by Simon Archer
“We’ve received some troubling information about the situation in the east.” Her eyes flicked to the Queen’s before she backed up, pulling Rozmarin with her to let me in. “I think it is time to inform Chris of the upcoming battle.”
“Battle?” I asked, thrown completely off-guard. “What battle?”
“Very well.” Rozmarin sighed and opened the door further. “Come in, my lord. We have much to discuss.”
“Fine,” I said as I entered the room. “But only if she,” I jerked my thumb at Rozmarin, “Order you all something to eat.”
20
Christoff
It was well past the nighttime meal. In fact, it was well past midnight. Once Rozmarin led me into the room, she spoke. Not just her, though, but the rest of the council, as well. They took turns explaining the recent news that Sahar had filled them in on from each of their perspectives, and then, they talked strategy. They told me that they had spent all day mapping out their next courses of action, predicting when we would likely get the first SOS from the eastern kingdoms, how many troops we were able to sacrifice to send eastward for reinforcements, how Rozmarin and Anix were planning to scout around the kingdom’s border for zombie hordes and get a feel for their next moves.
I currently stood hunched over the table as they showed me dozens of different pathways from our kingdom to the northeastern kingdom that served as potential routes for the troops to take on their way to the eastern side of the continent. Someone had strewn maps all around the room in a sort of chaotic order that served to allow us to visualize the hordes’ patterns of movement throughout the years that Rozmarin and Aerywin had been mapping them. I dragged my pointer finger along one pathway that ran the furthest to the north.
“The zombies seem to be attacking the southern regions first, and the numbers are higher there. This northern path will pose the least amount of zombie threat. There’s a small horde here,” I pointed to a small circle that Aery drew to represent a zombie horde, just above the route. “And one down here.” I then pointed to a larger circle just below the line. The line that represented the troop’s potential route ran right in between the two circles that represented the zombie hordes.
“If these hordes continue to follow the same pattern as the southern ones, they will probably begin to move south as well. It would be a good idea to just direct the troops above both of those hordes and avoid them altogether while they are in that area. That way, they won’t run the risk of getting trapped and attacked from both sides. It is further north, but spring has already begun to set in. By the time they get there, the weather won’t be an issue.”
Rachel looked up at me from my left, newfound respect in those charcoal lined eyes. “You know much of strategy, human. Where did you learn such things?”
My gaze fell to the map in front of me once more, and an overwhelming feeling of imposter syndrome washed through me. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I had no business telling the Queen where to lead her troops on their way to defend another kingdom. I was just a smart thief from the wrong side of the tracks who was only here because he bit off more than he could chew. I stepped away from the desk, keeping my eyes lowered.
“I didn’t, I mean, I don’t know much about strategy, that is.” I sighed. “I just… know how to survive, that’s all,” I replied lamely as I recalled all of the tricks I’d used to steal from other people just so my family and I could eat that night.
“That is not true,” Sahar argued, her tone was fierce, and her gaze steely as her dark eyes seemed to pierce into my soul. “You are in this room for a reason. If the Queen did not think your opinion was valuable, you would not be in here, plotting to save this kingdom from imminent doom.”
“Alright, alright, there’s no need for dramatics,” I said, waving off the growing awkwardness in the room. “I’m just saying, I don’t have training. I’d never even left the West Village until I came here, so I might not be the most qualified person to map out the pathway for your troops.” My cheeks reddened deeply as I spoke, and I was suddenly grateful for the dim lighting in the Queen’s study.
“Now who is being dramatic? You do not strike me as one for false modesty, my lord.” This came from Rozmarin. When I turned to face her, she was smiling up at me, a flicker of challenge lighting up her eyes, despite the ever-deepening bruises beneath them. I felt my mouth curve up in a smirk as I remembered our steamy dagger practice from the other night. I shook the thought from my head.
“You guys still haven’t left the room all day.” I looked out the window, at the moon that now hung low in the sky. The sun would be rising soon. “It’s nearly sunrise. We should all catch some sleep for a few hours before you start to set things in motion.” I gave Rozmarin a stern look. “You’re no good if you become zombified like the hordes because you refused to sleep or eat.”
Rozmarin blinked, and I thought her eyes might not open again until, about three seconds after they closed, she seemed to drag them back open by sheer force. I did the calculations in my head since I last saw her, and I reckoned that she hadn’t gotten more than a few hours of shuteye in the past forty-eight hours, if not more.
“Chris is right,” Aerywin said. “I am running on fumes.” Her normally perfectly voluminous red hair was sticking up at odd angles around her as if she’d nodded off on the couch a couple of times through the night. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had.
Anix just nodded her head in agreement, her shoulders hunched over in exhaustion, and Rachel merely sat back in the chair she had taken up residence in.
“Go.” Rozmarin looked around the room at each of our faces and sighed. “Get some rest, please.” Then, she turned to Anix as they all started to stand up and stretch their limbs. “Come find me when you awaken. We will begin scouting after a mid-morning meal.”
