Chapter Seventeen

Aftermath

ANNA

One would have thought that after a victorious battle fought in Turnsheim yesterday, Anna would've finally been able to take a break. But no, she had a thousand and one things to tend to.

Fighting a war wasn't simply about defeating the enemy and moving on. No, they still had to account for the dead and wounded, reorganise and sort the survivors back into their various companies, battalions, brigades and divisions. Then there was the planning of the Coalition's next step. The war was far from over, and the Confederation members had to decide on where they would go from here.

That would come later on in the night. Right now, Anna was going over a short stack of paperwork which had to do with the reports of dead and wounded from each battalion and signing off to acknowledge them.

Then there were the letters of bereavement written and sorted by Frederick's staff that she needed to sign off personally before they would be sent off to poor widows and families that had just lost their sole breadwinner. It pained her to think of all those people back home in Arendelle waiting for a father, a husband or a son who had gone off to war, only to receive a flimsy letter with the queen's signature that offered their condolences and a monetary compensation to help them through the tough period.

She also had field promotions and recommendations she needed to officially sign off with her seal of approval. Commanders who had died in battle had left certain companies and battalions without their leaders, and replacements needed to be put in place quickly.

In truth, some of these were below her pay grade and the queen traditionally needn't bother with so many technicalities since this was usually the job of the commanding officer. However, she felt that she owed it to her troops to get involved in at least acknowledging their sacrifice.

Since she couldn't be out on the battlefield the same way Melody could, this was the least she could do to contribute. Her own staff assistant Hayley, Kristoff and Frederick had all offered to lift the heavy load off her shoulders, but she had declined. This was something she had to do herself. But that didn't mean that she didn't dread doing it.

Anna had been given the privacy of her own quarters in one of Turnsheim's exchange buildings that in the past had been purposed for business transactions and trade. However, it was now being used as a temporary living space for the Confederation members and the senior military officers to reside comfortably while preparing for the next leg of the campaign.

The room Anna had been given was a rather spacious one, but it was rather spartan in nature. The walls were made of unpolished stone and so was the ground. There was barely any furniture in her room apart from a sturdy wooden desk, a chair that was not quite stable, and a decently sized bed. The only other thing standing in her room was a small basin with a jug of water meant for washing up.

Atop her desk sat the thin pile of papers arranged into various files, and a decanter of some Turnsheim wine the grateful locals had offered their liberators. Or at least, that was the story she heard.

In any case, the Turnsheim wine that had been handed out amongst the Confederation nobility and the senior officers of the Coalition wasn't very good. It tasted diluted and a little too much like flavoured water for Anna's liking. Still, she drank it anyway, since her mind wasn't really on the taste of the drink and more on the endless work ahead of her.

She signed off at the bottom of the page, indicating her acknowledgement of the soldiers accounted for, and closed the file. Then, she put it aside with the rest of the files she had completed and took another fresh one from the new untouched stack.

"Second Division, First Brigade, Second Battalion, Fifth Company." The header of the file indicated. Anna flipped it open and started looking through the names on the list mechanically like she had done with the past few files.

"George Lipzeg, musket wound in left leg, expected to recover." The first line read. "Stanley Raviol, stabbed in the stomach, not expected to recover. Hugh Dieskal, musket wound festering, not expected to recover. Roy Henriq, missing and unaccounted for."

The last type was the worst. "Missing and unaccounted for". That meant that the poor soldier was lying somewhere out there in the battlefield, probably covered by some enemy's dead body or buried alive under debris and tons of uprooted grass. That could mean that the man was still somewhere out there in the dark, crying out for help, growing weaker and weaker, until…

Anna shook her head and took another sip of the Turnsheim wine from her glass. The wine wasn't even enough to make her feel foggy in the slightest. Sighing, she set the glass down and turned her attention back to the list of names before her. The list went on, and on, stretching for a couple of pages.

And this, by normal standards, was considered light losses. Due to Frederick's quick intervention, the Arendellians and Danish brigades had been able to turn the situation around in their favour. Otherwise, if they had simply relied on reinforcements, the losses would have been so much heavier and the thought was unbearable.

To think that she was feeling relieved that the stack wasn't high. It made her feel a little guilty, being happy that fewer people had lost their lives than she had predicted when she should still be upset that lives had been lost. Ultimately, soldiers had still lost their lives for the sake of the Confederation's cause. But this is war we're at, and lives are bound to be lost in the fight for peace…Or at least that was what she told herself.

