I tremble by the campfire, watching the shadows of General Roy and Princess Guinevere as they question Gale in the tent. General Roy nods to Gale, then glances at Princess Guinevere for some confirmation.

'Don't be anxious,' Father Yoder joins my side, 'they'll be finished soon.'

'I am meant to protect the princess from harm,' I murmur to the ant trail forming on the ground in front of me, 'but I've foisted my personal problems onto her instead.'

'Surely you would understand by now, Miledy. In General Roy's army, we are all friends who share in each other's triumphs and sorrows,' Father Yoder's face glows a warm orange in the campfire, 'you've done so much for your comrades. I'm sure the princess is happy that you could finally be honest with her—look, it looks like they're done interrogating General Gale.'

I jump up when General Roy pushes open the tent, gesturing for Princess Guinevere to exit first. I catch her sympathetic look as I rush straight past her. Casts and dressings hold Gale's body together as he lies down. I kneel beside him, mopping dirt and dried blood off his face. The campfire's crackle outside is deafening. I hook my second finger through his thumb, trying not to disrupt the bandages.

'You're wearing the circlet I gave you,' Gale murmurs, taking an unsteady breath, 'didn't you worry it would make people doubt your loyalty to the Lycian Army?'

'No one knew it was wedding jewellery,' I take the circlet off to examine it. It retains its lustre, 'people across the continent have different marriage customs.'

'They have the same meaning though,' Gale's eyes open and close, like he is blinking in slow motion, 'a promise of true love, a man's commitment to stay by his wife's side— which I have failed. I'm sorry, Miledy.' His chest appears sunken around the ribs, 'I truly failed.'

'... No, you didn't,' I lean over to look right into his eyes, 'you wrote in my proposal note: that "even if by some terrible misfortune, we end up on opposite sides of a war, I will place your life above my own".' I take the note out of my satchel and slide it into his palm.

'You kept that?' Gale grunts as he tries to sit up.

'I read it every night,' I crack bits of dried mud out of his hair, trying to comb the debris out with my fingers, 'so I would remember what I was fighting for. We may have ended up on opposite sides.' I apply a thick balm to his cracked bleeding lips, 'but it was always with the hope of building a better, fairer world for one another to live in. We just had different assumptions about the best way forward, based on the information we had, for a short while.'

'Miledy...'

'Gale,' I clear hairs from his forehead to kiss it, 'one day, there will be a more peaceful time, and we will get to live in that era of prosperity and equality — we will live in it together.'

A boy's shadow appears outside the tent. I call out to the blocky boots and tousled hair, 'Lugh? Why're standing outside?'

The figure sprints out of sight before peeping through the tent curtain, 'Miss Miledy. You and Trifinne are my friends. Yet you still show pity to the enemy, one of the Dragon Lords no less.' His emerald eyes reflect the campfire's spitting flames, 'I... I can't believe you—you betrayed us!'

'Please Lugh... Leave.'

'No,' Gale gurgles through his own saliva before swallowing it to clear his voice, 'let me hear what the boy has to say.'

'But—' Before I can start, Lugh growls and stamps his feet.

'I hate you! I'll never forgive you!' Lugh screams like a deer that has been shot, 'you burnt down the orphanage where we stayed! You killed our priest for trying to protect the garden! You should die like— like all the innocent people you had killed! You're just a despicable war lord from Bern!'

I freeze as Lugh flails and yells at Gale. Gale simply closes his eyes and answers, '... I'm not from Bern.'

'What?' Lugh's body shakes as he looks up.

'I understand that so-called knights from Bern behaved despicably. But neither I nor my squads raised weapons against anyone who couldn't defend themselves. I am a believer in Saint Elimine so I certainly wouldn't have approved of a priest's murder.'

Lugh's knees tremble in silence. Gale's eyes pierce straight through the him, 'I'm not asking you to believe me. This is just the truth.'

'You... You said you're not from Bern,' Lugh inches closer to my side.

'I was born in an Etrurian village on the Ilian border.' Unable to move his neck, Gale's eyes track the El Fire tome glued to Lugh's side, 'aristocrats extorted farmers, neglecting the land after sucking it dry. I was luckier than you boys though. I still had a wonderful mother.'

I wonder if Ilya is safe, looking past the tall grass as she wonders about her son.

'I came to build a new life for myself in Bern,' Gale waits for Lugh to lower the tome to the ground before continuing, 'the Bern army was hiring mercenaries for a generous sum of money. I sent most of it back to my mother and hometown church.'

'You... Sound like a good person,' Lugh sidles up to my side, grabbing my arm, 'but why did you become a Dragon Lord and fight the people you love— like Miss Miledy?'

Both Lugh and I stare at him, eager for the answer. Gale grumbles, 'there's no use dwelling on the question. No justifications will bring back your orphanage, the innocent people killed— the time I left Miledy's side.'

I concentrate on the gel-like layer forming over Gale's eyes. Lugh sits up straight, remarking, 'but... I still want to hear it.'

Gale pauses, 'I was working from a set of premises about Bern's values and objectives. Some of them were misguided. That's all.'

Lugh lowers his head, biting his lip as though ready to lash out with a series of 'but's. Instead, he just sits there, growing smaller with his shoulders rolling inwards.

Just as Lugh's gloom saturates the air, Bartre flings open the curtain with Zeiss' head under his arm, 'alright! You're Sir Gale, aren't you?!'

'Yes...' Gale mumbles, wincing at the axe warrior's bellows.

I mouth to Zeiss on the side 'can you make Bartre go away?' Zeiss mumbles 'I'll try' but struggles to pull himself out of Bartre's grip.

'Zeiss told me about you! Sir Gale, the greatest wyvern captain and brother-in-law!' Bartre ruffles Zeiss' already messy hair, 'I've been looking after this chap like my own son so don't worry!'

'Sir Gale,' Zeiss manages to slip out and step forward, 'I hope you're recovering.'

'Yes.' The rhythm of Gale's steady breaths is hypnotising. Even with Bartre hollering some wisdom about reinventing oneself, I could fall asleep beside Gale. Gale continues, 'you've grown a lot, Zeiss. If it weren't for you and Sister Ellen, I would've perished.'

'Everyone!' Ellen squeaks as she and Father Yoder stand at the tent entrance, 'leave the patient to rest! Go! All of you!' Bartre, Lugh and Zeiss trudge out of the tent. 'Miledy, you should get some rest too,' Ellen sits beside me as Father Yoder examines Gale's arm on the other side, 'you will be facing King Zephiel and his strongest soldiers tomorrow at the palace. Princess Guinevere will need you more than ever. You look exhausted...'

'Thank you, Ellen.' A familiar warmth fills me when Ellen presses her hand against my forehead, 'I-I really don't know where I'd be without you.'

'Focus on recovering for tomorrow's battle. Bern, Etruria— the entire continent depends on winning against King Zephiel,' Father Yoder applies an ointment to a part of Gale's shoulder, 'there's nothing to worry about. We will look after Sir Gale.'

'Thank you, Father Yoder,' I look at Gale, observing the shadows that mark his angular cheekbones, 'Gale, I'll come back. I promise.'

'Fight well, Miledy.' A glimmer passes through Gale's tired eyes, 'I will pray for your success.'