Chapter Thirty-Three

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

"Are you sure that you want to go on ahead?" Horst asks worriedly at the grinning Knightess who has been acting sugar high for some reason in the last few hours.

The war against Nogrod is finally over. Mao Zheng's head has been cut off and put in a bag and entrusted to Hua Mulan with her surviving soldiers to be brought back to the Empire of Xi. Normally such cooperation between soldiers would result to an alliance offer between the two nations involved. However Silvanna promptly refused to even acknowledge the possibility of an alliance between Xi and Arendelle. In a way Horst agrees with her. The large kingdom of the East is filled with princes feuding with one another for the throne to become Emperor of the land. As a result civil war tends to occur in a daily basis between them. Mao Zheng is such a prime example of the monarchy issues that the Empire produces as a result.

Still it's not as if things in the diplomatic side are bad. Casualties among Aendelle forces are not that large as feared. Out of the twenty thousand soldiers of Arendelle, they lost only four thousand during the entire duration of the war with three thousand wounded. All in all its way better than what everyone expected to be. Using twenty thousand men to face of a hundred thousand? Personally Horst expected that they'll have at least a quarter of their forces remaining at best in victory and none in defeat. All in all it's a far better result and could even possibly be named a miracle by the head cardinal back home. One thing he's sure though is that the Knightess' prowess in this battle would surely be recorded in the annals of history.

Speaking of which.

"Are you sure that you want to head on ahead of the army my lady?" asks Horst looking at the twenty-man Winged Hussars making the last checks on their horses as they await the Steward of Arendelle who is also double checking her stirrups.

"Yes General," Silvanna simply answers. "We've almost been gone two months ever since the start of the war. Elsa would be worried sick already about our situation here and if I know her, she will not stop worrying unless she sees me personally,"

"I see," Horst simply nods though grimacing inside.

That is another thing that worries him; the crowning of Arendelle's next monarch. Personally Horst has nothing against the Crown Princess. However as an Arendellian, a politician, and a general, he would rather support that Silvanna takes the reins of the kingdom. The Knightess is a powerful figure, excellent in combat, shrew in business and has a no-nonesense type of attitude when it comes to politics. The Winter Bank belongs to her and a hundred other businesses. The entire army is loyal to her alongside the loyalties of the nobles through the Winged Hussars. She has good connections with the Bounty Hunting Guild and her reputation is simply spectacular. She is the ideal monarch. He is not the only one that has that opinion; Jonathan Johnson, the Prime Minister, and Lord Viktor think the same. Now's not the time to be thinking about it though.

"Very well my lady. Safe travels with you. A ship would be waiting for you at Portsmouth where we first camped. Majority of the army and I will be following you in two weeks' time,"

"Thank you for your service General Horst, I will see you in Arendelle, in two weeks' time," Silvanna smiles at him one more time giving a two fingered salute on her temple before riding off with her escort towards the dirt path on the woods.

Horst blinks though. It seems only for a moment, but for a split second there, he imagined he saw something dark slip on the thick trees towards the direction that he saw the Knightess and her entourage rode off to. He shakes his head wiping a hand on his eyes. He needs to sleep more if he's starting to see things.

…..

Silvanna can't help the satisfied smile that keeps adorning her face as she rides through the familiar pathsof the forest of Brochendalle heading back to the harbour of Portsmouth. The war is finally over and they have won. If she's going to be honest with herself, Silvanna never actually believed that their good fortune throughout the war would hold. The odds are stocked against them after all. Still, she would not question their good fate, no sir thank you.

Sure they have lost almost four thousand men during the duration of the war but Silvanna would not make the mistake of blaming herself. This is war. Men fight, men die, period. She would not dishonour the men who died fighting for their country. They had fought bravely and with purpose In heart and mind. They are heroes and Silvanna would make sure to let Arendelle remember them. It's not as if their sacrifice is without merit.

This is the reason why Silvanna is riding hard ahead after all. Well two reasons in fact: Number one is the simple fact that she misses Elsa. It had almost been two months since she last saw the blonde beauty and Silvanna simply can't wait. Mind you she might even push the boundaries of their "rules" a bit when it come to the touching each other.

