Chapter Forty Eight

Fort Steinfall & The Climb

ANNA

As predicted, the Coalition was reaching the territory of Fort Steinfall which overlooked the ocean and loomed tall and threatening over everything else visible for miles. Apart from the occasional fall of snow and chilly winds, the weather had thankfully held up. No blizzards or ferocious storms which impeded the march. Cutting back on rest had helped too, though the soldiers were evidently more worn out by the end of each day.

Nevertheless, on the fourth day since they'd decided to take the Highlander envoy's offer, Field Marshal Frederick announced that they would arrive at the vicinity of Fort Steinfall slightly before nightfall. "I will dispatch our scouts to reconnoitre and report back," He reported to the remaining members of the Confederation.

"Good, good," Anna said in relief. She glanced at Marquess Horatio and Prince August who were riding alongside her. They too looked more at ease now that they knew that Fort Steinfall was near. But then again, both Horatio and I have been down this road before, and look how that turned out?

"Are we sure the Fort's going to be empty though?" August voiced their shared concern. The only reason why the Coalition hadn't established their lines of communication there was because Steinfall was so far out of the way the first time they'd cut through Empire territory in pursuit of Hydrech's depleted forces. And besides, the Coalition had been spread incredibly thin.

"It should be. At least it was, when I passed it by on the way." Talya called out from behind them. The envoy from the Agrabanian Highlanders had requested if she could ride with the Coalition on the way to Fort Steinfall instead of going back alone, and Anna had somewhat reluctantly agreed.

If she was being completely honest, Anna still didn't know what to think of the Agrabanian girl. Talya was nice enough, bubbly, enthusiastic with an annoying amount of optimism. But that was exactly how Anna used to be, and having Talya around was a reminder of how the war and the dangers she'd faced together with the Warriors had hardened her into a more serious and less energetic person. On the other hand, Anna couldn't shake a strange feeling about Talya. The girl seemed to look up to her as a legend of some sort and wanted to hang around Anna and ask every imaginable question on God's green earth. It was annoying and a little off-putting, but Anna, even in her constantly exhausted state, couldn't bring herself to tell Talya to buzz off and leave her alone. After all, this girl could very well be the salvation of the Coalition.

However, there was something about her very presence that felt far too well-timed, perhaps even staged to be coincidental. Anna couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew there was something deeper about Talya that she wasn't revealing. But then she supposed she would just have to ask King Aladdin for herself when they got to Agrabah. Eventually.

"The reconnaissance team will be able to tell us if it is safe to enter the fort, or if it is currently being held by an enemy force." Frederick said neutrally as he rode his mount expertly alongside them. "Please excuse me, Your Majesty," He saluted, then turned to the other two. "Your Royal Highness. My Lord," Finally, he regarded Talya who rode behind the three Confederation members. "Miss," With that, he applied his heels to the dark, sturdily built horse he rode, and cantered back up the column to where Kristoff was relaying instructions to the general staff.

"My Xerflorians in the rear guard report that the Imperial Horde is still rather far off," Horatio added when Frederick was gone. "Probably even a couple of days between us."

"The plan worked. The lengthened marches are giving us an edge." August looked both impressed and relieved. "Let us hope that our good fortune keeps up when we get to Steinfall."

"No fear," Horatio puffed himself up in the saddle, hand on the cavalry sabre at his hip. "If it comes down to a fight, we'll give them hell." He wheeled his mount about in a sharp turn. "Yaah!" Horatio's horse galloped back down the column to where the Xerflorians were bringing up the rear of the Coalition.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," August said, adjusting his grip on the reins.

Anna nodded as August excused himself and returned to his own division. "Here's hoping," She muttered to herself. For a moment, she allowed herself to be lost in her thoughts and forgot that she wasn't alone.

"You know, I never really knew what the Confederation was like. I heard so many stories," Talya pulled up alongside her and Anna groaned internally.

"Stories." Anna repeated absentmindedly.

"Yeah. Everyone's heard of how the Confederation screwed things up at the annual summit and gave the Empress a reason to begin her conquest. No offence," Talya added the last part quickly.

