Chapter Sixty Four

Prelude to War

ANNA

Anna had hoped that it wasn't raining, as it would make their only remaining day of preparations all the more difficult. Alas, the weather wasn't granting them any favours, though she doubted that it made things easier for the Imperial Horde either, who were all marching furiously through the rain, mud and thick trees to get to Arendelle. Does that buy us a little extra time?

She shook her head. Whatever the case was, they had to prepare for the worse outcome, which was that the Empire's forces could attack them at any time. Though by civilised warfare and common sense, that prevented them from striking in the middle of the night, but Anna felt that she wouldn't put it past Eleanor to order the Imperial Horde to charge the Arendellian forces in the dark. Knowing Frederick, he would have already stationed a rotation of scouts out by the camp borders just in case.

And that wasn't even considering her other problem by the coast road in front of Arendelle. The fjord would be where the Southern Isles Navy would attack them from, but she decided to worry about that later. One thing at a time. Besides, she trusted that Kristoff and General Matthias had that well in hand.

"Are you alright?" Elsa asked.

Looking up at her sister who was sitting opposite her in the carriage, Anna blinked. "Huh? Yeah, I am."

Elsa was sitting beside Janus in the spacious carriage reserved for the monarchs, and they were trying to play it platonic, at least in front of Anna. Her sister was still looking a little sheepish from being caught red handed, and the awkward look on her face brought an upturn curl to Anna's lips, though she tried her best to suppress it. If there was only one good thing that happened today, it would be that.

"Look," Elsa said. Evidently she was aware of the hilarious tension between her and Anna too. "About just now…"

"Save it, Elsa." A grin broke out on her face, and she tried to convert it into a composed and reassuring smile, and failed badly. "I'm not judging you. If anything, I'm happy for you both." Anna turned to Janus, who was sitting quietly in his usual black getup, complete with his mask, hood and weapons. "Congratulations, Janus. You snagged yourself the finest girl on the continent."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." His voice was filtered through his mask, rendering it low, mechanical and impassive.

"Though I have to warn you." Anna tried to wipe the grin off her face and mustered up a bit of the stern tone that stiff monarchs were supposed to possess. "If you break my sister's heart, I'll personally make you regret it."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Elsa was blushing furiously, her pale cheeks now flushed and growing redder by the second, and Anna fought back a fit of giggles that would completely ruin the air of seriousness she was trying to maintain.

"Good." Anna said, and tried to catch Elsa's eye, but to no avail. Her sister had resorted to staring out of the wide window of the carriage.

Currently, they were on their way up the hills to where the Arendellian Brigades were encamped. Maui, Holli and Deirdre were in a separate carriage in front of theirs, and they were going to stop by where the rest of the sorcerers were camped while the monarchs would head all the way up to where General Frederick was camped.

Anna knew that later on in the day, she would have to stop by the coast road camp where General Matthias had deployed his artillery to prepare for the attack from the Southern Isles. However, for now, she would have to run through and vet General Frederick's finalised defence strategy that the Arendellians and Northuldra were going to deploy against the Imperial Horde, though she was pretty sure she wasn't going to find anything to complain about his meticulously laid plans.

After all, he was a veteran soldier who had been around in service since her father had been a teenager, and a close friend of the family's. If past experience were anything to draw from, Anna was confident in Frederick's capabilities as the field commander of her kingdom's army. The man had ascended through the ranks over his decades of service from a common corporal to the prestigious and rare rank of General, and Anna was fully aware that it was well earned and deserved. It was extremely rare that a commoner with no noble blood could become a commissioned officer, but Frederick had achieved just that and more.

The awkward silence among the trio of them continued to prevail as one of the wheels of the carriage caught in a deep rut, and it took a while for the servants and the guards to get it free. In the meantime, Anna glanced out of the window, much like her sister and Janus were doing.

Outside, she could see the tiny green tents belonging to the soldiers, which were neatly organised tents of the soldiers, divided by companies and battalions. Here and there down the lines, a few specific tents were larger than others, and those were reserved for the sergeants and lieutenants. There was a professional and disciplined structure to the entire encampment which Anna felt impressed with, given the uneven terrain of the hills they had made their camp on.

Further up the hill on a plateau, companies of soldiers were going through the various arms drills, while the Northuldra were going through their own evolution of manoeuvres on whatever little ground they all shared with the Arendellians. Commands from the lieutenants and echoed by the shouts of sergeants rang through the air, mixing with others from nearby companies and battalions, but somehow the men were able to recognise the voices of their commanders by heart. The formations of the various companies evolved swiftly and neatly to the rhythm of the regimental drums.