Reason number two and the main reason why she's riding so hsard is she needs to get back to Arendelle to make it official that Lescanna is now a colony of Arendelle under the protection of its crown. With the majority of the population of the island nation dead, and its government near non-existent due to the death of the royal family, the island is simply a free-for-all target for the existing nations to occupy. Lescanna is a rich land filled with beauty and nature, many would try to target it for its natural resources. Thus not missing the opportunity being handed over a silver platter, Silvanna puts the offer to the natives and the remaining Lescannians about their country being put as a province of Arendelle. Thankfully there are little to no opposition to that. Why should they say no after all? They have a choice after all. Remain free as they are or join hands with the fastest prospering nation in this part of the seas? The Katari leaders that have taken command from before have apparently met their demise during the last battle after a banzai charge at the Nogrodions; thus the reason why the army will remain behind for the next two weeks. They will establish a settlement on Lescanna stable enough that the people might live in safety until a rotation of soldiers is assigned from Arendelle alongside its first official governor.

Silvanna smiles at the good fortune that she is bringing to the nation she is loyal at and to herself. Of course with the opening of a new front in this part of the seas, Silvanna would be able once more be able to expand her business that would help her earn a healthy buck. Plus she would be able to make a pet project of hers come into fruitition. It has been something that is knocking at the back of her mind for a while especially with her worries about the possibility of the upcoming canon at Elsa's twenty-first birthday and coronation.

Too engrossed in her thoughts is the Knightess that she is caught completely by surprise as someone shouts "LOOK OUT!" making her snap back to reality just in time as someone shoves her horse to the side. A large tree without warning crashes to the man that shoved her flattening him and his horse.

"AMBUSH!" one of the Winged Hussars shout as everyone starts drawing their sabres.

Men wearing the attires of ruffians with hoods at their heads immediately start appearing from the woods and Silvanna draws her spear while gesturing for her men to backtrack through the path they came from. It is to no avail though. The knight at the back of the column barely manages to turn his horse backward when another tree crashes on their path nearly flattening him also if not for him wisely backing away. Not that it did him any good. One moment he is alive, the next he is falling down with three arrows protruding from his body.

Arrows start pouring in every direction and Silvanna only has a second to spare to see the source of the arrows making her heart sink as she counts near fifty men surrounding them at all sides pouring in quarrels in every direction. Her escorts start falling down like flies as even the ornate Winged Hussar armour fails to protect their owners as arrows find their mark. To their credit, despite outnumbered, the nobles do not panic and instead they try to steady their horses amid their comrades' die around them.

Seeing the numbers of their targets reduced even more, some of the braver(or stupidier) ruffians immediately start to rush the beleaguered riders with spears made of bamboo. One makes a direct beeline for the Knightess. Silvanna simply grits her teeth as she whacks her spear upwards cutting his face nearly in half as the momentum of his charge prevents him from breaking. Regaining her balance despite the bucking horse, Sivlanna spears another trying to catch her off guard at the side before a small canter of her horse allows her to skewer one who is using a mace to knock down the horse of a Winged Hussar down. Unfortunately the arrows continue to fall and Silvanna nearly is thrown off as her horse panics rearing its front forwards forcing the Knightess to hold on the reins with one hand for dear life. She barely manages to see another ruffian charging towards her using a spear like a club. Off-balanced completely, Silvanna blocks only to be thrown off her horse from the blow, the golden spear she has flying from her hand. She has a split second of feeling weightless before crashing on her back sending all the helium off her lungs and making her see white for a second. That is all the ruffian needs to plant his spear straight at Silvanna's gut making the Knightess howl as the spear goes through her literally pinning her to the ground. It takes all her self-control to focus her magic on the fatal wound and prevent her from bleeding out as the ruffian joins his comrades on slaughtering the last of the Hussars. As it is Silvanna listens as the last of the sounds of the battle fades with only the sounds of men looting the dead remaining.

They have lost.

