Chapter Twenty-Three

"Some souls are connected by an ancient calling beyond worlds"

…

"Scaoya, the country of bridges," Silvanna mentally thinks watching as the Pegasus, one of Arenelle's new larger galleons reach the main capital of Scaoya, Eos.

There is only one word so far that Silvanna can describe the small country, wet. Whereas Arendelle being cold and icy; Scaoya on the other hand is wet and drafty. A never ending shower of drizzle seems to cover the land turning it to a continuing lush area. Sure there are bouts of summer, but even then the heat never seems to last with the rain falling on intervals all throughout the day. Scaoya also unlike Arendelle is not a single landmass like Arendelle, no. Hundreds of large and small rivers dot the landscape continually fuelled by the surplus of falling water from the sky turning the landscape to small archipelgagos. This results to the people of Scaoya building bridges of all kinds to connect their villages and homesteads.

Scaoya is perhaps the most progressive and the most numerous when it comes to population and military of the Seven Seas Alliance. After all with their villages separated from each other in such a way, pirates find this setting ideal for raids and attacks with people unable to aid each other due to the harsh land mass. These results to villages training their own men to fend for themselves thus resulting to a large militia reserve that the country can call on in times of war. The men are also strong and bulky with rice and other wet grown crops being Scaoya's main trade. They are the strongest of the Alliance, at least before Arendelle's sudden growth spurt due to Silvanna's efforts. Now Arendelle claims the title of richest, most well-equipped and organized though Scaoya still retains the numbers game.

"Port ho!" the call of the ship watchman makes Silvanna turn her attention to the docks of the country. Immediately a grimace touches her beautiful visage at the sight of the royal docks. It looks ramshackle and dirty, unfitting for its name. There are traders and fishermen everywhere with no sign of the other ships of the Alliance other than the large Galleon of Corona.

Scaoya's king, Lenworth is not exactly a good king. He inherited his throne from his father as the succession suggests. However Lenworth is not exactly a warrior. He is more of a scholar lacking social issues and leadership skills. This results to Scaoya being mostly ruled by the nobles who each go on their own way to increase their own standings. Only Scaoya's second prince and Lenworth's half-brother, Levison and his retinue of loyal guards that kept the realm together. In fact it is the second prince that called for the meeting of the heads of the Seven Seas Alliance.

"Quite a sight alright, I've always heard from traders that Scaoya is badly managed but I never believed," Mattias mutters beside her, his nose beneath his ornate helmet scrounging in disgust as the smell of fish assaults his senses.

"This is at least better compared to staying in Arendelle right now," Silvanna points out. A chuckle from the newly minted Winged Hussar sounds.

"Aye, you're right about that my lady. Word from the grapevine is, Princess Elsa is not so happy with you right now,"

Silvanna simply snorts at that. "That is the understatement of the century,"

Simply put Elsa is not happy at all when Silvanna told her about the message of help that arrived at the middle of the evening. The threat of war after all is not something to be lightly taken. That alone should have been enough for the nervous Crown Princess who never expected something like this before she could even ascend her throne. However for the first time it seems that Elsa's temper had gotten the better of her when Silvanna told her about her decision to go to the meeting at the same day in afternoon. The two of them had degraded into a shouting match with Silvanna reminding Elsa of her duties and Elsa calling her a fool for being so reckless about her life. Apparently Elsa had never gotten over her fear of the sea after her parents died on it. Silvanna of course understood her worry; after all she was going to be repeating almost history with her leaving like her parents did for a war conference of all things that could last only god-knows-how-long. Still, this was a matter of utmost importance and it was Silvanna's duty to go being Arendelle's Steward. Of course the other choice would be for Elsa to be the one to go but that was out of the question obviously. Thus she and Elsa parted in less than friendly terms. She only hoped that Elsa won't do something stupid like following her here. The last thing that Arendelle needs is for their Steward and Crown Princess being absent, especially in this crisis.

"Gangway!" the shout of the sailors manning the ropes call out and Silvanna feels the deck below her feet shiver as the wooden side of the boat meets the docks.

"Well that's our cue, shall we?" Silvanna turns at Mattias who bows as he places his sword securely at his hip before following Silvanna out alongside five of the Winged Hussars that have been specifically chosen to be Silvanna's bodyguard for this meeting.

Walking down the prepared wooden walkways at the side of the ship, Silvanna tries her best not to scrounge up her nose at the nasty smell around her. The docks are wet, unfriendly and as usual, many stare at her either for her beauty or her usual choice of attire which is the same one that she wore when she first arrived in Arendelle.

"Your horse my lady," one of the two Rangers gestured for the white stallion that had been loaded beforehand for Silvanna to ride.

"Thank you Will," Silvanna simply smiles at Halt's young protégé as she mounts her horse with the Winged Hussars behind her.

