Fallen Queen (Mariposa Book 1) Read online

  But with the value of Gerad border taken into account, there was no way they could let the enemy occupy the area by dividing the Rarkian force in half. Once they got past Gerad, there was a large road that went through a handful of lands, all the way to the capital. That probably was the reason Morgana wanted to attack here first. Though they were not acting that aggressive as of now, once they learned about the divide in the Rarkian army, they would think of this as an opportunity.

  So, the way to success was to secretly move and aim for the moment the Morganaans were not expecting any attacks, but there was nothing in the lowlands of Itaka that would hide the men from their eyes. Even the sparse trees on Boald Field were rarely found in Itaka. There apparently were even swamps here and there on the way across the Morganaan border from the lowlands of Itaka. If the Rarkians did choose that path, it would be very difficult to handle emergencies.

  In short, it was a flat field where they could not hide from the enemy and it was very difficult to navigate because of the swamps.

  “We will divide our force in three,” said Paseid. “Sir Haldroff and Sir Deusak will be in charge here in my place, and Sir Giotarre will be in charge of the front of the triangular defense line at Camp Anf. The rest will follow me to Olzore.”

  Jacalrin startled at his plain reply and jumped up. Unsettled by this as well, Evinbur clenched and rubbed his chin, and Tarayet and the other knights made odd noises.

  “Sir Calandok? Do you mean Fort Olzore?”

  “You just described a plan to attack Olzore?”

  “Taking Fort Olzore would be a good way to change the current situation, since it practically is the southeastern wall protecting Morgana, but I am here to end the war as soon as possible,” said Paseid. “Taking Fort Olzore is not my intent.”

  The knights’ stiffened faces returned to normal.

  “Then what is?”

  “We will go around the Olzore-Tolf area to infiltrate the Morganaan border and ambush the sides and the rear of Plain Ishas. Using the gunpowder Sir Chesa brought as a signal. When the time comes, Sir Giotarre at the twin cliffs will receive the signal and attack Rovantis’s army at the same time as Sir Haldroff. The mission will come to an end when the divided army joins again at the main camp through the road between the cliffs.”

  So, Paseid’s plan was to go around the perilous area of Olzore-Tolf to attack Rovantis’s army on the other side of the border. If they were to go that way instead of through the closer lowlands of Itaka, they would have to expect at least twenty days of travel.

  “The greatest risk is the timing of the Morganaan reinforcements’ arrival, but considering the highest speed twenty thousand men can move at once, I’d say we have a chance. Sir Keheif arrived this morning with information on the occupation force on Plain Ishas and the roads of the twin cliffs.”

  “Umm…then Sir Keheif will…?”

  “At the meeting this evening, he will propose a specific route with the least amount of risk of being noticed by the force on Plain Ishas.”

  “But if you get caught between the Tolf army and the Olzore army on your way, Gerad will be at risk.”

  “Tolf has been adjacent to the Daraks for a long time, and as I hear, the situation has worsened between the two. So, the commander of Tolf will not be able to pay attention to Gerad. I am thinking of constructing another plan in case that does happen, but don’t worry about that for now.”

  Paseid seemed like he was determined to end this war in the shortest amount of time possible.

  It wasn’t like they hadn’t had any discussions about Olzore in the past, and it certainly would be possible if they went through Tolf…but it still didn’t sound all that appealing. Even the even-tempered Evinbur seemed quite on edge to hear the name “Olzore,” like the other knights.

  Even to Jacalrin, it was an oddly suffocating thought to have to pass through a valley guarded by an impregnable fort that people said had never allowed any outsiders to step in for seven hundred years or so.

  “The initiation of the plan will be after the rear echelon Sir Chesa led here settles down, so in about ten days. A part of them will be assigned to supplies, and Sir Haldroff will be in charge of dividing the rest of the army into three. If this plan succeeds, the issue with the supplies and food until the rainy season will be resolved to a certain extent as well.” Though he knew what the complete silence meant, Paseid calmly went on. He seemed to have thought about this for a while now. “Any objections?”

