Silver Silence

Springtime Massacre

To Siles' surprise, nobody argued with August when he placed Sonia in charge of commoner recruitment. He supposed that an escaped prisoner with a suspicious resemblance to the King wasn't all that concerning in the face of a war without magic. August and Siles stayed out of Sonia's way, and within half a month she had recruited fifteen thousand commoners to a preexisting magician military that numbered only five thousand. Siles could see the commoners and magicians training side-by-side in the fields every time he wandered to the edge of the royal city, clashing swords together and tumbling in the dirt. Their combat skills were nothing next to Siles', but hopefully it would be enough.

It had to be enough. They had no more time. As the sun rose on the horizon, Siles paced around the war room, trying to remember the military tactics of August's bloodthirsty predecessor. From what he could recall, her only tactic had been to shake the earth with magic until every building had collapsed, leaving her enemies with no more cities to protect. Siles stared in disdain at the half-baked plans August's generals had come up with, scattered about the table at the center of the room. None of the plans accommodated for the fact that their army had only one month of combat training.

August slouched in a chair on the far side of the room, as unconcerned as ever. He sat by the room's only window, through which the sun had begun to shine. He looked out the window as he stood. "The sun's at a quarter. I should get going with the pre-war speech." His army and the Southern Queen's were expected to meet on the fields once the sun reached its midpoint in the sky. Those were the terms they had agreed upon.

"Pre-massacre speech," Siles mumbled. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes – or the lack of sleep. He had spent most of the past few nights staring at the cracks in the ceiling, imagining all of the ways they could and likely would lose the war.

"And this is why you don't give the speeches," August chuckled. Maybe his arrogance came from his magic. He had never faced consequences or difficulty before. He had skated through life on innate talent. Siles liked him, but he wished he had more common sense.

Siles followed August through the twisting corridors and into the sunlight. The springtime rain had at least ceased for a few days, so the soldiers wouldn't have to worry about slipping in mud. They would get to experience the joy of battling and bleeding out on brilliant green grass and dandelions that glimmered like the sun. Siles grimaced at the thought as he and August climbed the ramparts. He could smell the sweet breeze from the bakeries, pushed through the air by a wind magician. The magician likely hoped to sweeten the spirits of their comrades. Soon they would only smell sweat and blood.

The generals waited for them at the top of the ramparts, their polished armor shining in the sun. They smiled confidently and August smiled back. Siles stared glumly down at the thousands of soldiers gathered at the foot of the wall. They looked like ants, waiting for the boot that would crush them. Most of them had armor, but not all. The armories hadn't had the time or materials to make fifteen thousand new sets of armor.

Siles looked back at the castle, hoping in vain to see the royal alchemist come running out with some anti-anti-magic for the soldiers. She didn't come. He wasn't surprised. He had spoken to her only a day before, and she was nowhere close to a solution.

August grabbed Siles' hand. "Listen to some happy thoughts for once," he whispered. He waved with his other hand to the crowd below. They cheered at the sight of him, their armor clanging as they clapped their hands together. They had such high hopes. Siles sighed. August took a deep breath, then began his speech, "Today you will face a foe who wants to seize your land, your freedom, and your magic. For some of you, she considers your mere existence a sin. For others, your free thought is just as shameful. The Southern Queen is a devious creature. She tried to goad us into starting the war so that she could attack our unsuspecting neighbors next. She knows that she cannot face our forces when we are prepared. We are stronger than her. We will not shirk in the face of savagery. We will fight!"