Chapter Sixty Five
The Will to Combat
JANUS
"That went quite well, I think." Janus said as they carried on in search of the others. Jordan had pointed them over to where the rest were gathered.
Elsa nodded and sighed. "But now I have to think of how I'm going to get Jade back."
"You mean we?" Surely she couldn't mean going over by herself.
Elsa looked woeful. "We've lost enough already. I don't want to put anyone else in danger."
"Except yourself?" Janus felt slightly annoyed. "I don't know if you've realised, but tomorrow every one of us is going to be out on that battlefield, in one capacity or another." He pointed out into the field. "We'll all be in danger. This is war we're at, remember?"
"I know!" Elsa raised her voice slightly and stopped in her tracks, prompting him to do the same. "I just…can't ask anyone else to sacrifice their lives anymore. One death is too many."
"Elsa," Janus said quietly and took her hand in his gloved one, not caring if any of the soldiers around were watching. "Tomorrow, many are going to die in battle. That's not something you can prevent. And it's not your fault either." He squeezed her hand firmly. "You can't do this alone, otherwise you'll die out there for sure, and I…" he paused. "I can't lose you. Please. Let us help you rescue Jade."
She heaved a sigh and avoided his gaze, staring out into the field where the battle would take place tomorrow. Then, her eyes met his. "Okay." She said uncertainly. "But…I don't know how we're going to save Jade in all the chaos."
"Let's go find the others first."
Elsa nodded and gave him a weak smile.
He smiled back, but remembered that she could not see his face behind the mask, and instead nodded in return.
The two of them went further down the track in search of the rest, and continued to draw curious stares from the soldiers around them. Janus was never one to be bashful, at least that was what he had thought of himself, but then again he had never been in the centre of attention like this in front of so many people who assumed he was an enemy. I guess that's what happens when you're too used to hiding in the shadows.
They found the other sorcerers sitting at the edge of a tent. Janus recognised all of them from his time in the League. There was Maui the demigod, huddled together in a circle with Holli, Deirdre, Vonco, Cornelius and Rikhard.
"Elsa." Maui said, and the others turned.
By the looks on their faces, Janus could tell that news of Will Daltrey's death and Jade's unknown state had already been divulged, and the latter three flinched a little in shock when they saw Janus with Elsa.
Again, Janus felt slightly awkward, an emotion that was relatively new to him, and even behind the security of his mask and hood, he didn't exactly feel very safe. He stood stiffly, with the eyes of the sorcerers on him.
"What's Prometheus doing here?" Vonco glanced warily at him.
And again, for the thousandth time, Elsa reassured the rest that he was on their side. Sooner or later, people were going to have to realise that and stop being suspicious of him, though Janus honestly couldn't blame them for it. His appearance was designed to be intimidating and his past was…shady, to put it plainly.
"And what about you?" Vonco turned back to Elsa after she'd finished her explanation of Janus' presence. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She said. "Mostly. Does everyone here know their part in the General's plans?"
They all nodded.
"Risky, if you ask me." The demigod scratched his bald head. "But smart."
"Right. Well, I'm guessing you all know about Jade's capture." Elsa went on. "Jordan thinks she's still alive, so we have to come up with a side plan to spring her from the enemy camp."
"Sounds grand and all." Vonco blinked. "But how are we going to do that while stuck in the midst of a battlefield?"
Elsa couldn't seem to find a response, and stared at them all. "I…" she slurred. "I'm open to suggestions."
There was a brief silence amongst the sorcerers as they contemplated the new objective which had been thrown before them. How could they fit it into the elaborate defence plan that the Arendellian division general had constructed? Janus furrowed his eyebrows as the wheels began to turn at the back of his mind.
"Actually," he spoke up, drawing the attention of the sorcerers. "I have an idea."
ELSA
This was insane. She never would have imagined that her life would come to this. From being cooped up in her room as a girl, scared of having her powers exposed to her people, to fighting alongside her own soldiers on a battlefield against the greatest threat the continent had ever seen.
As if General Frederick's plan hadn't been elaborate enough…now there was Janus' idea which he had thrown into the mix. But she did have to admit, it made sense, in a tactical sort of way. There was no guarantee though, that the plan would actually work. If there was one thing she had learnt from her time with the Warriors and the League of Sorcerers, plans always seemed to go off the rails on missions, and she had a feeling that this time wouldn't exactly be different.
After leaving Janus with the sorcerers, Elsa went off in search for the Northuldra, which had made their camp on the downslope of the hill, a little further away from the main bulk of where the Arendellian battalions' tents were pitched. Sure enough, she found them there, taking a break from their rigorous drills and training, which had been led by the tribe's leaders who had taken on the roles of lieutenants and captains in this time of crisis. The Northuldra had taken up to staying in the standard issue army tents, just like the rest of the combatants, and had left behind their traditional laavus in the city.
She found Yelena, who acknowledged her presence with a nod, and Elsa couldn't help but smile. The tribe elder always seemed to keep a stoic, gruff demeanour at all times, reminding her of Charlotte from the Insurgency. These two should get together sometime.
Elsa trekked through the rows of tents belonging to the Northuldra, turning heads as they recognised the woman who had liberated them from their thirty four year incarceration inside the Enchanted Forest. They began to cheer as she treaded down the path. Apparently they hadn't forgotten how she had defended them from the Exonian skirmishers who had attacked the forest.
She blushed and forced a smile, waving at some of them along the way as her eyes scanned for Honeymaren and Ryder. And then she spotted them peeping out of their tents to see what the commotion was all about.
"So the Snow Queen returns." Ryder grinned as she came over.
Elsa rolled her eyes and they both hugged.
"It's good to see you back." Honeymaren exchanged a hug with Elsa as well.