  The headquarters were quiet. The knights glanced at each other, unable to think of a more realistic plan to defeat the enemy quickly. Weren’t they the ones who had claimed they should spring into action even if it was a stretch, lamenting their having to suffer the enemy fooling around? Of course, had they known the plan Paseid had in mind, they would have refined their expression.

  But he had finished his statement, and it would be hard to overturn his decision unless they thought of a better plan.

  The hourglass on the table was as still as a picture. Paseid estimated the time spent and ended the meeting. “Then we’ll end here tonight. Thank you.”

  As soon as he finished, the recorder quietly writing everything down in the corner took the record and left the tent silently. When the rest of the knights started to get up, a soldier artfully reported, “Excuse me, sir. I have something to report…”

  “Come in.”

  At Paseid’s command, the soldier ran in. He saluted the knights sitting at the table without looking surprised and started his report like he had been waiting for the meeting to be over. “I report, sir, that I found a woman lying unconscious near the camp.”

  “A woman?”

  “Yes, sir. But…Sir Chesa, umm…she says she came here for you, sir.”

  Everyone who was rustling around stopped at once.

  A woman? A woman in the middle of a camp?

  The sharp and questioning eyes of the knights simultaneously darted at Jacalrin. But even Jacalrin himself was making a weird face with an open but crumpled mouth, leaving the knights perplexed and their mouths shut. Jacalrin replied, “Hmm? What? Me? Why?”

  Paseid slightly frowned, glanced at Jacalrin, and spoke sternly. “Sir Chesa, have you any idea what this is about?” He seemed fairly angry.

  Jacalrin shook his head. Had he had some incident with a woman before he joined the army, and someone had sold him out? There was nothing to feel victimized about if he thought about the very free way he’d acted in the capital, but Jacalrin could not think of anything.

  “I really have no clue. I’m not crazy enough to bring a woman from the capital. Elhien looked over my preparations very meticulously, as if she already was the Lady of Brionake. Oh, come on, why are you all looking at me like that? Who on earth is looking for me and why?”

  Jacalrin’s aggressive defense made the middle-aged knights squinting at him clear their throats and turn away.

  Frustrated, Jacalrin repeatedly asked the soldier, “So, who is it? Why is she looking for me?”

  The expression on the soldier’s face was a bit odd. He kept glancing at Jacalrin and moved his lips as if he were trying to decide if he should say it or not. Jacalrin glared at him at last, and the soldier quickly looked down and muttered, “The…woman says she came over the ridge from Boald Field, sir. A guard found her unconscious in front of the camp and took her to the medic. But…”

  “Hmm?”

  “Umm, she claims that even though she is a civilian, sir, she was mistreated by Sir Chesa, was threatened with death, and was robbed of her personal property …”

  At the completely unanticipated situation, Paseid and the others waited for Jacalrin’s explanation. But the man at the center of their attention was shaking his head like he was utterly stunned. “Whaa—what?” He suddenly recalled someone. If that were true, it truly was preposterous.

  Paseid asked, “What do you mean by ‘threatening with death and robbing of personal property’?”

  Jacalrin’s fists tremb
led as chills ran down his spine.

  She came all the way here?

  His lips twitched. She was crazy. He’d thought she was a little off when she started saying duke regent, but she must have been completely cuckoo.

  “According to her claims, Sir Chesa seized the civilian’s horse and tried to kill her by tying her to a tree…”

  “Whoa! I never tried to kill her!”

  “…Sir, so…I came to report…”

  The soldier shrank into himself at Jacalrin’s response. Paseid pressed his left eye for a moment. “Sir Chesa, did you say that you paid for the horse you gave me?”

  “Oh, I-I did… Probably? I did tell Sir Verohan to pay her the price, sir. He must…probably…have…paid her?”

  Men sighed here and there. They seemed like they’d given up, thinking, Of course, he is Jacalrin Endo of House Chesa.

  “Then why is she claiming that it was seized from her?”

  “I don’t know? We’re allowed free supply of horses during wartime anyway, sir.”