Marching her horse forward, a small grimace appears on Silvanna's lips as she realized too soon that the simple trip to the looming castle of Scaoya would not be so simple. The roads are simply jam-packed with people and it is double that on the sole bridge connecting the docks to the village outside the palace. As their training indicate, the Winged Hussars with Mattias as the lead urge their horses forward forming a small wedge around Silvanna to prevent people from coping a feel on the Knightess' long legs.

For Silvanna herself, her focus has transferred away from the peasants to the small retinue of riders bearing the golden sun on a violet field facing also the same issues as them. Of course Silvanna knows who they are. They are Arendelle's sister kingdom and one of its staunchest allies where Queen Idun came from. Urging her horse forward with the Winged Hussars wordlessly following in toe, Silvanna makes her way towards them. The leading rider riding what seems to be the surliest looking horse she has seen her entire life, is irritatingly rubbing his jaw and continuously fidgeting with the straps of the helmet he is wearing. Silvanna of course knows who he is. His name more than once comes up from the letters she is being entrusted to handle from the other kingdoms.

"My, my; if it isn't the infamous reformed thief and now Prince Consort of Corona, Eugene Fitzherbert," Silvanna grins at the man who squawks and nearly falls off his horse at her sudden entry.

"Woah, wait. I know you, you're that girl pretending to be a boy that became famous at Arendelle aren't you?" replies the man making Silvanna's right eyebrow rise up at his words. Judging from the growls of e Mattias and the rest of the Winged Hussars, his reply obviously is less than acceptable for their liking.

"I am the Steward of Arendelle if that's what you are implying Sir Eugege," replies Silvanna frostily with a sniff. "I would have expected Corona to be updated about the status of their sister country and staunch ally,"

"Woah! Woah! Lady, I meant no disrespect. I'm new to all of this noble thingy of bowing and scraping," he waves his hands in front of him childishly.

"I see," Silvanna is less than pleased the more the man talked. Word from the nobles grapevine is this man has some serious skills when it comes to the real world. However all that Silvanna can see is a bumbling idiot in front of her that could cause an international incident. A part of her wonders if the rumours that she heard about him really bear any truth to it. What is the King of Corona thinking sending this man as their country's representative in a time of crisis such as this?

"Do you know what is going on here?" Silvanna asks squashing down her reluctance and negative opinions about "Prince Eugene". She would give the man a chance to prove himself.

By the sigh of relief that no noble would have been caught doing, it is obvious that the man is glad of the change of topic from the uncomfortable conversation from before.

"Just road traffic. I've asked one of the passing castle staff before. He said that word of the coming of different representatives of the Seven Seas Alliance had caused an uproar at the castle causing a sudden demand and influx of goods. Plus Scaoya also seems to be marshalling its army and people were coming all over for trade, enlistment or conscription," a grimace touched his face. "War is business after all and there are some rich merchants trying to set up shop on the castle quarters,"

"How long are you and your retinue stuck here Prince Eugene?" asks Silvanna.

"Till now? I dunno, maybe half an hour or more than a half. The bridge is narrow and we are not the only ones stuck like this. Word is the rest of the kings and representatives are also facing the same issue as we are,"

"I see," Silvanna resists the urge to groan. The King of Scaoya would be roasted after this. Members of the Seven Seas Alliance should have been given top privileges. Goodness only knows how will kings and leaders whose egos are the size of a continent to react after this debacle.

Shouting catches hers and everyone's attention as guards rush past them. Looking at the direction the loud sounds are coming from, Silvanna notices a white ship sailing on the deeper part of the harbour bearing the banners of Lescana's white swan on a dark blue field.

"I guess Lady Ingrid is here," Silvanna speaks out loud grimacing as the elegant ship tries and fails to find a docking place amidst the throng of ramshackle ships clogging Scaoya's harbour.

Eugene only grunts noncommittally at her side resuming a more relaxed pose to spend more time in boredom atop his horse to wait out for the crowd to clear a bit. It is then and there that Silvanna feels it.

Being a former military in her previous life who was stationed in a battlefield where you had to keep an eye out all the time lest a landmine blow your leg off; Silvanna learned to trust her instincts. Said instincts right now is kicking in making Silvanna's entire body taut and her senses becoming attentive. Her innate magic that makes her stronger and faster than a normal human is also kicking in response to her alertness.

Just in time too.

She barely hears it, the sound of something snapping, the clunk of string smacking wood eased from tension without warning. The hand holding her spear moves automatically swinging the unique weapon backwards at the left.

CLANG!

The golden spear bats the incoming arrow away jarring Silvanna's arm for a second at the vibration caused by the sudden contact.

"Crossbows, that means…..,"

"AMBUSH! TO ARMS!" Silvanna's clear voice rings over the rumbling of the gathered crowd and just in time too.