Anix nodded her confirmation before heading out the door, Aerywin and Rachel following closely behind her. Sahar hung back a little longer before turning to face Rozmarin on her way to the door.
“You should listen to Chris, Your Highness. You are no good to us worn down and exhausted.” Then, she turned to me, and a small smile lifted the corners of her full lips. She looked every bit the enchanting sorceress that she was at that moment. “Perhaps you should tell the Queen of your dagger training this evening while she walks you to your room. I’m sure she would love to hear about it.” With one last meaningful look at the Vampire Queen, she made her exit, and the gold beads glinting off her dark hair was the last thing I saw before the door quietly clicked shut behind her.
I turned to face Rozmarin once more, realizing that we were alone. Suddenly, I felt awkward and nervous, the room feeling too small despite the newly freed up space since everyone had left.
“Well… I better get to bed, and so should you,” I said as I backed away from Rozmarin and started heading towards the door.
“Wait,” she called, just before my fingers reached for the handle. When I turned back, her gaze was curious. “Did you not hear the sorceress? I am to walk you to your quarters. Plus… she was right in another regard. I would very much like to hear about your dagger practice this evening.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her, even as exhaustion set in and threatened to shut my body down. “I think I might just be giving you a run for your money on the battlefield,” I joked, and her own lips twisted in amusement.
She grabbed her shawl that hung near the door and opened it for us to enter into the hallway. At this time of night, the halls were dark and silent, the lanterns blown out for the night until the next sunset. Rozmarin grabbed a lantern from her room before she closed the door behind us.
“I have no doubt that you will have me running for much more than just money, my lord,” she flirted. “Now, tell me about dagger practice.”
As we happily wandered through the dark halls with only Rozmarin’s lantern light to guide us, I told her how I had finally managed to lock down that exercise.
“That’s amazing, my lord,�
� she beamed at me. “Though I’m not surprised by how hard you seem to have worked at it.”
“I think I’m ready for some more difficult exercises,” I offered.
“We can most certainly do that,” Rozmarin agreed.
We chatted and flirted as we walked to my room, and when we got to my door, I stopped and turned to look at her. She looked beautiful, as always, but the way the shadows danced across her face made her look even more bewitching.
“Well, goodnight, Your Highness,” I hesitated, not wanting her to leave.
I expected her to say goodnight and then watch as her figure disappeared down the hall, but she stepped closer to me until we were inches apart. She lifted herself up on her toes and kissed me.
“Goodnight, Christoff,” she breathed and left me at my door.
21
Rozmarin
When I awoke the next morning, the sun was too high in the sky for my liking. I wanted to stay in my dreams, where my mind replayed the kiss with Christoff. Unfortunately, I had a lot of queenly duties to take care of.
The morning meal had to be served already. I threw my midnight blue sheets aside and padded over to my closet with a sigh, running through the day’s plan in my head as I dressed on autopilot. I meant to wake up after only a few hours of sleep, but apparently, my undead body had something else in mind. After walking Christoff to his room last night, I had reluctantly dragged my feet up the steps to my own quarters and collapsed onto my bed. I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
Heavy footsteps sounded from down the hall and got closer and closer until they stopped outside of my room. I waited, despite already knowing who it was. A knock sounded at my door as I buttoned up a fresh shirt after discarding the old one that I hadn’t changed out of in the past two days.
“You may enter,” I called over my shoulder.
The door handle twisted, and Anix stepped in, looking slightly more rested than she had last night. She dipped her head in a humble bow. I hated that she still did that. She was my closest friend besides Rachel, yet she always insisted on calling me by my formal title, claiming it was an honor to do so, that the title was just as much a part of my identity as my birth name. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that particular argument, especially after the nights we shared together.
“Good, you are here. Are you well-rested?” I asked, still buttoning up my shirt.
Anix’s giant grey wings were tucked in tight behind her. The talon tips that curled inward above her head shone in the sunlight that filtered through my windows, unlike my inky black wings that seemed to swallow sunlight into its darkness. She dipped her head again, this time in confirmation of my question.
“I am. You look better than I expected.” A tiny twitch at the corner of her mouth, so subtle that a human would have missed it. “Did you have a nice talk with Chris last night?”
The cheeky bitch. Anix’s towering figure often had most people shying away from her, but she was one of the best women I knew. Though she wasn’t the most friendly or outgoing, she was as loyal as a friend could get, and she had an oddly subtle and dry sense of humor. It was the kind of humor that only those closest to her, those who weren’t afraid to search her expression for a hint of humor, could recognize.
I eyed her in the mirror I stood in front of, my chin lifting a fraction of an inch. “I merely escorted him.”
“Uh-huh, I fully believe you just escorted him.” A single brow rose, slowly, until it was almost to her hairline.
“Have you eaten yet?” I asked, ignoring her knowing look as I straightened out my collar.
“Not yet.” In the mirror, I saw her shrug.
“Good,” I said before she could make some bullshit excuse about not needing to waste time. “Neither have I. We shall stop by the kitchens on the way out. I am parched.”