  “Seizing from a civilian and receiving free supply are different. Do you not know that seizing of private property without the king’s orders is forbidden even during wartime? It’s clearly stated in the military law.”

  “There was a valid excuse, sir. She’s a little out of her mind.”

  Jacalrin decided to calm down and act cool. But the faces looking at him changed in the worst way. On top of his wicked despotism, he’s now framing the woman as insane to save his skin! he imagined they were thinking. Wow, he truly fits the bill of Jacalrin Endo!

  Jacalrin jumped up from his seat, feeling extremely victimized. I am telling the truth!

  But before he could say another word to plead his innocence, Paseid ordered, “Return the horse and send her back with an appropriate compensation.” He stepped out of the tent.

  Jacalrin froze there for a moment, listening to the older knights clicking their tongues and teasing him almost to the point of scolding, then suddenly came back to his senses and ran out.

  Chapter Seven

  A faint moan came from Reuyen’s lips as she looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling.

  The place they’d left her alone was a small tent for one person, not a military treatment facility for regular injured soldiers. She couldn’t tell if it was because she was a woman, or because they thought her suspicious and wanted to isolate her. When she recovered her senses to a certain extent, she started to pick up a strong scent of herbs. It was an unpleasant smell, so she looked around to see where it was coming from. The main source apparently was the mashed-up herbs covering her feet and calves. The bandage wrapping her feet was already yellowed from them. But she did not want to complain about them treating her.

  Heavy, bustling footsteps and occasional shouts came through the thin fabric of the tent. “Sir!” someone called out with great urgency, sounding quite comical.

  After her body recovered some more, she started thinking like Reuyen again. First of all, she could not tell if she should rejoice or be upset about her numbed senses coming back. With the pain she’d forgotten about, thousands of different unpleasant sensations started pecking at her, from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

  “Is it here? I said, is it here?” An irritated voice sounded out of nowhere, followed by angry stomps, and the tent’s drape opened. Reuyen was quite satisfied with Jacalrin’s stomping, cross passion.

  “Wow, I really was skeptical the whole way here, but I guess I was on to something!”

  “I came back…to retrieve my stolen Den, sir.” Aside from her hoarse voice, her tongue felt quite unnatural as she tried to address the young Chesa with respect. Though the young Chesa and Hansen looked nothing alike on the outside, for some reason she couldn’t help herself from thinking of that cheeky Hansen.

  All the same, Jacalrin stood there with a flushed face, trying to catch his breath. Then he saw her feet and looked aghast.

  “You’re crazy. Is that horse made of gold or something? You really chased me all the way here because you thought a man of House Chesa would ‘forget’ to pay you back? How did you even get out of the rope?”

  She massaged her tingly thigh and muttered as if to herself, “Were you truly trying to starve me to death, sir?”

  “No, I never said that.”

  “Getting out of the rope was not that hard. But there will be serious consequences if you do that to ordinary people, sir.”

  Jacalrin looked at her like he thought she was a nutcase. He pounded his own chest in frustration.

  Reuyen looked askance at him for a while, then changed her expression to a stern one.

  “But that’s none of my business,” she said. “I just want Den back, sir. That’s all I ask.”

  “You’ll get him back. You’re not trying to sneak into the camp with my name, are you?”

  “I’m here for Den only, at least for now…sir.”

  “Why? Have you got ten lives or something?”

  Reuyen’s parched lips smiled at that. Her lips tore and started bleeding, but she didn’t care. “I looked after that horse since he was a foal, with someone I cared very much about.”

  “Who? Your dead lover?”

  “Dead brother.”

  Jacalrin hesitated. He couldn’t argue her justification that the problem lay with her dead brother, for he also had a brother. He acted a little more somber.

  “Oh, umm, umm, yeah? I’m sorry… I mean, how do I know you’re not lying?”

  “Seven months ago, he volunteered himself to the Rarkian army and fell in a battle. His name was Eivan Detua. If you can’t believe me, sir, search the register of volunteered soldiers.