"None taken." Anna mumbled as she looked out in front of her. The column snaked as far as her eye could see, and off in the far distance, mist obscured what lay ahead. On her right and left were trees - or what was left of them at least. The thorns and dried branches were sharp enough to cut if you weren't looking where you were going.

"I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Agrabah you guys have a reputation," Talya went on, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Anna had no interest in carrying on the conversation. "People say that the members of the Confederation just can't get along with each other."

Anna kept looking ahead. "Well, you're not far from wrong."

"DIdn't seem that way though. You guys work rather well together."

"You have no idea the arguments and quarrels we had to go through to get to this stage," Anna eyed the envoy. "We had to work hard to even get to a place where we could come to a consensus about something. You weren't here to see how Duke Helmsley and King Uxzas made things unbearably unpleasant every time we met."

"Oh you mean the one who turned traitor and the other who vanished?" Anna had told Talya about those two yesterday after the latter had pried that information out of her.

"Yeah. Those two. Not to mention the other members of the Confederation who aren't even involved in the damn war," In a way, Anna was glad that things were working more smoothly now, at least when it came to making decisions about something. With August already being a neutral party to begin with, she just had to keep Horatio tight on a leash, and everything would more or less work out. At least, that was the working theory.

Talya continued to blabber on but her voice soon became distant noise in Anna's ears as she withdrew back into her own headspace, pondering their next step. When the Coalition reaches Steinfall, we still have to hold it till the Highlander navy arrives. No doubt the Imperial Horde would close the lead and catch up with the Coalition. They would have to do everything to fend off the besiegers who clearly outnumbered them. But she trusted that Frederick would figure it out. Somehow.

The column eventually stopped in a large clearing at the edge of the edge of the thick woods, taking the time to catch a much needed break and a refill of canteens from a nearby brook. Many began pitching their tents in a less than organised fashion, given the tight space they had to work with. Some started fires and cooked. Others sat in the snow, leaned against trees, a good many snoozing while others talked. They all waited as the scouts ranged ahead to get the lay of the land. It wasn't until nearly half past six in the evening that they returned with a report.

"You've got to be shitting me," Anna's jaw tightened as Frederick relayed the report to them in the newly pitched Command Tent.

"Looks like our good fortune did run out." August said dryly.

"Roughly how many?" Horatio asked the Field Marshal.

"The scouts reported that Fort Steinfall is large enough to hold at least a field army." Frederick had his hands clasped at his back, and as usual a blank expression rested on his face. He glanced at Kristoff, who pored over a map beside him.

"Sounds about right," Kristoff didn't look up from the map. "That is, if the notes and schematics we have aren't outdated."

"It doesn't matter." Horatio raised his voice and his hand flew to the sabre on his hip. "We still outnumber the bastards. We'll charge the fort and seize it!"

"It's not that simple and you know it," Anna put a hand to her forehead. "How the hell did they get in behind us?"

"Kane must have ordered his forces to split up," Frederick explained calmly. "Some of them must have headed for Steinfall to occupy it."

"How could he have predicted our movements?" August asked.

"The same way he anticipated that we were banking on the city of Korynes to be our winter quarters," Frederick continued. "He's planned for everything and he has the advantage of numbers."

"It's Korynes all over again," Anna muttered in dismay. Kane had beaten them with the same strategy, not once but twice.

"So what now?" August looked equally at a loss as Anna was.

"We can still fight," Horatio jabbed a finger at the map Kristoff was poring over. "We have the fortress' schematics. We can lay siege to Steinfall."

"That's…going to be a problem," Kristoff said slowly, finally looking up.

"Why?" Horatio demanded.

Frederick eyed the papers that detailed the architecture of Fort Steinfall, and Anna's heart sank as she saw him form his lips into a thin line.

###

"So we're kind of screwed, is that what you're trying to say, Ma'am?" Talya looked lost. Of course she did. She wasn't a soldier, military strategist or queen. She was just an envoy.