Anix and I flew all day long. For hours, we scouted for miles and miles outside of the kingdom’s walls for zombie hordes and stragglers. By nightfall, we had scouted and mapped the abandoned territory ten miles outside of the wall for the entire area that surrounded the northeast section of the kingdom. Not but a few stragglers were left within those boundaries. I wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or even more paranoid about that particular discovery.
For the next three days, we did the same thing, mapping each section like a pie in a ten-mile radius around the kingdom’s walls. On those days, we woke up at dawn, ate breakfast together with the council as we adapted our strategy with the new updates that came with the day’s course of action. Christoff ate with us as well, before going to the alchemy lab with Sahar for the day. Then, Anix and I would scout and map until dusk when we would return home in time for another council meeting and strategy session while we ate our nighttime meal in my study. By the end of those sessions, the moon would be high in the sky, and we were all bleary-eyed with exhaustion.
In the meantime, while Anix and I scouted, Adriana worked on the troops, running them through skills and drills that Anix assigned to her. When we would leave in the morning, the troops of every species would already be out in the courtyards, practicing their drills. Some days, they would be on horses, shooting arrows into moving targets, and other days, they would be on foot, running through drills with swords, spears, knives, and other various weapons.
Even the alchemists worked more ferociously on their cure and other defensive and offensive potions to stock up for battle. Sorcerers and sorceresses lined up in the back of the castle daily to test their battle spells, even forming circles as they sparred with one another.
Once word got out that the troops were preparing for battle, productive energy buzzed through the castle, spurring everyone into action. Though it was under potentially horrific circumstances, it was oddly beautiful to witness a community combine their strengths. It brought me back to the days after the Great Purge, back to when the community, led by my council and me, built this new kingdom from the ashes of the Old World. It set an example for the rest of the territories where we had fought the hordes off enough to form other pockets of safe spaces that became Kingdoms themselves. Slowly, all of the species had come together for the greater good, to build a new world, a better world.
And now, we were about to be drawn back together again by a larger threat, to defend the New World we built. It had taken us years, no, decades, to shape the kingdom into what it was today, and now it was all threatening to crumble at our feet. At my feet.
I closed my eyes at the growing panic in my chest that made it feel like the world was closing in on me, everything crumbling and slipping through my fingers.
These were the thoughts that threatened to creep in during those few minutes of reprieve during my busy days, preparing for war. So, as if it were a choice, I stayed busy for every waking second of my days, doing everything in my power to prevent my kingdom from being overthrown by a couple hundred thousand smelly man-eaters.
The day after we finished scouting the outer territories, Anix immediately began working with the troops in person. With Adriana at her side, she ran the troops on an even more intense schedule than she had when we were scouting. We also began taking more recruits, figuring that it couldn’t hurt to increase our fighting numbers. I lifted my gaze to meet hers. To anyone else, she would look as she always does: Menacing and bored. But I didn’t miss the tightness around her eyes or the grim line that her mouth was set in.
One day, during one of the troops’ meal breaks, Anix found me in my study with Aery, her map laid out before us. “The troops are in better shape than I expected, but our numbers are still not what I would like them to be if we are going to be sending some of them to the east.”
I exhaled, long and steady as I leaned against my desk in front of me. Beside me, Aerywin shifted on her feet.
“Word of recruitment isn’t raising the numbers like I thought they would,” I noted. “We must think up a new recruitment strategy.”
“Perhaps a higher incentive?” Aerywin suggested, but I was already sha
king my head.
“The incentive is already higher than most positions in the kingdom. Perhaps we simply aren’t getting the word out quickly enough.”
“Or maybe,” a male voice said from the doorway to my study, “you just aren’t recruiting in the right places.” When I looked up, Christoff stood beneath the threshold.
I felt one side of my mouth crook up into a crooked smile. “Please elaborate, my lord.”
22
Christoff
Ever since the night I found the Queen and her council holed up in the Queen’s study, running on fumes, desperately trying to strategize Constanta’s way out of catastrophe, the days had flown by in a blur. I spent more and more hours of my days in the alchemy lab with Sahar as she worked on the cure for the virus. I slowly, subconsciously, began to pick up on the alchemist’s jargon and chemistry terms. Soon, I could name most of the ingredients that lined the shelves and even got an idea for how they reacted with one another. Sahar and her fellow alchemists explained everything they were doing in front of me, at my request, until I could list off what they were doing on my own.
When I asked Sahar if she thought she could figure out the formula in time, she always responded with, “If I could see such things, Light-Bearer, the Queen would not need an army at all.”
I spent my evenings in the armory by myself, training with the dagger I had grown used to carrying with me. At some point, I discovered a hip holster in my closet that magically appeared there one day after running through drills in the armory alone. I chalked it up to Sahar again, like most other things that had somehow just appeared there when I needed them. From that day on, I wore my dagger on my belt every day, wherever I went, even to the nighttime meal in the Great Hall.