Struggling and making as small sounds as possible to prevent anyone from noticing her, Silvanna grunts as she futilely tries to remove the weapon pinning her. That is why her heart jumps to her mouth as a cloaked person appears in front of her nearly making her scream in terror. Half of his face looks normal with what is supposed to be a fair look with white hair and a high nose if not for the gemstone lighting light violet in exchange for his eye. The other half on the other hand is rough brown and black like chitin of that of a crab with an eye that looks like a human but shining sickly dark violet. Her eyes watched worriedly as an arm covered in carapace appears from the side of his cloak and take hold of the spear pinning her.

"W-what are you?" Silvanna croaks through a mouthful of her own blood as the man's eye narrow before twisting the spear aside making the Knightess howl as it is pulled out leaving a gaping hole behind which she tries to stem with her magic and her hands.

She can't help but look fearfully though as the man leers at her, his face merely a few inches from her own. A savage grin adorns his face as a forked tongue licked his lips.

"Hello, sister," he rasps before a blinding pain at the side of her head erupts and Silvanna knows no more.

"And this is the latest reports from the Guilds your highness," Jonathan Johnson says placing a stack of reports in front of her making Elsa frown as she glares at the pile in front of her.

Suffice it to say that even though Arendelle as a whole is slowly recovering from the effects of the plague, Elsa's work on the other hand has tripled.

Still she would not exchange it for nothing. Things have finally calmed down a bit after the issue of the Malichor plague finally resolved. Elsa had made sure that the entire country knew the sacrifice of the Nords back on that icy landscape to rid of the plague once and for all. Bard was given the honorary status as Warden of the North giving his people free leave to explore and settle the Northern territories of Arendelle as they saw fit. Of course some barons protested at this blatant decision of favouritism. However due to the simple fact that the Nords are being heralded as heroes currently, they back down on her decision. The entire country is also slowly recovering and everyone is working double time to make sure that things slowly go back to normal.

Not that it is easy. Elsa grimaces as she looks at the amount of paperwork she has to do. The number one issue of Arendelle once more is lack of manpower. Even before the plague due to the prosperity brought through Silvanna's actions, jobs are abundant in the once isolated country that they people from abroad are coming all over the place to be hired. Even then it is a close thing filling all those gaps on the jobs. Now due to the Malichor spreading like wildfire and leaving a lot of cold corpses behind it, the country once more is facing the issue of having too many job vacancies and very few candidates to fill them.

Elsa can't resist but rub her temple at the headache that this would cause her. Once more she has to negotiate with the neighbouring nations to allow their citizens to immigrate here at Arendelle; something that they are reluctant to do due to sudden increase of Arendelle's status. Still, the immigration offer is something that they can't just swipe down the rug. Most of these nations are facing issues of overpopulation and poverty that results to crimes. If they let go of their excess population, it is a burden lightened on their part. Elsa expects three to five kingdoms at least to acquiesce to her request.

Things are not all bad though at Arendelle, Elsa smiles a she looks at the open window. Word has finally arrived that the war is over and they have won with acceptable casualties. For Elsa who has been dreading the result of the war (and fearing the bad news of Silvanna's untimely death), it feels as if a weight has been lifted off her chest. It helps that thanks to the end of the plague, she and the palace guards and servants have finally been able to return to castle Arendelle after the servants made sure to scour every inch of the castle with a disinfectant to rid the place of the Malichor's taint once and for all. At least this way Elsa can show to Silvanna that she did not fail on keeping an eye on the kingdom.

Putting her pen down and signalling for Jonathan Johnson to leave, Elsa stands and crouches on the sleeping form of Kaldita on her rocking crib beside her. She smiles as she daintily adjusts the covers of the toddler before placing a kiss on her brow making the baby gurgle happily at her scent. Making sure that the little tyke is tucked in and snug, Elsa stands up and walks to the balcony of her room watching the entirety of Arendelle below her and the open sea beyond.