Anna sighed. She couldn't believe she was sharing her frustrations with the Agrabanian girl. Honestly, Anna knew she herself wasn't much good when it came to soldiering, strategy or architecture for that matter. Back in the Command Tent, Frederick had explained to them that Fort Steinfall was a stone work of modern engineering, meant to withstand and counter artillery bombardment and standard infantry charges.

It was a sea-coast star fort, meaning that with its back to the water and coast, the enemy had one less side to worry about because there was no way in hell the Coalition could use the coast road to circle round to the fort's rear without taking heavy losses. The architecture of the fort was shaped as a star in order to mitigate the risk of having the walls and towers vulnerable to cannon fire. In the old days, perpendicular walls couldn't absorb or deflect constant blows from the artillery, and so they crumbled under the modern military might of the cannoneers.

But here, the engineers had perfected the architecture, making the bastion walls thick and low, slanted and converging to form the shape of a star. The walls were made of brick which crumbled far less easily than stone, and had the advantage of a flanking bastion. If one was attacked, the flanking bastion could lend support and lay down covering fire. The flanking bastion had a clear line of sight to the attackers if they were at the base of a wall and could assist in sending them scattering before much damage could be done. The design gave the defenders the luxury of having all flanks covered and the ability to protect the neighbouring walls with mobile artillery. To further strengthen the walls' defences, Steinfall also had redoubts around the perimeter of the star fort.

And that wasn't all. Frederick had informed them that the scouts had spotted glacis and ravelins, thickly packed earthworks meant to hamper attackers and further deflect the artillery from making a direct hit on the walls. Built in the ditches beyond the bastion walls of the star fort, they gave the defending soldiers cover as they fired at the attackers charging across the field. Tenailles, an outwork positioned between the walls of the glacis and the star fort, also allowed the defenders to enter or exit the star fort without being hit by the attackers' fire.

The terrain wasn't to the Coalition's advantage either. A large field lay between the edge of the woods and Fort Steinfall, meaning that the Exonians would see them coming from a mile away. What's more, the Fort was built on a slight elevation in the ground, giving the enemy the advantage of the high ground. Even Anna knew that was textbook. Having the high ground meant that half the battle was won. Or maybe a quarter of it. Whatever it was, as Talya had put so eloquently: 'we're kind of screwed'.

"Nevertheless, we still made up our mind that we're going to lay siege to Steinfall," Anna straightened and set her jaw in determination. "This time, Horatio is right. We have no choice but to stand and fight."

They were now in a worse situation that they had been a couple of days ago at the riverbank opposite the city of Korynes. At least back there, the city wasn't so heavily fortified, even if the Coalition had been utterly worn out and the Vjormans had been taking heavy casualties. Here at Steinfall, the Coalition faced heavy fortifications and the diminishing chances of securing the stronghold before the Imperial Horde behind them caught up and sandwiched them again. To make things worse, they would have to lay siege to Steinfall in the very heart of winter.

"Will we have enough time?" For the first time since they met, Talya looked anxious.

"I don't know." Anna admitted. As Frederick told them, they wouldn't have time to resort to the traditional method of investing an enemy fort. There simply wasn't enough time to build enough earthen ramparts and entrenchments that would circle the perimeter. Without established lines of circumvallation, the chances of successfully besieging the fort went down drastically.

And neither did they have the luxury of time to construct contravallation, a second line of defences that was meant to protect besiegers from a force allied to the ones inside the fort and enhance the blockade by making it difficult for the besieged to obtain supplies. But something told Anna that the Exonians in the fort had enough supplies to last them, unlike the Coalition. They had mere days before Kane and the rest of the Imperial Horde caught up to them. The enemies inside the fort had time. The Coalition, however, did not.

"Damn," Talya murmured, drumming her fingers on Anna's writing desk.

Anna sat behind the table, leaning back in her foldable chair. She could feel a headache coming back, and exhaled deeply. All of a sudden, she felt very tired and closed her eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry," Talya said quietly as she stopped drumming. "I didn't know that the fort would be occupied. It wasn't, when I was on the way here."

"There's no way you could've known," Anna mumbled half to herself.

