated for a moment, then gave a shrug. "Alright. I promise. Even with that restriction, you're still better off with me beside you."

"Let's get moving," Apis said, pulling the cell door open. "I don't know why the castle guards haven't discovered us yet. Shoddy defenses, if you ask me."

"Emild is presumably at war with Cypress; they may be shorthanded," Dawn pointed out.

Apis just nodded in acknowledgment, and turned to lead the party out. "Alright then... Someone give me the story on this Akron."

Helen exhaled a deep yawn. "Forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty... but is there a reason you summoned me this late?"

He gave her one of those focused, interested looks that so disturbed her. It took him a moment to manage, "I haven't slept well lately. This is the third night in a row that I've woken up in the middle of. To tell the truth... I'm very worried about this war." He drew in a sigh. "I've anticipated this war would happen for months, and was always sure that Emild would triumph. I suppose I thought... that in the end, good has to win, somehow. My father is dead, and nothing can bring him back, but surely the gods would not allow his killers to have the last laugh. To have Cypress overrun our nation and take my siblings, after all the injustices they've committed... it would be too cruel. That's what I had always thought. But now that the moment of truth is at hand, I have doubts." He clenched his fists, trembling. "I'm afraid we're not going to win."

"Your Majesty, don't worry yourself so. Things are not so bleak. Perhaps I should have told you earlier, but I've taken measures so that the Emild army will have the element of surprise."

"What do you mean?"

She fixed him with an apologetic look as she answered. "Anticipating that the Blue Dragons might fail in obtaining their bounty, I forged orders from Your Majesty for a significant portion of the Emild army to muster at the Cypress border. They should have marched on Castle Cypress as soon as news of the Lady Sarah's treachery went out." Helen bowed her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I fully understand and accept that my life is forfeit for my actions."

There was a terrible silence. She had seen no choice but to do what she had done, for the sake of Emild. But that did not mean she looked forward to being executed for disobeying her king - especially knowing that she was in fact guilty of just that.

Then Helen felt the gentle touch of fingers on her chin, raising her head. Ian's warm eyes met hers. "Helen," he said. "How could you ever think that I would willingly lose you? Besides, only a prideful man would desire your death for what you did. You judged right, anticipated that it would come to war with Cypress, and because of that, we have a good chance. For that, I thank you. You compensated for your king's incompetence."

"You are too hard on yourself," she returned. "You are facing unusually adverse circumstances; the fact that you haven't dealt with them in... the ideal manner hardly makes you incompetent. You have not had time to learn your duties yet. Despite that, you have managed our domestic affairs admirably well." It was all true, if rather exaggerated. Ian was not yet as unstable as his father, and for all his flaws, he at least tried his best. Though he had succumbed to weariness, he had not yet yielded to complete despair.

Ian stared back at her. "Helen." She didn't know what to do; he was still holding her chin.

Then his mouth came to hers, lips embracing. Helen froze. The kiss was immediately recognizable as not the sort one gives to his old nursemaid. Before she could begin to make sense of what was happening, he brought a hand to the back of her head and deepened the kiss.

She clenched his arm tightly, stifling her desire to pull away. Her eyes squeezed shut, trying to force the present experience from her mind.

Ian released her before too long, and she fell back a step in response, just catching herself from retreating further. Her heart pounded, fearing what would happen if he caught on how much his show of passion repulsed her. She could still feel... sweet gods, she could still feel that rough, thick, human tongue inside her mouth! It made her tremble, and she felt an almost irresistible urge to vomit.

"Helen, I love you," Ian said. "I... I've never been very eloquent with voicing my feelings, but these past months, I've found that my adoration of you as a child has grown into something more. I've tried reasoning with myself that I'm just confused, that it's not truly love, but I simply can't make myself believe it. If it were permitted, I'd marry you in an instant." He paused for breath, the words coming out so forcefully that his chest was heaving. Helen fought to keep the alarm from her face. "Being king has been hard on me, Helen, and I don't think I could have handled it without you keeping an eye on things for me, advising me, investigating... but so much of that keeps your company away from me. I can't help but wish for you to be with me longer. And so, I... I'm asking if you would be willing to be my concubine. It's a position unworthy of you, but it's the only way I know to hold you closer to me."