The dock guards barely has a second to spare when their fellow Scaoyans' turn against them. Many a life fell in surprise as hidden daggers and knives do their deadly work against unsuspecting men. The result is immediate, pandemonium. People screamed and run this way and that pushing and pulling one another. Powerful explosions appear over the distance sending black smoke everywhere. Even the main castle of Scaoya starts to emit smoke from its open windows and halls as fire rages inside.

Silvanna however paid no attention to this as she instead turns her attention to the robed figures that appear out of nowhere on the crowd wearing silver masks and wielding an assortment of axes, hatchets and scimtars. They waste no time charging over towards the gathered retinue of Corona and Arendelle who are still reeling with the civilians running around like headless chickens masking the approach of their would be killers.

Silvanna however does not waste time urging her horse forward ignoring the panicked shouts of random civilians as Lancelot nearly tramples them. Her spear stabs forward catching one of the ambushers at the chest. He is dead even before he falls. Holding the spear in two hands, Silvanna swings it fro parrying the slices of two others before a swipe from her opened their throats. The last ambusher is a bit wise. Instead of facing Silvanna, he ducks her thrust going under her guard and out of reach of the golden spear's defense before charging her at close range with his hidden knife. Too bad he fails to account for the knee high golden boots that Silvanna is wearing. Her knee meets his nose and his nose loses the fight as it cracks sending him howling as he clutches the bloodied appendage. He is not given more time to worry about it though as another spear thrust at his unguarded head sends him to an unscheduled visit to the afterlife.

The sound of men cursing and steel clashing steel sounds also beside her, taking a second to glance at her behind, Silvanna is pleased to see that her actions have awakened her retinue into action. The Winged Hussars are proving their worth and training as they fluidly worked as a unit, their sabers cutting through ambusher after ambusher with ease. The rest of the men of Corona and Arendelle seems to gather around the Winged Husssars, using them as a pivotal point as they formed a semi-perimeter with their lances and small circular shields slowly creating a buffering safe zone at her back. The ambushers have the advantage of surprise but the guardsmen have the advantage of skill and better equipment. What intrigues her though is the Prince Consort of Corona who seems to have lost control of his horse with said horse bucking and kicking at every direction sending men flying everywhere. The horse it seems is beating all of them combined by body-count alone. Still, all of them cannot keep this up. More ambushers are appearing and some of them have crossbows. Already they have slugged full of quarrels five of the guards and wounded another two.

"Fall back to the ships! Winged Hussars! Mattias, lead the way! Men of Corona follow behind us and don't get separated!" Silvanna shouts amid the din of battle.

"Storm clouds! Fire and Steel! Death from above make the enemy kneel! Shining armour and wings! Death from above it's the army of wings! CHARGE!" Silvanna blinks as the five riders in a wedge formation charged through the crowd singing with heavy voices, their heavyset battle-horses bred for war crushing civilian and foe alike clearing the way.

"Into the gap, move!" Silvanna shouts to the dumbstrucked Coronans and guardsmen who wasted no time gathering their wounded and following after the white palomino that Silvanna is urging after the Winged Hussars.

It seems like forever with her thrusting left and right or the occasional kick as they sweep past the docks and back to where the Pegasus is moored beside the ship from Corona. Silvanna is glad to see that the sailors have created a safe perimeter using bows and rifles to keep the ambushers and the civilians away from the ship. They also have prepared the gangway already and the sails are opened in full, ready to depart in a moment's notice.

"Move! Move! Silvanna urges Lancelot up the gangway as Arendelle and Coronan royal guard alongside their liege, Eugene follows behind her. "Signal the Coronan ship to cast their moorings!" Silvanna snaps at one of the sailors. "We are getting out of Scaoya, now!"

"Yes my lady," the men moves with the rest of the sailors who immediately cast the gangways back up and free the docked warship off the port of Scaoya.

The sound of whistling makes Silvanna drop as an arrow fly over her head. Peeking from the cover of the deck, she espies six or ten of the Ambushers are pelting their ship with arrows from their short bows. Jeers and mocking tones leave their lips as they laugh at the escaping Arendellian ship.

The bastards it seem, need to learn that if you mess with Arendelle, you mess with its Knightess.

"You, Give me your spear!" Silvanna gestures at one of the confused Coronan men. Ignoring his rather confused reaction, Silvanna grabbed his spear and without even blinking, hurls it at the docks. Their ambushers' laughter is immediately silenced as one of their own goes down with a scream of pain, a spear lodged in his throat.

"Spear! One more," Silvanna calls out and this time, a man from Arendelle hands her another one without question. Grabbing it in her hand, Silvanna hurls it forward like a javelin sending one more man going down as he futilely try to pry his bane lodged at his hip. Cheers erupt from the men of Arendelle and Corona at her actions.