Wow, Anna mused to herself as the carriage wheel was finally levered out of the rut and the carriage continued its bumpy journey up the track towards the crest of the hill. We might actually have a chance tomorrow.

The carriage stopped at the side of a large tent - presumably belonging to Frederick- where a makeshift shelter had been built behind it. A portable writing desk and a chair had been fashioned out of an old log for the newly brevetted Division General to make his final preparations, and to survey the battlefield for any last changes to his plan.

This little shelter overlooked the large field that lay in front of it, stretching far to the other side where there was another hill.

The field itself, thankfully, was more or less flat terrain, with a coverage of trees separating the field from a small farmers' village at the foot of the hill they were currently on. A tributary ran from the crest of the hill, streaming all the way down to the village which acted as a source of water for the farmers.

The village comprised of houses and small plots of land scattered irregularly which would provide cover for the Arendellians in loose order, if the battle ever came to a point where the soldiers had to retreat back to the village and fight hand to hand in between houses, but Anna hoped that it wouldn't come to that.

To both sides of the fields lay thick forests, which stretched out in directions as far as the eye could see. On the right was the Enchanted Forest, where Elsa and herself had shared their most recent adventure, which even then felt so long ago, even though it had barely been five months. Given the terrain the two opposing armies would be fighting in, it looked like it was going to be a pretty straightforward face-off, though she was prepared to be proven otherwise.

"Your Majesty. Your Royal Highness." Division General Frederick got up from his chair as Anna, Elsa and Janus approached on foot. His lip quirked ever so slightly when he saw the masked mercenary with them. "Welcome to the western border of Arendelle. I take it you've been here before." He glanced at Elsa.

Elsa nodded laconically, and Anna remembered the time more than a year ago when Elsa had vanished to stop a raid on the village by herself, which turned out to be the plot of the villainous Pilgrim. That seemed like a lifetime ago, compared to the dangers and threats they faced now in the armies of the Empire and the Southern Isles.

"Good to see you too, General." Anna nodded.

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "General?"

"I promoted him while you were away." Anna said. "I thought it would be fitting."

"Unofficially, of course." Frederick said quickly.

"Till this is over. And then we'll make it official." Anna added.

Frederick looked hesitant but nodded, and then waved a hand at the terrain that spread out in front of them. "Well, this is what we have. I would consider this our most favourable battlefield, given the other grounds that we've surveyed, which are mainly thick forests and rivers. At least we got to pick the spot and have the Imperial Horde play by our terms, but I wouldn't put it past their competent field commander to find a way to take advantage of the nature of the battlefield."

"You can count on that." Elsa said. "General Kane's a cunning strategist, not to mention he's ruthless enough to do whatever it takes to win him the war."

Frederick didn't seem fazed, though in his defence, he never really did. Anna could count the number of times he had displayed anything more than a raised eyebrow on one hand. He cleared his throat.

"Don't worry, Your Highness." Frederick said. "The plan has been set, and all the various battalions and units know their roles in tomorrow's battle. They're practicing their drills as we speak."

"I saw." Anna said. "Wanna tell us the plan?"

"Of course." Frederick indicated the hill on the opposite side overlooking the valley where they would be fighting tomorrow. "Kane's forces will be marching up from behind the hill, and the only way they'll reach Arendelle is by passing through here. Now, as to what I think Kane has in mind, he's likely to try to make this a battle of attrition. He'll want to wear us down by taking advantage of his superior numbers. Here's what I propose…"

ELSA

"Did you catch all that?" Anna whispered to Elsa as they thanked Frederick after the briefing, and wandered back to the carriage.

Elsa nodded slowly. "I think so." She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was better than Anna when it came to military jargon and tactics, owing to her extensive time in the royal library during her teenage years, but Frederick's elaborate explanation of contingencies and plausible enemy tactics were a little out of her league.

"Well let's just say I'm glad that I don't have to understand military tactics as part of my job scope as queen." Anna sighed. "Here's hoping that the plan isn't as complicated over on Matthias' side."

"Let's hope not." Elsa said, but she had a feeling it would be. Matthias was just as good a commander as Frederick was, and the threat of the Southern Isles wasn't any less than that of the Imperial Horde.

Frederick had devised a masterpiece of a battle plan, in Elsa's opinion. Initially, she had her worries about how Arendelle was going to fend off the notoriously ruthless army of the Empire under the command of General Kane, but now that she had heard Frederick's plan, she felt better.

Not much granted, but still it was a comfort to know that the two Arendellian brigades - and the Northuldra - were in good hands. In addition, Frederick had instructed messengers to ride out carrying peace flags over to the opposite hills where the Imperial Horde was likely camped on the obscured slope by with a request to parley.