"Where else would I be on the eve of battle?" Elsa said as they both pulled away. "Couldn't leave my own kingdom to face the Imperial Horde while I was off somewhere else."
"We heard you were off with your sorcerer buddies." Ryder said. "To fight the Empress herself or something like that."
"Did you fight her?" Honeymaren chimed in, looking intrigued.
Elsa nodded.
"How did it go?"
"Let's just say I hope we end this once and for all tomorrow." Elsa looked out in the direction of where the Imperial Horde would be tomorrow.
"We heard other things too." Honeymaren was smiling. "Looks like you found what you were looking for, am I right?"
Elsa bristled a little. "What are you talking about?"
"Tall, dark and mysterious man in a hood?" Ryder said. "Rumours are going around that the princess has a new suitor."
So someone had seen Janus and her in the royal carriage, or even perhaps holding hands. Elsa felt her face grow hot, and her eyes flicked down to the ground.
"Is it true?" Ryder was annoyingly relentless. "You found yourself a boyfriend?"
Elsa played with a strand of loose hair. "You could say that."
"I gotta say," Honeymaren said. "I was expecting someone a lot more…ordinary. But what can I say? You've got interesting taste, Elsa."
"He's…more than he seems." She said weakly, feeling hot all of a sudden as perspiration began to bead on her brow.
"Sure, sure." Ryder chuckled. "We're happy for you. You deserve to be with someone you love."
Elsa decided it was time to change the subject to something less personal. "I'm guessing you guys know of the plan tomorrow?"
"Oh, yeah." Ryder motioned at an army issue jacket in his tent which had bars hastily sewn on it. "They made us both lieutenants. To be honest, I had no idea how this whole military thing works, but I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it."
Elsa raised an eyebrow at Honeymaren, who shrugged.
"That Frederick fellow is a genius, I'll give him that." Ryder continued. "But some say he's crazy. We're taking a big risk out there tomorrow."
"I know." Elsa said tightly. "But it has to be done. Janus will be out there with you guys tomorrow at the skirmish line…and I'll be joining in too when the time is right."
Honeymaren looked both surprised and relieved at the same time. "Not that I'm not happy you're going to be there to help us, but should the Princess of Arendelle really be fighting alongside her foot soldiers?"
"We don't have any other choice." Elsa said. "We're outnumbered against them so we'll need all our magic to level the playing field as best as we can, if that's even possible."
"I'm all for it, Elsa." Ryder said. "But you gotta be careful."
"No more than the rest of you." Elsa looked around at the Northuldra who were getting ready to get back to drilling. Really, she couldn't believe that it had all come down to this. All she could do was hope that the plan would work tomorrow.
ANNA
Things had taken a lot longer than Anna had thought. But then again, she should have expected that. It was the eve of a battle of unprecedented proportions on a scale that Arendelle had never seen before. By the time she was done making the rounds to thank the troops, it was already quite late in the afternoon.
And she had taken the time to be thorough too, since her father had always ingrained in her since young that every civilian and foot soldier of Arendellian descent mattered, and ought to be treated as such. Her father had also said something which now reverberated in the back of her mind as one of those wise quotes that were engraved on epithets of monarchs and nobles: The will to combat is fuelled by the soldier's loyalty and devotion to the crown.
And in this case, that nugget of wisdom was especially relevant. It yielded good results too, for the troops seemed to have a boost in morale and an extra spring in their step as they carried on their drills, fuelled by the queen's gratitude and acknowledgement of their efforts. At least they know they're not fighting for a lost cause.
When that was done, she had taken the carriage down to the coast road, where she met with Kristoff and General Matthias to go over the plan of defence agains the Southern Isles' Navy. From the intelligence Matthias' reconnaissance unit had fed him, it seemed that there would be a substantial number of steam fuelled ships rolling out into the fjord to attack Arendelle.
Unfortunately, the Arendellian Navy had been disbanded close to a century ago after the end of the first continental war as part of an agreed treaty between the feuding nations and kingdoms. The Southern Isles, however, had not been a part of it, which left them at a distinct advantage in the current age.
The Arendellian army had resorted to commandeering small vessels, merchant and commercial ships, fishing boats, and literally anything that could float in the water. These had become the makeshift fleet in whatever little time the army had been granted, though Anna had to admit it didn't look very promising when there was a threat of a fully operational fleet coming their way.
To compensate, Matthias had therefore deployed the bulk of his artillery on either side of the fjord, on top of the hills overlooking the deep drop. There, he had placed his big guns, and had explained his strategy to Anna. This, as she had predicted, was no easier to comprehend than the one Frederick had given her. She resolved that if she was going to be involved in more battles, then she would have to start learning these things, but she hoped that that wouldn't be the case.
The best part of the day, by far, was being with Kristoff again, though their reunion together was short. He was always busy with something it seemed, be it military related, logistically, or administrative. He was really swarmed, and it was beginning to show. Kristoff's eyes had dark circles round them, his blond hair looked more shaggy than usual, and a week's worth of stubble had formed on his chin and cheek, and a ragged moustache rested above his upper lip.
Anna had to admit, he'd looked better, and smelled better too. The clothes he was wearing had been the same as yesterday's, as far as she could tell, and was beginning to give off the unpleasant smell of days' old sweat. She had urged him to get some rest before the battle, but of course, he had told her that it could wait till things were settled. But at this rate, things won't be settled until after the battle, and even then…
Nevertheless, the two of them had managed to share a kiss or two before they were both separated again by their numerous duties. Anna had made up her mind that she was needed more on the coast road than up on the hills, since it seemed that the brigades up on the hills were better equipped with weapons and manpower, and that Frederick's forces would likely hold out well without her presence. The coast road was where she was required, and that was where she would be when the fighting began tomorrow.