He fell silent after that. Helen hesitated a moment, then said, "That's a very flattering offer, Your Majesty, but not a very appropriate one."

"I know, I should have a wife first. I'll find one, but when I do, will you...?"

"The suggestion is entirely inappropriate, Your Majesty," Helen said, folding her arms. "Because of our relationship. I was your nursemaid, if you remember."

"Yes, but... Couldn't we stretch things, and..."

Helen shook her head. She actually began to feel a faint touch of pity for the mad king, even over her horror at what he was suggesting. His desire for her was thoroughly perverse, but obviously heartfelt nonetheless, and she knew it must hurt for her to reject him.

But her disgust at his weakness, his perverseness, his disregard for his duty to be a respectable king, easily surpassed what little pity she felt.

The door to the bedroom suddenly burst open, making her instinctively jump into a defensive stance, and little prince Marlin came running in, gasping for breath.

"Ian! You've gotta help... Emilia... and Kay..."

Ian held out a hand before him as though to ward his brother off, face contorting with a mixture of anger and pain. "Stop it, Marlin, just stop it! I've had more than enough of your feuding and -"

Ian's interruption gave Marlin a moment to catch his breath. "But they're going to kill them!" he almost screamed. Startled out of her defensive posture, Helen realized for the first time that the boy's face was covered with tears. "Some bad men came and tried to take us. They said you sent them, but you didn't, did you Ian? And I got away but they took Kay and Emilia! We've got to rescue them!"

After standing there a moment with a stupefied look on his face, Ian dropped his head into his hands and stammered, "I... how can... where..."

Helen sighed and said gently, "Your Majesty, Marlin was probably just having a nightmare." She looked to the young prince. "I'll take you back to bed, okay? Do you need me to read you a story?"

Marlin stared up at her, his brow slowly furrowing. "Hey... You did it, didn't you!"

Apparently summoning some presence of mind, Ian took hold of Marlin's arm and demanded, "What are you talking about, Marlin?"

"Helen threatened me!" he said, stabbing his finger at her. "She said she'd get me if I did anything else to get you upset! She must have decided to get rid of the three of us before we did anything else!"

Helen felt her face burning with silent fury. The little brat.

"Marlin, calm down. Helen is practically a member of the family. You don't really think -"

"Please!" He gripped his brother's shoulder. "I swear I'll be good, I won't ask anything from you again, I'll just sit in my room and be quiet, just please, help them!"

"It's too late," a new voice interrupted. Akron entered the room, looking almost as winded as Marlin. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty. The guards raised the alarm about some intruders, and we came as fast as we could... but they're gone. Kay and Emilia are both gone."

Though the lamp that one of the Guardiana soldiers was carrying still lit their way in a general sense, the darkness that enclosed the castle prevented Jaha from seeing much of what lay in front of him. He felt the long, furry legs knocking him square in the face before he saw them. The dwarf swore as he tumbled onto his back, hands flailing about for the axe he had been carrying on his back.

"Oh! Jaha! Oh, I'm sorry!"

The Guardiana soldier held the lamp up to the owner of the offending pair of legs. "May?" Jaha exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Without a lamp?" Dawn added.

May smiled. "My eyes are better in the night than yours. As for what I'm doing... Well, Akron sent for me."

The fur on Varmo's forehead scrunched up as he looked at May. "I thought you realized that Akron is manipulating your king for his own ends. If he's summoning you in the middle of the night, he probably intends to set you up to look like a traitor, or just plain have you killed."

"Probably," she agreed, looking a bit sheepish. "But I've had enough of sitting and doing nothing while everyone else is killed or locked away. I thought this might be my one chance to expose what Akron is up to. But now that you've all been liberated, it's a bit superfluous, isn't it?" Her face fell as her eyes reached Chester. "Chester... I'm so sorry it took me so long to do this..."

