Red Queen

Little Did He Know

Its been about half a year since Mela reincarnated into this world. She had accomplished more than she thought she would. But she had a feeling that there would be more to come and she was prepared to take them on. 

Currently, she was training her troop in the wilderness. They will have to learn how to survive with nature if they ever get stranded. But it wasn't only the wilderness that they will experience, she had also planned a desert situation along the line.

Mela had caught a frog and set up her fireplace with sticks. Washing the cut up frog in the river, she stuck a stick through it and roasted it atop the fire. The day before, she had found insects under logs and rocks, then roasted them. When the troop tasted the insects in hesitation they found it actually not half bad. A little burst in the inside but it wasn't the worst they have had.

It was almost night and everybody was getting ready to head into their tents. But the person on lookout climbed down the tree and reported that some carriages had suddenly stopped on the road a bit far from here they also had a lot of men on horses. The crest wasn't from the royal family or nobility, so it must be another kingdom visiting. 

"Commander, some men got out and are heading this way." the man reported. Mela was just about ready to go into her tent and rest. "Commander, let me deal with it." Renee had come out of the Commander's tent. They were the only females so they shared, though Renee had disagreed on sharing a tent with someone she looked up to, there were no other tents left so she had no choice but to sleep in the same tent as her commander. Renee made it her responsibility to set out the beds and fluff the pillows so her commander could go straight to rest.

"The Prince requests a word with the one in charge." A rough voice spoke from the edge of the campsite. Everyone had their swords drawn while Mela didn't rush to turn and see that the people were indeed from a foreign country. Their clothing was nothing that was worn here. "We are from the Jnica kingdom. If you hurt our prince that will be a declaration of war."

In her tent, a table was set up and the Prince of Jnica was sitting across from the uncaring commander. Nobody from the Jnica Kingdom has seen females camping with a group of males, and they had never seen a female be the one in charge of a troop. Prince Yves grew quite interested. "If you want money, we have plenty. But in return, we want to share your sources until the sun rises. Our carriages have broken down, but I have sent someone to your kingdom for assistance." Renee stood behind Mela and never once let her defenses down. From her teachings when she was little, she had been told a bit about the Jnica people. Their skin was golden brown, it was rare for the people of Jnica to be seen outside of their kingdom, in fear of being treated poorly. Their take of clothing was also seen as indecent. Unlike the thick layer of clothing here they wore exposing fabrics, even the royal men wore sheer clothing. But their Kingdom was full of riches. So the people were usually covered in many accessories. Renee examined the Prince's guards, their physic was quite good. They didn't wear layers of sheer clothing like the prince, instead, they were dressed like any other soldier just in different colors. She could also tell they were quite experienced judging from the faint scars on their exposed skin. "I don't want your money. I want to have your second, if not the best, man in my troop." Mela took a yard for a mile. "No." Prince Yves didn't even stop to think. "Surely there are other people that have a willing heart." Prince Yves stood up thinking the naive girl was going to stop him just like they always did, but he was already out of the tent and he didn't hear a single calling. He took a glance back and the other female standing behind her had put the table away and began setting the beds up again, then the fires that were on all went off. "Hmph. We'll find another camp."

Even when they weren't training, nobody was truly asleep. Well maybe the commander was, but she was on a different level and she had her right wing with her. Prince Yves had returned with a darkened face with his people behind him. His facade was the foolish prince in his kingdom but he secretly pulled strings in the shadows and calculated everything, but this was the first that he had felt so humiliated in front of his people. Even his elite guards were black faced. Someone forgot to tell them that there were wild beasts, even the tiniest rabbit was a disguise. They had killed everything that got in their way but more kept coming and they were tired. Strangely enough, the only place that the beasts stopped attacking them was within the radius of the arrogant troop. "The commander says no entry unless you accept the trade." Prince Yves didn't know when these men had their swords pointing at his neck and his elite guards, they had even pinpointed the ones as servants. This troop was to not be underestimated. They also couldn't go back out there and the night was long. Once he got a hold of the princess he will make them pay.

Little did he know.