  “And I am here now, sir, to retrieve my younger brother who left seeking his own death after being enraged by Eivan’s death. The duty of sacrifice as decreed by the royal family of Rarke is one man per family, even if there is a draft, so if he can’t be discharged according to regular procedure, I’ll request an administrative separation,” she continued in a very clear voice, then added with less confidence, “If the military laws remain the same…sir.”

  Jacalrin made an empty, rather stupid-looking face at the words streaming out of her mouth like she was reading them from a book. He twitched his lips. “Who are you? Where did you say you were from again?”

  “Reuyen Detua from Gyujen…sir.”

  She was quite obviously doing something peculiar at the end of her sentences, but Jacalrin looked very serious. Reuyen read suspicion in his sullen eyes.

  “If you’re suspicious, my brother will provide an unquestionable proof of my identity. Aside from that, when are you going to give Den back to me, sir?”

  “I’ve sent for him, so he’ll be here soon. And…” Jacalrin’s voice trailed off as he chewed the inside of his cheek.

  She was a really, really strange woman. The reason for her chasing after them here, where a battle might break out any moment, all by herself like she was obsessed was, well, because she was obsessed with her horse and her brother. He could give her that. But that didn’t explain how she remained so confident and calm among rough soldiers and knights.

  He couldn’t smell danger, but it was now pretty hard to ignore the hunch that kept telling him something was up. All would be well if her brother were indeed at the Rarkian camp, but if not, this would become quite a headache for him.

  “Your brother…well, all right, I’ll at least try looking for your brother. What was his name again?”

  “Sidan, son of Detua, sir.”

  She was surprised by his change of heart. She had a feeling it definitely wasn’t because he was impressed by the determination that led her here.

  “I’m just looking for him for now, sir.”

  Reuyen remained calm, not showing even a hint of joy at his generosity. Jacalrin suddenly realized the peculiar impression of a corpse’s eyes seemed to be in her light brown eyes too.

  Some time passed. A ferocious neighing came from outside, and a soldier peeked
in the tent. “Sir, I brought the horse you ordered.”

  Reuyen’s face, until then as pale as a corpse, suddenly brightened. She limped out of the tent, and Jacalrin swaggered after her with quite an uneasy expression on face.

  Den was standing in front of the tent, fuming. He started jumping up and down upon finding her. The startled soldiers tried to pull on his reins, but they merely got dragged around like paper dolls.

  “Whoa, whoa. Be good, Den,” she mumbled in a raspy voice and caressed his cheek.

  Den, who had been a complete nightmare to the soldiers the whole way here, suddenly became as tame as a lamb. Then, much to their contempt, he rubbed his cheek against Reuyen’s hand, fat tears falling from his eyes.

  With a sigh of relief, Reuyen whispered, “You were worried, weren’t you?”

  Neh-heigh. The horse whinnied as softly as a baby bird. Jacalrin and the soldiers who’d struggled to drag him there looked stunned at his sudden change of attitude, like he was always like this.

  That, that, that churlish little donkey!

  At that moment, the ground started to vibrate.

  Jacalrin noticed and reacted first. Three files of soldiers were marching toward them on the wide road between tents.

  He spotted a knight riding a black horse in the front and walked toward them. Following him, Reuyen’s eyes widened at the sight of the fine, well-built black horse. The horse had a certain beastly dignity to him.

  “Oh, Sir Calandok, where are you headed?”

  “A message arrived from Camp Anf, the forward camp near the cliff. I’ll be gone for a while, so…” The man had a calm, quiet voice.

  He, of course, intrigued Reuyen, but she was too preoccupied with examining the horse. As one would expect, the black horse was a truly impeccable, superior stallion. At the very least, he had to be worth ten young, strong military horses. Even more, if he was of a good bloodline. He seemed just as exceptional as Baldoan horses from great bloodlines.

  When the black horse’s gaze turned her way all of a sudden, Den slowly lowered his head. Reuyen almost broke out laughing at seeing Den intimidated by another animal for the first time.