Tales of the Vangen: The Siege of Middengard (Book 2)

Chapter 25: Battle of the Breach (Part 1/4)

{I miss him. Dux, I mean. I miss him so much these days. It felt like he had all the answers back then. Knew exactly what to say, how to say it, to whom to say it too. I'm just a phantom compared to what he was capable of, a useless, cheap imitation. I should never have been made Captain. What was the Empress even thinking?}

-Chronicler Captain Libro, an excerpt discovered in the back annals of the Archive.

"It's a good day for war, don't you think?" Libro sat atop his horse on a hill overlooking the battlefield before him. His troops were lined up in two neat rows, their lines tight and well organized just as they'd practiced a thousand times before. Civis and his boys stood ample and ready on the left flank, Regis and his Centum's to the right. Ahead, Ohban's cannons continued their merciless pounding against Middengard's outer wall, each new volley spraying up a cloud of dust and grit, bits of battered rubble tumbling down onto the hard, packed earth.

"I wouldn't know," said Elba, leaning down with one hand to brush at the neck of her nervous horse. I've never been in one before." She and the rest of her warriors had joined him on the hill in the early morning, mounted and ready for anything. There were four in total. Libro recognized Sigismund immediately beneath his ratty furs, judging eyes gleaming in the morning mist. Kirick as well, given the shock of red hair atop his head that mirrored his personality perfectly. The two women though were new.

"I pray you never do," Libro muttered quietly under his breath so that only she could hear.

Elba smiled softly, the tilt of her lips making soft dimples in her cheekbones. Libro had to force himself to turn away lest he stare, or worse yet, get caught staring. His heart had been hammering in his chest all morning ever since he'd started up the hill. At first he'd chalked it up to nerves, but with Elba beside him now he'd been forced to reconsider. She'd cantered up on her horse a few hours ago, and for one solemn instant they'd sat there staring out across the smoky field, sharing in the silence together.

Of course he was not blind to the matter. Give a man even a shred of kindness and he'll devour it like a starving wolf, and Libro was so very, very hungry. A terrible flaw to have, he had to admit, one that nearly got himself killed not five years ago when he'd first laid eyes on Elena, but the hunger never seemed to go away. Indeed, the feeling had only grown more fierce as of late. He hungered for Elba, for her smile, for her touch, that sweet memory of when they'd lain in the grass together, spilling secrets.

He was a fool, surely. To hunger for her at such a time, in such a place. Even after the scornful words she'd given him the day prior, but she'd had a point. His inability to keep his own guardsmen in line spoke volumes over everything else. How could she trust him to keep his word? Perhaps today would be the day he changed her mind. Maybe.

"Why are we even here, Chief? This ain't even our war!" Kirick pulled his horse up beside Elba, his shock of red hair dusted with fresh snow. A light blanket of the stuff coated the dark, churned ground, more of it filtering down from the misty overcast.

"Because I said so, that's why." Elba dug her heels in, leaning in close till she was almost nose to nose with the boy. "Because we've mouths to feed and your dah seems keen to keep pumping more of you ungrateful brats into your mah. If you want to start complaining about the smell of shit, maybe you should check your own boots first."

Kirick scrunched his face up and looked away, spat a frustrated glob of phlegm onto the snowy turf. "Just figured we were done with all this, is all. Captain said this wasn't our fight."

"And I say it is now. We have to do what's best for the tribe and if that means putting down the Middenites, then so be it." Elba turned her eyes to the rest of her compatriots. "Or does anyone else wish to raise their objections?"