If Elsa's going to be honest with herself, she is daunted by the simple fact that she's going to be in charge of all of these. The only reason as to why she acquiesces to do her duty to the best of her abilities is because Silvanna asks her to. It is not her birthright, or the desire to make her parents proud that forces Silvanna to lead. As far as she was concerned, her parents can go to hell. They made her like this, locked her up like a criminal afraid of her own shadow. If not for Silvanna being pushy, she would have stayed that way until she died. Now she is standing here, having faced horrors that can only be seen in the dreams of men. Sure she is nervous and terrified of what may happen if her powers ever become public, but until then, she can keep her grip on things and be the leader Silvanna expects her to be. Still she cannot wait for the Knightess to return. Things are once more going back to normal and she would see in two days. Elsa would then be able to put aside this burden of a crown and let Silvanna take over once more and be her awesome self making Arendelle prosper. This would give Elsa free time to take care of Kaldita and at the same time tempt the woman she is in love with to loosen some of the restrictions about their love life.

A small gust of wind makes Elsa however frown as she sees a ship bearing the white and blue flag of Congregation of Merchants sailing away. Rose De Sardet did not take well the death of her cousin even if it is for the greater good. The brave legate after finalizing the contract of cooperation between their two countries, had said her goodbyes before sailing away.

"Not after leaving a parting gift of her own of course," Elsa mentally thinks as she touches her lips where the legate had kissed her.

…..

Alucard has never felt this empty. Things seem to be going well for everyone. Arendelle has won the war, the Winged Hussars have gained a reputation boost and everything is perfect. Of course like every part of his life, fate has to throw a wrench just because it can to snuff the good part of life away.

A snore at his side makes Alucard shudder. His heart feels like it has been frozen, poked on by icicles and left to melt on the roadside. He gulps as he let his dark eyes turn to the source of the sound to make sure that his nightmare is indeed real. Moving his head, Alucard groans as his eyes registers the mop of red hair sleeping soundly beside him.

If Silvanna ever gets wind of these, Alucard is sure that being run through by her spear would be the last of his worries. No, actually being run through is the best he can hope for. He'll be lucky if she does not put him in a public execution minus the humiliation. The Knightess most of the time might be laid back and quite easy to get along with. However when it comes to responsibilities, she is a fervent believer of being a stickler for rules. Most of the recruits of the castle guard who underestimated her found out the hard way when they are rudely judo kicked out of the castle by an irate Knightess for "sleeping on duty".

That is why Alucard fears what might happen if she ever knows about this. Part of him though that is not utterly terrified and panicking is quite content. Who can say after all that you have slept with a princess of Arendelle even if it is in a drinking stupor? In a way Alucard did blame the now empty bottle of Lescannian wine at the edge of the bed. He and Princess Anna had shared it last night in celebration of Arendelle's victory over Nogrod. Suffice it to say, one glass became two and before anyone knows it, they result to a drinking stupor that led into this.

"Oh gods, I'm gonna die," Alucard moans as he pulls himself up and waddles outside the tent to guard even despite the pounding headache in his temple. The last thing that he needs right now is for someone to walk in and see the Princess of Arendelle half-naked atop her bed. That would be a shit show in a level that he does not want even to comprehend.

Alucard is broken out of his musings though as he sees a rider riding hard deep into the Winged Hussar camp as if his very life depends on it. Upon seeing him it changes direction towards him making the Lieutenant of the guard step aside as the man throws himself from the horse, his face looking panicky as he bows at Alucard.

"What's the meaning of this soldier?" the former bounty hunter asks putting on his "professional face" despite the pounding headache.

"Sir," the young messenger's face is filled with sorrow and panic. "I bring word from the scouts. Lady Silvanna's escort had been ambushed and assassinated,"

And the pounding headache inside Alucard's head seems to increase tenfold at that.

….

Silvanna awakens at the feeling of sudden cold suddenly engulfing her. Shaking her head to get rid of the water at her face, her blue eyes open only to take notice of the same figure that struck her down before.

Silvanna is brave, period. No one can refute that after everything that she has done. However you cannot blame her for being afraid as she beheld what seems to be a monstrosity of a human in front of her. Both arms of his are violet chitin alongside those creepy stone eyes inside his skull. His entire lower half is also chitin with only bits of human flesh on it. His white mop head might have been handsome once if not for the jutting horns from it (search Dyrroth Mobile Legends).