"But I think you're doing the right thing," Talya carried on. "The only way out of here is forward. You have to lay siege to Steinfall and get in there before Kane and his forces arrive. Otherwise when the Highlander navy arrives, there's going to be hell."

"I know, I know." Anna sighed and opened her eyes.

"Look. You can do this. You're freaking Queen Anna," Talya leaned forward and put a hand on Anna's, then withdrew it quickly when she remembered it violated decorum.

Anna smiled. The envoy could be really encouraging when she wasn't busy bombarding Anna with countless questions. "Thanks. I guess."

"Come on, you beat them before. The Battle of Arendelle. The Battle of Turnsheim. Korynes. Netheide."

"Wait," Suspiciously, Anna sat up. "How do you know about the battles we had this campaign?"

"What can I say? Word travels fast." Talya shrugged.

Perhaps too fast. Unconvinced,Anna studied the envoy's face.

Talya averted her eyes and her drumming on the table resumed. "Look. My point is, you've beaten the Imperial Horde before."

"All those battles we won, we never had to go up against Hans. He's smarter than all of us put together," Anna stood with a grunt and walked away from the desk. The headache was prominent now, and she felt slightly queasy again. She staggered a little and grabbed the side of the table.

Swiftly, Talya reached out and grasped her arm. "You alright?"

Anna nodded, steadying her breath. "I'm fine. As I was saying, Hans can and will outsmart us. I've faced him enough times to know. Everything we've done so far, he's predicted it all. If we do something, it's because he wants us to."

"Look, he's a nobody." Talya rebutted. "You can beat him. You're freaking-"

"Freaking Queen Anna. I know." Anna cut her off. "You don't know him. If you've ever met him, you would know what I mean."

"I don't have to know him. I know you," Talya grinned. "Or at least, getting to know you. You're better than him. You can beat him."

Though she didn't feel like it, she returned the grin and leaned against the side of the writing desk. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow morning."

MELODY

"I think we'd better stop climbing now," Deirdre said loudly over the constant rumbling of the wind, for what might've been the sixth or seventh time.

"Not yet," Melody repeated, also for the sixth or seventh time that day. She was determined to make it as far as possible. It wasn't too dark, and it wasn't too cold. They had Deirdre holding a ball of fire that both attempted to keep them warm and light their path in the darkness. And that was enough to keep them going.

Snow continued to pelt the trio as they ascended further, climbing the gradual rise of the mountain that seemed to last forever. The slope may have seemed far from steep, but that didn't mean the mountain they were scaling wasn't tall. The path wound in circles, and in some instances they had to climb vertically just to reach ground that could be traversed. The trek - and climb - felt like it'd lasted forever, and yet, in reality, it was only the fourth day since they'd left the village of Mon Solrak far below them. That made Melody increasingly short-tempered and determined to get to the temple at the summit.

A bitterly cold gust of wind howled, and Melody dug her trekking poles into the snow as hard as she could - not for the first time. Narrowing her eyes to block out the snow, she cast a glance over her shoulder to check on her two climbing companions. Deirdre and Eleanor had similarly stabbed their trekking poles deep. They'd all had ample practice over the last four days, given the harsher climate they faced the higher they ascended.

"Damn it, you trying to get us killed?" Eleanor snarled. "That's enough!"

"Melody!" Deirdre shouted over another chilling howl. "We need to stop! We can't make it much further tonight, not with winds like these!"

Reluctantly, Melody nodded. Deirdre was right. She was pushing them all too hard. Sometimes, she forgot that she was the only one who had half mermaid biology, allowing her to withstand and adapt to extreme cold whereas the others couldn't. "Alright. Let's find shelter and make camp!"

They managed to find a spot further up the slope that had a fairly large gap in the wall, which was a crevice just large enough to squeeze the three girls inside, though they were packed shoulder to shoulder and had to pull their knees to their chests just to fit. Eleanor went in first, then Deirdre, followed by Melody who knew she could take the brunt of the cold and not be affected by it. Deirdre used her sorcery to make her body temperature soar, radiating heat from her body that kept the three of them warm.

