A Whisper of Night

16.2 || ASTNORDEN 💫

The smoke of Kantar and Sodleim Harbor looked almost iridescent under the morning light, golden swaths of silk against a bruised sky. From the bay, Astna could still hear the crackling of fire and the wails of children and women and men. Her fingers were stiff around her reins, cold after a long night of waiting out the battle.

"My Queen!" shouted Lord Nurtanden. He rode up the hill towards her, his horse gray with soot. "Victory is confirmed!"

She nodded, unsurprised. "Thank you, Lord Nurtanden. Have the survivors rounded up. Give them food and water, but treat our soldiers' wounds first."

He bowed his head. "Yes, your - "

"And no rape," she said firmly. "Remind them that the punishment is castration."

"Of course, my Queen."

Astna watched him go, her head pounding. She wondered if she'd become a nocturnal creature - every sunrise, it seemed, made her exhausted. Or maybe it was just the smoke.

She had staunchly refused to use fire for this battle. Victory was almost guaranteed, anyways, with Prince Verradaen's superior forces. The tiny troops of Kantar and Sodleim Harbor hadn't stood a chance.

Her men were leading Sodleim Harbor's supply train towards her army encampment. Astna could hear the laughter of men and the clinking of goblets - where did they get those? - punctuated by the screams of babies and the stifled sobs of women. Two faces of the same coin, she thought numbly.

"Your Majesty?"

She turned.

Ellac approached her, riding a horse of his own. Behind him was another horse - Alskande's. The peasant boy had taken off his helm, and his golden hair shone under the young sun.

"Ellac," she said. She nodded at Alskande. "Alskande."

"Your Majesty," he said, dismounting and kneeling.

"You have a horse?" she said.

Alskande looked up. "I - er - yes, your Majesty. Ellac promoted me. I am the captain of one of his troops now."

Astna almost smiled, barely resisting a laugh as Ellac looked at her with wide eyes. "Congratulations, Captain," she said warmly. "I did not yet hear of your prowess on the battlefield, however."

"He took down the East Wall of Kantar by himself," Ellac said. He looked at her somewhat fearfully. "This is allowed, right?"

Astna smiled. "Yes," she said. "You are one of my commanders, after all. Of the navy. And now of the peasants, I suppose."

His face lit up. "Thank you, my Queen!"

"Thank you, your Majesty," Alskande echoed.

"Go rest, Alskande," Astna said. "Ellac...you and I must talk."

The peasant glanced at Astna, then Ellac, then nodded. "Yes, of course. Thank you, your Majesty."

Astna and Ellac watched Alskande ride back down the hill. When he disappeared, Astna turned to Ellac.

"What is it between you and him?"

Ellac hesitated. "I...I don't know what you mean, your Majesty."

"You are lying," she said. When Ellac did not respond, she sighed. "I have seen you two talk like best friends," she said. "Forgive me if I am mistaken, but sometimes it seems...sometimes it seems that you are more than best friends."

He bit his lip, his cheeks red. He refused to look at anything but the ground.

"Ellac," she said, "I would not mind any...relationship...that might arise beween you and Alskande. However, I know of some who would. Just be careful, all right?"