As Anna read on, the names and descriptions began to become nothing more than a string of alphabets sewn together to form words she could no longer focus on. The words grew impossible to understand at one point, a blur even, and that was when Anna knew she had enough. She wedged a makeshift bookmark in between the pages and closed the file.

"Had enough yet?" Anna nearly jumped. Kristoff was watching her from the open door of her room, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded.

"I didn't hear you come in." Anna said, levelling the glass to her lips again.

"You know what?" Kristoff walked towards her. "I think it's time you took a break."

"You're right." Anna pushed the file aside and leaned her elbows against the sturdy desk, resting her jaw on her palms. "I need a break."

"You've had enough to do." Kristoff said. "Look, let me get Frederick to have his staff finish up the rest."

"I thought I would've gotten used to all this by now after months of campaign." Anna muttered, slouching in her chair. "Guess not."

"It's never easy when lives are hanging in the balance. It's probably something we'll never get used to."

Finishing up the remaining liquid in her glass, Anna exhaled sharply and stood up. "I'll finish up the rest of the paperwork later. It's time, isn't it?"

Kristoff looked like he wanted to argue, but settled for pulling out a pocket watch. "Yeah. We have an hour and a half before the next Confederation meeting with the rest of the representatives."

"Plenty of time to get what we need," Anna fished her coat off a wooden chair. "Let's go meet Melody."

MELODY

The temporary encampments were made throughout the city of Turnsheim. While the Xerflorians and Vjormans took the eastern side of the city and the Einsfeltai and the Molcorrans took the west and the north respectively, the Arendellians and Danish had camped together at the southern side.

The Arendellians and Danish had made their temporary base in the square outside the exchange buildings, in which the Confederation members were staying. The streets outside the exchange were infested with rows of tents, and there was barely any room to navigate between them.

Melody had occupied herself with countless things after the battle of Turnsheim. While Anna dove into the administrative side of things, Melody went about among the troops to make sure they were doing alright. The sights that greeted her were in some instances welcome ones, and others frankly depressing.

Ivon had taken her through the camp, where she had made her rounds to lift the morale of her troops, both Arendellians and Danish alike. As Melody and Ivon walked through the rows of tents, they were greeted by cheers and waves from the tired soldiers. Some were cooking, others playing cards, but they all perked up when they saw their general and princess who had led them into battle.

Melody smiled and waved at her troops, shouting her appreciation for their efforts and to rest up, for they would surely have to resume the campaign soon. Overall, morale was high amongst the troops after their victory. During the Coalition's attack, the Arendellians and the Danish had been the first to break through the Exonian defences on the west wall, and the soldiers were without question carrying that achievement with great pride, having survived insurmountable odds and almost certain defeat.

The not so pleasant sights came from the medical tents. A few open-sided tents had been erected for the purpose of tending to the wounded, and there were quite a number of soldiers being treated for their injuries there. The commander in charge of their side of the attack, General Frederick, had managed to salvage the battle and losses had been considered light.

Another horrid thought crossed her mind. If their loses had been deemed light, then she hated to think of the damage the Molcorrans and Xerflorians had sustained. How many more had died or were gravely wounded? Melody shook her head, deciding to be content with the state of her own troops. They had gotten off easy and she was thankful for that, if nothing else.

Still, that didn't muffle the blood curdling screams as the regimental surgeons and medics went to work sawing away infected limbs and pulling musket balls wedged deep into wounds. There was a pile of limbs at the side of one of the tents, and blood still dripped from where they had been cut off. Not to mention the stench.

This wasn't the first time Melody had seen something like this, since they had already been in a couple of battles. But still, the sight never grew any less depressing and revolting. She stood at a distance, watching it all with a pang of sorrow as the shrieks and cries of the wounded soldiers filled the air, and felt her gorge rise in her throat. I think maybe Anna has the right idea not coming down here to see all this.

Ivon cleared his throat. "Maybe it's time to go. We've seen enough."

"Alright." She swallowed hard, and took one last sympathetic look at the wounded before tearing her eyes away from the horrible scene. Then off she went, towards the entrance of the exchange building where she was supposed to meet Anna and Kristoff.

The two of them were already there when Melody arrived. The married couple looked worn out from their duties. Melody felt sympathy for them both, seeing as how they hadn't even had their chance to have their honeymoon since they had been married. Well, I suppose this year long campaign would have to pass as a substitute till this is all over.

Anna gave her a tired wave. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course." Melody fell into step beside her and Kristoff. "We did promise we were going to do this together."