"I didn't want you to do it all," he returned sharply. "May, what good is it to me or Emild if you die with the brand of a traitor?"

"We don't have time for arguments about things that don't matter anymore," Apis cut in. "Lady May, I assume you're coming with us?"

"I don't know whether this is an escape or a mission to liberate Emild from Akron," she said. "But I'm emphatically in favor of either. You all have weapons?"

"Not their own weapons, I'm afraid, but we raided the armory here before making the prison break, so they all have something, at the least."

"Hey," Jaha said, briefly stretching up on his toes to make himself noted. "Knock off the gloomy faces, will ya? Dawn, May, Lady Sarah, Chester... Think of it, the five of us are all together again! It's almost 'like old times', isn't it?"

To his surprise, Dawn actually cracked a smile. "Yes, Jaha. It is, a little."

"We need to hurry," Lady Sarah said. "We must quickly reach King Ian and rouse him in order to finish this."

"King Ian?" May repeated. "Why?"

"We need to have him as a witness for when Akron attempts to set you up or kill you. It's the cleanest way to put an end to Akron's schemes, win King Ian's trust, and put an end to this foolish war. I assume that you know where the king's bedroom is, May?"

"Right this way."

Following along, Jaha scratched the back of his head. It occurred to him that Lady Sarah must have come up with that plan right off the top of her head, since it all relied on May, and none of them had known that they'd bump into her. Smart lady. Glad she's on our side.

He liked the atmosphere, too. Their whole merry band creeping through a castle in the middle of the night, only a single flickering lantern to guide their way through the shadows... It sent a pleasant tingle down his spine like nothing he'd felt on any of his previous adventures. Dawn had told him about the darkness of the labyrinthine corridors of Algam Fort, but he'd missed out on that, of course. It honestly sounded like Natasha and Dawn's group had gotten all the fun adventures after that runaway ship split them up.

He hobbled over to the Guardiana elf, Wendy. "Hey," he said. "Were you really one of the group that fought to free Cypress from Woldol?"

"Yes," she said, with a terseness that obviously wasn't normal for her. "And if you're going to ask what Nicholas is really like, I'll -"

"Huh? No, I was going to ask about General Mayfair."

"General Mayfair?"

"Fine, fine, 'Queen Mayfair'. What was it like when she was blind? Did she keep bumping into things?"

Wendy frowned at him. "Mayfair is one of the kindest, cleverest, strongest women I've ever met. She never once backed down from -"

"Yeah, yeah, I already guessed all that," Jaha said impatiently. "I went into battle with her myself, ya know. I just wanna know what it was like when she was blind."

"She got along just fine," she answered. After a moment's pause, she giggled and added, "Except for the time -"

"Halt!" a voice bellowed, making Jaha look up. They were in a vast hall, probably the last step on the way to the king's bedroom. On the other side stood a thick-limbed human in red and silver armor, bearing a sword in one hand and a lantern in the other. The light from the lantern illuminated at least 20 Emild soldiers, by Jaha's estimate.

Not as tight odds as some I've seen, but... not bad.

"I don't where you invaders came from, but by the command of Captain Arlese, you will lay down your weapons and surrender."

May stepped forward. "They aren't invaders, Arlese. We are on our way to see Akron; he can explain things to you."

Arlese snorted. "Ah, May. You certainly chose an inopportune time to turn traitor. If these people are not invaders, as you say, then where is the harm in them throwing down their weapons?"

She had no answer. Apis nudged Dawn, "We'll take them out in two teams, alright? I'll lead the Guardianans, you lead the rest."

Dawn's mouth popped open. "Me? But... you have more experience than I do."

"And you know these people I lot better than I do. That's more valuable than what little extra experience I've got, sergeant."

"Yeah, Dawn, get yer butt in gear," Jaha threw in.

She nodded. "...Alright. Everyone, follow my lead! Chester, you stay in the rear. Theo, Halron, make sure May and Lana are safe. Grawler -"

She sure has a lot of confidence when she needs it. Jaha hefted his axe as the Emild troops advanced towards them.