Silvanna however pays no attention to them. As the Pegasus and the ship from Corona sail away, she can see the ship bearing the white swan of Lescana burning with several cannon holes at its side. Far behind it, the entire country of Scaoya burned as the screams of the innocent rent the air. There would be no Seven Seas Alliance against an invasion of one of the most brutal and numerous country in the known world. Each country on this alliance would be on their own.

Silvanna sighs as she looks at the horizon and the week long journey that it would take to get to Arendelle. Elsa would be so pissed at her and the news that she would be bringing.

….

"….and therefore the supplies of the guild shall be contributed to…," Elsa deftly tunes out the droning voice of the representative of the trade guilds as she leans in a more comfortable position in her chair at the council chambers.

Unlike her first reaction of unbridled anger at Silvanna leaving without warning for that week long journey at Scaoya, Elsa now has calmed down once she gets her mind working. She admits that she may have overreacted. Her reaction before after all was influenced by her bitter memories of her parents dying on the sea. She's just scared for Silvanna. The beautiful Knightess after all does not have a clean track record when it comes to trouble. Trouble seems to find her every time Elsa has her eyes averted. Now that she's thinking about it though, she admits that her previous anger was silly. This is after all, Silvanna; the one who could do the impossible when she puts her mind to it. Elsa truly believes in her heart that Silvanna knows best and if she says that going on this meeting is necessary, Elsa would bow to her will.

Currently Elsa is both bored and relieved though. When she is first informed by Jonathan Johnson, the Prime Minister that Silvanna left the kingdom to her capable hands, Elsa mentally panicked. However after a few council meetings of mind numbing nervousness, Elsa finds out that Silvanna has practically prepared the kingdom to be self-sufficient and going smoothly before handing to her the reins. The ministers and nobles and other leaders handle their own separate missions that the worst that Elsa has to do is broke her pen on the papers signing her name. It is relieving since Elsa is freed into taking care of little Kaldita who seems to share Elsa's anxiety of Silvanna leaving as little blue-haired baby won't stop crying unless Elsa hold her in her arms like she is doing now.

Elsa admits that she finds the task of taking care of Kaldita quite enjoying. Whereas other women might moan and bitch about the nappie changing, the burping of the baby, the proper feeding time and singing to it; Elsa does not. She enjoys tickling and watching Kaldita make baby faces when her nappie is being changed. She loves holding the overlarge marshmallow and she terribly likes feeding Kaldita warm cow milk that Gerda made for the baby. It also gives Elsa excuse to practice her humming and singing to the baby girl who seems to reciprocate the care and love that Elsa is giving it.

On the other hand though, Elsa is slightly annoyed for Silvanna handing her the state and her having nothing to do. Sure she knows that her lover has the best intention to prevent Elsa being stressed and accidentally revealing her powers. That does not change the fact that Elsa feels a little useless though. In fact if she's going to be honest with herself, she can ignore all the council meetings and they would still be moving smoothly the same if she is not there. She tries her damnest to squash the ugly feeling though. Silvanna made sure to do all of this for her after all. Elsa would not dishonour her friend's efforts by being grumpy for something so trivial.

Of course not everything is smooth sailing. War is war after all and the citizens of Arendelle had been made aware of the threat looming on the horizon. Elsa admits that if this be the old Arendelle before Silvanna arrived, the people would have been packing their bags already and charging straight to the docks to pay for the first ship that would get them out of the land. Heck, Elsa is not ashamed to admit that she might also have been the first one to do it.

However as Arendelle stands now, the populace simply looks at the future with gloomy anticipation. Every day more and more nobles with their conscripts and militias arrive at Arendelle royal to gather for the incoming war. Under the supervision of General Horst, the royal army is drilled relentlessly alongside the impressive Winged Hussars under Captain Rex. Blacksmiths and Guilds are run night and day calling for supplies and preparing for the incoming war. Ship after ship also filled the ports of Arendelle carrying mercenaries, hired soldiers and bounty hunters, all answering the call of Silvanna.

Insurgencies that dare disrupt the peace do not last. The Rangers roam the streets of Arendelle in the dark rooting out dissension and rumours of dissent before it could even manifest. In simpler terms, the people are ready for war under the supervision of Silvanna and her officers.

Elsa is more than happy to let her lover take the lead on this one. Despite all the books that Elsa reads after all, she knows next to nothing when it comes to warfare. Plus the fact that the battlefield is the very definition of stress that Elsa is keen to avoid at all costs due to her powers.

Yes, she's happy taking care of little Kaldita as her mission is right now. Elsa smiles at the little baby yawning at her arms even as the Council drones on and on about the logistics of the country.

…..

Author's Note:

Yahhh, so another update. Next chapter is the marshalling of Arendelle.