The winds continued to roar outside, as though threatening to pull the girls out of their crevice. Snow was blown in their direction, constantly bombarding their faces and giving them no chance to wipe their faces clean. It was the worst case scenario that Melody had conceived in her mind before their expedition, and it'd come to pass.

To her though, the storm outside was nothing more than a minor chill. Still, she wrapped the scarf tighter around her neck and pulled her arms together. Beside her, Deirdre and Eleanor were clutching their animal furs with their thick winter jackets and were swathed in so many layers that Melody wondered if their bulk was the culprit for their lack of space in the crevice.

"Try to get some sleep." she told Deirdre and Eleanor. They were nowhere near close to getting frostbite or hypothermia, that was for sure. Deirdre's sorcery kept the cold at bay, so it wasn't all bad.

Melody closed her own eyes. She was more exhausted than she thought she was. All that adrenaline and pent up frustration had dissipated, leaving behind a shell of a worn out girl still suffering from whatever trauma she'd been stricken with. She shut her eyes tighter. No, she wasn't going to break down here. Not now. There would be plenty of time to figure out how to deal with her issues later.

Her mind was too tired to conjure Maui to the forefront, which worked fine for her, because she wasn't exactly feeling up to talk to her own conscience right now. There was a long period of silence in which Melody could feel herself slowly drifting into oblivion. And then Eleanor's quiet voice woke her.

"Deirdre."

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

Melody opened her eyes. She'd been trained to read and see through people's intentions by deciphering their tones, and she could tell by listening to Eleanor's tone that she was genuinely remorseful this time. There was neither malice nor sneer behind her words.

"For what?" Deirdre asked.

"Whatever that's happened between us,"

"Eleanor, why-"

"I've had a lot of time to think about it these past days. To think clearly, now that my demon is no longer around to cloud my mind. To think about all the pain I caused people. The pain I caused you," Eleanor paused. "I'm not making excuses by saying my demon made me do it. It didn't. Maybe it corrupted my mind even more than it already was, but every decision I made was my own."

"Eleanor, I don't think this is a good time to talk about this."

"I don't think we'll ever get a better time. Remember what the local said about Hoffensol? We might not even make it out intact."

"Alright."

Eleanor swallowed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry. Sorry for selling you out to Mum and Dad. Sorry for conspiring to get rid of the whole family to ensure my place on the throne. Sorry for all the pain you must have endured after you were exiled from our home."

Deirdre took a minute before she responded. "We can't change the past. It's all over. I'll never get those years back. I can never go home. And our parents are gone."

"I'm sorry, sis." Eleanor's voice cracked. "I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you. If I could turn back time, I swear it would all be different. We could've shared a relationship like those perfect Arendellian sisters, ruling our people together. But it's too late. I fucked it all up."

"There's nothing we can do about that anymore." Deirdre said quietly, her voice quavering uncharacteristically. "Dad and Mum sent me to the doctors and scientists where they experimented and tortured me. I was there for years, and all I had to keep me going was vengeance. Eventually I was freed by a witch who manipulated me into becoming a pyromaniac, an assassin. And I enjoyed it. I enjoyed causing pain. I was a villain, until I met Elsa and her friends. They showed me kindness and let me atone for my mistakes as one of the good ones."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that contrary to what you've believed your whole life, we're actually not all that different." Melody imagined that Deirdre was giving her sister a comforting smile. "We've both been villains, but where we're different is that I had a chance to change for the better," Here, she paused. "And in spite of everything you've done, I believe you deserve that chance to change too."

Eleanor sniffled. "I don't know how."

"As Anna always likes to say: 'just do the next right thing'." Deirdre said. "And you'll be on the right track."

"Does that mean that I have to give up the throne too?"

"I…I don't know." Deirdre admitted. "But we'll figure that out when we cross that road."

"We?"

"You're not getting rid of me this time."

Smiling to herself, Melody closed her eyes again and let sleep take her.

Author's Commentary:

Not going to lie, I had to do extensive research about 19th century fortresses to make sure my information was accurate. But indeed, star forts were that well designed.