"Hello sister, glad you are awake," it chuckles, its voice having a dual tone on it like an echo as it approaches her looking at her up and down.

Now that Silvanna notices it, she is hog tied to a tree with her wrist above her head by chains and both her legs tied to two pegs on the ground forcing her to stand on her toes lest she let her bound wrists take the weight for her. Some kind of elastic gag is also at her mouth forcing it open in a circular shape. This results to Silvanna trying to breathe both through her nose and her mouth. Her eyes look around in panic to find where she currently is. All so far she can see is ruins of broken buildings and a wide expanse of plains at either side. Her heart sinks at this; she has no idea where she currently is.

Her premonitions however about her current state is rudely interrupted as without warning a hand of chitin rips her outer coat like paper making Silvanna shiver as cold air wafts through the remaining two layers of her attire which is her undersuit and outer shirt.

"Now that I've got your full attention sister, you must be wondering who I am," the abomination says with a chuckle making Silvanna glare at him. The thing is leering at her body too intently for her to be comfortable. If not for the weird contraption at her mouth, she would have shouted at it to go fuck itself.

"I am your brother in a sense, but only in name," it chuckles before reaching up with a hand making Silvanna squirm as its cold sharp finger traces flesh on the circular hole in her attire due to the attack of the spear before. It is now fully healed due to her magic.

"I am Dyrroth in this world. I am your brother in a sense, or your opposite to be in fact. You represent all that is good and justice. Well sister, I am your exact opposite. Cruel where you are kind, evil where you are good, selfish whence you are selfless and of course, lustful where you are chaste," it suddenly moves its hands below one of its hands below the underside of her breasts making Silvanna's eyes pop at the sudden change of direction of its appendage.

"The world has a sense of irony. It is a balance after all. When you appeared in this world, I am given form too, to combat you and bring around your doom. Unfortunately for you sister, I am given the liberty of how to bring that such an end and I am quite unwilling to let you die in the first place," it chuckles rubbing his hands fully now to the Knightess' left breast causing Silvanna to blush horribly at the molestation she is suffering from.

"You are very beautiful sister," it leers forward, their faces only inches apart that Silvanna can smell his rotten breathe. "You are the epitome of beauty while I am the epitome of monstrosity. We are the perfect pair," it chuckles insanely, his hands now taking its full privileges on her upper body causing the first of terrified tears to appear on the Knightess' eyes.

"This entire war, I've orchestrated all of this just to get a hold of you. You have no idea how much I desired you sister. How long I've watched you, spied on you, you really are the perfect prize, the perfect woman," it continues narrating, a forked tongue licking the side of Silvanna's face where the tears have fallen. "Your fear tastes beautiful, you are beautiful. I wanna see more of that, it suddenly stands up moving the chains down on her hand catching Silvanna by surprise as she lands painfully on her knees with her kneeling at him.

"Let's play a game shall we sister," it says with a savage grin approaching her. "If you don't faint tonight at what I am going to do, then I let you go tomorrow morning. If you do though, I get to keep you another day to do to you as I wish, game?" it laughs menacingly seeing the light of hope shine through the eyes of the Knightess. "And don't bother using your magic to escape your bonds, they are strong enough to bind an elephant, no amount of magic on your part can break them. So, let's start the game shall we? I do hope your throat is ready for the pounding its about to get," it chuckles as it approaches the kneeling form of the Knightess.

Silvanna can only moan and groan pathetically through her bonds as she realizes now what the flexible gag that keeps her mouth open is for.

"You will be mine, now and forever older sister," the figure only chuckles as it closes the distance between the two of them.

Deep inside the ruins of the former castle of Lescanna, the choking and gurgling sounds of the Knightess of Arendelle can barely be heard through the once beautiful walls of the island nation.

….

Author's Note:

Yeah, I admit that this chapter might be darker than anything I've written so far. I've always intended though to land here so sue me. Anyway, we are nearing the end soon for the final arc. Maybe six to seven chapters left before the final one. Dpends on how lazy I am maybe. I maybe planning to write the lemon scenes afterwads in a separate story in this just to keep the rating here to a T.

Please review your opinions people.