It's a good thing then, that when I was still queen I promoted him to the rank of Colonel. And now Anna's promoted him to a division general. He deserves it, really.

"Look, I've got to find Jordan." Elsa said. This was something she hadn't been looking forward to, but the Elemental Sorcerer had a right to know that his sister had been taken prisoner…or worse. She cringed at the horrid thought. Was Jade even still alive? The fact that she didn't know made her dread approaching Jordan even more.

Anna nodded. "I'll be making the rounds to acknowledge the troops. Meet back here later?"

"Alright." She watched as Anna set off down the hill slowly, cautious not to trip on a rock and sprawl in front of the hundreds of soldiers in the middle of their drills. A couple of corporals from the Queen's Guard followed her at the gesture from Lieutenant Evans, their commander.

Two more soldiers came her way, and Elsa waved them away politely. She never needed escorts before, and certainly not now when Janus was around.

"Do you want to come?" Elsa turned to Janus. "I could use a little moral support."

He nodded and followed her as she went back the way they had come via the carriage, in search for where the rest of the League of Sorcerers were camped. The fact that Janus was dressed in his mercenary garb with his sword on his hip, and a quiver and bow slung across his back drew much attention. Many soldiers in the midst of drills turned their heads to see this strange man in a hood and mask accompanying the princess, and were screamed at by their sergeants and lieutenants.

The League of Sorcerers were camped near the Sixth Company of the Second Brigade's Third Battalion, and as Elsa and Janus drew nearer, she saw Jordan sitting in front of his own tent by himself, watching a company of soldiers executing a complex formation evolution.

"Jordan." She approached him slowly.

He looked up and started a little when he saw Janus. Evidently he too remembered the mercenary from their days in the League under Ingrid Grendstav.

"It's okay. He's with me." Elsa said reassuringly and squatted down on the muddy ground. "Look, Jordan."

He watched her with unsuspecting eyes, which made her feel even more awkward.

"I-" Her voice caught in her throat and she swallowed. "I need to tell you something."

He frowned slightly, as if he could sense that something was amiss, and her heart hammered in her chest. She didn't know how he would react to the news. But it has to be done.

"Jade was involved in a sabotage mission." Elsa began slowly. "She and a few others were in Fort Kroxendal to blow up the Imperial Horde's supplies. But…" she paused and inhaled deeply. "…she stayed behind to finish the mission, forcing the rest to leave without her. We…we don't know if she's still alive."

She watched Jordan's expression evolve from calm to confused, then to dismay and lastly to fury. Elsa looked away as a stab of guilt felt like a dagger had been thrust straight into her heart. Finally, she mustered up the courage to look him in the eye again, and what she saw made her want to tear away her eyes from him again. Even though he was mute, the look of anguish in his eyes said it all.

"I…I'm sorry, Jordan." Elsa said quietly.

He clenched his fist, and the soil around their immediate vicinity crumbled into dust, and the rocks pebbled across the track disintegrated. The ground trembled slightly though almost imperceptible, but Elsa felt it as she was closest to him.

"It's my fault, Jordan." She went on, her voice thick with emotion. "I should have looked out for her."

Jordan shook his head and signed to her. No. He pointed a finger out over the hills where the Imperial Horde were advancing towards. It's their fault. And Jade is alive. I know it.

"How can you be sure?" Elsa asked, though she honestly didn't want to be the harbinger of negativity. She just didn't want him to get his hopes up when the enemy was one as cruel as Kane or Eleanor.

He touched his heart and signed. We share the same blood.

Elsa nodded. She knew what he meant. A bond that siblings shared could not really be explained but what he had elucidated more or less summed it up. She knew when something was wrong with Anna and when she was trying to hide something, or instinctively felt when she was in danger. For Jordan, it must have been the same.

"Jade's alive?" She ventured hopefully.

He set his jaw and nodded, touching his heart again. Then, he took her by surprise and hugged her, patting her on the back.

"It's not your fault." He signed. "I know you'll help me get my sister back."

"I will." She said, though she felt a lot less confident that she had tried to sound. Looking out at the hills on the opposite side, Elsa's eyebrows furrowed as she slowly pulled away from Jordan's embrace. How am I going to get through the thousands of soldiers to where Kane is keeping Jade?

Author's Commentary:

Just a fun fact, I've been listening to intense movie soundtracks quite a lot while researching, outlining and writing. They have really helped to channel the emotions and paint the battlefield in dull, bleak colours, as well as the inner turmoil as our heroes get ready to navigate the war zone to survive and repel the Imperial Horde once and for all.

Side note: While uploading the final chapters of this story, I'll like to reveal that I have two more novel-length sequels already in the works. Stay excited as we prepare to finish up!