Mounting the horses that had been prepared for them by the servants, the trio made their way across town, flanked by an extensive number of soldiers on all sides from the Arendellian Queen's Guard. Anna had explained that Frederick, who had been too busy to come himself, had insisted on having more soldiers accompany the royal couple and the princess across town. Moving about freely in foreign territory was risky, he had said, and both Anna and Melody knew better than to argue with the sagely veteran.

"So," Melody said as they rode on towards their destination. "You're sure no one else knows we're doing this?"

"Pretty sure." Anna said.

"Pretty sure?"

Anna shrugged. "You never know when some Molcorran spy is lurking around listening in to our plans."

Melody sighed. "Then let's get this over quickly."

"With pleasure."

"Here we are." Kristoff reported as the Queen's Guard soldiers at the head of the little entourage signalled that they had arrived. He reined in his mount, and the two girls did the same. The trio dismounted from their horses, and Melody glanced at the building in front of them.

They were outside the city penitentiary, which now held the prisoners of war. The Exonian soldiers who had surrendered or those who had been too wounded to flee with the rest of the Imperial Horde were taken prisoner by the Coalition. Still, languishing under human jailers was better than being gutted and left to bleed out on the battlefield, Melody supposed.

None of the other Confederation members knew that the trio were at the Turnsheim penitentiary. In all the chaos in the aftermath of the battle, none of them had thought to learn of the enemies' plans and hadn't sent any of their own armies' interrogators to glean information from the Exonian prisoners.

Of course there was the possibility that those the Coalition had captured were just common corporals or privates that didn't know anything about Field Marshal Kane's plans. But still, it was worth a shot to try and find out if they knew where General Hydrech had retreated to with the remainder of his Imperial Horde forces. Anna had suggested that they step in unofficially, confident that between the three of them, they would be able to come up with something to obtain useful information from the Exonian prisoners.

So here they were, walking through the corridors of the city penitentiary, hoping to learn something from the prisoners. Kristoff split up with the two girls to cover more ground, and he went up to the second level in search of Exonian soldiers to question.

Accompanied by five soldiers of the Queen's Guard, Melody and Anna stayed on the same level, careful to stay away from the bars of the cells. Many prisoners in muddy red uniforms shared single cells, crammed into the claustrophobic spaces like food in a tin can. At most, each cell had only two beds which in any case didn't look very attractive anyway.

Glancing left and right as they passed through the corridors, the two girls scanned the uniforms for any signs of high rank. Bars stitched onto the shoulders which would indicate them as officers - important enough to perhaps know something.

Spotting an officer, Melody stopped and motioned to Anna. "There." She pointed at the cell on her right. Anna followed her finger and nodded.

A man with greying hair and a neatly trimmed beard was sitting in the cell quite far back, crammed together with four more common privates and a lieutenant. He had an eagle on each shoulder, though no longer gleaming. His medals and eagles were covered in dirt from the battle, and he had dried blood running down the side of his head.

"That one." Anna told her guards. "Be gentle with him. He's been hurt."

It wasn't very likely that the man would lash out, but still, precautions had to be taken. The Exonian colonel was restrained and escorted to the interrogation room located on a separate level. The interrogation room was a dark one, the only source of light being a single lamp dangling from the ceiling via a rusted chain that looked like it was going to give way at any moment. There was a thin wooden table in the centre and only two flimsy looking chairs, one of which had been taken by the prisoner.

"Get up." The Queen's Guard soldier began to pull the defeated Exonian colonel to his feet.

"No, no, it's alright." Anna said, as she and Melody walked into the room, the two of them flanked by the three remaining Arendellian soldiers. She gestured to her soldier to put him down. "Let him sit."

The Exonian colonel looked to be in poor shape after the battle. Apart from the dried blood on the side of his face, his uniform was stained muddier than the natural muddy red colour the Exonians all donned. In addition, he had a few cuts on his hands, probably sustained when he had fallen during the stampede retreat of the Exonians after the western wall had fallen to the Arendellians and Danish brigades.

Melody even felt a bit of pity for him. An Exonian officer, just following orders and being left behind when he couldn't escape of his own accord.

Anna glanced at Melody. "Looks like you'll have to take this one. My Exonite is pretty horrible but I'll back you up if needed."

"Alright." Melody sat down at the table. She tried hard to dig about in her mind to dredge up what little she knew of the Exonians' native language. Looking at the Exonian colonel in front of her, she cleared her throat. "Hello." She began slowly in Exonite, dusting off the cobwebs clinging to her knowledge of the language. "I'm Princess Melody of Denmark. What's your name?"